A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present

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1359858

GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

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3 1833 01148 4125

A HISTORY

CALIFORNIA

Extended History of Its Southern Coast Counties

Containing Biographies of Well-Known Citizens of the Past and Present.

J. M. GUINN> A. M.,

Secretary and Late President of the Historical Society of Southern California, and
Member of the American Historical Association of Washington, D. C.

ILLUSTRATED.
COMPLETE IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOLUVIE II.

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY

LOS ANGELES. CAL.
(907

Copyright, 1907

HISTORiC RF.CORD COMPANY.

1359858

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1077

WILLIAM C. B. RICHARDSON. One of
the best known and most honored residents of
Tropico is the venerable William C. B. Richard-
son, who is distinguished both for his own life
and work, and for the excellent ancestry from
which he traces his descent, his family name oc-
cupying a prominent place in the annals of New
England, its members being noted for their
integrity and patriotism. A son of Hon. Elkanah
Richardson, he was born in Swanzey, Cheshire
county, N. H., October 28, 181 5, of English an-
cestry. His paternal grandfather, Wyman
Richardson, a resident of the Granite state,
served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war,
taking an active part in many engagements.

Born, reared and educated in New Hampshire,
Ellkanah Richardson subsequently removed to
Ohio, becoming a pioneer of that state. He was
a surveyor by profession, and in the pursuit of
his occupation became familiar with that section
of the country in the early days of its history.
A man of much talent, he became influential
in financial, business and legal affairs, and
for fourteen years he served as judge of the
•circuit court. His death occurred while he was
in the prime of life, at the age of fifty-six years.
He married Sophia Belding, who was born in
New Hampshire, of thrifty Scotch ancestr}', a
sister of William C. Belding, who was killed in
the war of 1812, and for whom the subject of
this sketch was named.

Being taken by his parents to Ohio when a
boy, William C. B. Richardson was educated
in the common schools of Cuyahoga Falls, Sum-
mit county. Subsequently working with his
father, he became proficient as a surveyor, which
he followed - for forty years in Cleveland. A
straightforward, thorough-going business man,
he met with eminent success in his undertakings,
acquiring wealth and distinction, and though he
has disposed of some of the property that he
formerly held in that place he still owns three
acres of valuable land, and a number of city lots.
In municipal affairs he was active and promin-
ent, and while a resident of Ohio, served for
two terms as a member of the common council
of Cleveland. For a few years he was also en-
gaged in the coal business, being in partnership
with his son, O. S. Richardson, who is now dis-
tinguished as the oldest-established coal mer-
chant in Chicago, 111. In 1868 Mr. Richardson
came to Los Angeles county, and here pur-
chased the St. Eulalia rancho of six hundred
and seventy-one acres. A part of the property
has been sold in city lots, but adjoining land
has been purchased, and the estate as it stands
today contains seven hundred acres, and is worth
upwards of a quarter of a million dollars. About
three hundred acres of this is in strawberries
and the balance in general fruit, walnuts and

produce. Although over ninety years of age,
Mr. Richardson retains much of the mental and
physical vigor of his earlier years, and works
some every day. He has been prosperous as a
general farmer and fruit grower, and delights in
adding to the happiness, comfort and prosperity
of those around him. When the electric line
was put through this section he gave the right
of way, one hundred feet wide, through his
ranch.

In Akron, Ohio, in 1838, Mr. Richardson
married Sarah Abbott, a daughter of John Ab-
bott, who lived to the ripe old age of ninety-
two years. Mrs. Richardson died in 1895, aged
seventy-five years. Of the children born to Mr.
and Mrs. Richardson, four arrived at years of
maturity, namely: Omar S., of Chicago; El-
kanah W., of Tropico, Cal. ; Herbert, also re-
siding in Chicago, and Mrs. Sophia Bisbee, who
died in Akron, Ohio. Mr. Richardson is a
member of the Pioneers Society and the His-
torical Society of Los Angeles county. He is a
Master Mason, being made a Mason in Summit
county, Ohio.

PROF. W. OLIN LOWE. Prominent among
the leading educators of San Diego county is
Prof. W. Olin Lowe, principal of the Ramona
high school, with which he has been connected
in this capacity for eight years, outranking in
length of service any other high school principal
in the county. A man of broad and progressive
views, cultured and talented, he is eminently
qualified for his important work, and is meeting
with almost phenomenal success. Possessing
much force of character, and wise and judicious
in his counsels, he exerts an influence for good
in the community, and in the mental, social and
moral development of the children under his
supervision is an important factor. A son of
John R. Lowe, he was born June i, i860, in
Solano county, Cal., where his parents settled as
pioneers.

A native of Indiana, John R. Lowe was reared
to agricultural pursuits, and as a young man
chose the occupation of his ancestors. In 1852
he came to California with the courageous pion-
eers of those days, and in the subsequent years
became a landholder, and a very successful agri-
culturist and horticulturist, owning a good ranch
and a valuable vineyard in Shasta county, where
he spent the closing years of his life, dying there
when sixty-four years of age. He was a stanch
Republican in politics, and an active and con-
sistent member of the United Brethren Qiurch.
He married Janet Root, who was born in Indiana,
and is now living in Kern City, Cal. Of the
children born of their union, four survive.

r;oing with his parents to Yolo county when

1078

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

six years old, W. Olin Lowe there completed
the course of study in the grammar schools, and
afterwards attended the San Joaquin Valley Col-
lege, spending two years in the preparatory de-
partment and four years in collegiate work, tak-
ing the regular classical course, which included
Greek and Latin. He subsequently taught school
one year in Shasta county, and four and one-half
years in Selma, Fresno county. Then, giving up
teaching for awhile. Professor Lowe entered the
ministry, for three years preaching for the
United Brethren denomination. Accepting a po-
sition in Los Angeles in 1895, he taught most
successfully for four years in the city schools.
Coming from there to Ramona in 1899, he has
since had charge of the high school, and in its
management has won an enviable reputation as
teacher, friend, counsellor and disciplinarian.

In 1887 Professor Lowe married Belle Lim-
baugh, who was born in Missouri, a daughter of
F. IM. Limbaugh, who came with his family to
California in 1866, and settled at Rio Vista,
Solano county. Four children have blessed the
union of Professor and Mrs. Lowe, namely :
Minnie Esther, born December 18, 1888; Wil-
liam Marion Reese, born December 26, 1890;
Alma Genette, born July 5, 1893, and Frances
Mae, born March 27, 1896. Politically the pro-
fessor is a steadfast Republican, and fraternally
he is a member of the Independent Order of
Foresters ; of the Fraternal Brotherhood, at Los
Angeles, and of San Diego Lodge No. 35, F. &
A. M. He is also a member of the Southern
California School Masters Club and for two terms
has been identified with the San Diego county
board of education.

JOHN W. GUSHING. One of the enter-
prising and progressive citizens of Los Angeles
county was the late John W. Gushing, who en-
gaged as an agriculturist in Southern California
for many years prior to his death, which occurred
February 14, 1903. He was a native of Ireland,
born in Belfast June 24, 1830, a son of Patrick
Gushing, a builder in that city, and Mollie
(Stewart) Gushing, a native of Belfast and a
member of the same family to which A. T. Stew-
art of New York belonged. Reared to young
manhood in Belfast J. W. Gushing received his
education in the schools of that city, after which
he made that place his home until 1848. In the
last-named year he decided to immigrate to the
western world and accordingly came to New
York Cit>-, where he was employed for four
years and during this time applied for his papers
making him "a citizen of this country. They were
granted .August 29, 1857. and delivered to him
in San Francisco. In 1852, he came to Cali-
fornia via the Nicaragua route, landing in San

Francisco in April. For several years following
his arrival in the state he was occupied in the
mines, after which he returned to San Francisco
and engaged in general contracting and teaming.
In 1868 he removed to Humboldt county. Gal.,
and a year later made a trip to Southern Cali-
fornia, where in the vicinity of Savannah, Los
Angeles county, he purchased one hundred and
sixty acres of the Dalton tract. The following
year he located his family here, erecting a resi-
dence, barns and all necessary outbuildings, and
thereafter engaged in grain and cattle raising.
Later he added to his original purchase one hun-
dred and eighty acres a half mile north of
.Savannah and a twenty acre tract adjoining the
first piece, the entire property becoming known
as the Primrose farm. He remained on this
place up to the time of his death February 14,
1903. His remains were interred in the San
Gabriel Cemetery, as he was a member of the
old JNIission Qnurch at San Gabriel. In his poli-
tical relations he was a Democrat, but was always
stanch in his support of the Union.

In San Francisco, in St. Mary's Cathedral.
October 20, 1861, Mr. Gushing was united in
marriage by the Rev. Father Croak with Miss
Mary Carr, a native of County Donegal, Ireland,
and a daughter of John Carr. He was a general
contractor who about 1850 located in Philadel-
phia, Pa., where his death eventually occurred,
as did that of his wife, formerly Catherine Travis,
also a native of Ireland. They were the parents
of nine children, of whom four are now living,
Mrs. Gushing being the only one in California.
She came to San Francisco via the Isthmus of
Panama in 1859 and two years later was mar-
ried in that city. She is the mother of the follow-
ing children ; Mary Agnes, wife of Thomas
Godfrey, of San Pedro ; Elizabeth S. and Alice
J., both of Los Angeles; Anna L., of Giicago;
John F., who died at the age of seven years and
three months : Patrick L., on the home ranch ;
Cecelia, of Los Angeles : Catherine, wife of Dr.
C. W. Seeber, of Los Angeles ; Polk L., on the
home ranch ; James, of Los Angeles ; Joseph
Emmet, on the ranch ; Ileen, of Los Angeles ;
and Margaret S. In October, 1904, Mrs. Gush-
ing removed to Los Angeles, where she now
makes her home, being a member of the St.
\'incent's Catholic Giurch, and a devoted worker
for its interest.

CLTSHING BROTHERS. Native sons of
the state of California, Patrick and Emmet J.
Gushing are engaged in the cultivation and de-
velopment of property which bids fair to rank
with the finest ranches of Los Angeles county.
The eldest was born in this county January 31.
1876. and the latter .\pril 2^. 1881, both re-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1079

ceiving their education through the medium of
the pubHc schools of El Monte, where they
grew to manhood. Their father, John W. Gush-
ing, a pioneer of California, was born in Belfast ;
Ireland, his education was received in the schools
of his native city, after which, at the age of
sixteen years he came to America and in New
York City was employed for about four years.
Subsequently he came to California and on the
property which he owned, known as Primrose
farm, his death occurred February 14, 1903.
Progressive and enterprising, the two brothers
assumed the management of the old Cushing
homestead, which consisted of one hundred and
eighty acres located in the vicinity of El Monte,
and here they are associated in the raising of stock,
in which business they have been very success-
ful. In 1904 Patrick Cushing was united in mar-
riage with Miss Nellie Graney, a native of Port-
land, Ore., and they are the parents of one son.
John Gifford. They are devout members of
the Catholic Church. The brothers are Demo-
cratic in their national tendencies, although lo-
cally they can always be counted upon to up-
hold good government, regardless of party af-
filitions. Socially they occupy a high position
among the ranchers of this section of Los An-
geles, appreciated for their sterling worth as
men and citizens.

SYLVESTER H. GARNER. A native Cali-
fornian. Sylvester H. Garner was born in San
Bernardino county, August 10, 1869, the
youngest son of John Garner, a pioneer of the
st.ate, and one of the prominent men among
the ranchers of Southern California. The elder
man was born in Davidson county, N. C, May
I, 1820, a son of David Garner, who died at the
remarkable age of one hundred and five years.
He came to Hancock county. 111., where he mar-
ried Mary Ann O. Rawson, a native of Wash-
ington county, Ind. ; they were members of the
Church of Latter Day Saints and located in
Nauvoo, 111., where they made their home for
five years, and upon the exodus of their people
in 1846 Mr. Garner took his family to Council
Bluffs, Iowa. Two vears later he started west-
ward once more and in Salt Lake City he made
his home until 1851, engaging in farming, etc.
When learning of the new doctrines which
Brigham Young had introduced into the church
since coming to Salt Lake Citv, such as polvg-
amy and others, he became disgusted with the
church in that place. Deciding to locate in
California, he outfitted in 185 1 and on March i
started to cross the plains to San Bernardino
with Dave Seelev. Capt. Jefferson Hunt and
Andrew Lytle. There Mr. Garner purchased
land and began farming, being the first man to

plant alfalfa in Southern California and raise
and thresh the seed, to start his ranch purchas-
ing fifty pounds of seed at $1 per pound. He
became prominent in the public life of the com-
munity, a settlement having been established by
the men who came through with Mr. Garner,
and during the years of his residence he was
elected to many positions of trust and responsi-
bility. For two terms he served as supervisor
of San Bernardino county and was chairman of
the board for several years, and was also school
trustee for many years. He was a stanch ad-
herent of Democratic principles. By virtue of
his early residence in the state he was a member
of the Pioneer Society of San Bernardino county.
In 1874 he removed to Newport, where his death
occurred in 1890, when nearly seventy years old.
His remains were sent to San Bernardino and
buried by the side of his wife, who had preceded
him in 1880. His funeral was one of the largest
ever held in San Bernardino, the large number
attending being a silent evidence of the great
regard and esteem in which he was held. There
were thirteen children in the parental family,
of whom six are still surviving.

Reared in Southern California, Sylvester H.
Garner received his education in the public
.'schools of Santa Ana, Orange county, where his
parents located when he was a child in years.
After completing his education he began farming
for himself, at the age of twenty-one years go-
ing to Fresno, where he followed horticultural
pursuits. He became the owner of twenty acres
of land which he sold after five years and came
to Los Angeles county and in the vicinity of
Florence engaged in sugar beet culture, leasing
and cultivating about three hundred and seventy-
five acres of land belonging to the Nadeau and
Cudahy estates. Finally giving up ranching he
located in Los Angeles ancl engaged in the whole-
sale produce business, and after a time sold out
and followed a grocery enterprise. Altogether
he was in commercial enterprises in Los Angeles
for five years. Finally disposing of his business
interests he came to El Monte and in 1903 pur-
chased his present property, which contained
at that time fifty acres, although he has since
disposed of a half of it and now has but twenty-
five acres devoted to walnuts and alfalfa. He
has made all the improvements himself, install-
ing a pumping plant, etc., and bids fair to make
a striking success of his enterprise.

June 29, 1898, Mr. Garner was united in mar-
riage with J\liss Cora Van Fleet, who was born
in Dickinson county, Kans., in 1872 : she was
but ten years old when brought to California
by her father, Nelson Van Fleet who for many
years made his home in Downey, Cal., but is
now living retired in Los .Angeles. Mrs. Garner
was one of eleven children, eight of whom are

1080

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

living in California. Previous to her marriage
she was a teacher in the Los Nietos public school,
having held the said position for seven consecu-
tive years. Mr. and Mrs. Garner have one child,
.Sylvester H. Jr., who was born in Los Angeles
City, February ii, 1903. Both himself and
wife are members of the Reorganized Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

JOHN ROBERT PIERCY. Credit is due
Mr. Piercy for the efforts he has made toward the
upbuilding and development of the section
of California in which he has made his home since
1895. He is a native of North Carolina, his birth
having occurred in Murphy. Qierokee county,
November 22. 1859; his grandfather, Stephen
Piercy, was born in England and in young man-
hood immigrated to America and settled in North
Carolina, his son, Wesley, the father of John R.
also being a native of that state. The latter was
a surveyor and was engaged in this work in North
Carolina until his death. He was a citizen of
prominence, helpful in the maintenance of law
and order, and as a Master Mason was influen-
tial in fraternal circles. He married Martha
Collins, whose birth and death occurred also in
North Carolina.

Of the thirteen children born to his parents, of
whom nine attained maturity and eight are now
living, John Robert Piercy was sixth in order of
birth. He was left an orphan at the age of ten
years and two years later he went to Indiana
where, in the vicinity of Terre Haute, he made
his home with a brother, who was a farmer in
that section. He remained in that location for
four years when he decided to go further west-
ward, and accordingly traveled through Iowa,
North Dakota and Utah, engaging in farming and
mining, the latter employment occupying his at-
tention in Utah for eight years, working with the
Maxfield Mining Company. It was in 1895 that
he first came to California and in the vicinity of
El Monte, Los Angeles county, he found em-
ployment on the ranch of .George H. Peck. After
one year he leased the ranch, which consisted of
four hundred and eighty-three acres, and while
he engaged in the raising of alfalfa and grain
he undertook the improvement of the place by
boring a well one hundred and twenty-seven
feet deep and installing a steam engine, forty-
horse power, with a capacity of one hundred and
fifty inches. He had two hundred acres given
over entirely to the cultivation of alfalfa. In
1902 he decided to invest in land and accordingly
purchased fifty-four acres in the vicinity of El
Monte, and immediately set it to walnuts, while
he also engaged in general farming. Later he
disposed of twenty-nine acres of the jirnperty, re-
taining twenty-five acres, which he has brought

to a high state of cultivation and improvement,
having erected a new residence in 1905. He was
instrumental in the incorporation of what is
known as the Peck Ranch Water Company, of
which he is secretary and manager, and which ir-
rigates one hundred and fifty-eight acres of land.
November 22, 1891, in North Carolina, Air.
Piercy was united in marriage with Miss Rillie
Tatham, who was born in Cherokee county, that
state. Her father, Benton Tatham, and grand-
father, Thomas, were both natives of North Car-
olina, of English descent, the latter having served
in the Mexican war, as did his brother, James
Tatham. Farming- had been the occupation of
the family for generations and Benton Tatham
w'as so engaged at the breaking out of the Civil
war. in which he served faithfully. He married
Arra \\'right, born in Yancey county, N. C,
a daughter of James Wright, a farmer of Scotch-
Irish descent ; she was the fifth in a family of ten
children and is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Piercy
are the parents of three children, namely : Rob-
ert, William and !Murvel. Fraternally he is an
Odd Fellow, having been made a member of the
order in Monrovia ; politically he is a Republican
on national issues, while locally he supports the
man whom he considers best qualified for public
duties.

MARK HUTCHCROFT. One of the suc-
cessful citizens of the community in and about
Bassett is ]\Iark Hutchcroft, known and esteemed
throughout this section as an upbuilder of the best
interests of the general welfare. He is a native
of Grant county. Wis., born January 27, 1859,
the oldest son in a family of eight children, of
whom three sons and four daughters are now liv-
ing. His father, John Hutchcroft, was born in
Yorkshire, England, where the name had flour-
ished for generations. The grandfather, Ed-
ward Hutchcroft, brought his family to America
and located in Grant county. Wis., where he en-
gaged first as a miner and later as a farmer,
.^fter spending fifteen years in mining, John
Hutchcroft followed farming and finally, in 1874,
brought his family across the continent to Ore-
gon, where they located in McMinnville. Later
he purchased a farm in North Yamhill, Yam-
hill county, and resided there until his death,
which occurred in 1897. He belonged to the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically was
a stanch Republican. His \vife. formerly Mar-
garet Bell, was born in Aberdeen. Scotland, a
daughter of Robert Bell, a merchant in Scotland,
where he also died. Thev also were members
of the Methodist Episcopal Qiurch.

Mark Hutchcroft received his preliminary ed-
ucation in the public schools of Wisconsin and
Oregon, and completed it in the Willamette

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1083

Universit}'. He was reared on his father's farm,
where he remained until attaining his majority.
He then became dependent upon his own re-
sources and with his brother began logging on
the North Yamhill river, from the city of Isorth
Yamhill down to Oregon City and Portland. He
was occupied thus for five years, when with his
accumulated earnings he rented a place and be-
gan raising hops at North Yamhill, still in part-
nership with his brother. On account of his
wife's health he sold out in May, 1895, and came
to California, locating in Santa Monica and en-
gaging with the Santa Monica Lumber Com-
pany. In 1897 he accepted a position as fore-
man of the Bassett ranch, and has held it ever
since, now being superintendent of three hundred
acres of this large property, and engaged in set-
ting it to walnuts. He has purchased thirty acres
of the ranch, which is devoted to walnuts and
alfalfa, while his attention is given to general
farming on the greater part of the place.

Mr. Hutchcroft was married in Oregon to Miss
May Roberts, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of
Henry Roberts, and they have two children,
Grace and Gladys Belle. Mr. Hutchcroft has
always take a prominent place in educational
affairs wherever he has made his home, while in
Oregon serving on the school board, and was also
a member of the Bassett school board when their
building was erected. He is a member of the
Mountain View Presbyterian Church, in which
he officiates as an elder, and politically upholds
the principles of the Republican party.

HON. WILLIAM H. KELSO. For many
generations the Kelso family was identified
with the development of Pennsylvania and
especially with the agricultural and coal-min-
ing interests of Allegheny county. The orig-
inal Scotch immigrant, George Kelso, who
came to the United States in 1760. from the
town of Kelso, Scotland, located in Bucks
county. Pa., from there going- to Cumberland,
near McClure's Gap, and still later, in 1782,
removing to Washington county. His son,
John Kelso, served seven years, seven months
and ten days in the Revolutionary war, and
was one of the one hundred and twenty men
who stormed Stony Point. During his serv-
ice he was made orderly sergeant. The son
of the latter and the grandson of the orig-
inal founder of the name in America, Ben-
jam,in Kelso, was born in 1790, in Allegheny
county^ where he became the owner of coal
lands, bank stock and other profitable hold-
ings, representing about $30,000, which in
those days was considered quite a fortune.
Among the children of Benjamin was John
P>.. a native of Allegheny county and a life-

long resident ot that portion of Pentisylvania,
where he died at sixty-five years. Included
in his possessions was a tract of coal land,
which in time became the inheritance of his
only son, William H., the only daughter hav-
ing died without heirs. In politics he affiliated
with the Republican party from the organi-
zation of the party until his death, and always
he maintained an active interest in party mat-,
ters. Through his marriage to Mary Hall, a
native of Allegheny county, he became con-
nected with an old-established family of Penn-
sylvania, of remote Irish extraction. Her
father, William Hall, was born in Allegheny
county and after an active life as a farmer he
died there aged about seventy-six years, his
wife surviving him until ninety-six years of
age. During the year 1886 Mrs. Mary Kelso
came to the Pacific coast and afterward re-
sided in California until her death in 1905,
at eighty-two years of age. From childhood
she had been identified with the United Pres-
byterian denomination, which was the church
of her forefathers.

On the homestead in Allegheny county. Pa.,
William H. Kelso was born February 24,
1847, and there he passed the care-free days
of boyhood. His education was commenced
in neighboring schools and completed in the
Dayton (Pa.) Academy, after which he re-
mained with his father and grandfather. De-
cember 21, 1870, he was united in marriage
with Miss Mina C. Craig, a native of Indiana
county. Pa., and a member of an old eastern
family. With his young wife he established
a home on a farm and there he engaged in
raising grain and feeding cattle. Meanwhile
the oil industry had assumed gigantic pro-
portions in Pennsylvania and its activities
penetrated to the Kelso homestead, which
proved to possess oil in paying quantities. In
1887 he rented the old homestead of one hun-
dred and sixty acres, which he yet owns.
Eight oil wells on the land produced two hun-
dred thousand barrels of oil during the first
year and three of them are still pumping.
The wells were drilled principally in 1891-
93, Mr. Kelso's share being one-sixth of the
output. Upon renting the old home place in
1887 he came to California and purchased
sixty acres near Inglewood, and also three
blocks in the townsite of Inglewood, contain-
ing fifteen acres, which were iaid out in town
lots and blocks, including his home place,
which is one of the most attractive in the
town. Always interested in movements for
the development of his home town, he has
fostered worthy enterprises and was one of
the founders of the Bank of Inglewood, in
which he now owns stock. For ten vears he

1084

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

has officiated as director of Occidental Col-
lege and in other ways he has proved his keen
interest in educational progress. In his fam-
ily there are two daughters, Anna J. and Edith
A., both of whom were given exceptional ad-
vantages ; the older is married to Arthur J.
McFadden, of Santa Ana, member of an hon-
ored family of this region, and they have one
daughter, Mary ; the younger daughter, Edith
A., remains with her parents.

The religious connections of the family are
with the Presbj'terian Church, but other de-
nominations have received from them active
encouragement and financial aid. In fraternal
. relations Mr. Kelso holds membership with
the Independent Order of Foresters. From
boyhood he was reared to a faith in the Re-
publican party and later studies of the polit-
ical situation did not change his belief.
Though always willing to assist friends who
were candidates for office, he has never cared
for such honors for himself, and the only po-
sition he has held came to him unsought. This
was in November of 1902, when without an
active campaign on his part he was elected to
represent the seventieth district in the state
assembly. During the session that followed
he served on various committees of importance
and represented his constituents with fidelity
and intelligence, but at the expiration of his
term he declined further official responsibili-
ties and honors, and retired to the enjoyment
of private life and the management of his im-
portant business and landed interests.

OLOF LARSON. The years included be-
tween 1880 and 1898 recall varied experiences
on the part of Mr. Larson, all valuable in their
way, but none more so than those brought to
mind by the dates just mentioned, the former
being the year of his advent in the New World,
and "the latter the year in which he located
upon his present ranch in San Bernardino
county, not far from the city of that name. A
son of Lars Hanson and Kestein (Pierceson)
Larson, he was born in Skone, Sweden, Janu-
ary 7, 1858. receiving an excellent education in
the public schools of his native town. Native
thrift and not necessity was the idea in mind
when he took up agricultural pursuits upon
leaving school, for his parents were well-to-do
and no comfort had been denied him.

At the age of twenty-two years, in 1880, Mr.
I^arson carried out a desire which had taken a
strong hold upon him. and in the spring of that
year he was among the passengers who landed
at Castle Garden. Going direct from New
York to Lasalle county. 111., he remained there

five years, after which he returned to Sweden
to visit his parents and friends. Three months
of rest and inactivity made him anxious to re-
sume business, and at the end of this time he
returned to America, this time locating in Ot-
tawa, 111. In 1886 he sought the milder climate
of California, locating at Craftonville, where
he was employed in a hotel for about one and a
half years. After working in a livery in Red-
lands for about a year he came to San Bernar-
dino, but three months later returned to Red-
lands, where for four months he was in the em-
ploy of H. H. Sinclair. A desire to see and in-
form himself in regard to the northern coast
induced him to go to Seattle, Wash., where he
found employment with a company engaged in
laying a cable road, doing construction work
for about four months, when he went to Puget
Sound, there acting as yardmaster in a lumber
3-ard for one year. Still later he became tally
keeper in loading grain on steamers, following
this until returning to San Bernardino in 1892,
from that year until 1898 working in a liverj^
stable here. As has been previously intimated,
it was during the latter year that he purchased
and settled upon his present ranch of twenty
acres, which has been his home ever since, and
which he has transformed from wild land into
one of the most productive ranches in the coun-
ty. Realizing that the first essential for a suc-
cessful ranch depended upon a sufficient water
supply, he put in flumes for irrigation, having
in the meantime set out orange trees and plant-
ed grape vines. The result of his continued ef-
forts to make his ranch a success has been all
that could be desired by the most sanguine, and
much credit is due him for what he has accom-
plished.

In San Bernardino, March 2, 1888, Mr. Lar-
son and Kerstine Swenson were united in mar-
riage. A native of Sweden, Mrs. Larson was
born in Skone, July 21, 1865, the daughter of
Swen Hanson and Ulrika (Rosengrenl Swen-
son. When twenty-one years of age she came
to the United States with her brother and lo-
cated in Ottawa, 111., coming to California the
following year and settling in San Bernardino.
Five children have blessed the marriage of Mr.
and Mrs. Larson, of whom we mention the fol-
lowing: Ivan LTlrik, born January 9, 1890, and
Frances Estella, born December 31, 1891, are
both at home with their parents ; the next child,
Algene Henrietta, was born April 16, 1894, in
Sweden, where Mrs. Larson had gone on a
visit; the daugliter did not long survive the
journey to the United States, dying two days
after her arrival, August 6, 1894; the other chil-
dren arc Algina Kerstina. born June 5, 1899.
and Norman Stanley, born August 10, 1902.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1087

The family attend the Swedish Lutheran
Church at San Bernardino, of which the par-
ents are members. PoHtically Mr. Larson is a
Republican, and fraternally he is a member of
the Woodmen of the World, having joined the
order in San Bernardino in 1897.

CASSIUS C. JOHNSON. Few more con-
sistent, practical or well-balanced careers
have contributed to the development of Pomo-
na and Claremont than that of the late C. C.
Johnson, whose death, September 3, 1906, was
mourned by the citizens of both towns as that
of a personal friend. His remains were in-
terred in the cemetery at Pomona, in which
town so many years of his active and useful
life had been passed.

Indiana was Mr. Johnson's native state, and
he was born in Greencastle April i, 1854, one
of the younger children in a family of ten
born to his parents, Dickson and Nancy (Se-
wein Johnson, both of the latter being na-
tives of Kentucky. Among the early set-
tlers in Indiana who had crossed over the
Ohio river from Kentucky was Dickson John-
son, who settled down as a farmer in that new
country, but he was evidently not satisfied
with the country for a permanent location,
and some time after the birth of his son C. C.
he removed to Vinton. Iowa, near which city
he purchased a large farm. It was there that
his earth life came to a close, leaving to
mourn his loss a widow and a large family of
children. The mother passed away some years
later in Willow Lake, S. Dak. As he was a
mere child when the family removed from In-
diana to Iowa C. C. Johnson was reared al-
most entirel}^ in the latter state, attending
first the public school of Vinton and later
Vinton Academy. Although reared on a
farm he had no taste for farming himself, and
as soon as his school days were over he se-
cured a position in a dry-goods store in Vin-
ton with the idea of learning the business.
When one has definite ideas of a line of busi-
ness which he wishes to follow and with per-
sistency applies himself to its masterv the
victory is half won, and thus it was with Mr.
Johnson, for in a short time he was enabled
to start in the dry-goods business on his own
account. The failure of his health, however,
brought about a change in his plans and af-
ter disposing of his interests in Iowa he came
to California in r88i. The following year he
purchased a ranch of thirty acres on the cor-
ner of San Bernardino and Towne avenues.
For about four years he raised sheep and grain
on his property and then siidivided the ranch

into one and four acre tracts, also opening
Towne avenue. In the mean time he had been
employed in the weighing department of the
Southern Pacific road for about one year.

In 1895 Mr. Johnson removed to a' foothill
ranch east of San Antonio, comprising several
hundred acres. He gave this up, however, in
the fall of 1900 and removed to Claremont,
in order that his children could attend Pomo-
na College. After locating here he engaged
in the real-estate business, and among other
transactions with which his name was as-
sociated was the laying out of a forty-acre
tract on North Harvard avenue, which he sold
off as Johnson's addition to Claremont, and
he also laid out another forty-acre tract ad-
joining known as College, avenue addition.
This business is still being carried on under
the name of C. C. Johnson & Co. In 1902 he
erected the fine residence now occupied by
the family, located on North Harvard avenue.
Far from being self-centered and interested in
his own private affairs only, Mr. Johnson was
on the other hand broad minded and gener-
ous. He was a director in the Citizens' Light
and Water Company, was the organizer of
the Co-operative Water Company, which was
located on his ranch, also assisted in the or-
ganization of the Claremont Lumber Com-
pany, the Citizens' State Bank and the Clare-
mont Inn Company, of which latter he was
president. For many years he had served ef-
ficiently as school trustee of Claremont and
also served as selectman.

In Vinton, Iowa, May 19, 1880, C. C. John-
son was married to Miss Louise Moore, who
was born in Durand. 111., the daughter of
Hubbard Moore. From Vermont, his native
state, Mr. Moore set out with the '4gers for
the gold region, but he did not remain long
in the west at that time. Later he removed
to Durand, 111., and established himself in the
dry-goods business, which he followed until
removing to Vinton, Iowa, there following the
builder's trade. Removing from the middle
west in 1881 he came to California and the
same year purchased a ranch adjoining Pomo-
na, upon which he lived the remainder of his
life, and in addition to its management he also
carried on contracting to some extent. Mrs.
Moore, who before her marriage was Kath-
erine Peck, was born in Massachusetts and
now resides with her daughter, Mrs. John-
son. Five children blessed the marriage of
Air. and Mrs. Johnson: .'\lbert, who is en-
gaged in the electrical business in Covina ;
Tames, who is with the Claremont Lumber
Company; Clarence; Fmma, deceased; and
Katherine. PoHticalh- Mr. Tohnson was a

1088

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

strong Republican, and in his church affilia-
tions was an active member of the Congrega-
tional Church, of which at one time he was a
trustee. Thoroughly devoted to the interests
of this part of California, he was one of those
citizens whose coming from the east meant
so much to the development and growth of
the state.

JOHN H. BREEDLOVE. Coming to San
Diego county nearly a quarter of a century
ago, John H. Breedlove has been an active
and able assistant in developing and advanc-
ing its industrial and business prosperity. He
is pleasantly located near Valley Center, and
is one of the substantial men of his commun-
ity, owning a large and well-cultivated ranch,
and being especially interested in dairying.
A man of unbounded energy and enterprise,
he has accumulated his property by hard labor
and the exercise of the good judgment and
sound sense with which nature generously en-
dowed him, and at the same time he has cul-
tivated to a marked degree those inherent vir-
tues and habits that make him a valued citi-
zen and a true man in every relation of life.
A son of William Breedlove, he was born De-
cember 26, 1846, in Webster county, Mo.,
where he received a common school educa-
tion.

A native of Tennessee, William Breedlove
remained in his early home until after his mar-
riage with Susan Haggard. Migrating then
to the extreme western frontier, he lived for
many years in Missouri, clearing from the
wilderness a good farm in Webster county,
where he became owner of about eight hun-
dred acres of land. In the later years of his
life he started with his family for the Pacific
coast, but while crossing the plains his good
wife was taken ill and died. He continued the
journey to California, but after a brief stay
returned to Missouri, and there spent the re-
mainder of his life. To him and his wife sev-
en children were born.

Brought up on the homestead, and well
drilled in farming and stock-raising from his
boyhood. John H. Breedlove became well fit-
ted for the independent calling which he is
now following so successfully. As a young man,
however, he thought to find some more congen-
ial occupation, and with that end in view went
in the spring of 1864 to Montana, where he
worked for awhile in the mines. Not finding
much profit in his labors he went back to his
native state, where he resumed ranching for
a time. Subsequently he went first to Kan-
sas, then to Texas, where he lived four years,
working at the carpenter's trade in Wood

county. Returning home, he assisted his
father on the farm from 1874 until 1876, when
he came to California, locating in Butte coun-
ty, where he followed farming two years.
Coming from there to San Diego county in
1878, he took up a homestead claim on which,
he resided five years. In 1883 he located near
Valley Center, buying his present ranch of six
hundred and sixty acres, and in its improve-
ment has met with unquestioned success, it
being one of the best and most attractive home
estates to be found in this section of the state.
He pays much attention to dairying, for a
number of years milking from fifty to seven-
ty cows daily, and carries on general farming
to a considerable extent, raising all of the hay
and grain used on the farm.

In Missouri, in 1875, Mr. Breedlove married
Edith A. Rogers, a native of that state, and
into their home four children have been born,
nam.ely : Roy E., of Los Angeles, a dealer in
real estate ; Lillian, also dealing in real es-
tate in Los Angeles ; Grace, at home ; and
Carl. Although not very active in politics, Mr>
Breedlove keeps himself well informed upon
current events, and uniformly supports the
Republican ticket. Religiously -Mr. and Mrs.
Breedlove are members of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church.

EDWARD H. STAGG, of Los Angeles is a
man who, although retired from active service on
account of ill health, still takes a prominent in-
terest in public affairs, and his thirty years ol
intimate connection with railroad work while fill-
ing important positions gives him an insight into
the live questions of the day, which is of recog-
nized value. He was born in Jackson county.
Mo., November 8, 1853, one of a family of seven
children, five of whom are still living. His
father, Rev. Isaac M. Stagg, was a native of
New Jersey and when a young man learned the
tailor's trade at Hartford, Conn. From there he
removed to Laporte, Ind., took a theological
course, was ordained as a minister and accepted
in the Methodist Conference, after which he re-
moved to Logansport, Ind., and continued in the
ministry twenty-four years. His death at East
St. Louis, 111., removed a man who was greatly
revered by all who knew him. The mother was
in maidenhood Marial Thomas, and a native of
New York. She was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Guirch, and an active worker in re-
ligious circles. Her death occurred in 1891 at
Albuquerque, N. Mex.

E. H. Stagg received a common school educa-
tion and immediately after his school days were
over he became an apprentice at the cigarmaker's
trade. In 1872 he beg-an his career as a railroad

J/. j^£o(cuJii^ <£/^^A

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1091

man, entering the service of the Ilhnois Central
as a clerk and was promoted successively to
baggage master and conductor. Later he be-
came connected with the Union Pacific Railway
Company, filling the position of chief bill clerk
at Kansas City, Mo., and when he left that posi-
tion it was to become chief clerk to the terminal
agent of the Denver & Rio Grande in the south-
western part of Colorado. From there he went
to Oregon as chief clerk in the auditor's office,
was soon promoted to the position of traveling
auditor, and in 1897 became chief claim clerk
of the Atlantic & Pacific. In 1898 he was made
auditor of the Randsburg Railway Company,
which position he filled for about a year, when
he was appointed to the position of general
freight and passenger agent of the same com-
pany, and before he retired from that company
in 1904 had attained the office of general man-
ager. Mr. Stagg built the Ludlow Southern
Railroad and served as general manager and
treasurer of the company before his retirement
from active work on account of impaired health.
He still owns large business interests and is at
present a stockholder and director of the High-
land Park Bank. In politics he has always been
an active member of the Republican party.

Fraternally Mr. Stagg is a Royal Arch Mason
and is identified with Signet Chapter No. 57, F,
& A. M., and is Past Grand Secretary of New
Mexico jurisdiction of Odd Fellows. He was
married to Miss Louise Vaughn, a native of
Windsor, Ontario, and has a family of three
children, all of whom are living in California.
Thev are: Mrs. Nellie A. Black, Mrs. Jessie
Norton, and Mrs. Sarah E. McMillan. Mrs.
Stagg is a member of and active worker in the
Methodist Episcopal Church. In everything he
has undertaken Mr. Stagg has met with great
success and has amassed a considerable fortune.

M. ALEXANDER SCHUTZ, A. B., M. D.
A resident of California since 1891, Dr. Schutz
has been an eye-witness to the remarkable de-
velopment of the southern part of the state and
has himself been an active participant in the
growth and progress of Long Beach, where he
has made his home for the greater part of this
time. He is a native of Russia, having been born
at Odessa on the Black Sea, March 2, 1864, the
descendant of a family conspicuous in the af-
fairs of that country, an uncle now serving as
physician to the Royal family. After receiving
a primary education in the private schools in the
portion of the country where he made his home,
he entered college and after eight years gradu-
ated with the degree of A. B. and prepared to
take up the study of medicine, which he had
chosen for his life work. He had intended to

pursue this study with his uncle, but his plans
were changed by political ideas imbibed through
a careful and thoughtful review of the situation
in Russia. He became a Liberalist and before
his plans were completed was placed under sus-
picion and practically deprived of his liberty.
For the sake of the broader freedom to be found
on this side of the water he decided to come to
America, and upon his arrival became a student
in New York, taking up the study of medicine.
His health becoming impaired he gave up his
studies and came to California to recuperate,
completing the course in the Southern California
Medical College, and receiving the degree of M.
D. in 1899. In the meantime, in 1894, he had
located in Long Beach and established a sanita-
rium for the treatment of chronic and nervous
diseases, erecting the buildings and fitting them
out with every modern appliance. Later he en-
larged the property and the first building which
was erected is now used for an office. He con-
ducted the work successfully and at the same time
took a broad interest in the material upbuilding
of his adopted city, putting up the first Liberal
hall in Long Beach, where free speech could be
made. In 1901 he built the Riviera hotel, the
largest of its kind in the city, consisting of eighty
rooms and all modernly ecjuipped for the accom-
modation of the best class of tourists. Fle was
also the organizer of the Improvement Society of
Long Beaoh and established the first batli in the
place, and along many lines has given his best
efforts for the beautifying and upbuilding of the
city. In 1905 he organized the International
Home for children, his object being to protect
the homeless and friendless children of all na-
tionalities and place them in an environment cal-
culated to enable them to develop the best in their
lives. They are taught not only the principle of
universal love and given the best physical and
intellectual training, but are also instructed in
useful trades and occupations and taught to be-
come self-supporting. The home, which is lo-
cated near Signal Hill, built by the doctor and
improved each year, is to be dedicated to them in
perpetuity, to be free from indebtedness and
thereby insuring them the best opportunity to
develop the highest type of manhood and woman-
hood. This is" the plan of Dr. Schutz, to be ful-
filled at his demise, his possessions to be given
to the support of the home.

In Long Beach Dr. Schutz was united in mar-
riage with Pearl Kelly, a daughter of Rev. Isaac
Kellv, and a native of Iowa, from which state
she removed to California in 1895. They are the
parents of a son and daughter, Ahura and
Emeth, both natives of this city. Mrs. Schutz
is identified with her husband in his philan-
thropic work and gives him licr heartiest support
and encouragement. In the midst of his other

1092

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

labors the doctor is the editor of the Southern
Cahfomia Journal of Health, of which about a
thousand numbers are published each month, and
he has also traveled and lectured on Russia ver)^
extensively. In his practice in the sanitarium
he makes a specialty of electricity and X-ray and
is accomplishing much that is bringing him prom-
inently before the public. The doctor is not a
man of one idea, unless it be said — and truly —
that all his actions are founded upon the rul-
ing motive of his life, to be a benefit to human-
ity, for he is broad and philanthropic, a man
of letters and scholarly attainments ; and a true
Socialist in all the comprehensiveness of the
term, freely giving of his time and means in the
furtherance of his ideas, which mean a broader
and better future for the coming generation.

FRANCIS CHERRILL HANNON. A
native son of the state, Francis Cherrill Han-
non was born in San Jose, March 6, 1867, the
son of an honored pioneer. Jeremiah C. Han-
non was born in London. England, December
2. 1828, a son of David Hannon, who married
Martha Cherrill. The grandfather brought his
family to America and located near Zanes-
ville,"Ohio. where he died in 1854. Jeremiah
C. Hannon engaged as a farmer in Ohio until
i860, when he came by the Isthmus of Pan-
ama to San Francisco and for a time followed
mining in California and Nevada. Later, in
San Francisco, he was married and in 1863
purchased a ranch near San Jose and farmed
there for six years, coming at the last-named
date to Southern California, where he pur-
chased one hundred and sixty acres one mile
north of El Monte. This was wild land, which
he began at once to improve, continuing his
labors until 1904, when he retired from active
cares and located at San Gabriel, where he is
now residing. In addition to his quarter sec-
tion of land previously mentioned he owns
seven hundred acres in Beaumont, Cal. He is
prominent in public affairs, having served for
many years as county supervisor on the Dem-
ocratic ticket. His wife, formerly Elizabeth
Carr, was born in County Donegal, Ireland,
and she is also living, at the age of sixty-nine
years. They became the parents of seven
children, of whom six attained maturity, and
are now living.

The eldest in his father's family, Francis
Cherrill Hannon, was brought to this section
in infancy, his education being received
through the medium of the public schools. At
the age of eighteen years he went to Los An-
eeles and entered the employ of the Hellman-
Haas Comoany, wholesale grocers, remaining
with them for some time, beginning at the

bottom of the business and working up until
he was placed in charge of the shipping office.
At the age of twenty-one years he was
appointed ganger of the United States rev-
enue service in the southern district of Califor-
nia, serving under Asa Ellis for three years.
.\t the close of his term he was appointed
deputy sheriff of Los Angeles county^ under
Sheriff Gibson, and after serving one term
was made chief deputy in the street depart-
ment of the city of Los Angeles. His term ex-
pired two years later, when he engaged in
general contracting throughout Southern Cal-
ifornia, taking street and railroad contracts
for ten years. In 1904 he decided to take up
agricultural life and accordingly leased the
ranch which he now occupies, consisting of
one hundred and thirty-five acres, where he
has since dug two wells ninety feet deep each,
and installed a thirty-horse power gasoline
engine, with a capacity of one hundred inches.
He gives his time to the raising of vegetables
and berries for the wholesale markets, ten
acres devoted to the small fruit, forty acres to
vineyard and the remainder given over to
vegetables.

In Los Angeles Mr. Hannon was united in
marriage with Ixliss Frankie Crowley, a na-
tive of Nevada county. Cal., and born of this
union are two children, Ynez and Margaret.
Politically ^Mr. Hannon is a stanch Demo-
crjit and at one time was a member of the
Democratic city^ central committee of Los
Angeles. He is a man of many- splendid qual-
ities of character, which he has displayed
throughout his residence in Southern Califor-
nia, and as a man and citizen has won the re-
spect and esteem of all who know him.

JA:MES B. CARROLL. Among the exten-
sive, practical and progressive agriculturists of
San Diego county, James B. Carroll, of Escon-
dido, owner of a large and valuable ranch, holds
a position of importance and influence. An
active, capable business man. possessing a clear
judgment and amply endowed with those qual-
ities which constitute an honorable citizen, he is
highly esteemed throughout the community, and
takes genuine interest in. the advancement of its
prosperity and in the improvement of its moral,
educational and social status. He is the son of
the late Cornelius Carroll. The latter and his
wife, whose maiden name was Mary Egan. were
both born in Ireland, and there spent their earlier
lives. After their marriage they moved to the
United States and were among the pioneer set-
tlers of Wisconsin, and also lived for several
vears in Minnesota. From there they removed
to Oregon, where Mr. Carroll followed the oc-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1093

cup'ation of engineer and merchant. Later he
came with his family to San Diego county, Cal,
and for a time farmed land in Mission Valley.
Subsequently he located near Escondido, pur-
chasing the place now farmed and occupied by
his son, James B., and here successfully carried
on his independent occupation until his death in
1885. His good wife survived him, passing
away on the home ranch in 1898. Eight chil-
dren were born of their union, four of whom
are living, while four have passed to the world
beyond.

James B. Carroll was born in Salem, Ore., but
most of his life has been spent in San Diego
county. After finishing his education in the San
Diego public school he turned his attention to
the pursuit of agriculture and assisted his father
in the management of the ranch, which the latter
had purchased about four miles from Escondido.
He now has about eight hundred acres of fine
valley land, and is extensively engaged in rais-
ing stock and grain, being one of the largest and
most successful ranchers in this section of the
county.

Living with Mr. Carroll on the parental home-
stead are his three sisters, namely : Mrs. Hollan,
Honora J., and Theresa Carroll. Honora J.
Carroll has been a teacher, and was principal
of the North Salem and North San Diego public
schools, and has also taught music. Mr. Carroll
is greatly interested in the welfare of town and
county, voting irrespective of party in local is-
sues, but in national politics supporting the
straight Democratic ticket. Fraternally he is a
member of San Diego Lodge, Ancient (.)rder of
Hibernians.

BENJAMIN SOULARD \-IRDEN. The
identification of the A'irden family with Amer-
ican development dates from the year 1620, when
one of that name immigrated to this country from
Holland and settled in the vicinity of Dover, Del.
The original house occupied and owned by the
family is still standing, a veritable landmark of
the far distant past. Later generations remained
in Delaware and wielded considerable influence
in their localities. The lineage descends from
Samuel Virden, a man of wealth and high stand-
ing, to his son, Peter, a native of Delaware, but
during early manhood a planter near Jackson,
Miss., and a staff officer in the Civil war. At
the close of that struggle he established his fam-
ily in Philadelphia. Pa., and engaged in busi-
ness in that city, but ultimately returned to Dela-
ware, where in 1900 he passed away at his
Dover home. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Emma Clocey. was born in Pennsyl-
vania of French descent and was connected with
the Soulard family of St. Louis.

Seven children, all but one of whom are living,
comprised the family of Peter and Emma Vir-
den. One of the sons, Edwin, carries on a drug
business at Santa Paula, Cal., and is a leading
citizen of that town. Another son, Benjamin
Soulard, was born at Jackson, Miss., March 7,
1866, and as a boy lived in Philadelphia and
Dover, and attended the Wilmington Academy
in Dover. From youth he has been familiar with
the drug business, his first experience being
gained with W. C. A. Loder, on Sixteenth and
Chestnut streets, Philadelphia. After one year
as a student in the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy he went to Savannah and to other
points in the south, where for several years he
was employed as a drug clerk. On his return
to Philadelphia he opened a drug store on
Twenty-third and Pine streets, but disposed of
the busfness after one year.

On coming to California in 1888 Mr. Virden
engaged as a clerk for his brother at Santa
Paula, but soon went to Ventura, where he re-
mained for two years in a drug store. During
1892 he embarked in the drug business for him-
self at Saticoy and for some years he continued
in that town. At the time of the founding of
Oxnard he came to the new town and rented a
lot containing a cabin of most primitive appear-
ance. In that building he started the first drug
store in the place. Subsequently he replaced the
original building with one of brick, 25x60 feet
in dimensions, and conveniently arranged for the
conduct of his drug business. His attractive
residence in Oxnard is presided over by his wife
(a native of Ventura county, and formerly
Josephine Kelley) and its pleasures are en-
hanced by the presence of their children. Hazel
C. Ruth M., and Benjamin S., Jr.

The movement which resulted in the incor-
poration of Oxnard had in Mr. Virden a stanch
supporter and one appreciative of the benefits
accruing therefrom. At all times he has favored
measures for the development of the city's re-
sources and the introduction of modern improve-
ments conducive to the comfort and health of
the citizens. Since 1902 he has officiated as
clerk of the board of school trustees and mean-
while has been a stanch friend of all plans for
educational development and for the elevation of
the system of public schools. The Citizens Gnb,
an organization highly beneficial to the town,
numbers him among its directors. Strongly
Democratic in his sympathies, he has aided his
partv by working as a member of the county cen-
tral committee and by acting as a deletrate to
the state convention. .'Xfter coming to the coast
he was made a Mason in Hucneme Lodee and
later identified himself with Oxnard Lodo-e No.
^41, F. & A. M. Beginning as a Rova] Arch
Mason in the Ventura" Chapter, he later became

1094

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a charter member of Oxnard Chapter Xo. 86,
of which he acts as high priest. In addition he
has become associated with Ventura Command-
ery, K. T., and Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O.
N. M. S., of Los Angeles, and also belongs to
the Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias.

CLAUS A. JOHNSON. Many generations
of the Johnson family followed agricultural
pursuits in Sweden, where, on a farm near Boras,
Elsborslaen, occurred the birth of the gentleman
whose name introduces this article and who for
some years or until his death, followed the oc-
cupation of a contracting mason at San Diego.
His parents, John and Sophia (Anderson) John-
son, left their native land when somewhat ad-
vanced in years and came to the United States,
settling at San Diego, where tire father died in
April, 1905 ; the mother still makes her home in
this city. Their only child, Claus A., was born
April 25, 1861, received a public-school education
in Sweden, and at the age of fourteen years en-
tered upon an apprenticeship to the general mer-
cantile business in his home town. April 25,
1881, on the twentieth anniversary of his birth,
he landed in New York City after an unevent-
ful voyage across the ocean. From New York
he proceeded west as far as Illinois, where for
more than a year he was employed in the factory
of the Illinois Steel Coinpany at Joliet, Will
county. On leaving that place he was apprenticed
to the mason's trade in Joliet, but within a few
months removed to Chicago, where he completed
the trade. In 1886 he began to take contracts
for mason work and in time became extensively
interested in the erection of large structures.

Overwork in the interests of his occupation
undermined Mr. Johnson's health and for that
reason he relinquished his work in Chicago,
after which he removed to California and trav-
eled throughout the southern part of the state
until he was able to take up active work once
more. Securing land ten miles east of San Diego
in Spring valley he planted citrus and deciduous
fruit trees and improved a valuable orchard
of nineteen acres. The house on the place was
erected by him, and other improvements are also
the result of his handiwork. In order to secure
water for domestic purposes and for irrigation
he piped a conduit from the mountains, this giv-
ing him the very finest qualitv of water and
greatly enhancing the value of his orchard. In
i8gg he commenced to take contracts for stone
and mason work in San Diego, and thereafter
made San Diego his home and business head-
quarters. Among his important contracts was
that for all of the brick work at Fort Rosecrans,
and he also had the contracts for the Pickwick

theatre, the American National Bank building;
and the Fox-Heller block.

While living in Joliet Mr. Johnson married
Miss Clara Johnson, a native of Sweden. They
became the parents of seven children, namely :
Frank, who was associated with his father, in
contracting ; Clara and Ellen, who are now study-
ing nursing in the Battle Creek Sanitarium ;
Fannie, Richard, Ida and Adelena, who are at
home. For several years Mr. Johnson served as
a school trustee in the Spring valley district
while he was making his home on his fruit farm.
His political views were somewhat diflferent from
those expressed by the bulk of the American
voters and brought him into sympathy with the
Socialists. After coming to San Diego he identi-
fied himself with the Chamber of Commerce,
while fraternally he belonged to the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Knights of Pythias. Upon the organization,
June 30, 1904, of the Scandinavian Society
of San Diego (in the founding of which he was
actively interested) he was chosen the first secre-
tar)' of the body and at the expiration of the term
was honored with the office of president, which
he filled acceptably up to the time of his death. ■

MRS. SARAH BLAIR SCOTT. For many
years a resident of Oceanside, Mrs. Sarah Blair
Scott is well known throughout the community
in which she resides, and has the sincere respect
and esteem of her neighbors and friends, who
have ever found her a kind, genial, helpful com-
panion, always ready to aid the needy and cheer
the afflicted. A daughter of William Blair, she
was born in Ireland, of honored Scotch ancestry.

William Blair was born and brought up in
Scotland, being reared to farming pursuits. He
removed to Ireland when a young man, and from
there immigrated with his family to the United
States, settling in Maryland, on the banks of
the Qiesapeake Bay, near Baltimore, where he
resided imtil his death. His wife, whose maiden
name was Hester Moore, spent her entire life
in Ireland, dying in early womanhood. Of their
six children, three are living, Sarah, the special
subject of this sketch, being the fifth child in
order of birth Three of the sons served in the
Civil war, William B., of San Jacinto, Cal., serv-
ing in an Illinois regiment ; Tliomas, living in
Chapin, 111., also serving in an Illinois regiment ;
while John, who enlisted in an Illinois regiment,
was killed while in service.

But three years of age when she came with her
father and the family to Maryland, Sarah Blair
lived there a few years, and then went to Spring-
field, 111., where she completed her education in
the public schixils. In December, 1877, she mar-

^^^^=^ <v^t^.^^--

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1097

Tied Frederick Woodruff, a native of Louisville,
Ky., and they began life together in Tracy,
Minn., where Mr. Woodruff was first engaged
in farming, and afterwards in business pursuits.
Coming to California in 1890, he was engaged
in the butcher business at Oceanside until his
death, in 1892. In 1894 Mrs. Woodruff married
for her second husband Levi L. Scott, who was
•a soldier in the Civil war. In 1891 Mr. Scott
removed from Iowa to San Diego county, locat-
ing in Oceanside, where he opened a barber shop,
which he conducted successfully until his death,
in 1901. He was an industrious, enterprising
man, well liked and highly esteemed, and be-
longed to the Masonic order. Mrs. Scott has
lived retired since the death of Mr. Scott, having
a cozy home on Second street. She is a woman
■of strong personality, and is a firm believer in
1:he tenets of the Christian Church.

WILLIAAI H. FREER. No more pro-
minent family than that established in Califor-
nia by William H. Freer holds rank among
•the representative citizens of Los Angeles
■county, the name l^eing especially well known
and esteemed in El Monte and vicinity. The
pioneer. William H. Freer, was a native of the
middle west states, his birth having occurred
on the little Miami river in Ohio, February
5, 1814. He was a son of Jonathan Freer,
who was born in North Carolina and became
a pioneer settler of Ohio, where with his wife,
formerly Hannah Swords, of Virginia, he en-
gaged in farming. He finally removed to
Randolph county, Ind., and thence to Missouri,
locating in Atchison county, where his death
eventually occurred. His wife survived him
for manj^ years, her death occurring in Cali-
fornia. William H. Freer engaged as a farmer
in Atchinson county. Mo., in which state he
was married and in 1849 came across the
plains to California with his family, consist-
ing of his wife, three children, his mother, two
sisters and two brothers, one of the brothers
dying en route. They traveled by ox-teams
via the Tmckee route and were five months
making the journey, traveling continuously
from May to October. Their first winter was
spent on the Stanislaus river in San Joaquin
county, where INfr. Freer engaged in making
saddle trees. In the spring of 1850 he lo-
cated in Santa Clara county at Berryessa, and
on Penetentia creek, three miles from San
Jose, purchased a small farm and began work
as a farmer and horticulturist. In 1851 he
tried mining for a time, but not caring for the
life ho soon returned to his ranch and as time
passed continued to add to his first purchase
tmtil he owned one liundred and seventy-five

acres. In the meantime, in 1869, he had made
a trip to Southern California and purchased
three hundred and twenty acres of the old
Dalton tract. In 1875 he decided to locate
here permanently and accordingly brought his
family to the property, one and a half miles
north of El 'Monte, the land lying on the
banks of the San Gabriel river and being ex-
ceedingly fertile. He improved the ranch by
the erection of a fine residence, barns and out-
buildings, good fences, and the setting out of
fruit, walnuts, etc. Later he purchased three
hundred and seventeen acres of the old Tibbett
place, paying $5,000 and selling it during the
boom of 1887 for $72,000. He was a very
successful business man, combining good judg-
ment with decision of character, which en-
abled him to see and take advantage of the
many golden opportunities presented in the
early days of the state. His death occurred
February 16. 1902, removing from the com-
munity a citizen highly esteemed and one
whose place could never be filled.

In Grundy county. Mo., November 25, 1840.
^Ir. PVeer was united in marriage with Zerelda
Stucker, who was born in Indiana, March 15,
1824, a daughter of John and Susanna Stucker,
natives of ^^^oodford county, Ky. Mr. and
Mrs. Freer became the parents of the follow-
ing children : Alexander, who died in Los An-
geles county in 1870: James B.. a resident of
El Monte : Ellen, who died in infancy in
Missouri: Matilda: Jonathan Perry, who died
in 1861 ; John H., residing at Arcadia; Martin,
located on the old home place : Hannah, who
became Mrs. Dobbins and died in Tehachapi ;
Thom'as, a resident of El Monte; Delilah, Mrs.
Lowrv. who died in the home in 1887: Mary
L., wife of Thomas Stucker, of Los Angeles ;
Julia, who died in .Santa Clara county when
one year old; and Jackson, and Lee both of
El Monte.

JOHN WESLEY SMITH. Distinguished
for his braverv, courage and coolness on the
field of battle, John W. Smith, of Fernando, won
for himself an honorable record as a soldier dur-
ing the Civil war. and is now just as faithfully
performing all the duties devolving upon him as
a public-spirited, enterprisins: citizen. A native
of Maryland, he was born February 5, 1839, in
Baltimore, where he lived until fourteen years
old, obtaining his education in the city schools.

Removing then to Illinois, he followed farming
until T862, when he enlisted, at Peoria, in Com-
pany B, Eighty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Sharpshooters, which was assigned to the Third
Brigade, Second Division, Fourteenth Army
Corps. Subsequently he took part in thirty-six

1098

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

battles and in numerous skirmishes, being at first
with the Army of the Cumberland, and later
marching- with Sherman to the Sea. The last
battle in which he participated was that of Ben-
tonville, N. C. He took part in the Grand Re-
view at Washington, D. C, where his division
was awarded the first premium. He was fortun-
ate in war, receiving no wounds of consequence,
although while crossing Shepard"s Run, after the
battle at Missionary Ridge, he was injured in the
right hip and for a time was confined to the hos-
pital. He was also under the care of a physician
for some days on account of being sunstruck.

Having been mustered out of service at the
close of the war, Mr. Smith returned to Illinois,
where he continued in his agricultural work un-
til 1888, being quite successful. Coming then to
Fernando, Cal, he purchased a lot in the village
and erected a dwelling house, which he occupied
until the erection of his present residence, when
he sold it at an advantage. Mr. Smith delights in
an active life, and is now kept busily employed in
setting out and pruning fruit trees, an occupation
in which he is an adept.

While a resident of Illinois Mr. Smith married
Delia Sitzer, and they are the parents of five
children. Sheridan M., of Fernando, married
Bertha Hoyt, and they have four children, Lyle,
Cliflford and Clinton (twins) and Floyd; Grace
E., Mrs. Niblock. of Los Angeles, has one child,
Nina; and Frank M.. Ida C. and Ernest T.. are all
deceased.

JEAN TILLAT. Born in the Pyrenees
mountains, in France, December 25, ,1869,
Jean Tillat was the son of Joseph and j\larie
(Hauquet) Tillat, both natives of the same
place, where they passed their entire lives.
They had one son and one daughter, Jean be-
ing the younger child. He was reared on his
father's farm and alternated his home duties
with attending the common schools. He re-
mained at home until he was twenty years
old, when, in 1889, he came to America,
crossed the continent and located in Los An-
geles. He was qualified only for farming at
that time and shortly after his arrival secured
employment on a farm in the vicinity of Santa
Monica, beginning at the bottom and patient-
ly working his way round by round to a bet-
ter position. He engaged in general farming
and the sheep business for some time, when
he went to Arizona and there accepted a po-
sition as commissary on a large sheep ranch
in the northern part of the territory. After
five years he returned to California and was
located for a time in Los Angeles. With his
acchmulated means he decided to engage in-
dependently in sheep raising and accordingly

purchased a band of sheep in Arizona and
brought them to California and herded them
in Los Angeles county. For four years he
continued at this work in partnership with
Anton Earth, of Los Angeles, after which
they sold out and dissolved partnership.

In 1906 Mr. Tillat bought his present ranch
of twenty acres near Arcadia, known as a part
of the Sierra Vista tract, and began its im-
provement and cultivation, erecting a com-
fortable home, barns and outbuildings. He
was married in Los Angeles to Miss Cather-
ine Martinez, who was also born in the Py-
renees and they have one daughter, Mary
Louise. Mr. Tillat belongs to the French Be-
nevolent Society of Los Angeles. Politically
he is a stanch adherent of Republican princi-
ples. He is liberal and enterprising and held
in higfh esteem bv all Avho know him.

CLEASON AMBLER. For a radius of
many miles surrounding the village of Mesa
Grande the name given above is well known,
for not only is Mr. Ambler postmaster of the
village and clerk of the county, but as propri-
etor of a general store in Mesa Grande he has
won many friends and well-wishers by his
courteous treatment and straightforward busi-
ness dealings. He is a son of E. P. and Mary
A. (Willingmeyer) Atnbler, both natives of
Pennsylvania, their home now being in St.
Louis, Mo., where the father is engaged in in-
stalling steam and hot-water heating plants.

Among the six children that were born to his
parents Cleason Ambler was the eldest, and
was born in Belleville, St. Clair county, 111.,
July 21, 1873. Scholastic privileges were not
lacking in his boyhood years, and be it said to
his credit that he made the most of his oppor-
tunities. He first attended the public schools
of St. Louis, was later graduated from the high
school, and still later took a three-year course
in the manual training school of that city. For
a short time after leaving school he held a
clerkship in the same city, but subsequently for
two years assisted his father in his business.
After attaining his majority he determined to
strike out in the world on his own account and
the year 1895 witnessed his arrival in Califor-
nia. Mining and prospecting claimed his at-
tion for the first two or three years, after which
lie was interested in the cattle business in
Yuma. .\riz., for a time. Going from there to
Granite, Mont., he secured employment with
the Granite Bi-Z\letallic Company, and during
the three years of his association wath the com-
pany gave excellent satisfaction as foreman of
the works.

In the meantime Mr. Ambler has established

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD..

1U99

domestic ties by Ins marriage with Carrie B.
Stone ill iSgg. Locating with his family in
San Diego in 1901, ATr. Ambler purchased the
stock and good-will from one of the merchants
of the town, and three months later added to
his first purchase by buying- out another store.
Upon selling out his interests in San Diego
two years later he came to Mesa Grande and in
May, 1903, purchased the general merchandise
store of which he is now the proprietor. Con-
trary to his father's political belief Mr. Ambler
is a Democrat, and takes considerable interest
in all matters that afifect the public welfare.
While a resident of St. Louis Mr. Ambler be-
came a member of the Baptist Church, and he
still adheres to the faith of that body of be-
lievers. His wife, however, is a member of the
Christian Church, holding membership in the
church of that denomination in San Diego. Sev-
eral fraternal associations claim Mr. Ambler's
membership, prominent among being the Elks
and Ma.-^ons.

ANTHONY CLARENCE RECHE, JR.
There are many fine ranches in San Diego
county that as regards productions and im-
provements will compare favorably with any
other in this part of the state. A large num-
ber of these places are owned by men com-
paratively young in years, who started in the
world with but little more capital than an un-
limited amount of energy and perseverance,
and who are succeeding to an eminent degree
in their agricultural labors. Prominent among
this number is Anthony C. Reche, Jr., whose
father, Anthony C. Reche, Sr., was a pioneer
of this place, and gave to Fallbrook its ])resent
name. He is a native and to the manner born,
his birth having occurred June 24, 1873, on a
farm not far distant from the one that he now
occupies.

Born January 31. 1833, in Montreal, Canada,
Anthony C. Reche, Sr., was taken by his par-
ents, in 1835, to Rochester, N. Y., where he
was reared and educated. He there learned
the trades of carpenter and millwright, and
in February, 1854, started by the way of the
Isthmus for the Pacific coast. Locating at
Santa Clara, he followed his trade in that vi-
cinity for two years, and was afterwards em-
ployed in mining in Calaveras and Mariposa
counties, in the latter place also putting up
quartz mills. Going to Visalia, Tulare coun-
ty, in 1858, he there followed' his trade about
three years, erecting sawmills and flour mills.
The following year he was similarly engaged
in San Jose, from there going, in 1862, to San
Bernardino, where he operated a general
store for twelve months. Removing thence to

Temecula, he ranched for a year, and then re-
moved to El Monte, Los Angeles county,
where he worked at his trade for a few years,
in the mean time going back to Temecula to
build a large mill, finally settling there in
1868, and living there a year. Returning to
this country in 1869, he opened a general store,
keeping miner's supplies, at Pala, where he re-
mained a year. Locating in the old town of
Fallbrook in 1870, he took up land, and for
six years was employed in farming. Migrat-
ing then to San Bernardino, he was for fifteen
years a resident of that place, but in 1891 he
returned to Fallbrook, and here resided until
his death. May 27, 1808. He was a Democrat
in politics, a man of many fine qualities of
heart and mind, and a member of the Catholic
Church.

February 22, 1861, at Visalia, Cal., Anthony
C. Reche, Sr., married Menora C. Cayton, who
was born in Iowa, a daughter of Alexander S.
and Elizabeth (Droullard) Cayton. Mr. Cay-
ton died in November, 1849, '" California, and
his widow subsequently married for her sec-
ond husband Dr. R. Matthews. In 1854 Dr.
Matthews and family came by ox-teams to
California, and was the first white man to
settle in Visalia. Mrs. Matthews, now a bright
and active woman of eighty-three years, is still
living. Ten children were born of the union
of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Reche, Sr., namely:
Vital C, of Ocean Park ; Anthony B., born in
1864, and living only one month; Angenora
L., wife of J. H. Maag, of Los Angeles:
Helene H., wife of C. S. Wilson, of Big Pine,
Inyo county; Charles L., of Banning; An-
thony C, Jr., the subject of this sketch ; Flora
L.. the first white girl born in Fallbrook, and
who became the wife of W. H. Buchanan, of
Redondo ; Bernie E., born in San Bernardino,
and now living with his brother Anthony,
with whom he is in partnership : Eugenia M.,
wife of F. W. Roberti, of Seattle, Wash. ; and
Alma B., wife of L. Fields, of Redondo. Mrs.
Reche and her mother. Mrs. Matthews, are
living near -Fallbrook, where they are held in
high esteem and respect.

But three years old when the family re-
moved to San Bernardino, .\nthony C. Reche,
Ir., obtained a practical education in the com-
mon schools of that town, and subsequently
was for two years track walker for the South-
ern Pacific Railroad Company. Removing
Ihen to Fallbrook, where he has the distinction
of being the first child born of white parents
in the place, he worked by the montli until
1901. Starting then as a rancher on his own
account, he is now, in partnership with his
brother, carrying on general farming with ex-
ceptionally satisfactory results, having seven

1100

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

hundred acres of land on the St. Margaret
ranch. Progressive and enterprising, he has
proved himself a thorough master of his call-
ing, and as a young man of integrity and hon-
or is fully entitled to the high position which
he holds in the estimation of the community.

In 1903 Mr. Reche married Mamie Free-
man, a daughter of Jonas Freeman, of whom
a brief biographical sketch ma}' be found else-
where in this volume, and thev have one child,
a daughter named Julia Catherine. Fraternal-
Iv Mr. Reche is a member of Fallbrook Lodge
No. 339, I. O. O. F.

DAVID CRISE, M. D. The initial period
of the agricultural development of America
found the Greise family immigrating from
Germany to cast in their fortunes with those
of other pioneers, and several successive gen-
erations lived and labored upon Pennsylvania
farms. Among the children of George Greise,
a farmer of Fayette county, Pa., was a son,
George W., who was born and reared upon the
farm in that county, and he it was who
changed the spelling of the family name from
its original form to the mode in present use.
During the '70s he removed to Ohio, but after
the death of his wife, Rachel, he returned to
Pennsylvania and there spent his last years in
retirement. His wife was a daughter of Daniel
Stough, a pioneer farmer of Westmoreland
county. Pa., and of German ancestrj'. Both
families were identified with the Lutheran
Church, their ancestors in the old country hav-
ing been among those who followed Luther in
the Reformation.

Upon the old homestead in Westmoreland
county, Pa., David Crise was born May 23.
1846, being a son of George W. and Rachel
Crise. At an early age he proved himself an
apt and diligent pupil in local schools, where
he advanced so rapidly in his studies that it
was decided to educate him for a profession.
In accordance with his preferences he was sent
to the Jefferson Medical College of Philadel-
phia, from which he was graduated in March,
1872, with the degree of M. D. Opening an
office at Mendon. Pa., he gained his first pro-
fessional experience in that town, whence a
year later he removed to Washington county,
in the same state, and after four years became
a practitioner of Beach City, Stark county,
Ohio, where he built up a growing practice
during the ten years of his residence in the
town. In July, 1S88, he came to California and
opened an office at Escondido, where now he
has the distinction of being, in point of years
of nracticc. the oldest physician in the town,
and one of the oldest in the county of San

Diego. Through membership in the County,
State and American Medical Associations, and
through the careful perusal of medical jour-
nals, he keeps in touch with every advance
made in the profession, and is a constant stu-
dent of therapeutics. In addition to possessing
the advantages derived from years of practi-
cal experience in the profession, he possesses
undoubted ability in the diagnosis of intricate
diseases and in the treatment of the same,
which qualities, coupled with his humanitarian
principles and genial sympathy, eminently
adapt him to fill a high place in the local med-
ical field. While he has made a specialty of
the diseases of women and has been unusually
successful in that line, his knowledge of medi-
cine is broad and varied, and is not limited to
any one department of materia medica.

The marriage of Dr. Crise took place in
Pennsylvania June 27, 1872. and united him
with Lucetta Null, who was born and reared
in that state. Five children were born of their
union. The eldest, Vivi Anna, is the widow
of Henry Haliday and resides in Escondido.
The second-born, Lola E., married H. W.
Cleave of Los Angeles. The eldest son, Bruce
L., was graduated from the Escondido high
school in 1898 and from the medical depart-
ment of the University of Southern California
in 1903, after which lie spent one year as an
interne in the Sacramento city hospital, and
then became associated with his father in the
practice of medicine and surgery, with a
specialty of the latter branch of the profession ;
his wife was a Miss Davies of Sacramento. The
two remaining sons of the family are David R.,
a well driller in Escondido. and Harry N., a
graduate of the Redlands school. The family
are identified with tlie Congregational Church
and are contributors to all movements for the
religious, moral and educational advancement
of their comnmnity.

FRANCIS P. BROOKS. A host of friends
have witnessed the efforts of Francis P. Brooks
in his development and cultivation of a ranch
in the vicinity of Norwalk and have appre-
ciated his industry, energy' and perseverance,
which have contributed no little toward his suc-
cess. Mr. Brooks is a native of Nebraska, his
birth having occurred in Butler county, Sep-
tember 6, 1877. His parents, Noah and Esther
(Shuggart) Brooks, the former a native of
New Jersey and the latter of Illinois, located as
pioneers in Nebraska, where they made their
hom.e for some years In the fall of 1901 they
came to California and Mr. Brooks now owns
a ranch of thirty acres in the vicinity of his
son's ranch. He is a Republican in politics and

^f^^^^^tiC^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1103

o.ctive in the advancement of the principles he
endorses, although he has never cared for offi-
cial recognition. He is a member of the Sev-
enth Day Adventist Church. Of their three
children all are living in California.

Francis P. Brooks Avas educated in the com-
mon schools of Nebraska and also spent one
year in the Lincoln State Normal, after which
he returned home and engaged in farming with
his father. At twenty years of age he became
dependent upon his own resources and after
farming in the middle west for two years came
to California in 1901. Subsequently he traveled
all over the state, locating for a time in Mendo-
cino, Humboldt county, and for one year car-
ried on a ranch in Dinuba, Tulare county.
About four years ago he came to Norwalk and
;he first year purchased his present property,
which consists of ten acres located one and one-
half miles southeast of town, which he has
since improved and cultivated. He also leases
about eighty acres, devoted to the raising of
grain. He is likewise interested in team con-
tracting, holding a contract at the present writ-
ing for the hauling of pipe for the Murphy Oil
Company.

Mr. Brooks' marriage occurred in 1898 and
united him with Miss Edna Curtis, a native of
Nebraska, and a daughter of Charles Curtis,
whose death occurred in Santa Ana, Cal. They
have two children, Oris and Hazel. Mr. Brooks
is a Republican in politics and in religion be-
longs to the Seventh Day Ad\'entist Church.

MAJOR THOMAS Y. ENGLAND. Al-
though never a permanent resident of Red-
lands, no man was more interested in its de-
velopment and upbuilding than the late Major
Thomas Y. England, who since he first be-
came interested in California gave his time and
attention to the beautifying of his winter
home, known as Prospect Park and open to the
public as one of the show places of the city.
Mr. England was born in Wilmington, Del,
May 28, 1837, a son of James England, of
Quaker ancestry and English origin. The
father engaged as a leather merchant and
manufacturer of Philadelphia. During the
Civil war Thomas Y. England served in the
First Regiment Delaware Infantry, first as
quartermaster, later as first lieutenant, and
was then made commissary of subsistence on
the staffs of Generals Hancock, Meade and
Wilson, with the rank of captain, but when he
resigned was given the rank of major. After
leaving high school he became associated with
hfs father "and they succeeded in building up a
lar^e and lucrative bu^'ness. in fact, one of the

largest concerns in the world of its character,
it being incorporated under the name of Eng-
land, Walton & Co., and he served as its pres-
ident until his death. Since that time the busi-
ness has continued with Mr. Walton as presi-
dent. Mr. England became an habitual visitor
to Southern California and finally began the
improvement of what is known as Prospect
Park, a magnificent orange grove and park of
sixty acres, which is one of the sightly places
in a city of beauty and magnificent improve-
ments. Major England and his son J. W.
were interested in bringing water into Red-
lands and were unusually active in this line
during the dry years, when it was thought im-
possible to save the orchards. For many years
he served as president of the South Mountain
Water Company, and was also president of the
Orange Growers' Association. Fraternally he
was a Mason, and in his home in Philadelphia
Vv^as associated with the Grand Army of the
Republic and Loyal Legion. He refused a
commission in the Regular army after the
close of the war in order to devote his entire
time and attention to his business. In politics
he was a stanch advocate of the principles ad-
vocated in the platform of the Republican par-
ty ; in religion he was a member of the Bap-
tist Church.

The death of Major England occurred Jan-
uary 2, 1906; he left a widow formerly^ Miss
E. Clarissa Combs, a native of New Jersey,
born near Woodbury, and v/hom he married
October 17, 1862. Her father, Thomas Combs,
was also born in New Jersey of English de-
scent, and there engaged as a farmer until his
retirement, since which time he made his home
in Philadelphia. He was a member of the So-
ciety of Friends, and a much esteemed and re-
spected citizen. His wife was formerly Anna
Haines, a native of Philadelphia, and a daugh-
ter of Joseph Haines, a builder by occupation.
Mrs. England became the mother of the fol-
lowing children : James William, a prominent
horticulturist who makes his home in Red-
lands ; Martha E., wife of Charles S. Walton^
president of the England, Walton & Co. manu-
facturing interests ; and Clarissa E., wife of
Edwin A. Landell Jr., a leather merchant of
Philadelphia. Mrs. England is a member of
the Baptist Church and a generous contributor
to all its charities. To her much of the credit
is due for the development of Prospect Park,
for she was able to give even more time than
her husband because of his business interests
which demanded his attention. She has been
very liberal in all movements tending toward
the general welfare of the community and is
always counted upon to further the best in-

1104

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tere'sts of the city. She spends her summers in
her home in Philadelphia and her winters in
the sweet sunny land of Southern California.

GEORGE W. GRIFEITHS. Since 1850
George W. Griffiths has been a resident of Cal-
ifornia and no citizen has been more interested
in the development of the country and its ad-
vancement among the sister states of the nation.
He was a lad of ten years when he came west,
his birth having occurred in Detroit, Mich.,
August 18, 1840. His father, Charles Griffiths
was born in Wales, and in young manhood went
to London, thence to America and after locating
in the middle west engaged in steamboating on
the lakes between Buiifalo and Detroit. He was
also similarly employed on the Mississippi river
between St. Louis and New Orleans, becoming
captain of a steamer and later part owner, con-
tinuing in this occupation about twenty years.
In 1849 he crossed the plains to California, with
two comrades, Caleb Gosling, of Napa county,
Cal., and George Hughes, of San Francisco,
making the journey in ninety days with an ex-
press wagon and six mules. Their plan was to
have a dinner at four o'clock in the afternoon
and then continue the journey to a good camp-
ing place for the night, and thus lie down to
sleep without the necessity of drawing attention
to their camp by a fire. This undoubtedly saved
them much trouble from the Indians. After his
arrival in San Francisco Mr. Griffiths with Gov-
ernor Burnett built the first stern wheel steamer
that crossed the bay. Later he went to Sacra-
mento and engaged in the hotel business, there
meeting with a success which brought him large
returns, prices at that day being one dollar per
meal. Later he farmed and then followed min-
ing in Nevada. Returning to San Francisco he
made that place his home until his death. Fra-
ternally he was a Mason and an Odd Fellow and
prominent in both organizations. Politically he
was a stanch Republican. His wife was formerly
Mary Ann Whitfield, a native of England, born
in the vicinity of London ; her father, Walter
Whitfield, settled in Michigan, near Detroit,
where he purchased land and farmed until his
death. Mrs. Griffiths followed her husband to
California in 1850, via the Isthmus of Panama,
with her son, George W., of this review, and
daughter, Mary E., now Mrs. Marshall, of Santa
Rosa. A son, William L., born later is now a
merchant in Suisun, Cal. Mrs. Griffiths died in
San Francisco.

The trip to California remains a vivid recol-
lection in the memory of George W. Griffiths,
the steamer trip to the east side of the isthmus,
the mule-back ride across, and thence to San
Francisco bv the old sidewheeler. His education

was received principally in the public schools
of Sacramento, he being later sent east via Nica-
ragua to Burlington College, New Jersey, enter-
ing as junior and graduating therefrom at a later
date. He then took up the study of medicine
under the instruction of his uncle in Detroit,
Mich., Dr. Bradie, with whom he remained a
year, then returning to California via the Isth-
mus of Panama. Upon his return to the state
he engaged in farming in Solano county, Cal.,
later in Southern California and then in Hum-
boldt county. About 1886 he returned to South-
ern California and located in Orange county
where he farmed several thousand acres of land
at one time, he and his sons together farming
more acres than any other individual in South-
ern California. Dr. Griffiths was always pro-
gressive in his ideas and the latest methods and
improvements found him an ardent advocate, and
their farming apparatus was always of the latest
make and most modern that could be obtained.

About 1904 Dr. Griffiths retired from active
cares and made his home in San Francisco un-
til the great earthquake of 1906, when in the
fall of that year he came to Los Angeles and is
now associated with the real estate and oil land
firm of Griffiths, Fackenthall & Griffiths, located
at No. 131 East Fifth street, in the King Edward
building. He was married in Marin county, Cal.,
to Miss Elizabeth Moore, who was bom in Mich-
igan and died in Orange county, Cal., leaving
five children, namely : Mary Catherine, Mrs.
Dowler, of San Francisco; Charles Ed-
win, of Bakersfield; George W. Jr., a con-
tractor in Covina ; William L.. a partner with
his father and also a large farmer near Covina;
and Walter B., a farmer near Napa, Cal. Dr.
Griffiths has been a member of the Episcopal
Church for forty years, his wife having also been
a member of that denomination. Politically he
is a stanch Republican and gives his support to
the advancement of the principles he endorses.

PATRICIO ONTIVEROS. The oldest of
the thirteen children of that noble Spanish pio-
neer, Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, Patricio Onti-
veros, over whose head has passed eighty
years, is physically strong, mentally alert and
temperamentally happy. While no two people
attain longevity from an observance of the
same rules of life, there is reason to believe
that calm and temperate people have the first
claim on borrowed time, and are the greatest
strategists in outwitting the biblical injunction
of the threescore years and ten. This is em-
phasized in the life of Mr. Ontiveros, whose
principal activities have centered around the
ranch upon which he has lived for half a cen-
tury, and of which he at present owns two hun-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHIC.\L RECORD.

1105

dred and twenty acres. This ranch has as its
principal resources grain and beans. Its en-
vironment has taken on the character of the
owner, is substantial in equipment, conserva-
tive in tendency, and vmeventful in its routine.
It is one of the landmarks of the community,
and seems to have always taught its lessons of
thrift, industry and wise conservatism.

Notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Ontiveros
comes from a wealthy and distinguished family
of California, he was unable to attend school
during his childhood on account of their scarc-
ity. He was born March 17, 1826, in Los An-
geles county, where his father was sole propri-
etor of nine thousand acres of land. In 1856,
the year of the famih^ removal from Los An-
geles to Santa Barbara" county, Mr. Ontiveros
married a native daughter of the former coun-
ty, Serrano Leonor, a representative also of an
old and prominent Spanish family. Mrs. Onti-
veros died in 1898, at the age of fifty-eight, hav-
ing become the mother of fourteen children, of
whom four died in infancy. Those who reached
maturity are as follows : Delphina, who became
the wife of Geronimo Carranza ; Rosa, de-
ceased, formerly the wife of Feliz Carranza ;
Sarah, the wife of Miguel Carranza ; Natalia,
single ; Charles, who married Virginia Gon-
zales and has six children ; Thomas, who mar-
ried Paulina Gonzales ; and Pablo, Zoilo, Na-
poleon and Leandro, the four last mentioned
unmarried. The wives of Charles and Thomas
Ontiveros, who were in maidenhood Virginia
and Paulina Gonzales, are members of a very
prominent pioneer Spanish family of Santa
Barbara county.

Though never active in politics, Mr. Onti-
veros has faithfully adhered to the principles
and issues of the Republican party. In religion
he is a Catholic and liberally supports the
church of that denomination at Sisquoc. The
breeding and culture of generations of Span-
iards are reflected in the manners of Mr. Onti-
veros, and he bears an enviable reputation in
the business, social and religious departments
of his home communitv.

JOHN N. TURPENTINE. In tracing the
genealogy of this i^rominent citizen of Escon-
dido we find that his ance.stors were identified
with the colonial history of our country and
bore an active part in the early wars. The ma-
ternal grandfather, Capt. James Harris, who
was an "officer in the war of 1812, descended in
direct line from John Harris, the founder of
the citv of Harrisburg. the capital of Pennsyl-
vania. ' The paternal grandfather, Major Sam-
uel Turrentinc. who was also an oificcr in the

war of 1812, gained his first experience in mil-
itary tactics while serving in the first struggle
with England, and his faithful service in that
campaign led to his selection as an officer
when war was again declared with the same
country about thirty-five years later. About
the time of the second war he removed to Ten-
nessee and there remained until his death some
years later. The Harris and Turrentine fam-
ilies were both stanch allies of the Whig party
during its existence and both proved their loy-
alty to. the stars and stripes in times of peace
and war.

Among the children of Major Turrentine
was Rev. Wilson Turrentine, a native of North
Carolina, who married Elvira Harris, and re-
mained for m.any years a resident of Tennes-
see. When deatli came to terminate his activ-
ities, December 17, 1899, he was then ninety-
four years of age ; his wife had passed away at
seventv-six years, and her father lived to be
within four years of a full century. John N.,
the subject of this review, was born Novem-
ber 2, 1845, '^^'^' 5" boyhood the advantages of
a private school and a course in Lookout Col-
lege were given the lad, who early showed
signs of a fine mind and aptitude for study.
These qualities, combined with religious fer-
vor, led him to enter the ministry of the Meth-
odist Episcopal denomination, attached to the
Central Tennessee conference, under which he
labored in assignments in that region.

Coming to Califorina in 1885, Mr. Turren-
tine first settled in Tulare county and in the
fall of 1886 was chosen pastor of the Visalia
Methodist Episcopal Church. After two years
he removed to Escondido and during the fol-
lowing year he officiated as pastor of the
church of his denomination at this point, to
which he yet remains a generous contributor.
For three terms he held the office of city clerk,
and during the first administration of Presi-
dent McKinley he was appointed postmaster,
which position he now fills with efficiency and
fidelity. The bond agitation, which for some
years demanded considerable attention from
the taxpayers of Escondido, received due at-
tention on his part, and on the occasion of the
burning of the bonds, September 9, 1905, he
was chosen orator of the day. Ever since cast-
ing his first presidential vote for Genera!
Grant he has been a firm adherent of the Re-
publican party and always supports its prin-
ciples with his ballot. While living in Ten-
nessee he became a member of the Shelbyville
Lodge of Chosen Friends in 1866, and his in-
terest in that organization remains unabated.
In addition he has been a leading Mason in
Consuelo Lodge No. 325, E. & A. M., of which
he has officiated as secretary since the organ-

1106

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ization, with the exception of one term, during
which he held the office of master.

The marriage of ]\'tr. Turrentine was sol-
emnized January 2, 1873, and united him with
Mary E. Robinson, daughter of W. T. Robin-
son, of Tennessee. Captain Robinson was a
man of large talents, exceptional attainments
and attractive personality and was beloved
wherever known. Descended from a family
that sent soldiers to the war of 1812, it was
natural that he and three of his brothers
should be loyal to the government, and he not
only enlisted in the Federal army at the open-
ing of the Civil war, but also he raised a com-
pany of volunteers and was chosen their cap-
tain. The talents which made him successful
in war contributed to his prominence in times
of peace. As a member of the state legislature
and the state senate he represented his con-
stituents with honor and dignity, and as judge
of Dekalb county he proved himself learned
in the law and impartial in its administration.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Turrentine con-
sists of four children, namely: Edgar E.,
cashier of the Escondido Savings Bank; Lucy
Harris, at home; Howard B., a clerk in the
postoffice ; and Lawrence, a student in the Es-
condido high school.

HENRY E. McNEALY. The purchase of the
quarter section of land on which he now engages
in farming was consummated by Mr. McNealy in
1892, but it was not until ten years later that he
removed to the tract and commenced to improve
the land. Since coming to the ranch, which is
advantageously situated in the San Marcos valley,
he has fenced the land and made other needed
improvements. Though no longer under the
necessity of constant labor, he is happiest when
busy and so continues at the head of his ranch
in spite of being the possessor of means that
would permit of his retirement. Since thirteen
years of age he has earned his livelihood and
ever since then he has been an indefatigable
worker, yet he bears well the burden of his sev-
enty-three years, and a stranger would judge
him to be on the sunny side of sixty-five years.

A native of Licking county, Ohio, born Oc-
tober 13, 1832, Henry E. McNealy was only
eleven months old when death deprived him of a
mother's afifectionate oversight. His father,
Jeremiah, was born in Virginia, but removed to
Ohio at an early age and eventually settled in
Indiana, where he died. All through his life he
was a tiller of the soil, but a series of misfortunes
befell him, which obliged his son, Henry E., to
take up the burden of self-support at an age when
otherwise he would have been in school. For a
time he worked as a farm hand and later he

learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed
as a journeyman in Indiana, Illinois and Mis-
souri. During the spring of 1859 he joined a
party of emigrants bound for California and after
a journey of six months with ox-teams and
wagons he landed in Butte valley, where he en-
gaged in mining, but met with no special success.
Later he had charge of a pack-train from Oro-
ville and Chico, Butte county, to Susanville,
Lassen county. Removing to Marysville in 1865
he engaged in the trucking business for two
years, and then went into the mountain country,
opened a meat market at Susanville, and for four
years carried on a butcher's business. The next
place to which he removed was Santa Barbara
county, where he engaged in the grocery busi-
ness at Lompoc for seven years. Afterward he
was placed in charge of the wharf at Gaviota,
and remained there until 1902, when he removed
to his ranch in San Diego county.

The first marriage of Mr. McNealy took place
at Oroville, Cal., in September, 1865, and united
him with Mirah Emmons, who was born in New
York and died at Gaviota, Cal., in 1887, leaving
five children, viz. : Edward, Amy, Howard, Ralph
and Mark. In 1891 in Santa Barbara county
occurred the marriage of Mr. McNealy to Miss
Rachel Valenzuela, who was born in that county,
being a member of a pioneer Spanish family of
that locality. Seven children were born of this
union, namely: Owen, Helen, George, Kenneth,
Eva, Carl and Ethel. Mrs. McNealy .is a sin-
cere member of the Catholic Church and is rear-
ing her family in that faith. Ever since attain-
ing his majority Mr. McNealy has voted the Re-
publican ticket, but he has never been active in
public affairs, nor has he desired to participate
in the responsibilities of official positions, yet in
a quiet, unostentatious way he discharges the
duties incumbent upon him as a citizen and a
public-spirited man.

JAMES CHARLES WALLACE. Very
early in the colonial history of America repre-
sentatives of the Wallace family immigrated
from Scotland and settled along the Atlantic
coast, where, in the development of a new
country, they displayed the fortitude and con-
stancy characteristic of their ancestors amid
the trials besetting them in their home land.
The genealogical records show that some of
the family lived in Pennsylvania and other
branches in TMaryland, whence removal was
made to Ohio in the early settlement of the
latter state. James C. Wallace, Sr. who was
a native of Ohio, became a pioneer farmer of
Perrv county in the vicinity of Somerset, and
remained there until an attack of typhoid fever
terminated his career at fiftv-two vears of

^£^^"9^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1109

age. When a young man he had married
Sarah Plummer, who was born in Ohio of a
Quaker family, but did not affiliate with the
Society of Friends, having identification with
the Baptist Church. Surviving her husband
for many years, she attained the great age of
one hundred and two j^ears.

In the family of James C. Wallace, Sr.,
there was a son who bore the father's name
and who was born in Perry county, Ohio,
September 29, 1835. At the age of four j^ears
he was orphaned by his father's death while
yet too young to realize the nature of his be-
reavement and the extent of his loss. It there-
fore became necessary for him to begin to
earn his own livelihood at an age when most
children are in school and free from responsi-
bilities. When he was thirteen years of age
he left his mother's home and went to Zanes-
ville and from there proceeded by steamboat
to New Orleans, thence traveling east as far
as Florida, where for two years he was em-
ployed at Jacksonville m the grafting of
orange trees. The failure of his health caused
him to return to Ohio and after a short so-
journ at Delaware, that state, he returned to
Jacksonville with health restored. A few
months later he removed to Crab Orchard
Springs, Ky., and subsequently learned the
jeweler's trade at Lancaster, Garrard county,
following the same for three years in Ken-
tucky. During the winters he engaged in
hunting and fishing through the south. Even-
tually settling at Oxford, Miss., he carried
on mercantile pursuits for fourteen years and
met with a gratifying degree of success until
the outbreak of the Civil war caused the loss
of his plantation and other properties. Later
he was employed for a year as proctor of the
Mississippi State University and held other
positions in the south, but in 1870 returned to
Ohio to visit his mother, whom he had not
seen for twenty-one years.

The war having crippled his chances for
success in the south, Mr. Wallace came to
California, landing from the steamer at San
Pedro, whence he proceeded eastward a few
miles and became connected with B. D. Wil-
son as foreman of a large ranch. After a year
there he went to Los Angeles and worked at
the jeweler's trade for a year. Meanwhile he
purchased five acres of his present home-
stead, paying $500 for the same. At that time
the only building between Los Angeles and
his property was an adobe stage station and
he is now "the oldest settler of this locality.
After putting up a small house he turned his
attention to the nursery business and mean-
time continued at his trade. The second year
he added five acres to his ranch and in 1892

purchased twenty-three acres adjoining, all
of which he still owns, and in addition he has
leased other lands in order to secure the
needed acreage for the management of his ex-
tensive citrus fruit nursery. His first naval
trees he ordered from Australia and he bud-
ded the first orange trees in California. At
this writing he has fifteen acres of oranges in
bearing. The balance of the property is util-
ized for nursery purposes.

After settling in the south Mr. Wallace met
I\Iiss ^Martha \Vilson, who was born and
reared at Oxford, Miss., and they were united
in marriage May 22, 1861. Seven children
were born of their union, namely : Glencoe ; J.
Wiley, who has sixteen acres of coffee and
rubber land in Mexico and also owns mining
interests in that country ; George A., who as-
sists his father in the nursery business and
relieves him of its many responsibilities ; Ben-
jamin, who practices dentistry in Mexico;
Martha, Mrs. Kennedy, whose husband is
connected with the Los Angeles Lighting and
Power Company; Stella, Mrs. Reynolds,
whose husband is a dentist residing in Pasa-
dena; and Walter, who resides with his pa-
rents, and is a practicing dentist in Los An-
geles. In political faith Mr. Wallace is a
Democrat.

ARTHUR P. FERL. A prominent citizen
in the material upbuilding of San Pedro, Los
Angeles county, is Arthur P. Ferl, who has
been a resident of this city since December,
1904. He was born in Detroit, Mich., Septem-
ber 7, 1865, the fifth in a family of six chil-
dren. His father, Peter Henry Ferl, was a
native of England, who located in Detroit,
Mich., and was engaged in mercantile business
until his death. He married Margaret Mc-
Donnell, a native of the north of Ireland.

An orphan at seven, Arthur P. Ferl was
reared in the home of his older brothers and
sister, receiving his education in the public
schools until he was thirteen, when he was ap-
prenticed to learn the trade of printer. AVhen
nineteen years of age he left home and located
in Denver, Colo., where he formed a partner-
ship with O. L. Smith the same year, the firm
being known as Smith & Ferl, printers and
publishers, which, in the course of a few years,
became one of the largest institutions in the
western country. In 1890 A^lr. Ferl sold all his
interests in Denver and located in Salt Lake
City, where he engaged in the real estate and
mining business until 1896, when, having re-
ceiveci an appointment in the government
service, he went to Washington, D. C, where
he began the study of law at the National Law

1110

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

School, after which he took a course in art at
the Corcoran Art Gallery. In February, 1902,
he was sent to the Philippines on detached
service, staying- in the islands two years. In
November, 1904, he resigned from the govern-
ment service and came to Southern California
and in December located in San Pedro, en-
gaging in the real estate business. Mr. Ferl
has three children, Ronald J., Emily M. and
Arthur Bayly.

Fraternally Mr. Ferl is a Mason, being a
member of Harmony Lodge No. 17, F. & A.
M., of Washington. D. C. Politically he is a
Republican, and is active in his efforts to ad-
vance the principles he endorses. In the pub-
lic affairs of the city he has taken a place of
prominence, being one of the organizers of the
Chamber of Commerce and its president in
1906. He is president of the Pacific Manu-
facturing & Supply Association, chairman of
the board of directors of the Harbor City Sav-
ings Bank and is identified with many other
enterprises in the rapidlv srowing citv of San
Pedro.

CHARLES MASON. The identification of
Charles Mason with the business interests of
San Pedro has brought to him a personal success
as well as winning for him a place of importance
among the representative citizens of his home
town. He is now acting as superintendent of
the San Pedro Water Company, with which he
has been connected since its organization, and is
bringing to the discharge of his duties the ability
and energy which have distinguished his career
thus far, and which bid fair to place him among
the successful men of this section. Although not
a native son of California Mr. Mason is a west-
erner by birth, having been bom in Florence,
Pinal county, Ariz., January 31, 1881. His fa-
ther, A. Mason, was a native of Bethel, Me., and
with a brother, Charles, crossed the plains in an
early day and from California went later to Ari-
zona, and in the vicinity of Florence Charles
Mason was one of the discoverers of the Silver
King mine, of which A. IMason served as super-
intendent for eight years. Later he engaged in
prospecting and mining with headquarters in
Los Angeles, and remaining so occupied until
his death, which occurred August 10, i8q2. He
was a man of energy and ability and the descend-
ant of patriotic ancestry, his grandfather having
served valiantly in the Revolutionarv war. Fra-
ternally he was a Knight Templar Mason. He
is survived by his wife, formerly Mercedes
Robles, who was born in Sonera, Mexico, and
she now makes her home in Los Angeles. She is
the mother of four children, namely: Mercedes,
wife of AT. Borquez, of Los Angeles : Charles.

the personal subject of this review : Guadaloupe,
wife of Bruce Cass, of Ramona, Indian Territory;
and Moses, associated with the firm of Cass &
Smurr, of Los Angeles.

Charles Mason was reared to young manhood
in Los Angeles, receiving his preliminary edu-
cation in the public schools of that place, after
which he entered St. Vincent's College. Upon
the completion of the course in that institution
he was graduated with honors, when he became
a student in the Southern California Business
College. L'pon leaving school he became as-
sociated with Hulse, Bradford & Co., as sales-
man, and continued with them for some time,
when he became connected with the Sunset
Telephone and Telegraph Company. LTpon
the organization of the Home Telephone Com-
pany he accepted a position on switch-board
work and remained with them until 1903,
when he resigned, and coming to San Pedro
engaged as bookkeeper for the Seaside Water
Company. He remained with them until their
disorganization, when he became superinten-
dent of the new company, that of the San
Pedro Water Company. This company supplies
water to both San Pedro and Wilmington, its
source of supply being from the pumps at the
latter place, while at San Pedro they have a
reservoir with a capacity of two million, five hun-
dred thousand gallons, located on a knoll one
hundred and fifty feet above the city and with
a sixty-five pound pressure. They have six miles
of water mains, from which they supply thirteen
hundred consumers, and are constantly extend-
ing the lines to meet the needs of the rapidly
growing city.

Mr. Mason was married in Los Angeles to
Nellie Marie Sessler. a native of Ohio. In his
fraternal relations Mr. Mason is a member of
the Elks lodge at San Pedro, in which he is
chaplain. He is a member of the Giamber of
Commerce and takes an active and helpful in-
terest in all that pertains to the gro\\"th and
progress of the place.

WILLIAM L. RAMEY. One of the flourish-
ing industries of San Diego county is the Es-
condido Lumber, Hay and Grain Company,
proprietors of the Escondido roller and feed mills,
wholesale dealers in grain, hay, rolled barley,
etc., retail dealers in lumber, brick and cement,
and owners of warehouses at Escondido, San
Marcos and Buena. The president of the com-
Dany, William L. Ramey, was also its organizer.
Under the orginial form of organization the com-
pany engaged exclusively in the lumber busi-
ness, but later articles of incorporation were se-
cured and the business was enlarged by the in-
troduction of milling, hay, grain, etc., since which

1359858

tbAftAuf M«^niU||

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1113

time there has been a steady and gratifying
growth. In addition to the management of the
office and yards. Mr. Ramey is vice-president
of the Escondido Savings Bank and the Bank
of Escondido, and is also the owner of a ranch
of one hundred and eighty-five acres near town,
on which grain is raised, and shipments are made
from the lemon and orange groves to eastern
markets.

A native of Champaign county, Ohio. Mr.
Ramey was born December lo, 1845, being a
son of William and Frances (Neff) Ramey, "the
former born in A'irginia of French lineage, the
latter born in Pennsylvania. The maternal
grandfather, Daniel Nei¥, was a soldier in the
Revolution and the w?r of 181 2, and the great-
grandfather, Jacob Neff. served in the first strug-
gle with Enghnd. Lieutenant-Governor Jacob
NefF is a cousin of Mrs. Frances Ramey. About
1829 William and Frances Ramev went to Ohio
on their wedding journey and became pioneers
of that state. After a number of years they
moved to Hancock county, 111., where Mr. Ramev
became the owner of farm lands and stock and
acquired what was in those davs considered a
com.petency. At his death in 1892 he was eighty-
two years of age : his wife passed away in 1887,
when sevent^^-eight years old.

Bv embarking in the grocery business William
L. Ramey became a business man at twenty-
two years of age, and later he carried on genera!
merchandising in Clayton, 111., but after three
years he removed to Ferris, a village on the
Ouincy branch of the Chfcago, Burlington &
Quincy Railroad, in Hancock county, and there
he carried on a mercantile store for four years.
On account of poor health he came to Califor-
nia in 1874 and settled in San Francisco, wdiere
he was with the Southern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany for six years as their city collector and
manager of their city wharf. On fully regaining
his health he returned to the east on a vacation,
but decided to remain, so forwarded his resig-
nation to the railroad officials. For a time he
carried on a grain business at Clarinda, Iowa, be-
sides which he had charee of the grain elevators
at other stations on the Humeston & Shenandoah
Railroad. After a vear the railroad company
ofifered him special inducements to take charge
of various stations, including Andover, Blvthe-
dale, Ridg-ewav, Bethany. New Hampton, Albany
and Darlington, and he bought grain at all of
these places. Owing to a shortage in the crops,
his work was unusually difficult and trving.
About 1884 he disposed^ of his interests in Iowa
and removed to Madison, Neb., where he en-
gaged in the hardware business and became a
■stockholder in the First National Bank of Madi-
son unon its organization.

Owing to the failure of his wife's health Mr.

Ramey decided to remove to California, and in
1 89 1 he came to this state in company with A.
W. Wohlford, now the president of the Bank
of Escondido and a stockholder in the Escondido
Lumber, Ha}' & Grain Company, he and Mr.
Ramey owning the majority of the stock in both
enterprises. Their settlement in Escondido has
proved most helpful to the business interests of
the town, for they are men of high honor, ex-
ceptional character, irreproachable integrity, liv-
ing up to their obligations and expecting others
to do the same. Not a little of the recent de-
velopment of the town may be attributed to
their foresight, intelligence and enterprise, and
they have been promoters of every measure for
the upbuilding of local interests.

The first marriage of Mr. Ramey took place at
Cartage. Ill, October 10, 1872, and united him
with Miss Helena Freas, who was born in that
state and died in California in September, 1892.
In the fall of 1894 he married Mrs. Florence
Stevenson, by whom he has a daughter, Florence,
now a student in the Escondido schools. By
her former marriage Mrs. Ramey has two sons,
namely : Lloyd Stevenson, cashier of the Bank
of Escondido; and Frank Stevenson, manager
of the supply department of the Sunset Telephone
Company at Los Angeles. While living in Han-
cock county. III, Mr. Ramey was made a Mason
in 1872 in the Carthage lodge, and afterward
was raised to the chapter and commandery de-
grees; both'in Illinois and at Madison, Neb., he
was an officer in the lodge and active in its work.
Politically he votes the Republican ticket and is
intelligently conversant with public affairs. With
his family he holds membership in the Escondido
Congregational Church.

WESLEY HASKELL. The family repre-
sented by this enterprising busiiiess man came to
the United States in an early period and set-
tled in New England, where his father, Rev. C. L.
Haskell, a man of fine mental attainment and
extended influence, long served as pastor in
Methodist Episcopal churches in the state of
Maine and rose to a position of eminence in his
denomination.

The son. Wesley, was born at East Boothbay,
Me. He is known to be a self-made man of cul-
ture and refinement, having educated himself in
the eastern schools and at Boston University,
where he acquired a broad and liberal education.
He was ordained to the ministry of the Congrega-
tional denomination and has held pastorates in
Providence, R. I., and in Peoria and Rockford,
III., in each of which places he ministered to
large and influential congregations. Upon leaving
the central states in 1Q02 he came to California
where for a brief period he preached in San

1114

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Francisco and Oakland, and afterward acted as
pastor of the First Unitarian Church of Los
Angeles. On ^account of failing health, and by
the advice of his physician he gave up the min-
istry and entered upon business 'affairs. It is
a matter of remark among his acquaintances
that he is possessed of unusual ability as a bus-
iness man and the result of his shrewd man-
agement and keen foresight is evidenced in the
present growing condition of his enterprises.

The Ocean Park IMilling and Manufacturing
Company, a consolidation of Groesbeck & Ritchie
and the Ocean Park Planing Mill Company, of
which Mr. Haskell is the president, is located
at Ocean Park. This establishment is one of
the largest manufacturing concerns of its kind
on the coast. The plant is equipped with ma-
chinery of the most modern and approved pat-
terns ; its equipment, indeed, being surpassed by
perhaps no mill in all of Southern California.
This concern makes a specialty of fine furniture
of every description and mill work in all its
branches.

Mr. Haskell is also interested in insurance.
He is the supreme treasurer of the Commoners
of America, a fraternal beneficial order with
headquarters at Los Angeles, chartered under
the laws of the state of Cahfornia for the mu-
tual benefit of its members and their beneficiaries.
This order has surpassed in growth since its
organization anything known in the history of
fraternal insurance in the L'nited States.

No citizen of Southern California possesses a
firmer faith in its future than does Mr. Haskell,
and he proves his faith by his continued connec-
tion with its business interests. No section of
the country has interested him to such a degree
as this, and on the other hand no business man
has had its interests more at heart. In every com-
munity citizens of intelligence, broad culture,
liberal views, keen sagacity and wise forethought
are valued acquisitions, and he has proved to be
such in his social and business relations. In na-
tional politics he votes with the Republicans,
but in local matters he considers national prob-
lems to be of less importance than the selection
of men of high honor and accented standing for
such positions as are in the gift of the citizens.
The Masonic fraternity numbers him among its
warm supporters, and in addition he is affiliated
with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

GEORGE ELLO CROSS. In 1885 George
EUo Cross came to California with his parents
and since that time has been a resident of this
section of the state, now being located in the
vicinity of Puente and engaged in general farm-
ing and the wholesale hay and grain business.
He was born in Cape Vincent, Jefferson county.

N. Y., August 6, 1874; his father, George Cross,
was born in Chaumont, N. Y., and engaged as a
farmer. His death occurred in 1877. His pater-
nal grandfather was born in New England, of
Scotch descent. His mother was in maidenhood
Harriet Canfield McPherson, also a native of
Jefferson county, and the daughter of William
McPherson, who was born in New Hampshire
of Scotch descent, and became a farmer in New
York. She still survives and makes her home in
Puente. She has four children, namely: John,
of Los Angeles; Jennie D., wife of Thomas R.
Greene, deputy postmaster of Puente ; William
M., the Southern Pacific agent at Lemon, and
George Ello.

When eleven years old the family removed to
Orange county, Cal., where two brothers of the
mother resided, Robert and Steven McPherson,
and in that place Mr. Cross attended the public
schools and later completed his education in Los
Angeles. At fifteen years he took up the study
of telegraphy and after completing it accepted
a position as operator for the Southern Pacific
Railroad, and in 1892 was transferred to Puente
in a like capacity, remaining there for four years.
For a time thereafter he was located at Tracy,
Wesley and Oakville, spending two years at the
three places. Later he became agent at Duarte
for two years, was then located at Bassett for a
like period, when, in 1902, he resigned to en-
gage in the hay and grain business in Puente.
He has since become interested in the Puente
Warehouse Company, and is serving at the pres-
ent writing as secretary and manager of the en-
terprise. For storage of grain they have the
Buck warehouse, a building 200x50 in dimen-
sions with a capacity of forty-five thousand sacks,
and located on the Southern Pacific Railroad. He
has also interested himself successfully in the
raising of grain and alfalfa, having sixty acres
of alfalfa and about two hundred and thirty-
five acres devoted to grain, besides which he
also raises some stock. He owns a residence in
Puente which is presided over by his wife, form-
erly Miss Josephine Rowland, a native of Puente,
and the daughter of Albert Rowland, a well-
known pioneer of California, who died in 1891.
They have two children, Cecelia and Albert.

In 1904 Mr. Cross was appointed postmaster
of Puente and at that time he purchased and
remodeled the building which is now utilized for
the postoffice. He is a Republican politically
and takes an active interest in advancing the
principles he endorses. He is prominent fra-
ternally, having been made a Mason in Lexing-
ton Lodge No. 104, of El ]Monte, and both him-
self and wife are members of the Order of East-
ern Star, No. 172. also of El Monte. Mr. Cross
also belongs to the Modern \\'oodmen of Amer-
ica of Lemon, and the Fraternal Brotherhood

^^^....t^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1117

of Puente. He has always taken a keen interest
in all educational affairs and is now a member
of tlie board of trustees of the Hudson district,
and is serving at the present writing as clerk.

JOSEPH H. BURKE. Intimately asso-
ciated with the pioneer days of the state of
California, Joseph H. Burke survived the per-
ils and privations of that historic time and
lives to witness and participate in the develop-
ment of resources which has made it one of
the first states not only of the west, but of the
entire Union. He is now a useful citizen of
Rivera, Los Angeles county, in which section
of the state he has spent the greater part of
his time since coming west in 1853, although
at different times being located at other points
for brief sojourns. Mr. Burke is a native of
Tennessee, his birth having occurred in Roane
county, April 14, 1831 ; his father, Milton
Burke, in manhood a minister of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church and also a physician, was
a native of Virginia, as was also his mother,
in maidenhood Phoebe Hartley. His paternal
grandfather, John Burke, also of Virginia,
married a daughter of Nathaniel Osborn, who
was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and in
the war of 1812, taking part in the battle of
New Orleans at the close of that conflict. He
had thirteen wounds and received a pension
for each wound. He lived to the unusual age
of one hundred and thirteen years and six
months, witnessing the days of colonial devel-
opment, the statehood growth and progress,
and the shadow that preceded the struggle that
almost rent our fair land asunder.

When he was nine years old Joseph H.
Burke was taken to Pulaski county. Mo., by
his parents, and there they spent the ensuing
four years, after the death of the mother re-
turning to Tennessee, and later to Camden
county. Mo., where the father passed the re-
mainder of his life, dying at the advanced age
of eighty-eight years. At the age of fifteen
years Joseph H. Burke set out in life for him-
self, becoming dependent upon his own re-
sources ; he went first to Huntsville, Ala.,
where he worked on a cotton plantation, and
later in Arkansas learned the trade of wagon-
maker and blacksmith. Subsequently for a
year and a half he worked at his trade in Lit-
tle Rock, Ark., after which he went to Fort
Smith, same state, and there purchased an in-
terest in a wagon and blacksrnith shop, and
with his partner conducted the same success-
fully for a year and a half. Stricken with ty-
phoid fever about this time, he found on re-
covery that his partner had taken advantage
of him and he therefore decided to withdraw

his interests from the concern. Attracted to
the Pacific coast, in the fall of 1852 he went
to New Orleans and there boarded a steamer
for Galveston and Matagorda Bay, and from
the latter point traveled by stage to San An-
tonio, Te.x., where, the following year, he
joined the George Wentworth party, com-
posed of seventy-seven men, and one of the
most completely equipped trains that crossed
the plains in that year. Every man was well
armed, carrying a rifle and six-shooter and a
large supply of ammunition ; they had ten big
wagons, two hundred and eighty mules, and
sixteen hundred Texas steers, and George
Wentworth brought with him a span of horses
which he later sold in San Francisco for
$2,000.

The compan}^ disbanded in Los Angeles,
where Air. Burke found employment in David
Anderson's shop, receiving $32 a day. After
five months he joined a party of six to mine
gold at Santa Anita, on what is now a part of
"Lucky" Baldwin's ranch, but this proving a
failure he entered into partnership with a Mr.
Hulett, one of General Walker's comrades, of
Sonora raid fame, and with him started by
boat from Wilmington to San Francisco. Be-
ing detained at Santa Barbara they fell in with
a party of travelers, a member of whom was
Professor Trask, the state geologist, and Mr.
Hulett, being an educated man, joined the
company as assistant geologist at a salary of
$150 per month. Left without a partner Mr.
Burke joined a party of three government wag-
ons on their way to Fort Tejon, where he be-
came their wheelwright, and later conducted a
mercantile establishment in that location. Not
meeting with the desired success in this line,
he returned to Los Angeles and located a
wheelwright business on Main street, where
the German-American Savings Bank now
stands, purchasing a lot with one hundred and
fifty feet on Main and thirty feet on First
street, for the sum of $95. Later he sold this
for $500. About this time (1862) he was of-
fered the site of the Nadeau hotel for $420, but
did not buy. He carried on his shop success-
fully for a few years, in the meantime becom-
ing the owner of one hundred and thirty-five
feet on the west side of Main street, in the cen-
ter of the block, between Third and Fourth
streets : in 1864 he traded this to ex-governor
John D. Downey for two hundred and fifty
acres of land at Downey. He established his
home there and for the ensuing twentA'-one
years engaged in the cultivation and improve-
ment of his property, carrying on general
farming and also planting a walnut orchard,
which has brought him large financial returns
with the passing years. His money accumu-

1118

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lated rapidly and he soon loaned it out at as
high a rate of interest as two per cent a month.
Through his marriage with Miss JMary Hun-
ter, in 1855, he had five children, and desiring
to give them landed property, he decided to
purchase more land, and accordingly bought
the old Barton place at Rivera, consisting of
one hundred and ninety acres. Five acres of
this ranch was devoted to a vineyard, and the
first year he owned it each acre of the vine-
yard netted him $200. This induced him to
set out one hundred and seventy-five acres on
"his two ranches to vineyard, and the immense
operations called for the building of a winery
on the property. For some years he engaged
extensively in the manufacture of wine, but
after his vines were destroyed he planted wal-
nuts and oranges. The greater part of his land
he has now divided among his children, who
are, named in order of birth : Frank, of Down-
ey ; Henry, who died leaving two children, a
daughter, now deceased, and Pascal, who
lives with his mother at Garvanza ; Osburn,
who lives a half mile south of Rivera ; Kizzy,
wife of Arthur \\'hite, of Rivera; and Ulila,
wife of John Shade, near Rivera.

ATr. Burke's wife was born in Greene coun-
ty. 111., a daughter of Jesse and Keziah
(Brown) Hunter, the former of whom was
captain of a volunteer company in the Mex-
ican war, and accompanied Generals Steven-
son and Cook overland to acquire possession
of California, and with the united forces of
Commodore Stockton succeeded in taking Los
■\ngeles. Captain Hunter was later appointed
Indian agent but resigned, and driving a herd
of cattle to northern California, engaged in
the stock business. His family, consisting of
wife and five children, came west in 1849 and
settled in Sacramento, Cal., where their home
remained for three years, when, in 1852, they
riemoved to Los Angeles. In this city occurred
the death of Captain Himter in 1877, after hav-
ing acquired possession of a large amount of
land, owning a part of the Verdugo ranch,
and having altogether thirty-seven hundred
acres. His wife also died on the home ranch.
They were the parents of the following named
children : William, deceased ; Asa, Mary,
Jesse, Samuel, Martha and Elizabeth.

Throughout his entire life Mr. Burke has
maintained a strong interest in all public
questions, and although Democratic in his po-
litical allegiance he is above all else a patriot-
ic and loyal citizen, and can always be counted
upon to further any plan for the advancement
of the general welfare. A man of unusual
ability, he has steadily risen to a position of
financial independence, acquiring large prop-
erties and at the same time building up for

himself an honored place in the citizenship of
whatever community he has made his home.
Early in his youth he showed signs of mechan-
ical and inventive ability, engaging at the age
of seventeen years with a partner in the turn-
ing and calking of flat boats, and through an
invention of a new process for this work Mr.
Burke was paid the large sum of $10 per day.
His personal characteristics, in youth and in
manhood, have been such as to win for him a
wide and lasting friendship throughout not
only his home section, but the entire state, and
give him a place among the representative cit-
izens of the pioneer days of California.

CHARLES C. BROWN. As city engineer
of Redlands Charles C. Brown has acquired a
popularity and prominence which place him
among the representative citizens of this sec-
tion of Southern California. He was bom in
New Brunswick, near AVoodstock, December
16, 1859, a son of Charles Brown, a native of
the same locality and a pilot on the St. John's
river until his death, at the age of forty-seven
years. He was the descendant of English an-
cestry, and married into an old Alassachusetts
family, his wife being Lizzie Hovey; she sur-
vived her husband and is now living in Nor-
walk. Cal., at the age of seventy-four years, re-
taining her health and faculties. They had two
children, Sanford, residing in Norwalk, and
Charles C, of this review.

When five years old Charles C. Brown was
taken by his parents to Hodgdon, Me., attended
its public schools and later became a student in
Holton Academy, at Holton, Afe., from which
institution he was graduated in 1882. Enter-
ing Colby' University he took a four years'
course and graduated therefrom with the de-
gree of A. B. in 1886. He then came to Cali-
fornia and in Los Angeles count}' entered the
employ of the Santa Fe Railroad in the sur-
vey corps and on the San Jacinto line worked
on the coast line to San Diego. In 1887 he was
engaged in surveying in AAHiittier and vicinity,
laying out the town of Studebaker and several
additions to Whittier. He also worked as a
general surveyor and civil engineer on
irrigating canals, and spent one year at Rands-
burg as assayer and surveyor. During this time
he made his home at Norwalk, Los Angeles
county. Returning to Whittier he installed the
Whittier water works, planning and building
their present water system. In 1900 he came to
Redlands in the interests of the Yucaipe Land
& Water Company, planning and building their
system to Crafton and East Redlands, which
adds to their water supply an increase of two
hundred and fifty inches. In 1902 he located in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1119

Redlands, having; purchased two years previous
a ranch where he had set out an orange grove
and installed an irrigation system. He is now
the owner of a ranch of two hundred acres of
land with seventy acres under the pipe line,
and forty acres are in oranges and some in al-
falfa. He was appointed city engineer of Red-
lands in February, 1905.

In Los Angeles Mr. Brown was united in
marriage with Miss Amelia E. Shrake, a native
of Indianapolis, Ind. The}- are members of the
First Baptist Church of Redlands, and politi-
cally Mr. Brown is a stanch advocate of Re-
publican principles. Fraternally he was made
a Mason in Whitticr and is now a member of
Redlands Lodge No. 300, F. & A. M., and is
also identified with the Foresters. He is a
member of the Board of Trade of Redlands and
interested in the development and advance-
ment of the cit3''s welfare.

ALMER HUNT. The tract of land which
has been under the supervision of Mr. Hunt
for some years and which he is operating with a
gratifying degree of success comprises two hun-
dred and fifteen acres lying near Downey. When
he came to California at the age of about twen-
ty-eight years he secured employment for some
months with a hay press at Hynes and then be-
came a laborer on a ranch. After a month in
that capacity he was made foreman and now
rents the same place, of which he has one hun-
dred acres in alfalfa and makes a specialty of the
milk industry. On the ranch there are sixty
milch cows with twenty-two head of young cat-
tle, and the milk from the dairy is handled bv the
Alpine Farm & Dairy Company. An abundance
of water is provided by four wells operated by
two pumping plants. In addition to the dairy
industry, he is also interested in the breeding
of fine horses, owning some of the finest breeds
to be found in the state. On Maplewood stock
ranch, as his place is known, mav be seen the
following: Leland Rex 34546, a handsome bay
of eleven hundred and eighty ])ounds : Ventura,
a dapple gray Percheron, of nineteen hundred
and seventy-five pounds : Black Louie, a black
Bel-jian stallion of fourteen hundred pounds ;
Richwood, a black Silkwood pacer, weight twelve
hundred pounds ; and Grover, the latter a large
Spanish jack, weight nine hundred and seventy-
five pounds.

In the southern Dart of Insrham county, Mich.,
Aimer Hunt was born October ig, T87S. being
a son of T. H. and Marv J. (Barnum) Hunt,
natives respectively of Michigan and New York,
and botli now deceased. Throughout all of his
active life the father followed the trade of a
millwrisht. There were in the faniilv a son and

two daughters, the latter both living in Mich-
igan. The former, whose name introduces this
sketch, was given such advantages as the com-
mon schools of Ingham county afforded and at
an early age became self-supporting through his
work in the lumber woods. Not only did he
have charge of a lumber camp in Clare county,
Mich., but in addition for three years he owned
a camp of his own. On disposing of his inter-
ests in Michigan he came to California in 1902
and has since been busily engaged in farm
activities in Los x^ngeles county.

The marriage of Mr. Hunt took place in Mich-
igan February 25, 1900, and united him with
Emma A. Lent, a native of Pennsylvania, and
a daughter of C. A. and Sarah A. (Gore) Lent,
natives of Pennsylvania and for many years
farmers of Michigan. Eventually Mr. Lent
brought his family to California and settled in
the southern part of the state. At this writing
he is employed as foreman of a borax company
in Death valley. In his family there were five
children, Mrs. Hunt being the oldest. To the
information gleaned from text-books during her
school years she has added the culture derived
from careful reading of the best literature, and
has further broadened and deepened her life by
the element of religion, being a faithful member
of the ]\Iethodist Episcopal Church. To her only
child, Albert J., both she and Mr. Hunt are giv-
ing all the opportunities within their power in
order that he may be trained for a useful man-
hood. While Mr. Hunt has never been active in
politics he is none the less pronounced in his
views and favors the Republican platform in
national questions. During Ijis residence in
Michigan he was an active member of the Tent
of the Maccabees and also holds connection with
the Modern Woodmen of America.

AUGUST ALBERT GOETTING. A lib-
eral, enterprising citizen, August Albert Goett-
ing is prominent among the upbuilders of River-
side and San Bernardino counties, having been
engaged as an agriculturist in this section since
1 89 1. He was born in Gallipolis. Gallia county,
Ohio. March 2, 1862, the third in a family of
six sons and three daughters born to his parents,
August and Frederika (Hess) Goetting. They
were both natives of Germany, where they were
married, immigrating to America when Mr.
Goetting was but twenty-four years old. Locat-
ing in Ohio, he cleared and improved a hundred
and sixty-acre farm, on which he and his wife
are now living, he being seventy-five and she
seventy-three years old. In religion they are
members of the Lutheran Church.

August .\lbert Goetting was the eldest son
in the family and was reared on the paternal

1120

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

farm in Ohio, receiving his education in the
pubUc schools. He remained at home until at-
taining his majority, when he went to Frank-
lin county and secured employment on a farm,
as that was the work in which he had early been
trained. In 1889 he came to California and in
Los Angeles entered the employ of the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company, as a carpenter in the
bridge and building department. He was located
between Fresno and Reno, Nev., for two years,
when he returned to Southern California and in
San Timoteo cafion, near El Casco, established
an apiary. This enterprise he continued suc-
cessfully until 1895, when he rented the old C.
W. Gower place and continued the management
of an apiary and general farming. In October.
1906, he purchased his present farm, which con-
sists of one hundred and sixty acres, well im-
proved and highly cultivated, general farming
and an apiary of two hundred stands occupying
his attention. He has been very successful in
his work and is esteemed among the farmers
of this section both for his ability as an agricult-
urist, as well as personal qualities of character,
his liberality and enterprise placing him high
in the citizenship of El Casco.

August 14, 1898, Mr. Goetting was married
to Miss Annie J. Singleton, a native of this
section and a daughter of William Singleton. In
his fraternal relations Mr. Goetting is a member
of the Odd Fellows lodge of Redlands and polit-
ically he is a stanch adherent of Democratic
principles. He is a member of the California
Bee Keepers' Association, in which he takes an
active and helpful interest.

LOUIS SENTOUS. One of the upbuilders
of Los Angeles and a man of energy and enter-
prise, is Louis Sentous, who is also a member of
a family whose name is prominent in various
avenues of business activity. As the name would
indicate he is of French parentage, his birth
having occurred in Haute-Garonne, France,
July 28, 1839. His parents were Francisco and
Marie (Rouillon) Sentous, whose entire lives
were spent in their native country, where the
father engaged as a prosperous farmer and
stockman. Louis Sentous was reared on the
paternal farm to the age of si.xteen years, when
he decided to follow the example of his elder
brother, John, who in i8.t;2 had emigrated to
America and located in California. Accordingly
December 29, 1855, he took passage at Havre
on the sailer Gutre, which made the passage to
San Francisco via Cape Horn. They encountered
the most severe storms at the Horn and made
only sixty miles in sixty-two days, everyone even
to the ship's officers having given up hope of the
boat weathering the storm. The added length

of the voyage caused them to run out of provi-
sions and they were compelled to sacrifice all
the livestock on board, even to the dogs, which
were killed and eaten. However, they passed
safely through these trying times and on July
16, 1856, they reached San Francisco, after a
voyage of seven months and nineteen dayi.
. Mr. Sentous at once made his way to the
mines of Calaveras county, where he engaged in
placer mining and after making several hundred
dollars he came to Los Angeles, which city he
reached October 29, 1859. The rains had come
early that fall and he found the hills and valleys
green and the verdure of the mountains pre-
sented a beautiful sight, on the trip from San
Pedro to Los Angeles, noting grass eighteen
inches high. Some of the party in their rapture
declared they would never leave such a beautiful
country. The first year in Southern California
was spent by Mr. Sentous in working for B.
Revierra, who had a dain' in the Pueblo de los
Angeles, which then numbered about twenty-five
hundred people, the most southerly business
place of any kind being an old brewery and a
small store at Third and Main streets. About
a year after coming to this section Mr. Sentous
was thrown from a horse and seriously sprained
his leg. He was sent to the French hospital at
San Francisco, where the surgeon said he would
have to amputate the limb. Mr. Sentous re-
fused to undergo the operation and declared he
would take his chances of recovering as he was.
Two months later he was able to leave the hos-
pital and from San Francisco he went to the
mines in Calaveras county, from there to Co-
lumbia and then to Sonoratown, Tuolumne
county, where he purchased a farm, cleared and
improved it and engaged in the dairy business.
Disposing of this interest in 1866 he returned
to Los Angeles and in the vicinity of the citj'
engaged in the stock business, ranging: his cattle
in the San Fernando valley. In 1868 he drove
his herd of cattle to San Francisco and sold
them and the following year bought a band of
cattle, six hundred and eighty in number, from
a man who had just brought them from Texas,
and after disposing of them in the San Fran-
cisco markets he concluded to make a visit to
his home in France. He accordingly made the
journey over the railroad which had just been
completed, thence taking passage on a steamer
from New York City and arriving safely in his
old home in France. He remained there for a
little more than a year, and while there married
Miss Bernadotte Laserra, and with his bride re-
turned to Los Angeles in 1870.

He again began the cattle business, purchasing
a ranch on the Tehachapi, and three rears later,
in addition to this enterprise, he became in-
terested with two of his brothers, P. Marie and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1123

Alphonse Sentous, in the establishment and
maintenance of a meat market in Los Angeles,
but the two brothers sold to their other brothers,
Vincente and Exupere. They were first located
on Aliso and Los Angeles streets, and remained
so engaged until 1896, when they sold out and
dissolved partnership, and Louis Sentous having
previously established a wholesale butcher busi-
ness and meat market at No. 6 North Main street,
purchased the site and later put up the Sentous
block, which extends from Main to San Fernando
streets. Later he incorporated the Sentous Pack-
ing Company with Ed C. Conet, his son-in-law,
of which enterprise Mr. Sentous was president
and manager for some years. Their business
was conducted in the Sentous block, where they
had three stores 55x110 feet in dimensions. Dur-
ing this time he was also largely interested in
the raising of stock on his Puente ranch, which
consists of eighteen hundred acres of land well
watered and susceptible of irrigation because of
this. The purchase before the property was di-
vided among the brothers amounted to fifty-
three hundred and twenty acres. In 1905 he sold
his interest in the Sentous Packing Company
and since that period has given his time entirely
to the raising of cattle and horses on his well-
improved ranch. Besides the interests named
Mr. Sentous was identified with other enter-
prises in the city of Los Angeles, having erected
a business house at the corner of Buena Vista
and Bellevue, which he later sold to the Pacific
Electric Railway, and built a business house on
Castelar street, which he owns in connection with
the Sentous block.

Mr. Sentous built a fine residence at No. 1802
Toberman street, which is now the home of the
family. To himself and wife have been born
three children, namely: Jules, who is a prom-
inent Mason ; Mary Louise, Mrs. Conet, of Ven-
tura; and Narcisse, j\Irs. Garner of Los Angeles.
Mr. Sentous is a stanch Republican in his polit-
ical affiliations, and although never desirous of
official recognition personally gives his best ef-
forts to advance the principles he endorses. He
is an honored member of the French Benevolent
Society of Los Angeles. Liberal and progressive
in spirit he has won for himself a place of prom-
inence among the representative citizens who
hold him in high esteem for his splendid qual-
ities of mind and heart.

LOUIS BRENNEIS. Numbered among the
pioneer business men of Oxnard is Louis
Brenneis, proprietor of the blacksmith, car-
riage and implement works that since its es-
tablishment in 1809 has been operated under
his name. The building which he occupies
and which was erected under his supervision

stands on the plaza, covering a floor space of
100x140 feet, and is equipped with all the
modern and scientific improvements, including
a gas engine of eight-horse power, an electric
dynamo of ten-horse power, three fires with
power blowers and a Killifer power hammer.
In addition to blacksmithing and machine
work for several years he engaged in the hard-
ware and agricultural implement business, but
eventually sold the stock, and since then has
given his attention to practical and scientific
horse-shoeing, and the manufacture and re-
pair of wagons, carriages and farming imple-
ments.

Bv birth and ancestry Mr. Brenneis is of the
German race, and his parents, Louis and Eliz-
abeth (Bilz) Brenneis, were natives and life-
long residents of Heidelberg, Baden. For
manv years the father filled the office of aud-
itor,'but eventually he retired from office and
a few years later he passed away, since which
time the mother has continued at the old home-
stead. All of their eight children are stillliv-
ing, Louis being the second in order of birth,
and he was born at Heidelberg August 31,
t868. As a bov he attended a gjannasium in
Heidelberg, but left school at the age of four-
teen. In 1S83 he came to the United States
and secured employment in New York City.
After eighteen months in the metropolis he
proceeded west as far as Kansas, where he re-
mained during one winter at Manhattan. In
the spring of "1887 he went to Pleasanton, Ala-
meda county, Cal, where he became an ap-
prentice to the trade of blacksmith and horse-
shoer under his uncle, J. A. Bilz. On the com-
pletion of his apprenticeship three years later
he began to work in the employ of J. H.
Dutcher at Livermore, Alameda county, where
he remained for five years.

After having followed his trade at Fresno
for two vears Mr. Brenneis removed to New-
hall, and in February, 1898, came to Oxnard as
an employe on the construction of the Ameri-
can Beet 'Sugar factory. A year later he em-
barked in the business' which he now conducts
and which through his energ>' and industry
has taken rank among the leading enterprises
of its kind in the county. After coming to Ox-
nard he was united in marriage with Miss So-
phia Reiman, who was born in Germany and
at the age of five years came to California with
her father, Morit'z, and other members of the
family. Born of their union are six children,
Annie, INIary, Joseph, Charles, Sophia and
Moritz. The religious connections of the fam-
ilv are with the Santa Clara Catholic Church,
while fraternally Air. Brenneis affiliates with
the Knights of Columbus. Ever since becom-

1124

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing a citizen of the United States he has been
stanch in his allegiance to the Democratic par-
ty, has kept posted concerning political aftairs
and at one time served as a member of the
■county central committee of his party.
Through the building up of a successful busi-
ness he has promoted his own prosperity and
at the same time has been a factor in the ma-
terial dev-elopment and commercial growth of
Oxnard, where he holds a place among the en-
terprising and progressive citizens.

LOUIS MAX SCHALLERT. The ances-
tral lineage of the Schallert family is lost amid
the traditions of Austria, where many gener-
ations lived and labored and died. The found-
er of the race in America was Lawrence M.
Schallert, a man of broad education and many
talents, who left his native Tyrol for the
greater opportunities of the new world, and
resided first in New York City and later in
St. Louis, being engaged in editorial work
with prominent newspapers. His wife, who
bore the maiden name of Creocentia Neyer,
was like himself a descendant of an old Tyro-
lese family, and Avas born in the little village
of Feldkirch nestling in a valley beneath the
shadow of rugged mountains, near the bor-
ders of Germany and Switzerland. Since the
death of her husband, which occurred in East
St. Louis, she has made her home in the Mis-
souri city across the Mississippi.

The eldest in a family of whom two now
survive, Louis Max Schallert was born Feb-
ruary 25, 1861, during the residence of his par-
ents in New York City. As a boy he attend-
ed private schools in St. Louis. When only
twelve 3^ears of age he began to learn the
lumber business and gradually acquired a thor-
ough practical knowledge of the occupation.
In early life he was successively employed as
foreman in the yellow pine departments of
the John J. Ganahl Co.. and Knapp, Stout &
Co., also as superintendent of the St. Charles
I'ATo.) Car Company. Coming to California in
1888 he sectired a position as clerk with the
Pacific Pine Lumber Company at San Fran-
cisco, and in 1890 removed to Los Angeles,
where he entered the emplo}^ of the Citizens'
Ice Company and was soon promoted to be
their assistant superintendent. When the
ownership of the business passed into diflferent
hands, he entered into other activities. For
eighteen months he conducted a grocery on
the corner of Glov/ner and Twenty-third
streets, and afterward for eight years carried
on a coffee and tea store at No. 207 East Pico
street.

About this time IMr. Schallert bought prop-

erty in Hollywood where he now resides. His
first purchase in this beautiful suburb consist-
ed of real estate on Prospect and Cohing aven-
ues, where he built three stores in a block and
two stores comprising the Schallert block,
55x100 feet in dimensions. Since then he has
erected his family residence in Hollywood and
improved other vacant property in the same
place. Shortly after the organization of the
Lumber Surveyors' Association of Southern
California in 1902 he became connected with
the new enterprise, in which now he is an ac-
tive member, and for the same period he has
been engaged as a lumber surveyor in Re-
dondc. In addition to property investments
lie has bought stock in the Hollywood Nation-
al Bank and also in the Citizens' Savings
Bank of Hollywood. The Hollywood Board
of Trade also numbers him among its mem-
bers and promoters.

The marriage of Mr. Schallert took place in
St. Louis and united him with Miss Louisa
Phiel, a native of Missouri. They are the par-
ents of two children, Eugene Joseph and Isa-
bella Marie. The family are identified with
the Church of the Blessed Sacrament at Hol-
lywood and contribute to its maintenance, as
well as to other worthy movements. In poli-
tics Mr. Schallert votes for the men best quali-
fied for public ofifice and exercises considera-
ble freedom in his ballot, supporting men rath-
er than party, and measures rather than plat-
forms. Various fraternities include him among
their members, among these being the Knights
of Columbus at Los Angeles, the German St.
Joseph Society of Los Angeles, the Fraternal
Brotherhood and the Knights of the Macca-
bees.

HARRY W. GRISWOLD. Many of the
older residents and business men of Fernando
remember with pleasure the late Harry W. Gris-
wold, who for a number of years was intimately
identified with the highest and best interests of
this section of Los Angeles county, and a brief
sketch of his life will be gladly welcomed by the
readers of this volume. A man of sterling char-
acter and worth, energetic and progressive, he
was active in promoting the industrial and mate-
rial prosperity of the community in which he
resided, and in business, political and social cir-
cles was prominent and popular.

The earlier years of Mr. Griswold were spent
in Niagara county, N. Y., where as a young man
he was engaged in the railroad business. Com-
ing to the Pacific coast in 1877, he entered the
employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany, first in Los Angeles, and then in Fernando,
being station agent here for a short time. Decid-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGR.\PHICAL RECORD.

1125

ing to change his occupation, he entered upon a
mercantile career, at the death of his brother-in-
law, the late Hon. A. B. Moffitt, buying his in-
terest in the store with which he was connected.
As a general merchant Mr. Grisvvold was very
successful, his fair and upright dealings with all,
and his systematic and honorable business meth-
ods, winning him a large and lucrative trade. He
became widely and favorably known, and carried
on a substantial business until his death, which
occurred December i8, 1887, when he was but
thirty-three years of age. He was very active,
and in addition to attending to his store was at
the time of his death serving as postmaster, agent
for the WeUs-Fargo Express Company, and as
justice of the peace, keeping at all times busily
employed, and besides these public positions was
financial trustee of the Alaclay Theological Col-
lege.

In 1879 ^'Ii'- Griswold married Mary Maclay,
daughter of the late Hon. Charles Maclay, and
their only child died in infancy. Mrs. Griswold
still resides in Fernando, where she has a beau-
tiful home, over which she presides with a
gracious hospitality. Public-spirited and gener-
ous, Mrs. Griswold is a woman of strong per-
sonality, highly esteemed throughout the com-
munity, and is a member of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, in which she is an active worker.

ELKANAH W. RICHARDSON. Prominent
among the solid business men of Los Angeles
county is Elkanah W. Richardson, a wide-awake
representative of the agricultural and horticul-
tural interests of Tropico. He is widely and
favorably known as a cultured and genial man,
an able, skillful and progressive farmer, and is
highly esteemed throughout the community in
which he resides. A son of William C. B.
Richardson, of whom a sketch may be found on
another page of this volume, he was born, No-
vember 6, 1849, in Cleveland, Ohio, where he
acquired his early education, attending the schools
and a business college.

After leaving school, Elkanah W. Richardson
went to Chicago, where for several years he was.
book-keeper for his brother, O. S. Richardson,
an extensive coal dealer, who is still in business
in that city. Coming by way of Cape Horn as
a sailor to California in 1871, he arrived in
San Francisco on September 11, and immediately
came to Los Angeles to look after property that
his father had previously purchased. A month
later he returned to Illinois, and at Salt Lake
City met refugees fleeing from the big fire that
nearly devastated Qiicago, rendering so many
homeless, and destroyed millions of dollars worth
of property. Two months later, he went back
to Cleveland, and for a year assisted his father

in surveying in that city and its suburbs. Im
June, 1873, he again visited Los Angeles, and
on December i of that year he assumed
charge of his father's ranch, becoming superin-
tendent, a position that he filled most creditably
for many years. In 1881 he embarked in the
dairy business, and built up an extensive and
lucrative trade, in which he was successfully
employed for a score of years. Since 1901 Mr.
Richardson has devoted his time and energies
to carrying on his father's varied interests prin-
cipally, although he occasionally does some sur-
veying in the town and county.

In Los x\ngeles, Cal., in 1887, Mr. Richardson
married Ella Weekley, and into their household
five children have been born, namely : Eulalia,.
a graduate of the Glendale high school and now
a student in Stanford ; William: McKinley ;
Omar Burt; Paul Eddy; and John Everett.
Fraternallv Mr. Richardson is a prominent mem-
ber of Glendale Lodge No. 388, I. O. O. F., in
which he has passed all the chairs and is a mem-
ber of the Encampment and the Rebekahs. He
is a man of unquestioned business ability and
judgment, as is shown by his management of his
father's estate, the Santa Eulalia rancho, which
at that time of its purchase, in 1868, contained
six hundred and seventy-one acres of land.
William C. B. Richardson paid $2500 for the
tract, which lies between the Dreyfus and
Glassell tracts and the Los Angeles river. For
the first few years after taking charge of the
ranch or until 1880, Mr. Richardson raised sheep
on it and then converted it into a diary farm,
subsequently devoting it to deciduous fruits and
strawberries, each change being for his pecuniary
advantage. When the Pacific Electric Railroad
was put through he subdivided forty acres into
lots 50x100 feet, and worth from $400 to $700
each. A part of these lots have already been
sold. With the one hundred acres more re-
cently purchased it makes a valuable estate of
seven hundred acres. Ever since its organization
Mr. Richardson has been a trustee of the Glen-
dale union high school. He is a member of the
Glendale Valley Club and the Pioneers Society
of Los .A.ngeles county.

GEORGE JACOB EUEHN. Ranching has
occupied the attention of ]\Ir. Buehn since he
came to the vicinity of Norwalk, Los Angeles
county, about 1878, and with this enterprise he
has more recently combined that of wine man-
ufacture, having a vineyard of forty acres and
turning out twenty-five thousand gallons of
wine each year from his own grapes. He was
born in Baden, Germany, July 21, 1848, a son
of Christian and Eva (Sebastian) Buehn, both
natives of the Fatherland, where thev are now

1126

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

living at an advanced age. Of their family two
sons and two daughters are in California.

G. T. Buehn was educated in the public
schools of his native land and later learned
wine making and became thoroughly familiar
with market gardening. He came to America
at the age of nineteen years and located in Cal-
ifornia, from San Francisco going to Oregon,
where he engaged in the dairy business for
eleven years. For three years of this time he
lived in East Portland and eight years in Mor-
row county, owning in the latter section a fine
ranch of eighty acres and engaging in the stock
business. He caire to Los .A.ngeles county to
visit two sisters and they prevailed upon him
to locate here permanently. Accordingly, in
1879, he purchased his present property, which
consists of sixty acres, of which forty acres are
in wine grapes ; the entire property was wild
and uncultivated land at that time and to Mr.
Buehn is due the credit for having developed
one of the fine ranches of this section. He set
out trees, built house, barn, winery and all
necessarj' outbuildings, fences, etc., and has
added not only to the value of his own proper-
tv, but enhanced that of the ranches about him.
" May 8, 1880, Mr. Buehn married ]\Iiss Mary
Feldman, a native of Germany, and they are
the parents of five children, namely: Minnie,
Louisa, George, Louis and Elsie. Both himself
and wife are members of the German Lutheran
Church. Politically he is a Republican, and in
fraternal matters belongs to the Fraternal Aid,
was an Odd Fellow in Oregon, and also carries
old-line insurance. He is progressive and en-
terprising and esteemed in the citizenship of
Los Angeles county.

PETER L. LOPEZ. Among the best known
and most active residents of Fernando is Peter
L. Lopez, an energetic, capable business man.
possessing keen judgment and marked executive
ability. He was born June 28, 1867, in Los
Angeles valley, which was likewise the birthplace
of his. father, Valentine Lopez, whose birth oc-
curred sixty years ago, and of his grandfather,
whose name was Peter Lopez. The Lopez fam-
ily was one of the first to settle in this section of
Los Angeles county, taking up grants of land
from the Spanish government, and many of the
descendants of the original emigrants are still
living here, honored and respected citizens.

After leaving the public schools of Fernando,
Peter L. Lopez was for a year a student in the
college then located here. The ensuing five years
he assisted his father on the home ranch, and
then for two years had the contract for carrying
the mails from Fernando to Simi, Ventura
cotmtv. ^^'llen but twenty-three years of age he

was elected constable of Fernando township, an
office in which he served most acceptably for three
terms of four years each. Resigning then, he
spent a year of leisure, enjoying a well-earned
vacation free from business cares. In 1905 he
resumed his public duties, accepting the appoint-
ment of road superintendent or overseer, an of-
fice which keeps him busily employed, it being
the hardest road district in the entire county.
Under his personal supervision he has one hun-
dred and fifty-seven miles of road and two moun-
tain ranges to cross, and the question of keeping
these public thoroughfares in a satisfactory con-
dition for travel is often a difficult one to solve.
He is a man of good business capacity, and by
dint of industry and wise judgment has acquired
considerable property, owning several village lots
in Fernando and one of the best residences in
the community, having erected it in 1900.

April 8, 1894, Mr. Lopez married Lottie Will-
iams, and they have one child, a daughter named
Bertha. Fraternally Mr. Lopez is a member of
the Independent Order of Foresters, belonging to
the Los Angeles Lodge.

LEGENE SAGE BARNES. One of the suc-
cessful real-estate dealers of Long Beach is L. S.
Barnes, who, although a resident of this city only
since IQ04, has built up for himself a secure posi-
tion among her business men. Locating in the
city in the year mentioned above, he engaged in
handling real estate, being at that time associated
with W. W. Bryan, later purchasing the latter's
interest and continuing alone until January, 1906,
when, with two others, he established the busi-
ness now known as L. S. Barnes & Co., located at
No. 121 West Ocean avenue, where they con-
duct a real-estate enterprise of considerable mag-
nitude.

Legene Sage Barnes was born in Wilber, Sa-
line county, Neb., August 7, 1875, the second in
a family of seven children, four of whom are liv-
ing, he being the only one in California. His
father, Thomas H. Barnes, was a native of Ohio,
his birth having occurred in the vicinity of Co-
lumbus, where the family fortunes had been lo-
cated by Samuel, the paternal grandfather. The
latter ran a steamer on the Ohio river for many
years, eventually removing to Nebraska and be-
coming a pioneer of Wilber, where his death oc-
cured at an advanced age. He was a man of
strong character and patriotism, and at the call of
the Union in '61 he enlisted in an Ohio regiment
and gave faithful service to the cause. Thomas
H. Barnes was also a pioneer of Nebraska,
through his connection with the Burlington &
Missouri River Railroad Company ( for which he
secured right of way through the state from
Omaha to Denver) being a potent factor in the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1129

upbuilding of this section of the countr_\-. He
located the greater number of towns in western
Nebraska and eastern Colorado, and at the pres-
ent writing owns valuable properties in the first-
named state. At one time he located in Oregon
and in Salem built the electric railroad, which
covers a distance of twenty-five miles in the city
and its vicinity, and also platted Englewood, an
addition to Salem, and was otherwise instru-
mental in the advancement of that city. Later he
returned to Nebraska, and has since made his
home in Alliance, where he engages in the han-
dling of landed properties. Inheriting the sterling
characteristics of his forefathers, he takes a keen
interest in all matters pertaining to the general
welfare and gives his efforts freely to the pro-
motion of public enterprises. A Democrat in pol-
itics, he is prominent in the councils of his party,
and fraternally he is a Mason. His wife, for-
merly Rose Harris, a native of Youngstown,
Ohio, is also living.

The early education of L. S. Barnes was re-
ceived through an attendance of the public and
high schools of Salem, Ore., his graduation tak-
ing place in 1892. Returning to Nebraska with
his parents he attended a commercial college at
Hastings. Previous to this he had studied teleg-
raphy, and about this time accepted the position
of operator for the Burlington & Missouri River
Railroad Company at Hastings ; later he acted in
the same capacity at David City, Neb. In 1895
he went to Salt Lake City, Utah, for the Rio
Grande & Western Railroad and as conductor
ran between Salt Lake City and Park City that
state. Later he was conductor on a passenger
train out of Milford, Utah, which position he
resigned to engage in mining in Utah and later
in ^Montana. He was successful in this enter-
prise, discovering and opening several mines that
brought large financial returns, among which was
the Coobartal which was the last disposed of.
Mr. Barnes' first trip to California was made in
December, 1895, his decision to locate here per-
manently being made in 1904, when he came to
Long Beach, as previously stated. He has met
with unusual success in his business enterprises,
acquiring financial returns, and has gained a high
position among the business men of the city. In
addition to the business enterprise already men-
tioned he is interested in the Long Beach Realty
Investment Company, and the Moore Foster In-
vestment Company, serving as treasurer in the
last-named organization.

In Raton. N. Mex., Mr. Barnes was united in
marriage with Miss Grace Dinsmore, a native of
Kansas, who had resided for some years in Salem,
Ore. Thev are the parents of two children,
Willa and Legene S., Jr. Mr. Barnes takes a
lively interest in social and fraternal affairs of
Long Beach, being a member of the Cosmopoli-

tan Club and Chamber of Commerce, and is iden-
tified with the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks and Knights of Pythias. He is a man of
broad information, in touch with current events,
and a citizen upon whom the public honor may
safely rest.

CHARLES H. HOGE. Through his asso-
ciation with the real-estate interests of Long
Beach, Charles H. Hoge is making himself a
factor in the material upbuilding and growth
of the city. He is a native of Hunt county,
Tex., and was born October 31, 1866, a son of
John C. Hoge. The latter was a native of
Missouri, whence he removed to Texas at the
close of the Civil war, and became a farmer
in Hunt county and later in the vicinity of
Blanco, where he is now residing. His wife,
whom he married in Texas, was formerly
Mattie King, a native of Illinois, and born of
this union were six sons and four daughters,
of whom Charles H. Hoge is the eldest. He
was reared to young manhood in Texas, where
he attended the common schools in pursuit of
an education and engaged with his father in
farming. In Alarch, 1891, he left his native
state and located in the northern part of Ari-
zona, remaining in Ihat location until fall,
when he came to California. In Redlands, his
first location, he engaged in the real estate
business with a partner, the firm being known
as Dike & Hoge. Together they subdivided
the Oliver Grove addition of twenty-nine acres,
and also subdivided other tracts during the
eight years in which they continued business.
Disposing of his interests in that section
Mr. Hoge located in the city of Los Angeles
and as a member of the real-estate firm of
Hoge & Gaylord laid out the Echo Park
tract. In the spring of 1904 he came to Long
Beach and here became a partner in the firm
of Todd, Windham & Hoge, who laid out
the Pacific Home tract of twenty-eight acres,
and also handled the one hundred acres com-
prised in the Long Beach Park tract, along
the Ocean front, which tract was opened to
the public in 1905. In the fall of 1905 the
firm of Todd, Windham & Hoge raised the
money for the first payment on the eight
hundred acres now being improved as Long
Beach Harbor, and assisted in the organization
of the Dock & Terminal Company, and the
firms of Todd & Windham and C. H. Hoge
& Co. have the exclusive holding of all of that
property. This has been the means of more
than doubling the values of real-estate in
Long Beach. With others Mr. Hoge organized
the Dominguez Investment Company to sub-
divide the Dominguez Harbor Tract of two

1130

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

hundred acres on the north side of Anaheim
Road, running from Long Beach to Wihning-
ton. ]\[r. Hoge is now doing a general real-
estate business independently, under the firm
name of C. H. Hoge & Co.

j\Tr. Hoge is identified fraternally with the
Order of Pendo, and in his political convic-
tions is a Democrat on national issues, while
locally he reserves the right to cast his ballot
for the man whom he considers best qualified
for public office.

CAPT. ELAIER O. LUTZ. The excellent
harbor at San Diego and the large number of
tourists visiting the city every year render yacht-
ing one of the most satisfactory sources of recrea-
tion and pleasure. Recognizing this fact, Cap-
tain Lutz has devoted his attention to the devel-
opment of a business catering to the wants of
strangers as well as town people. As the pro-
prietor of the Star boathouse, at the foot of H
street, he has built up a business unique in
character and interesting in details. His pleasure
wharf is commodious and at the end he has his
row boats, sail boats and launches, including the
Dolphin, fortj'-seven and one-half feet; the
Urania, forty-five feet, and the Dolly, twenty-
six feet. A special feature of the business is his
Tuesday and Thursday excursions of the Dol-
phin, which carries the guests past Roseville,
La Playa, the quarantine station, the fortifica-
tions at Fort Rosecrans and the government
jetty.

The Lutz family comes from Pennsylvania,
whence the captain's grandfather removed to Cir-
cleville, Ohio, and settled among the pioneer
farmers on the Scioto river. After the family
removed to the fann near Circleville, Louis Lutz
was born there and after he had attained man's
estate he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits
in the same locality. In 1871 he removed to
Kansas and settled in Emporia, where he open-
ed a hardware and agricultural implement store,
conducting the business for a period of twelve
years. At the expiration of that time he closed
out his interests in Emporia and removed to New
Mexico, where he acquired large tracts of land
in San Miguel county near Las Vegas, and there
he remained until his death at sixty-eight years
of age. His wife, who was born at Circleville,
Ohio, and died in New Mexico, bore the maiden
name of Susan Hittler, her father, Jacob, having
been a farmer in the vicinity of Circleville.

Six children formed the family of Louis Lutz
and three are still living. Elmer O., who was
second in order of birth, was born on the home
farm near Circleville, Ohio, February 19, 1866,
and was a boy of five years when the family set-
tled in Emporia, Kans., where he secured a

public school education. During 1882 he accom-
panied the family to New Mexico, where his
father had purchased the Osage Sutton grant of
sixty-nine thousand six hundred and forty acres
of land situated one hundred and ten miles south-
east of Las Vegas. The ranch had forty-two
miles of fence, all of which was of four wires.
Assisted by other members of the family, the
father conducted a cattle business which was in-
corporated under the title of the L. L. Cattle Com-
pany, with the father as president and Elmer O.,
manager and treasurer. A specialty was made
of full-blooded Hereford cattle, of which they
had a large number of fine specimens. At times
they had as man)' as four thousand head of cat-
tle on the ranch, all of which bore their brand of
L LL.

Owing to considerable trouble with rheuma-
tism, which only a change o"f occupation and cli-
mate could benefit, Elmer O. Lutz left New Mex-
ico in 1897 and removed to San Diego, where
he has since made his home. However, it was
not until three years later that he disposed of his
interests in New JNIexico, all of the land and
cattle being then sold. In 1898 he established a
boathouse at the foot of D street and opened
the business which he has since conducted with
energv', judgment and originality. However,
since beginning in the business he has disposed
of his first property to the Corinthian Yacht Club
and has purchased the property at the foot of H
street. He is identified with the San Diego
Chamber of Commerce, also the San Diego Yacht
Club. His home is a comfortable residence in
the cit)', presided over by his wife, formerly
Miss E. May Addington, a native of Iowa. In
politics he gives his influence and ballot toward
the principles of the Republican party, of which
he is a pronounced supporter.

C. O. ANDERSON is making extensive im-
provements at Glenoak ranch, erecting thereon
a beautiful mission style house which is being
fitted with all modern •improvements, including
an acetylene gas plant, and a telephone, his am-
bition being to make it one of the most com-
fortable and attractive homes in that section of
the state. The land is devoted to tlie growing
of fruit and grain, the conduct of these opera-
tions being in the hands of a manager. The
ranch has an independent irrigation plant with
gasoline engine to furnish power for the centrif-
ugal pump, which has a capacity of seventy-
five gallons per minute.

Mr. Anderson was born September 26, 1857,
in Sweden, in which country he received his
early education. When fourteen years of age he
came to the United States, going directly to
Qiicasro. Later he removed to Rock Island

HISTORICAL- AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1131

and engaged in the manufacture of shoes, re-
maining there some time. After disposing of
his interests there he entered mercantile enter-
prises in Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa. In
1887 he came to San Diego, Gal., and secured
employment in a retail shoe house, remaining
eight and one-half 3-ears with F. T. Wright &
Co., after which he became manager of the shoe
department in Marston's department store.
Severing his connection with this firm after three
and a half years of valuable service to his em-
ployer he next accepted a position as traveling-
salesman for the firm of Utz & Dunn of Roches-
ter, N. Y., the field given him being Galifornm,
Nevada and the Hawaiian Islands, a position
which he has filled for the past seven years.

Mrs. Anderson is a native of Illinois and was
for many years a school teacher in the public
schools of California. Fraternally Mr. Ander-
son is a member of the Woodman lodge, the
Knights of Pythias, and holds membership in
the Traveling Men's Protective Association of
L^tica, N. Y. PoHtically he is an advocate of
the principles embraced in the platform of the
Republican party. Fie is one of the best posted
shoe men in tlie country and is personally popular
with all who enjoy his acquaintance. He is
well-read, well-traveled, and takes an interest
in all matters of importance to the public welfare.

CAPT. SAMUEL WYLIE McNAB. A man
of keen insight and a good judge of human
nature, Capt. Samuel Wylie ]\'IcNab is an ef-
ficient executive officer under appointment by the
sheriff of San Bernardino county. He is of
Scotch descent, and the sturdy elements of char-
acter found in tlie men of that nationality are
a part of his inheritance from his early ancestors.
His grandfather, Henrj' McNab, was a weaver
in Philadelphia, later removed to Pittsburg, and
finally became a pioneer of the state of Iowa.
His son, James, was born in Philadelphia, be-
came a farmer near Pittsburg, and moved in suc-
cession to Galena, 111., where he was engaged in
lead mining, Dubuque, Iowa, and later settled
in Jackson county of that state, near Maquoketa,
where he operated a farm until his retirement
from active business and now resides with his
son in San Bernardino, having reached the ad-
vanced age of eighty years. He is a Republi-
can in political faith, which party also receives
the support of Captain McNab. The mother,
who was Mary Hogg before her marriage, was
a native of Pennsylvania and died when her son
was but four years of age.

The birth of Mr. McNab occurred December
18, 1868, at Canes Ford, near Maquoketa, Iowa,
and the first twelve years of his life were spent
on the farm. He then went to Maquoketa and

attended the' public school for a short time. A
year later he began to learn the printer's trade
in Sharon, Pa., and after working in the Eagle
office for some time returned to his native state
and again attended school at Maquoketa. His
education being completed he journeyed through
various parts of the United States, in 1887 coming
to San Francisco, where he was engaged on the
city papers there for a season, then came to Los
Angeles and worked on the old Tribune-Herald.
In 1890 he returned to Iowa and farmed for
three years, after which he again took up his
trade in the Maquoketa Record office. But one
who has once lived in California is never quite
satisfied away from her alluring attractions and
1895 found Captain McNab again a resident of
San Bernardino county. In a short time he
was engaged as foreman of the Riverside Enter-
prise, and a year later accepted a similar position
on the San Bernardino Sun. Retaining this posi-
tion until Januar}', 1903, he resigned at that time
to accept the appointment as a deputy under the
county sheriff and has since given his entire time
to his official duties. In fraternal circles Captain
McNab affiliates with the Modern Woodmen of
America, is a member of Kaaba Temple, A. A.
O. N. M. S., at Davenport, Iowa; was made a
Mason at Maquoketa in Helion Lodge No. 36,
A. F. & A. M., and now belongs to San Ber-
nardino Lodge No. 348 ; was a member of Bath-
kol Chapter No. 94. R. A. M., at Maquoketa, of
which he is past high priest, and now belongs to
Keystone Chapter "No. 56, at San Bernardino ;
was formerly a member of Tancred Commandery
No. 40 at Maquoketa, of which he is past re-
corder, and is now a member of San Bernardino
Commanderv No. 23 and San Bernardino Lodge
No. 856, B. P. O. E. He has been a member of
Company K, Seventh Regiment of National
Guard of California since 1898, in 1902 was
elected lieutenant of the company and in 1905
was elected and commissioned captain. He is
also a member of the Board of Trade at San
Bernardino and takes an active interest in all
matters tending toward the development of that
section of the state.

WILLIAM PAPSON. As a pioneer Will-
iam Papson is remembered among the early set-
tlers of California and his name held in the high-
est esteem by all who ever knew him. He was
born in Hillsdale, N. Y., in 1831, his father hav-
ing emigrated from his home in England and
located in New York. Reared to young man-
hood in his native state and educated in the
public schools, he was well equipped for the bat-
tle of life, and in 1852, at the age of twenty-one
years, he outfitted with ox-teams and crossed the
plains to California. He came safely through

1132

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the hardships and dangers of the trip, and upon
his arrival in the state he followed the example
of the great majority of the settlers of the west
and engaged in mining. He was first located in
Plumas county, where he continued for a time,
but having been trained to an agricultural life
he soon became interested in this pursuit and
decided to purchase a farm. He settled near
San Jose and engaged in general farming and
fruit raising and there, [March 8, 1865, he mar-
ried Miss jMatilda Freer. She was born in
Atchison county, Mo., a daughter of William
H. Freer, who brought his family across the
plains in 1849. After marriage Mr. and Mrs.
Papson continued to farm in that section for
the period of three years, when they removed to
San Felipe and followed ranching for seven
years. Returning to Santa Clara county they
again engaged in farming in the vicinity of Ber-
ryessa and after three years removed to Los
Gatos and made that place their home for seven
years. They were principally occupied during
this time in horticulture, in whicli they were
very successful. Removing to Lake county in
1888 Mr. Papson purchased a ranch near Upper
Lake and engaged extensively in the raising of
stock, grain and hay. He also owned one hun-
dred and thirty-four acres on the banks of Lula
lake, where his death occurred July 12, 1897.
He was a citizen of worth and works, interested
in the movements of the day, and always ready
to lend his aid in matters of public import. He
was a Republican in politics but never cared for
official recognition. Fraternally he was made a
Mason in San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M.

Mr. and Mrs. Papson were the parents of one
son, George W., who has charge of the home
place in Lake county. After the death of her
husband Mrs. Papson remained in Lake county
until January, 1900, when she located on the
old home place near Savannah, and is now re-
siding with her mother on the old Freer home-
stead" in the vicinity of El Monte, Los Angeles
county.

VICENTE LUGO. A man of modest, un-
assuming character, honest and upright in
his dealings, Vicente Lugo, living near Santa
Monica, is a fine representative of the early
Spanish families who were so prominent in
the settlement of Southern California. A na-
tive Californian, he was born, January 19, 1865,
in Los Angeles, which was also the birthplace
of his father, the late Francisco Lugo. His
grandfather, Antonio Lugo, was born and
reared in Spain. When a young man he im-
migrated to California, and during his day was
one of the leading business men of Los Angeles,
owning large herds of cattle and horses, and

accumulating much wealth. He married An-
tonio Rondon in California.

A life-long resident of Los Angeles, Fran-
cisco Lugo became owner of several thousand
acres of land that his father bought from the
Mexican government, it being a part of the
San Bernardino grant. He was not actively
engaged in agricultural pursuits himself, but
hired men to run his ranch, a large portion of
which he lost prior to his death, which occurred
at his home in Los Angeles, at the age of sixty-
five years. He married Vicente Machado, who
was born in Santa Barbara, and died at the
age of sixty-five years, in Los Angeles. Both
she and her husband were members of the
Catholic Church.

Vicente Lugo, with his sister, Francisca
Lugo, inherited from his mother's estate thir-
teen acres of valuable land, part of the grant
known as La Ballona rancho, lying one mile
north of Venice, where they are now living,
their home being pleasantly located, on a corner
lot, on the Short Line Electric Railway. Mr.
and Miss Lugo have recenth^ sold twelve acres
of their ranch, receiving $1,000 per acre for
it, retaining for themselves the home lot, on
which their residence is located. Politically
Mr. Lugo is a stanch supporter of the prin-
ciples of the Republican party, and fraternally
is a member of the Foresters of America.

EDWARD C. D. A'AN ORNAM. The first
representative of the Van Urnam family in the
United States was Great-grandfather \"an Or-
nam, who, as may be surmised from the surname,
was a native of Holland. Bringing with him
all the sturdy qualities for which the Dutch as a
nation are noted, he settled in New York state
and reared his family amid the trying conditions
which alwa}'s pre^•ail in a new country. A grand-
son of this immigrant and the father of our sub-
ject, Daniel D. A'an Ornam, was born in \\"ills-
boro, N. Y., where in his early manhood years
he followed his trade of mason and builder. From
there he later went to Buffalo, that state, and still
later to Massachusetts, in both of which places he
continued to work at his trade. Some time before
his death he removed to the middle west, settling
in Davenport, Iowa, and later in Cedar county,
that state, where he died when in his fifty-seventh
year. As his wife he had chosen Harriet F. Ross,
who was born in Massachusetts, the daughter of
Peter Ross, the latter born in New York state of
English descent. In the latter's family was an-
other daughter, Olive, who became the wife of
^Ir. Burbank, by whom she has one son, Luther
Burbank, who is known the world over as the
Wizard of Horticulture. INIrs. Harriet F. Van

-^

^^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1135

Ornam survived her husband many years, and
passed away at the home of her son Edward in
Long Beacli September 4, 1906, when she was in
her ninety-fifth year. For many years she had
been a member of the Methodist Church, and
throughout her Hfe she exempHfied the teachings
of the Christian religion.

Of the ten children born to Daniel D. and Har-
riet F. (Ross) Van Ornam only two are now liv-
ing, Edward C. D. and Ferris B., both of I-ong
Beach. Edward C. D. was born in Champlain,
N. Y., August 8, 1836, and was reared in Buffalo
until six years old, when the family removed to
Massachusetts, settling in Worcester. He at-
tended the public schools of that city for a time,
but later returned to Buffalo, where he was a
pupil in the public schools. By the time he had
reached his sixteenth year he had settled upon
definite plans for his future career in the business
world. From his father he learned the brick-
mason's and builder's trade, and in 1854, when
the family renioved to Davenport, Iowa, he
worked side by side with his father in the execu-
tion of the many and important contracts which
came to them. Among them may be mentioned
the Cook & Sargent's marble block, the Episcopal
Church of Davenport, besides numerous fine resi-
dences. After he followed his trade continuously
for about twenty years he made a change in both
occupation and location, in 1870 removing to Cass
county, Iowa, where he purchased wild land and
started out as a farmer and stock-raiser. His
specialty, however, was the raising of fine stock,
consisting principally of high-grade Short-horn
Durham cattle. During the eleven years which
he carried on stock-raising in Cass county he was
fairly successful, but a desire to resume his trade
caused him to dispose of his interests there and
remiove to Lewis, that county. In that city and
Omaha, Neb., whither he later removed, he car-
ried on contracting until 1887, during the winter
of that year coming to California and visiting
many cities in various parts of the state. Long
Beach being among the number. He returned to
Iowa in the following spring and again took up
his trade, but the middle states seemed less at-
tractive than formerly and he determined to
transfer his interests to the west. Coming to
Long Beach in 1893 he at once began to take con-
tracts for building and during the twelve years
following erected many of the finest buildings in
this city. He has erected a number of residences
on his own account and later sold them. Since
1905 he has not been in active business and is
now living retired in the enjoyment of the com-
petency accumulated through many years of con-
tinued activitv.

In Durant,' Cedar county, Iowa. Mr. Van Or-
nam married Ann M. Dool'ittle, born in Walling-
ford, Conn,, her father being Chester Dnolittle,

well known in that state, where his death oc-
curred. Mrs. Van Ornam died in 1890, in Lewis,
Iowa. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Van Ornam, as follows : Hattie ^L, the wife of
Fred W. Snell, of Buena Park, Cal. ; Luther L.,
who died in early childhood; Bertha F., Mrs.
John B. Steen, of Long Beach; William W., also
of this city ; Edward E., who died when in his
twenty- fourth year; Chester D., manager of the
San Pedro Lumber Company at Huntington
Beach; and Ralph R., who is in the employ of the
Nofzinger Lumber Company, Los Angeles. In
his church affiliations Mr. Van Ornam is a Pres-
byterian, and politically he is a Republican.

JOHN J. HOUGH. The supervision of the
roads of Long Beach district have been in the
charge of Mr. Hough for a considerable period
and under his direct personal oversight as fore-
man and superintendent the work has been
maintained at a high standard of excellence,
his success in the department being proved
by his retention in the office at the solicitation
of the people of the district. Mr. Hough is
a representative of an eastern family, his par-
ents, George and Hester Anna (Tiffany)
Hough, having been born, reared and married
in New York state, but becoming early settlers
of Illinois, where the mother died in 1865. At
that time John J. was scarcely four years of
age, he having been born in Kane county. 111.,
November 7, 1861. For a long period the
father continued to make his home in Illinois.
Twenty years after the death of his wife he
came to California and settled at Garden Grove,
Orange county, where he remained in retire-
ment from active cares until his death in 1893,
at seventy-five years of age.

Little of special importance occurred to
mark the years of Mr. Hough's youth. Edu-
cated in common schools, he was fitted for
active participation in life's duties and respon-
sibilities and was qualified to discharge his
obligations as a citizen. In young manhood
he chose agriculture as his vocation and for
some years tilled the soil of an Illinois farm.
When he came to California in 1878 he bought
land near Santa Ana and for some years con-
ducted general ranch pursuits, but finally-
disposed of his holdings and removed to Long
Beach in 1893. On the corner of Orange and
Seventh streets he established his home, sur-
rounding which he owned five acres which he
utilized for a market garden. For a short
time he engaged in truck farming, but soon
the rise in property values made his place too
high-priced to retain for such purposes, and
he afterward sold three acres at a gratifying

1136

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

advance on the original cost. In 1896 he was
appointed road superintendent of Long Beach
district, which position he has since satis-
factoril}' filled.

While living in Orange county. Air. Hough
was married at Garden Grove, June 30, 1886,
being united with JMiss Alice Sturgess, a native
of England, and, like himself, a member of
the Alethodist Episcopal Church, in which
faith the}- are training their three children,
Sadie, A^anoni and Clinton. Though not a
partisan in political ideas and not narrow in
his views. Air. Hough is firm in his adherence
to the Republican part)- and gives its principles
his constant support. The only fraternal or-
ganization to v/hich thus far he has given
allegiance is the ^Masonic order, in which he
holds membership with Long Beach Lodge
No. 327, F. & A. M., and maintains a warm
interest in its work, upholding its lofty prin-
ciples of the brotherhood of man and aiding
in its frequent charities.

HARRY M. WILLARD. By means of ex-
tended travels through much of the region west
of the ]\Iississippi river TMr. Willard has gained
a comprehensive idea of this portion of the United
States, and his experience, based upon habits of
close observation as he followed his occupation
in different towns, convinced him that few cities
surpass San Diego in scenic beauty and equable
climate. During 1897 he traveled south from
Utah as far as the City of ^lexico, where he had
planned to settle and engage in the building busi-
ness, but he was not satisfied with the surround-
ings, so returned to the States and visited San
Diego on a tour of inspection, the result being
that he removed hither and established himself as
a contractor and builder.

On a farm near Burlington, Iowa, Harry M.
AVillard was born Alay 19, 1858, being third in
order of birth among five children and the only
one to settle in California. His parents, Samuel
G. and Eliza J. (Lansdale) Willard, were natives
of Ohio and the latter died in Iowa. The former
crossed the plains to California in 1849 and tried
his luck in the northern mines for three years,
after which he returned to the east, purchased
raw land in Iowa, improved a valuable farm, and
now, at the age of eighty-five years, continues
to reside at the old homestead in retirement from
agricultural labors. On the home farm the early
years in the life of Harry M. Willard were un-
eventfully passed. In addition to common school
advantages he had the privilege of studying in
Denmark academy, and thus acquired a better
education than many farm boys of that day.

On starting out for himself to earn his own
livelihood in the world, Harrv M. Willard went to

Kansas about 1880 and became interested in the
insurance business at Topeka. His first visit
to the Pacific coast was made in 1886, when he
bought a team and wagon and traveled overland
to Oregon, thence to California. It was thus
possible for him to inspect the country much more
closely than if the trip had been made via rail-
road. When he reached Santa Barbara he began
to work at the carpenter's trade, remaining in
that town for a year. Afterward he made brief
sojourns in Pasadena and Los Angeles, where he
followed carpentering. On his return to Iowa
in 1889 he gave his attention entirely to the build-
ing business, but in 1890 again followed the tide
of immigration westward, this time settling at
Salt Lake City and engaging in contracting and
building with considerable success. Perhaps his
most important work there was the superintend-
ing of the erection of the building utilized as
a courthouse and city hall, which cost $4,000,000
and represented a substantial and unique style
of architecture. Since coming to San Diego
in 1897 he and his brother-in-law, under the firm
name of Willard & Neely, have had the contracts
for numerous residences and flats, and St.
Joseph's sanitarium, also many buildings at
Homestead, Point Loma and Pacific Beach. His
residence, at No. 1701 Second street, was erected
by himself and he has also built other houses to be
sold as opportunity oft'ers. On the organization
of the Alaster Builders' Association he became a
charter member and at this writing holds the
office of treasurer.

The marriage of Air. Willard took place at
Burlington, Iowa, and united him with Miss Eva
Neely. a sister of William T. Neely, and an active
member of the Alethodist Episcopal Church.
Mention of her family appears in the sketch of her
brother elsewhere in this volume. The Demo-
cratic party receives the ballot of Air. Willard at
both local and general elections. In fraternal
relations he is identified with Silver Gate Lodge
No. 296, F. & A. M., in which he was made a
Alason, and is also associated with the Wood-
men of the World and the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows.

AIORITZ TREPTE. A skilled mechanic, en-
ergetic and progressive, Aloritz Trepte is actively
identified with the industrial prosperity of San
Diego, and as a carpenter and contractor has
been an important factor in the upbuilding of the
city. He is widely known as a man of sterling
integrity, his business dealings being character-
ized by fairness and honesty, and he is every-
where esteemed and respected. He was bom
December 5, 1864, in the kingdom of Saxony,
Germany, and in tliat land of industry and thrift
was well trained in those habits and virtues that

/^^y'.^!^^^!^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1139

should make him a desirable citizen of any coun-
try. His parents, Carl and Christine (Gurgen)
Trepte, were life-long residents of Germany, the
father, who was a miller by trade, dying in 1871.

The youngest of a family of nine children,
]\Ioritz Trepte is the only member of the parental
household in America. Brought up in Saxony,
he received a common school education, and in
early life, under the instruction of his grand-
father, Gottlieb Gurgen, learned the miller's
trade, which he followed until becoming of age.
Eager to try his fortunes in the United States,
the mecca of every boy of ambition, he immi-
grated to this country in 1886, going directly to
Milwaukee, Wis., where for two years he worked
at the carpenter's trade. Coming to California
in 1888, he followed his trade in San Francisco
until 1895, when he made a trip to Southern
California. Being very much impressed and
pleased with San Diego and its surroundings, he
decided to settle here permanently. Forming a
partnership with Herman Strode, he engaged in
contracting and building under the firm name
of Strode & Trepte, continuing thus until 1900,
when he bought his partner out. Since that
time Mr. Trepte has carried on the business alone
and in the filling of his many contracts has erect-
ed some fine business houses and many hand-
some residences. In 1905 he built his own at-
tractive residence at No. 155 Twentieth street.

In San Francisco, Cal., ]\Ir. Trepte married
Christine Treusch, a native of Hesse-Darmstadt,
Germany, and they are the parents of three chil-
dren, Walter, Alvin and Carl. Mr. Trepte is a
member of the Master Carpenters' Association
of San Diego, and an active worker in the or-
ganization. Politically he is a Socialist. Fra-
ternally he belongs to the Woodmen of the
World ; Turn Verein, of which he is ex-presi-
dent ; to the Sons of Herman, and to the Knights
and Ladies of Security. Religiously he is true
to the faith in which he was reared, being a
Lutheran.

MARTIN JULIUS LAURENT. For
more than one-quarter of a century Mr. Lau-
rent was intimately identified with the devel-
opment of Ventura county. Measured by the
history of the far-distant ages of the past,
twenty-five years represent but a brief epoch,
but it is a long time gauged by the present
standards of progress and activitv. Not until
years after he had settled on a farm in the
Santa Clara valley of the south did the near-
by town of Oxnard spring into existence. At
that time transportation facilities were few
and unsatisfactory. Modern farming tools had
not been brought to their present state of de-
velopment : indeed, the larger part of those

now used \yere but a nebula in the inventor's
brain. School and church advantages were
meagre. Men had before them the arduous
task of subduing an unknown soil and ascer-
taining to what products it was best adapted;
hence there was little leisure for recreation,
yet it was in those days that the charm of
gracious hospitality shone at its brightest and
the kindly deeds in another's interests were of
common occurrence.

In the settlement and development of Cali-
fornia almost every nationality was represent-
ed. Mr. Laurent represented the French race,
being a descendant of a long line of ancestry
identified with the history of France. His
father, Nicholas, who was a native of that
countr}-, became a merchant tailor in Louis-
ville, Ky., but later took up farming pursuits
among the pioneers of Leavenworth county,
Kans., and eventually moved to Douglas coun-
ty, where he died at Lawrence. Loyal in de-
votion to his adopted countr}-, he offered his
services to the Union during the Civil war
and served as a member of a Kansas regiment.
His wife, Ursul, also died in Lawrence. The
eldest child and only son among their three
children was jNIartin Julius, who was born in
Louisville, Ky., March 14. 1842, and in early
bo3^hood accompanied the family to Kansas,
there attending the public schools. Practical-
ly the first employment which he secured was
that of clerk for an uncle at Cape Girardeau,
IMo.. and later he engaged in the mercantile
business for him'^df in Missouri for two years.

The marriage of Mr. Laurent was solem-
nized at Lawrence, Kans., February 23, 1871,
and united him with Miss Annette Petit, who
was born in the department of Haute-Saone
in the eastern part of France near the German
border and also in close proximity to the
mountains separating France from Switzer-
land. Her father. Jean Baptiste Petit, for
vears was a farmer in that region, but in 1853
he brought the familv to the United States
and settled in Clearfield county. Pa., there
engaging in farm pursuits and also in lumber-
ing. The year that marked the close of the
Civil war saw him a pioneer of Douglas coun-
ty. Kans.. where he engaged in farming near
a hamlet then known as Blackjack. During
1875 he came to California and settled in the
Santa Claia valley of tlie south, where he died
in t8q4. at the age of eighty-four years. A
number of years before leaving France he
married Miss Elizabeth Catherine Carame.
daughter of Louis Carame, a manufacturer of
agricultural implements in France. Her death
occurred in Kansas in 1870, when she was six-
tv-one years of age. Five children comprised
their familv. namelv: Mrs. Harriet Roussev,

1140

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a resident of Oxnard, Gal. ; Margaret, who
died in Pennsylvania in early girlhood ; An-
nette, Mrs. Laurent, of Oxnard; Frank and
Justin, both of whom cultivate farms near Ox-
nard.

For a short time after his marriage Mr.
Laurent followed farming and the mercantile
business in Kansas, but in 1874 he removed
to California and settled in the Santa Clara
valley, renting land near the present site of
Oxnard. Both he and his wife were pleased
with the climate and the surroundings, and
therefore they soon decided to become prop-
erty owners. At first they bought only a
small strip of land, but by the purchase of ad-
jacent tracts they acquired a farm of one hun-
dred and sixty acres, on which the}- erected a
substantial and commodious ranch house. He
was among the first to adopt modern imple-
ments suitable for caring for the different
crops raised, and always took pride in his fine
stock. About 1889 they rented the ranch and
removed to Los Angeles, but soon returned
to Ventura count}' and bought lots in Oxnard,
where they erected an attractive and elegant
residence. In the midst of these pleasant sur-
roundings which his wise labors had rendered
possible Mr. Laurent passed his last days and
here he died February 74, 1902, when lacking
one month of sixty years of age. The Santa
Clara Catholic Church, of which he had been
a liberal and earnest member, had charge of
the ceremonies connected with his funeral,
while citizens in general, irrespective of re-
ligious affiliations, were as one in their trib-
utes of respect to his memory and apprecia-
tion of his worth. Since his death Mrs. Lau-
rent has rented the ranch to tenants ,who have
the land under cultivation to beans and beets,
and maintain its reputation as one of the
finest farms of its size in the entire state. Like
her husband, she has been interested in public
questions and has believed in Democratic
principles throughout all of her life. Like
him, too, she is earnest in her allegiance to the
Santa Clara Church. The congregation has
been benefited by her generous ofiferings and
the various church societies have felt the in-
fluence of her helpful work and executive
abilitv.

^f. BLANCHE BOLTON, M. D. ^ Not to
men alone is due the credit for the rapid devel-
opment, progress and upbuilding of this west-
ern state, for in nearly all avenues since the pio-
neer days the wives, daughters and sisters of
these courageous men have proven themselves
equally courageous and self-sacrificing. Along
medical lines a successful exponent is named in

the person of M. Blanche Bolton, M. D., well
and widely known in San Pedro, Los Angeles
county, where she has been engaged in the prac-
tice of her profession since 1899. She is a na-
tive daughter of the state, born in San Francisco
one of five children in the family of her parents,
J. J. and Mary A. (Swayze) Bolton, both of
whom are living and are now residents of San
Gabriel. The father, a native of England, was
brought to Toronto, Canada, by his parents and
there grew to manhood. He became a farmer in
that section, where he remained until 1873, in
which year he located in San Francisco. Later
he followed general farming in Dixon, Solano
county. Cal., until his removal to San Gabriel.
His wife is a native of Montreal, Canada. One
son, Becher Bolton, is practicing medicine in
Napa, Cal., and another son, Manzanito Bolton,
is also a physician, being located at Johnsville,
Cal. William makes his home in San Gabriel,
and Agnes is at home with her parents.

M. Blanche Bolton was born in San Fran-
cisco, Cal., receiving her preliminarv education
in the public and high schools of that place. In
1894 she became a student in the California Med-
ical College, graduating from that institution in
1897 with the degree of M. D., after which she
spent one year in Guadalajara, Mexico, begin-
ning the practice of her profession with her
uncle. Dr. Winfield Swayze. In 1899 she came
to San Pedro, and since that date has engaged
in a general practice of medicine and surgery and
has built up an extensive and lucrative patron-
age throughout this section. She is a member of
the Los Angeles Medical Society, the Southern
California Eclectic Medical Society, and the
State Eclectic Medical Society. She is promi-
nent as a member of the Rebekahs, in which she
is past officer.

HAMILTON ^I. SQUIRES. Many years
have come and gone since ]\Ir. Squires estab-
lished his home on a ranch in San Diego coun-
ty, and now for a quarter of a century he has
remained on the same homestead, busily en-
gaged in raising general farm products and
in breeding registered stock as fine as the lo-
cality can boast. In addition to his own tract
of nine hundred acres he superintends nine-
teen hundred acres owned by his wife, so that
their united possessions represent a large val-
uation and entail considerable responsibility
upon the proprietor. The home place is sit-
uated three miles south of Vista and bears im-
provements showing the owners to possess
thrift, energy and ample means.

Few men are more deeply interested in the
historv and progress of California than Mr.
.Squires, and perhaps this fact by some may be

Q^.O<.oLMj

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1143

attributed to the coincidence of his birth, Sep-
tember 7, 1850, occurring just two days before
CaHfornia was admitted as a state into the
Union. His earliest recollections are connect-
ed with pioneer days in the west, and a few
of these memories are more thrilling than
pleasant, notably his recollection, with the
vividness of an event happening yesterday, of
the shooting of Sheriff "Billy" Getman in Los
Angeles by an insane man, William Jenkins of
the San Gabriel valley being shot in the leg
at the same time. On another occasion his
father was a member of the vigilance commit-
tee of Los Angeles that dealt with Juan
Flores, the murderer of Sheriff Barton.

At the age of seventeen years E. W., father
of H. M. Squires, removed from his native
Kentucky to Missouri, and in 1847 there mar-
ried Louisa Smith, a native of Ohio. Two
years later the young couple started for Cali-
fornia in a wagon drawn by oxen. After a
long journey they arrived at Fort Lassen,
where he engaged in the butchering business
and sold meat to the miners. In 1850 they left
that locality and traveled via wagon to Santa
Clara county. During the progress of this
journey, while they were encamped in tents in
Grass valley, a son was born whom they
named Hamilton i\I. Four years were spent
in Santa Clara county and then they removed
to Los Angeles county, settling at El Monte,
two miles from the San Gabriel ]\ fission. In
1858 they moved from there to the Temple
grant about six miles south of the city of Los
Angeles, and on a farm in that vicinity they
spent many busy years. In the fall of 1870
they moved to a farm near Santa Ana, and in
1874 they established their home at Olive,
Orange county; there the death of the father
occurred March 18, 1906, the mother passing
away October 22 of the same year. Their
happy married life had covered a period of
about sixty years. In sunshine and in shadow
they labored together, and an honored old age
rewarded their well-spent years. Twelve chil-
dren comprised their family, and all but one of
these attained mature years, ten still living in
California.

As an assistant to his father. Hamilton M.
Squires early gained a comprehensive knowl-
edge of agriculture and when he came to his
present ranch in 1881 he was well qualified to
conduct a farm systematically and profitably.
While devoting himself closely to the man-
agement of his land he still finds leisure to
participate in local affairs and for nine consec-
utive years served as school trustee. Political-
ly he favors the Democratic party, but main-
tains an independent attitude in local elec-
tions. In September of 1807 he married ]Miss

Mary Emma Kelly, who was born at Dead-
wood, Placer county, Cal., and is a woman of
refinement and culture, a devoted member of
the Christian Church, and a loving mother to
her two children, Ida Belle and John Hamil-
ton. The family of which she is a member
(mention of whom is made in the sketch of
her sister, ;\Irs. ^Minnie Borden, on another
page) came to California in an earh' day and
settled among the pioneers of upper San Di-
ego county, where ever since they have been
orominent citizens.

WILLIAM H. AULD. One of the most ex-
tensive ranchmen in Alamos valley is William
H. Auld, who is a member of one of the oldest
pioneer families in this section. He operates
a thirteen hundred acre ranch, half of which he
owns, and is engaged in raising horses and the
growing of wheat crops, the latter necessitat-
ing the use of a combined harvester. Ele was
born July 2, 1855, in Amador county, Cal., the
son of George and Caroline D. (Hodges) Auld,
both of whom died in Riverside county, the
former July 30, 1901, at the age of eighty-three
years, and the latter in 1S89, being then sixty-
seven years old.

George Auld was born on Prince Edward
Island, Canada, July 20, 1818, his father, John,
having been a native of Scotland. He received
his education at the place of his birth, and in
ihe same locality engaged, as a young man, in
the general merchandise business. After his
marriage, which occurred in the early '50s, he
came to California and located in Amador
county, from there going to Santa Clara
county, and finally, in 1880, he removed
to Alamos valley, where he took up land from
the government, becoming one of the first set-
tler.s'here. He built the first house and barns
of the place and otherwise improved it, and as
time passed increased his holdings by pur-
chase from the railroads until he had acquired
the present ranch, which embraces about four-
teen hundred acres. Five hundred acres of the
land is devoted to farming purposes, the re-
mainder being in pasture. During his life Mr.
Auld served on the school board, and from
March 3, 1809, until the time of his death filled
the office of postmaster at Auld. Four of his
five children are still living and have homes in
this locality. Eliza F. was educated in Santa
Clara county, where she taught school for a
time, later engaged in that occupation in
Riverside county for five years, and is now
housekeeper for her brothers, Henry and
Charles, who live on and operate the home
place. The last-named son is a member of
the Republican county central committee, is a

1144

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

deputy county clerk, and also clerk of the Ala-
mos school district. Miss Auld is a member
of the ]\Iethodist Episcopal Church. George F.
died at the age of twenty-two years.

William H. Auld received a common-school
education in Santa Clara county and came to
this locality with his father in 1880. His mar-
riage, which occurred here in 1902, united him
with Emily D. Higgins, a native of Missouri,
and they have become the parents of two chil-
dren, Alma C. and George H. r^Ir. Auld is
one of the most substantial and highly respect-
ed men of this communitj' and takes an active
interest in all matters tending to improve and
develop his part of the state.

TAAIES MILLIGAX. Occupying a con-
spicuous position among the agriculturists of
Ventura county who have worked their way
forward from poverty to independence and
through hardships to success, mention should
be made of James ]Milligan, the owner of a
finely improved ranch lying three-fourths of
a mile south of Oxnard. The farm is valuable
by reason of its remarkable fertility as well as
its substantial improvements. At the time of
])urchasing in 1899, Mr. Milligan paid $265 an
acre for sixty-three acres and at once devoted
the soil to the raising of beans and beets. By
subsequent purchase he has increased the
ranch to its present dimensions of one hundred
and seven acres, all under the plow and lying
in one body. An abundance of water is fur-
ished by means of an artesian well with a
pumping plant, and with the best of facilities
for irrigation it lias been possible for the own-
er to raise as much as twenty-five tons of
sugar beets per acre. The cost of bringing
the crop to a condition for marketing is far
greater than would he supposed by those un-
familiar with the business. At present prices
for labor and seed, the cost may be estimated
as follows: S2 ner acre for seed: $2 per acre
for hoeing and cultivating: $2.50 for plowing;
$5 for thinning the plants ; $10 for loading the
crop : and $6 for hauling, a total of $27.50, so
that it costs little less than $30 per acre to
raise beets and deliver them.

During the ninteenth century John and
Jane (Campbell") Milliken, natives of county
Antrim. Ireland, immigrated to the United
States and settled near Ogdensburg, N. Y., in
Lisbon township, St. Lawrence county, Avhere
the father engaged in farming until his death
at sixty-five years, and the mother also died
at that place. Both were descended from
Scotch ancestors who fled to Ireland dur-
ing the era of religious persecutions. Their
two sons. Tames and William C. (twins).

changed the family name for convenience to
Milligan. They were born near Ogdensburg,
N. Y., June 29, 1856, and William C. died at
Worcester, Mass. James was reared on the
home farm and received common-school edu-
cational advantages. During April of 1880
he came west as far as Nevada, where he spent
one year at Reno. From there he came to
California and settled in Ventura county. Be-
ing entirely without means, he was obliged to
work for wages, and for a few years Avas em-
ployed as a farm hand, rising in time to be
foreman of the Dixie Thompson ranch, where
he remained for seven years in the successful
management of the estate. With the savings
of that period he bought thirtj'-six acres two
miles northwest of the present site of Oxnard
and began to engage in raising beans, but
later he sold the land in order to purchase the
larger ranch he now owns. When it is re-
membered that he came to Ventura county
practically penniless and now owns a property
valued at many thousands of dollars, it will
he conceded that this county ofifers many op-
portunities to men of energy, determination
and industrious habits.

After coming to Ventura county ]\Ir. ^lilli-
gan met and married Miss Elizabeth Hutchins,
who was born near Des Moines, Iowa, re-
ceived a fair education, and is a lady of gentle
disposition, earnestly devoted to her family
and to the Methodist Episcopal Church, of
which she is a faithful member. Their family
consists of six children, namely: Estella,
Ralph, James, William, Robert and John.
While JNTr. Milligan has been too deeply en-
grossed in agricultural affairs to pei'mit of ac-
tivity in politics, yet he always has kept post-
ed concerning Issues before the nation and has
given his steadfast allegiance to the Republi-
can party, at one time serving as a member of
its county central committee. The only fra-
ternal organization to which he belongs is the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, his mem-
bership being with the lodge at Oxnard.

DR. ROBERT W. BROWN is one of the re-
spected and highly esteemed physicians in the
Santa Maria valley and is recognized as a man
thoroughly well posted in all matters pertain-
ing to his profession : in the short time that he
has been practicing in this communitv he has
built up an extensive practice. His fine home
in Santa IMaria is one of the most comfortable
in the village. Dr. Brown was bom in London.
England, January 27, 1862. His father, Samuel
Brown, who was a merchant, died at the age of
fifty-two years in his native land, while the
mother, who was !Miss Jane Palmer before her

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1145

marriage, and also a' native of England, lived
to be sixty-five years old. There were eleven
children born to this family, seven of whom are
still living, the doctor being the only member of
the family in California. The mother was a
communicant of the Episcopal Church and the
son holds a membership in the same denomina-
tion.

Dr. Brown received his early education in a
private school in London, where he prepared for
his collegiate course. Then he went to Canada
and entered the Manitoba Medical College at
Winnipeg, later taking the lexamination at the
University of Manitoba in the same city. In
his studies he pursued a general line in medi-
cine and surgery and later received his degree
of Doctor of Medicine. From Canada he came
to the United States, in 1893, locating at Glen-
wood, Wis., where he remained for five years
practicing his profession. From there he removed
to Nipomo, Cal., where he followed a general
practice of medicine until 1905, when he came
to Santa Maria. In 1894 his marriage to Miss
Anna L. Kidd, a native of Ireland, occurred,
and to them have been born two children, Roy
and Lucile. Mrs. Brown is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, in which she is an
active worker. Fraternally Dr. Brown affiliates
with the Masonic order at Santa Maria and is a
member of the Independent Order of Red Men
of this place.

ARISTIDES E. STOKES. Years ago, ere
white men had discovered the possibilities of the
Ramona valley and ere any attempt had been
made at permanent settlement or improvement,
there came to this region Adolphus Stokes, a
native of Los Angeles and a young man eager to
acquire large tracts for his stock interests. A
tour of inspection convinced him that abundant
pasturage could here be obtained for his large
herds, and accordingly he bought such properties
as were for sale, gradually increasing his pos-
sessions until he held the title to seventeen thou-
sand seven hundred and sixty acres in the valley.
Upon the land he put up a cabin of adobe and es-
tablished himself as the first wdiite settler in the
valley, taking up the difficult task of improving a
homestead remote from human habitation and
destitute of means of transportation to the mar-
kets. As people began to be attracted to the
country he sold oft' some of his estate, retaining
perhaps one-fourth of the entire grant, and at his
death, February 2T, 1897, at the age of fifty-three
years, he left to his children about fifteen hundred
acres of the original tract. He built three houses
on different parts of his property and conducted
the first stage line between Julian and San Diego.

Wliile living in Los Angeles Adolphus Stokes

met and married Dolores Olvera, a young Span-
ish girl, who was born and reared in that city,
and who was a member of an old family of South-
ern CaHfornia. Her death occurred January
6, 1896, when she was forty-nine years of age.
Seven children were born of their union,. namely :
Concepcion, wife of Ernest S. Howe, mentioned
elsewhere in this volume ; Aristides E. ; Flora, of
San Diego; Camilla, who married C. R. Angui-
sola, of San Diego; Esperanza, wife of William
O. Marr, of Coronado ; Esther, who died at
twenty-two years of age, and Ysabella, wife of
Robert Green, of Escondido.

During the residence of the family in Los An-
geles Aristides E. Stokes was born February 9,
1872. In early childhood he came to the Ra-
mona valley and here he attended the public
schools. Later "he was sent to Santa Clara Col-
lege in order that he might have advantages im-
possible in the home locality, but ill health pre-
vented him from completing the course and
obliged him to relinquish his studies entirely.
Upon regaining his strength he entered actively
upon agricultural pursuits and carried on a part-
nership with his father in the raising of stock.
After the death of his father he acquired inde-
pendent interests and now owns a ranch of about
two hundred acres near the village of Ramona.
where he keeps about fifteen milch cows as well
as other stock and carries on grain and stock
farming. The neat house on the ranch reflects
the tastes and orderly spirit characteristic of Mrs.
Stokes, who was fomierly JNIiss Emma J. Libby,
being a daughter of an honored pioneer, B. F.
Libby. mentioned on another page of this volume.
Mr. and Mrs. Stokes were married at San Luis
Rey February 14, 1901, and are the parents of
four sons, Benjamin Franklin, Edward C,
Charles Raymond and Harold L. The family are
of the Catholic faith and have their membership
in the San Diego church of that denomination.
Politically Mr. Stokes favors Democratic prin-
ciples and always votes for the men and meas-
ures of the party. Though not caring for office
himself, he has several times consented to serve
as school trustee and has filled the office with
efficiency and an earnest desire to advance local
educational interests. The only fraternal or-
ganization with which he has membership is the
Ancient Order of Foresters at Ramona, Court
No. 8520. in which he has been an active worker
for a numlacr of years and to whose charities
he is a contributor.

CARROLL E. BORDEN. The family of
which this enterprising agriculturist is a lead-
ing representative came to San Diego county
in an early day and has since given to their
adopted locality men and women of high prin-

1146

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ciples of honor, substantial Avorth and unflag-
ging energy, citizens of inestimable value in
the permanent development of the community,
and contributors to educational, religious and
philanthropic movements. Extended mention
of the family appears on another page of this
volume, in the sketch of Mrs. JNIinnie L. Bor-
den, mother of Carroll E. Borden, and an hon-
ored resident of the county.

The entire life of Carroll E. Borden thus far
has been passed within the limits of his native
county of San Diego, where he was born at
San Marcos Ma}' 13, 1884. and where he re-
'ceived a fair education in the schools of Carls-
bad. MHiile still a mere lad he gained a com-
prehensive knowledge of agriculture as ap-
plied to the soil and climate of his home coun-
ty, hence he was qualified to engage success-
fully in farm pursuits when, in 1903, he left
the parental roof and started out to make his
own way in the world. Removing to a tract
of five hundred acres in the vicinity of Vista,
he erected a farm house, substantial barn and
other buildings, and has since given his atten-
tion to the maintenance of a high class of im-
provements on the farm. The raising of grain
has been his specialty and the entire tract is
under cultivation to cereals.

To his country home Mr. Borden brou'ght a
wife in 1905, his marriage occurring on the
7th of Jnne of that year and uniting him with
Miss lleonore Beller, daughter of Alexander
Beller, a well-known citizen of Carlsbad. In
their religious views Mr. and Mrs. Borden
support the doctrines of the Christian Church
and are contributors to its missionary move-
ments and local charities. The Fraternal
Brotherhood numbers Mr. Borden among its
members and his interest in its work has been
constant. Appreciating the evil wrought by
the indiscriminate sale of intoxicating liquors,
he has taken a firm stand against saloons and
has given his sympathy and co-operation to
the prohibition cause. These a lews he carries
into the political field and gives his ballot to
Prohibition candidates whenever that party
puts a ticket before the voters of his localitj'.

RICHARD O. HUNT. It has been the
good fortune of Mr. Hunt to succeed beyond
his expectations in the California enterprises
in which he has been interested since his ar-
rival in this state over thirty years ago, and
few have more readily adapted themselves to
western opportunities for advancement, nor
can it be said that his youth held more than
ordinary inducements to try to make the best
of himself in the environments in which he
found himself thrown. Born in Maine April

24, 1832, he was educated in the common
schools of his native state and there also
learned the trade of carriage making, follow-
ing this in Worcester, Mass., for some years
before removing to Chicago, 111., in 1853. Af-
ter spending about three years in the latter
cit)' he went for a short time to Racine, Wis.,
then to Austin, Minn., following his trade with
varied success in these different states and
cities. December 24, 1863, he enlisted as sec-
cond lieutenant in Company B, Second Min-
nesota Cavalry, under General Sulley, and with
his regiment went through the Dakotas, par-
ticipating in several severe battles with In-
dians. The following November he was pro-
moted to first lieutenant and served until De-
cember I, 1865, when he was mustered out,
having given his countr}- two years of efficient
service.

Coming to California in 1872, Mr. Hunt
opened up a carriage shop in Santa Barbara
which is still in operation under the firm name
of Hunt's Son & Schuster, his son Charles L.,
having this business under his supervision.
About three years -after coming to this state
he purchased nearly a thousand acres of land
in the Conejo valley, Ventura county, which
he rented out for nearly ten years, but being
unable to procure or keep satisfactory ten-
ants, he I'AOved upon the ranch himself in 1887,
and since that time has made his home here
continuously. The greater portion of his land
is devoted to raising grain and stock, and a
dairy of thirty-live cows. Nearly all of the
butter produced from his dairy, averaging
about one hundred pounds a week, is sold in
Ventura. He has recently erected a large silo
upon his ranch 16x31 feet, and fitted it out
with modern machiner3^

The marriage of ]\Ir. Hunt was solemnized
in Chicago. 111., in 1854, and united him to
Mary J. Brown, a native of Oxford, Mass.
Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have eight children, name-
ly; Walter L., Vv'ho is in the grocery business
in Santa Barbara ; Charles L., managing the
carriage business founded by his father in San-
ta Barbara ; D. Frank, formerly business man-
ager of the Morning Press of Santa Barbara,
1)ut now postmaster of Santa Barbara : Lorin
E., a professor at the University of California
at Berkeley ; Hamlet R., who has a fruit farm
at Niles, Cal. ; Albert W., a farmer on the
home ranch ; H. F., who is a blacksmith at
Pasadena: and Alice F., the wife of Edward
Hunt of Berkeley. Fraternally, Mr. Hunt is
3 mem.ber of Ventura Lodge, F. & A. M., also
of the Royal Arch Masons. He is also an hon-
ored member of the Grand Army of the Re-
public of Ventura. Ever since coming to his
ranch in 1887 he has been a familiar figure in

A^Oc^llJ-^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1149

the neighborhood, and his kindly nature and
general interest in his surroundings have won
him many true friends among those who, like
himself, are appreciators of the land resources
of this very productive portion of the state.
Airs. Hunt is an estimable woman and shares
in the popularity and regard of her husband,
fine and deserving traits of character in both
having contributed towards making this feel-
ing general among their friends and acquaint-
ances.

FATHER DANIEL WEBSTER MUR-
PHY. The interests of the Catholic Church
in Hollywood are zealously guarded by Rev.
Father Murphy, who has had charge of the
parish at this place since January 12, 1904.

A native of County Cork, Ireland, born Jan-
uary 12, 1876, he was brought to the United
States when a child of four years and was
reared and trained in Cambridge, Mass. His
initial school training received in the east was
continued in Redlands, Cal., whither he came
at the age of fourteen years. All of his school-
ing and training thus far had been with the
object of preparing himself for the priesthood,
and for the purpose of receiving his credentials
he went to Baltimore, Md., in 1894. Cardi-
nal James Gibbons conferred the solemn rites
of priesthood upon him in 1899. TlTcreafter
he was first appointed assistant to the Cathe-
dral at Los Angeles, Cal., where he served
almost four years. Hollywood at that time was
attended from the Old Mission of Los Angeles.

The arrival of Rev. Thomas J. Conaty in
the southern diocese, as bishop of Monterey
and Los Angeles, resulted in transferring
Father Alurphy to the parish at Hollywood,
which has been his sole charge since January,
1904. Mass was first celebrated in this parish
Mav 3, 1769, by the founder of all the Cali-
fornia missions, Father Junipero Sera, and up-
on this date also was celebrated the Holy
A¥ood of the Cross, hence the name of Holy-
wood, or Hollywood, the name which was aft-
erward given to the place bv the wife of John
L. Beveridge, of this place. When Father
Murphy took charge of the parish it numbered
onlv' fourteen adult parishioners, and in about
three vears the membership has increased to
seven hundred, including among the number
many of the leading citizens in the surround-
ing countrv. The neighboring towns of Col-
grove. Sherman and Prospect Park are included
in the Hollvwood parish. During 1905-06
Father ]\Iurphv built the church at St. A^'ictor,
at a cost of $10,000. this being the gift of Vic-
tor Ponet, the Belgian consul at Los Angeles.
He also erected the present church edifice

soon after his removal to this parish, purchas-
ing one and a half acres of ground upon which
the church was later erected at a cost of $29,-
200.

Closely associated with the parish at Holly-
wood is the Immaculate Heart College, which
was founded by the sisters of the Immaculate
Heart, under the auspices of Rt. Rev. Thomas
J. Conaty. The site of the college is one of
the most beautiful spots to be found in this
part of the state, in the midst of undulating
foothills. The building is a brick and con-
crete structure of late mission type, erected at
a cost of $160,000, surrounded by fourteen
acres of land. The college is in charge of
Mother Superior Mary Magdalene, and sixty-
five sisters. Instruction in the college is di-
vided into three main departments, high
school, college, and department of music, art
and dramatic art. Besides giving instruction
to both resident and day pupils, ladies are
here trained for the sisterhood.

Not only has Father Murphy been an im-
portant factor in the religious life of Holly-
wood, but his influence has also been felt with
equal force in the secular afifairs of the town
and surrounding country. As a member of the
board of trade he has taken a special inter-
est in the work of street improvement, his
eflforts along this line being productive of
much good. The cause of temperance is an-
other matter which lies close to his heart, and
his influence among the young of his parish
and elsewhere in this direction is widespread
jnd deep. Father JMurphy is one of the char-
ter members of Hollywood Club and is chap-
lain of the Knights of Columbus, of Los An-
geles, the largest body of laymen in that city.
During their general convention in June, 1905,
they presented the church with a beautiful
stained glass window representing the landing
of Columbus and the first Catholic service in
America, October 12, 1492. Father IMurphy's
parents, John S. and Nora (Mahoney) Mur-
phy, also natives of County Cork, are still liv-
ing, making their home in Redlands, Cal. An
uncle of John 3. ^Murphy, Daniel Murphy, of
Hobarttown, New Zealand, is the oldest arch-
bishop of the Catholic church in the world.

G. G. BUNDY. Ere the present prosperity
of Southern California had taken definite form
except in the visions of sanguine and optimistic
citizens, Nathan Bundy, a native of Ohio, sought
a field of employment in this part of the country
and identified himself with the region which his
son, G. G., has regarded as his lifelong home.
For a brief period during his early manhood
Nathan Bundy had been a resident of Iowa and

1150

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

from there he returned to Ohio to choose a help-
mate, his wife being Harriet Smith, a member
. of a pioneer family of Ohio and a native of that
state. Accompanied by his wife he returned to
Iowa and there followed the painter's trade.
Meanwhile he heard much concerning Califor-
nia and was induced by flattering reports to re-
move to the Pacific coast, a decision he has had
no reason to regret. April 30, 1876, he arrived
at Santa Monica, which then was an insignificant
hamlet on the beach, whose attractions as yet
had not drawn hither a large population of re-
sorters and health-seekers. In addition to en-
gaging at his trade he became interested in the
buying and selling of real estate and enjoyed
considerable profits during the progress of the
boom. After having made Santa Monica his
home for more than twenty years, in 1898 he re-
moved to Los Angeles and now resides at No.
1766 West Twenty-fourth street, on the corner of
Congress street.

During the residence of the family at Ames.
Story county, Iowa, G. G. Bundy was born
IVIarch 21, 1873, and he was three years of age
at the time of coming to California. Primarily
educated in the Santa Monica grammar school, he
had the supplementary advantage of attendance
at the high school of that city, graduating with
the class of 1895. the first to receive diplomas
from that institution. After leaving school he
took up the oil business, which he followed for
six years, and then turned his attention to the
management of his livery business, the Santa
[Monica stables, and to the buying and selling of
real estate, in which he has met with encourag-
ing success. In politics he always gives his
alfegiance to the Republican party and takes a
warm interest in matters pertaining to municipal
and state welfare. The young lady whom he
selected as his wife was Miss Adele A. Smith,
who was born and educated in San Francisco,
but came to Santa Monica in girlhood and was
living here at the time of their marriage. Two
children, a daughter and son, bless their union.
The family occupy a distinctive position in local
society and number a host of friends among the
people of their home town.

NATHANIEL AIcCLAIN, a pioneer rancher
of Los Angeles county, is a citizen who stands
high in the esteem of all who know him, both
for his personal qualities of character and his
business ability. He was born in Utah Septem-
ber 29, 1856, a son of Francis McQain ; the latter
was a native of Kentucky, who emigrated in
young manhood, crossing the plains to Nevada
in 1850. and engaging in the mines of that sec-
tion. He met with considerable success in his
efforts and acquired independence. Later he

went to Utah and passed many years, finally
locating again in Nevada, where he spent the
ensuing seven years. At that time he was en-
gaged in teaming to the mines. Finally locating
in Los Angeles count}- he engaged in farming
and stock-raising until his death, which occurred
in 1881, at the age of forty-eight years. He was
a man of energy and ability and accumulated
a property of one hundred and sixty acres which
was divided among his children. Politically he
was an adherent of the principles advocated in
the platform of the Democratic party and gave
every effort toward the advancement of these
interests. While a resident of Utah he took part
in many Indian wars, being a resident of the
state at the time of the Mountain Meadow mas-
sacre. His wife was formerly Lovina Green,
a native of lUinois, whose death occurred in
1900, at the age of fifty-six years. Both himself
and wife are members of the Latter Da}' Saints
Church. H

One of the family of nine children, all of whom
are living in Los x\ngeles save one son who is now
deceased, Nathaniel McQain spent the years
of his boyhood in various locations, among them
Nevada and Oregon and California, coming to
Los Angeles in 1869 and here completing his
education in a private institution. At the age
of twenty years he began ranching for himself,
following his early training along this line. He
has made a success of his work, accumulating
considerable means and at the same time build-
ing up for himself a place of esteem among his
fellow-citizens. In 1877 he established home ties
through his marriage with ■Miss Martha Vick.
a native of California and the stepdaughter of
James S. Hart, who came to California in an
early day and who is still living at the age of
seventy-seven years. Mrs. Elizabeth Hart, the
mother of Mrs. McClain, is also an old pioneer of
the state. With her parents she started from St.
Joseph, Mo., in 1849, traveling by ox-train, but
both her parents died before reaching their desti-
nation. Arriving in the state early in the spring of
1850, Mrs. McClain thereafter made her home in
Sacramento. She is still living, at the age of
seventy years on the homestead in Green
]\Ieadows, surrounded by her children, grand-
children and great-grandchildren. Her ex-
periences in California during the gold-seeking
times make her an interesting conversationalist.

After his marriage Mr. jMcQain located upon
an eighty-acre tract belonging to his father-in-
law, where he is still living, also owning at the
present writing twenty acres on Manchester
avenue, all of which is devoted to the rais-
ing of grain. Mr. and Mrs. McClain be-
came the parents of seven children, as fol-
lows: Irena L., Viola L., James N., Arline C.
Leona-N., Inez N. and Evelvn N. The second

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1151

daughter, Viola L., became the wife of A. G.
Williams, and at her death February 9, 1906,
at the age of twenty-three years, left three chil-
dren, Arville Guy, Evelyn Viola and James
Wesley. Since the death of their mother these
children have made their home with their grand-
parents, Mr. and Mrs. McClain. The youngest
child James Wesley, survived his mother seven
months, passing away September 2, igc6, at two
years of age. The only son of Mr. and Mrs.
McClain, James N., married Miss Martha Barn-
hill, who is a talented musician, and they are the
proud parents of one daughter. Nathaniel Mc-
Clain belongs to the Fraternal Aid Association
of Los Angeles, and politically he is a stanch
Democrat. His religious belief conforms with
the doctrines of the Church of the Latter Day
Saints, though he is not an active member of
that body, while his wife's views coincide with
the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
although not an active member of the Church.

GEORGE W. WISEMAN. Ever since com-
ing to the state in 1893 Mr. Wiseman has been
associated in business with his brother, Haldon
R., and since 1904 they have owned and man-
aged the principal book and stationery store in
Sawtelle. The father, Abner Wiseman, was a
native of Kentucky, born in Estill county, j\Iarch
7, 1845, and was therefore about sixteen years
old at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war.
His youthful spirit needed no urging to prompt
him to enlist, and before long his name was en-
rolled in the Eighth Kentucky Infantry. After
a faithful service extending over four years and
six months he met with a severe accident re-
sulting from the overturning of an ammunition
wagon. This unfitted him for further service,
and indeed it was ten years before he recovered
from the effects of the injury sufficiently to re-
sume business. Purchasing eighty acres of land
in Estill county, Ky., he carried on farming there
for about ten years, at the end of this time re-
moving to Dent county, Md., for two years en-
gaging in the iron works there, burning wood for
charcoal. For a short time he was engaged in
the same business in Oswego, Ore., going from
there to Walla Walla, Wash., where for twelve
years he carried on agricultural pursuits. Ad-
vancing years, however, made it advisable for
him. to discontinue active duties and in 1894 he
sold out his interest in Washington and entered
the soldier's home at Santa Monica. While on
furlough he visits his sons in Sawtelle. Politi-
cally he is a Republican. The Woodmen of the
World number him among their members, as do
also the comrades of the John A. Martin Grand
Army post at Sawtelle. Mrs. Wiseman was be-
fore her marriage Mary Ellen Obney, and she.

too, was born in Estill county, Ky., December
28, 1847. By her marriage with Mr. Wiseman
six children were born, as follows : Sophie Anna,
who died in Walla Walla, Wash., in 1894; George
W., our subject; Martha J., Mrs. J. R. Arm-
strong ; Joel S., who married Anna Shurtz ; Hal-
don R., who is in partnership with his brother in
Sawtelle, and Thomas B., who married Alice
Fletcher.

George W. Wiseman was next to the oldest
of the family and was born in Estill county, Ky.,
February 17, 1870. When the family located in
Washington he was still a young lad and in the
schools of Walla Walla he gained his first knowl-
edge of books. This training he later supple^
mented by a business course, which he soon put
into pi-actice by establishing himself in the grain
business, following this for a number of years.
After conducting a farm in that state for two
years he came to Los Angeles county, and in
Santa Monica established a dairy business with
his brother, Haldon R., and in an incredibly short
time they found themselves in possession of one
of the largest dairy industries in this part of Los
Angeles county. The same spirit which prompted
their father to lay aside his farm implements and
enter the service of his country at the time oi
the Civil war led the brothers to dispose of their
flourishing business and enlist in the Spanish-
American war. During their three years service
they were in several skirmishes and one engage-
ment, but unlike their father they escaped in-
jury. It was after the return from the war that
they came to Sawtelle and bought out the book
store of which they are now the proprietors, and
their success in the years in which they have been
residents here prove them to be men of push
and perseverance and well worthy the success
which has followed their efforts. Politically
they are defenders of Republican principles.
George W. Wiseman is interested in fraternal
matters to some extent, holding membership in
the Odd Fellows order and the Fraternal Bro-
therhood.

DAVID BRUCE. As one of the progressive
ranchmen of Arroyo Grande, David Bruce is an
earnest advocate of every enterprise that tends
toward the upbuilding of his community. A fine
gentleman, successful, careful and conscientious
in all of his business transactions, it goes with-
out saying that he is well thought of by everyone
with whom he comes in contact. His ranch com-
prises forty-two acres of as fertile land as there
is in the valley, and it is devoted to a variety
of crops, including dewberries, beans and lem-
ons. The family residence is a commodious
structure, and the entire property is up-to-date
and in excellent condition.

1152

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mr. Bruce is a native of Ireland, born May
lo, i860, and there he received the most of his
education. At the age of sixteen years, in 1876,
he immigrated to Canada, and engaged in farm-
ing there for six years before coming to Califor-
nia in 1882. His father before him was a farmer
in Ireland and the lessons of careful industry
and attention to details which the father instilled
in the minds of his sons was a part of Mr.
Bruce"s education. This was supplemented with
the adoption of the most up-to-date methods of
ranching in this country, and from the time of
his arrival in California' in 1882 he has met with
great success in all of his undertakings. He
first settled at Stockton, in San Joaquin county,
and ranched there for four years, when, in 1886,
he removed to Marine, where for two years he
had charge of a large dairy ranch of twenty-two
hundred acres. From there he went to Cholame
and engaged in ranching and grain farming for
sixteen years, having acquired title to three hun-
dred and twenty acres, which he sold when he
came to Arroyo Grande and purchased the place
upon which he now resides with his family. In
1904 i\Ir. Bruce married Emily Boxall, who im-
migrated to this country from her native coun-
try, England, and to them has been born one
child, John Lester Bruce,

Politically Mr. Bruce is a strong supporter of
the principles embodied in the platform of the
Republican party, and takes an active interest in
all matters affecting the community, state and
country in which he lives. Both he and his
wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, which they support with their means
and their labors and in all things they fill an
important place in the life of Arroyo Grande.
As to his antecedents, both parents of Mr. Bruce
were natives of Ireland, the father, James
Bruce, having died there at the age of seventy-
seven years, and the mother, Mary (Crawford)
Bruce,' lived to be one year older than her hus-
band. The family consisted of six children, all
of whom now live in Ireland except two, Joseph
Bruce, a resident of Mendocino county, Cal, and
David Bruce, the subject of this sketch.

WILLIAM HARVEY HOWELL. One
and a half miles west of Lemon, and not far
from the Fairview school house, lies the six-
ty-five acre ranch owned and supervised by
Mr. Howell. A combination of circumstances
makes this without question one of the rich-
est and most productive ranches in this part
of Los Angeles coimty, its rich black loam
taking first rank among its superior advan-
tages. Thirty acres of the tract are in walnuts,
twenty in alfalfa (although this latter tract is
being replaced with walnuts"), and the re-

mainder is in grapes and deciduous fruits, the
whole being irrigated by a pumping plant.

The earliest ancestor of the Howell family
of whom we have any definite information is
the grandfather, James Howell, who was born
in Illinois but early in life settled as a pioneer
farmer in the adjoining state of Iowa. There
he followed the peaceful life of the agricult-
urist throughout the remainder of his life and
reared a family to lives of usefulness. Among
his children was G. AV. Howell, who was born
in White Oak, Mahaska county, Iowa, and
now makes his home on a farm in the same lo-
cality. His wife, formerly Martha Cox, was
also a native of White Oak, Iowa, her father,
Isaac Cox, settling in that commonwealth
during the early history of its settlement,
three children, all sons, were born to this
worthy couple, William H. being the eldest
of the number. He was born September i,
1873, on the parental homestead in Iowa and
was partially reared in that state, but the re-
moval of his parents to Kansas in 1885 brought
him one step nearer to the west and the
scene of his present labors. First in Wash-
ington, Kans., and later in Osborne, that
state, he attended the public schools, and it
was during the family's residence in that
state that the home was saddened by the
death of the mother.

When twenty years of age, in 1893, Will-
iam H. Howell struck out for himself, his de-
cision to come to California being influenced
no doubt from the fact that an uncle, James
Staples, an old forty-niner, was living in this
state. Going to Dutch Flat, where his rela-
tive lived, he remained there a short time and
then went to Truckee, where for six months
he was in the employ of the Truckee Lumber
Company. From Nevada county he came to
the southern part of the state in 1895, first to
Los Angeles and then to Pomona, in the lat-
ter place following the cement business for
a time. Going back to Los Angeles, he held
a position with a cold storage company for a
short time, and the following year, 1896, came
to Lemon and settled upon a rented ranch.
Two years later he purchased his present
ranch of sixty-five acres in close proximity to
Lemon. A pumping plant on the ranch not
only supplies an abundance of water for his
own use, but he is enabled to irrigate neigh-
boring ranches also. Everything about the
ranch bears the stamp of the owner's person-
ality, the residence, barns, fences and other
appointments being kept in perfect repair.

In Spadra Mr. Howell was married to Miss
Grace Collins, who was born in Santa Ana,
the daughter of D. H. Collins, of Spadra, of
whom more mav be learned bv referring to

^y<^^U^:^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1155

his sketch, which is given elsewhere in this
volume. Two- children have brightened the
home life of Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Burl and
Hazel. jMrs. Howell is a member of the
Christian Church of Pomona, toward the sup-
port of which Mr. Howell contributes, this
also being true of all worthy causes that are
brought before his notice. He is a school
trustee of the Fairview district, and is sec-
retary and a director of the Walnut Fruit
Growers' Association of Walnut. The only
fraternal organization which claims Mr. How-
ell's membership is the Modern Woodmen of
America, belonging to the Camp at Lemon.

SAMUEL HELLER. Comparatively brief as
was the duration of Mr. Heller's life, within the
narrow limits of the years allotted to him he
accomplished much for the advancement of his
personal interests and the upbuilding of his home
city. Always public-spirited and active in pro-
moting the educational and commercial develop-
ment of Long Beach, he was intimately asso-
ciated with various movements tending toward
the permanent welfare of the town. At the
time of his demise he was officiating for the
second term as president of the school board,
during which service he had been an influential
factor in advancing the interests of the public
schools and had championed with especial earnest-
ness the plan of building all schoolhouses two
stories in height, besides favoring many other
ideas looking toward the development of the
schools.

A native of New York City, born July 24.
1863, Mr. Heller was a son of Bernard and Lena
(Freud) Heller, natives of Austria, who came to
America in early life and settled in New York
City, where the father engaged in the retail
furniture business. After the death of his wife
he left New York City and during 1883 settled
in Ohio, taking up the insurance business in
Toledo, where he still makes his home. Of the
four sons and four daughters comprising the
family Samuel was the eldest son. His educa-
tion was begun in the public schools of New
York City and completed in a business college
in Michigan, where he settled in 1884. After
leaving college he took up the business of cigar-
manufacturing and later conducted a department
store at St. Johns. On disposing of his interests
in Michigan he came to California in 1899 ^"^
settled in Long Beach, where he became in-
terested in the buying and selling of real estate.
In 1901 he laid out the Heller and Hayes tract
of twenty acres, and also added to the city the
Rose tract of seven and one-half acres.

When the project was first formulated for
the organization of the American National Bank

5S

of Long Beach Mr. Heller became an enthusias-
tic advocate of the plan and assisted in the found-
ing of the institution, in which he afterward of-
ficiated as a director. In addition he was a direc-
tor of the First National Bank, a director of the
Long Beach Building and Loan Association and
a director of the Long Beach Hospital Associa-
tion, all of which institutions, along the different
lines of their usefulness, have proved of inesti-
mable value to the permanent growth of the town
While working with keen foresight and shrewd
discrimination for the advancement of his personal
interests and the well-being of the city, he found
leisure to participate in fraternal activities and al-
so to keep in touch with local and national politi-
cal affairs, in which he supported Republican
principles. While living in Michigan he was a
leading member of the Tent of the Maccabees
at St. Johns, Clinton county, also the lodge and
encampment, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
in the same town. The Modern Woodmen of
America numbered him among their working
members, as did also the Masonic fraternity, in
which he affiliated with Long Beach Lodge, F.
& A. M., Long Beach Chapter, R. A. M.,^Long
Beach Commanderv, K. T.. Al Malaikah Temple.
A. A. O. N. M. 'S., of Los Angeles, and the
Order of the Eastern Star, at Long Beach, in
which he officiated as past patron, his widow
also being a member of the latter order. When
he passed away, July 28, 1905, it was felt that
one of the leading man of Long Beach had been
lost to the town, and in his departure the ac-
tivities in which he had participated suffered an
irreparable loss. The estate which he left is ad-
ministered by his wife, who continues to reside
at the home place. No. 707 Cedar avenue, having
with her the three children of the family, Anna,
Merrill J. and Lillian E. Mrs Heller was born
in Austria and bore the maiden name of Rosa
Heinman ; at an early age she came to the United
States and settled at Harrison, Mich., where
she remained until after her marriage. Since
his death his widow has carried out the plans he
had made in the building of the Cosmopolitan
Club building and the laying out of the Willow
Park tract of Long Beach.

JA:MES M. WOODS. An industrious, thriv-
ing, and well-to-do agriculturist near the town
of Escondido, James M. Woods is proprietor
of a fine homestead in Woods" valley, which was
named in honor of his father, Goolsby Woods,
an honored pioneer of this section of San Diego
county. His ranch, in regard to its appoint-
ments, compares favorably with any in the local-
ity, its neat and orderly appearance manifesting
to the most casual observer the thrift and care
of the owner, and bearing testimony to his in-

1156

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

dustr_v and good management. A native born
son of California, his birth occurred January
1 8, 1868, in Yolo county, where he hved until
ten years of age.

A native of Missouri, Goolsby Woods married
the widow L. I. Belshe, also a native of that
state. They migrated across the plains by wagon
and ox teams in '49 to California, where ^Ir.
^\^oods engaged in mining. After living in
Sonoma count}' for a time thev moved to Yolo
county, bought a ranch, and after operating it
finally sold out on account of his wife's health
and in 1878 moved to San Diego county. Here
he continued farming until his death, which oc-
curred on his ranch August 16, 1897, at tne
age of seventy-three. Five of his children sur-
vive him. This part of the country was so thin-
ly settled when he came here that he did not
deem it worth while to throw his time awav on
so small a public office as justice* of peace or
constable. He was a Democrat in politics, and
a member of the Christian Church.

Coming with his parents to San Diego county
in 1878, James M. Woods was educated in the
district schools, and from early boyhood assisted
his father in the various labors incidental to pio-
neer farm life, attaining wisdom in agricultural
lore. When ready to begin work for himself he
selected the vocation with which he was most
familiar, buying eighty acres of land near
Escondido, and has since been actively and sat-
isfactorily employed in general ranching. He
raises grain and hay to some extent, but makes a
specialty of raising poultry and of dairying, sell-
ing chickens, milk and butter in the town, and
receiving for his products the highest market
price.

November 11, 1891, James M. Woods mar-
ried Annie C. Jacoby, who was born in Burling-
ton, Iowa, August 14, 1873. and came to Cali-
fornia in 1883. They are the parents of four
children, namely : Susie, Orpha. Ellis and Inez.
Politically Mr. Woods is a steadfast Democrat,
but has never aspired to public office.

LAWRENCE A. CREELMAN. A pioneer
resident, prominent business man, and mem-
ber of the San Diego city council is Lawrence
A. Creelman, who has been active in the devel-
opment and upbuilding of this city for more
than twenty years past. He was born Maj' 4,
T853, in Richibucto, Kent county. New Bruns-
wick, of Scotch ]-)arentage, the families on both
sides of the house having been old settlers in
Canada. The projenitors on the paternal side
came from the north of Ireland to Nova Sco-
tia, where James R. Creelman was born. He
was a tanner by trade and musician by pro-
fession and tauHit all of his life. In iiW he

removed with his family to Collingwood, On-
tario, later returning to New Brunswick, and
his death occurred in Pointe du Chene. His
wife, in maidenhood Isabella Patterson, was
born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and died in On-
tario. She was a member of the Presbyterian
Church. There were fourteen children in the
family, and one son, W. F. W., enlisted in a
Tennessee regiment during the Spanish war,
his death occurring later in the Philippine
Islands.

It was in the common schools of New
Jjrunswick and the Collingwood Collegiate In-
stitute that Lawrence A. Creelman received
his education, and when his school days were
over he learned the tanner's trade in Colling-
wood, following it for ten years in Ontario.
He then came to the LTnited States and was
employed at the carpenter's trade, bridge and
construction work successively by the Chi-
cago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Rail-
road and the Northern Pacific, spending two
years on the Yellowstone division of the lat-
ter. Returning to Ontario he resumed work
at tanning for eighteen months, and in 1884
worked on bridges for the Canadian Pacific
in British Columbia. The following year he
came to Califorjiia, spent one year in the red-
woods of Mendocino county and a like period
on a ranch in Yuba county, in 1887 locating
permanently in San Diego. The succeeding
fifteen years he was occupied as a conductor
on the street railways of this city, in 1902 giv-
ing up that work to engage in business for
himself, and has ever since been proprietor of
the Model bath house here. The cement
plunge is 50x60 feet in dimensions and is filled
with sea water, which is heated to the proper
degree for comfortable bathing, and there are
also twent3'-five tubs with fresh water, each
room being fitted with shower appliances.
The bath house is the largest and oldest es-
tablished in the city, and is located at the
foot of Sixth street.

Fraternally Mr. Creelman was made a
Mason in 1892, in Silver Gate Lodge No. 296.
F. & A. M.. of which he is past master; has
attained the thirt3'-second degree in the Con-
istory; belongs to the Order of Eastern Star;
was made an Odd Fellow in San Diego Lodge
No. 153, I. O. O. F.. and has served in the
capacity of noble grand : belongs to the En-
campment, in which lie has passed all the of-
fices: holds membership in the Rebekah lodge,
and also in the Independent Order of Forest-
ers. He was married in San Diego to IMiss
May Chittenden, a native of Illinois, their
union being blessed in the birth of two chil-
dren, James and Charles. ^Irs. Creelman is
a member of the Christian Church. She affili-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1157

ates with a number of fraternal orders, is a
member, and was for several years treasurer,
of Southern Star Chapter No. 96, O. E. S. ;
and held the same office in Silver Gate Re-
bekah Lodge No. 141 for a long period. Po-
litically Mr. Creelman is an advocate of the
principles embraced in the platform of the
Republican part}-, and in 1903 he was elected
as councilman from the sixth ward of San
Diego, a flattering endorsement of his services
in the governing body having been accorded
him in 1905 by a re-election to the office. He
is a member of the Union League Club and in
every matter of social and civic interest to
the community in which he lives lends a hearty
and enthusiastic support.

GUSTA\' RRELIN. Not a few of the men
prominent in varied departments of the building
business in San Diego have come from the far
distant domain of Scandinavia, and among these
may be mentioned Gustav Brelin, who has been
a resident of Southern California since 1887 and
of San Diego since 1890. Born in Dalsland,
Sweden, April 8, 1864, he was the eldest among
four children, three of whom are still living.
His father, Andrew, was a native of tlie same
locality and owned and operated the homestead
known as Brene, but in 1872 he crossed the
ocean to America, settling at Ashtabula, Ohio,
where he remained until death. The wife and
mother, Breta Kalin, was a native of the same
locality in Sweden and a member of an old
family of agriculturists.

While still quite young in years Gustav Brelin
saw his father depart for the new world, and in
1879 he joined him in Ashtabula, Ohio, where
he studied English in the common schools. In
1881 he secured a position on a lake vessel and
for two years led the life of a sailor, but in 1884
abandoned that occupation, went to St. Paul,
Minn., and began an apprenticeship to the
plasterer's trade. On the expiration of his time
he worked as a journeyman. In 1887 he came to
California, located in Los Angeles and took con-
tracts for plastering, remaining there until 1890,
when he removed to San Diego. For three years
he followed journe\-man work in this citv and
then began to take contracts, in whi'ch line he
continues to the present time, the firm of Brelin
& Walker being one of the largest of its kind
in the place. Since forming the connection with,
his present partner in 1894 he has built up a
large trade and has been employed to take charge
of much of the plastering in business structures
and residences. Among their contracts may be
mentioned those for the Keating and Granger
blocks, the Scfton block. St. Joseph's Sanitarium,
and Pickwick theater, as well as various im-

portant contracts in Coronado, National City,
Lajolla and Pacific Beach. During the busy
season employment is furnished to eighteen
workmen, through whose labor the partners are
aided in filling their contracts with promptness
and accuracy.

The marriage of Mr. Brelin and Miss Carrie
Anderson, a native of Ostrejotland, was solemn-
ized in Los Angeles, and has been blessed by the
birth of three sons, Hilding, Ebbe and Gustav.
The family occupy their new and modern resi-
dence on the corner of University and Richmond
streets. After coming to San Diego Mr. Brelin
was made a Mason in Silver Gate Lodge, F.
& A. M., also identified himself with the San
Diego Chamber of Commerce, the Cabrillo Club,
the Master Builders' Association, and the
Scandinavian Society, of which latter he is a
charter member. During 1884 he was initiated
into the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at
St. Paul, and now holds membership with the
lodge of the order in San Diego. Although in-
terested and active in these various organizations,
his attention is devoted principally to the de-
tails of his business and he is justly proud of the
reputation acquired by his firm for reliable and
honest workmanship.

PHILIP HANF. Among the residents of
Cajon, San Bernardino county, Philip Hanf is
well known, as for ten years he has supplied the
general wants of the public and has also accom-
modated travelers. His genial manners and up-
right business methods have gained for him a
large circle of friends, both in business and so-
cial connections.

A native of Germany. Philip Hanf was born in
Bavaria November 4, 1857, his parents also being
natives of the Fatherland. Educated in the good
schools for which Germany is noted, Mr. Hanf
lost no time in preparing himself for the business
world as soon as his school days were over, thus
displaying an ambitious spirit which is bound to
bring success. Besides learning the baker's trade
he also learned the butcher's trade, and it was
with this preparation that he set foot on Amer-
ican soil in 1883. His first six years in this coun-
try were spent in New York City, but as is al-
most always the case with those who seek our
shores he finally gravitated toward the west. Go-
ing to ^^'ashington he there resumed work at his
trades, which he followed continuously for six
years, after which he went to Los Angeles and
spent one_year. With the experience of thirteen
years in this country to his credit he came to
Cajon Pass in 1896 and purchased forty acres
of land, to which he later added a like amount,
taking up the latter from the government. At
the time he removed to his new purchase there

1158

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was liUle in the way of appearance to encourage
its cuitivation, for the land was wild and entirely
covered with brush. Nothing daunted, however,
he cleared it and set out fruit trees, which he
has tended and cared for until he now has a fine
orchard, comprising about one hundred and
seventy-five trees, which include plums, peaches,
cherries and apples. Before his orchard was in
bearing condition he opened a general store upon
his ranch, erecting the building at the time he
built the family residence. He keeps on hand a
choice supply of groceries and provisions of all
kinds, besides dry goods, and also has accommo-
dation for the traveling public. It is his intention
to enlarge his orchard by setting out about three
thousand more trees, besides grape vines, and in
the future devote his time almost exclusively to
the management of his ranch.

In New York City, September 28, 1884, the
year following his immigration to the United
States, Mr. Hanf was married to Fannie Mooch-
can, who was born in Saxony, Germany, and came
to the United States when twenty-four years of
age. She has borne her husband four children,
one of whom, George, died when fifteen months
old. The eldest child, Joseph, is a resident of
Seattle, Wash. ; Gussie is now at home, having
recently graduated from the Los Angeles Busi-
ness College, and Andrew is also at home.

JAMES HARRISON CLARK, M. D.
Numbered among the more prominent, influ-
ential and esteemed residents of Valley Cen-
ter is J. H. Clark, M. D., who is actively iden-
tified with the best and highest interests of
this locality, being a prosperous agriculturist
and a well known physician. He has, gener-
all}- speaking, been successful through life,
and giving his best efforts to whatever he has
attempted has attained a fine position, pro-
fessionally, socially and financially, among his
fellow-men. A man of keen intelligence, ex-
cellent judgment and sound sense, his advice
and counsel are often sought, and inyariably
taken. He is generous and kind-hearted, do-
ing good whenever opportunity occurs, and
freely giving professional aid and comfort to
the poor and needy. A son of Robert Clark,
he was born, December 3, 1841, in Cooper
county, Mo., where he grew to man's estate.

Born and brought up in Kentucky, Robert
Clark was employed in both agricultural and
mechanical pursuits during the greater part of
his life. Becoming a pioneer of Missouri, he
sctiled in Cooper county, where from the for-
est-covered land he cleared and improved a
homestead, on which he was busily employed
until his death, in 1852. He was a man of
some prominence in the communitv in which

he settled, and an active Whig in his political
affiliations. He married Rhoda Fox, also a
native of Kentucky ; she survived him, dying
in Missouri in 1859. She was a woman of
Christian character, and a consistent member
of the Baptist church.

Brought up on the home farm, James H.
Clark laid a substantial foundation for his fu-
ture education in the common schools of
Cooper county. As a boy he showed a natural
aptitude for study, and his education was
subsequently advanced by an attendance at
the Kemper Select school and at a prepara-
tory college. With two friends, Mr. Clark
came with mule teams across the plains in
1864, having an enjoyable trip. Locating in
Yuba City, he taught school there for two
years. He was in the meantime appointed
superintendent of the Sutter county schools,
and having filled out the unexpired term of
Dr. E. B. Dunwell, was elected to the same
office, and served m all about seven years. Dur-
ing this time Mr. Clark read medicine, and was
also employed in the drug business. In July,
1870, he entered Toland Medical College, San
Francisco, and after completing the first year's
course, in October, 1871, became a student in
Bellevue Hospital Medical College, at New
York City, graduating from that institution
with the degree of M.D. in March, 1872. Re-
turning to Yuba City he was there engaged in
the practice of his profession for two years.
In 1874, his health failing, he went to Colusa
county, locating at Leesville, where he sold
goods and practiced medicine for four years.
Settling near Los Angeles in 1878, he with
others purchased portions of three grants of
land at Azusa, but the investment proved dis-
astrous. The ensuing four years he was en-
gaged in ranching at Norwalk, Los Angeles
county, and also followed his profession to
some extent. . Coming to San Diego county in
1885, the doctor purchased his present ranch
of two hundred and forty acres, lying near
A^alley Center, and has now one of the best
and most productive grain, stock and poultry
farms in this part of the country. He has con-
tinued his labors here as a practitioner, and is
known far and wide as an able and skilful
physician. Politicalh^ his sympathies are
with the Socialists and for three terms, while
a resident of Sutter count3^ he served as dep-
uty county clerk. Fraternally he is a member
of Enterprise Lodge No. 70, F. & A. M., of
A'uba City and religiously he belongs to the
Methodist Episcopal Church South.

In the spring of 1872, in Missouri, Dr.
Clark married Mattie A. Robinson, who was
born in that state, a daughter of Col. L. W.
Robinson, who was verv influential in the af-

Jiy?H^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1161

fairs of his state, having served as representa-
tive to the state legislature and as state sen-
ator. Of the union of Dr. and Mrs. Clark
seven children have been bom, namely, Ida
De Wilson of Escondido ; William Robinson ;
Mary Rhoda, a teacher in the public schools ;
Hallie Lewis ; James Harrison ; and Horace
L. and Martha Amanda, twins.

THOMAS JEFFERSON MOFFETT. A
well-to-do agriculturist of Los Angeles County,
and an extensive and successful apiarist, Thomas
J. Moffett is prosperously engaged in his con-
genial occupation on one of the most pleasant
homesteads in the vicinity of Sherman. His ranch
contains one hundred and sixty acres of land, a
large part of which is under cultivation, and with
its comfortable and convenient set of farm build-
ings is attractive to the passer-by, giving visi-
ble evidence of the enterprise and thrift of the
owner. A son of James S. Moffett, he was born,
July 4, 1840 in Pope county. Ark., near Dover.

Born and reared in Tennessee, James S. Mof-
fett migrated from there to Arkansas about 1832,
taking up land, and being employed as a tiller
of the soil until the breaking out of the Mexican
war. When that was declared he offered his
services to his country, and being made captain
of Company A, Arkansas Mounted Rifles, com-
manded by Colonel Yale, served until his
death in San Antonio, Tex., where he received
a soldier's burial. He married Eupha Hamilton,
who was born in Tennessee, of excellent New
England stock, some of her ancestors having
crossed the Atlantic in the Mayflower. She re-
mained in Arkansas until 1852, when she came
across the plains in an ox-team train to Califor-
nia, bringing her seven children with her. Locat-
ing in lone, Amador county, she lived there until
marrying again, when she came with her hus-
band to Los Angeles, in which city she made
her home until her death, at the age of seventy-
two years.

A wide-awake, active little hustler of twelve
vears when he came with the family to Califor-
nia, Thomas J. Mofifett worked for about a
year as a farm hand, and then, although but
thirteen years old, began placer mining on his
own account. He was subsequently variously
employed in Amador county, working in the
mines,' hotel or saw-mill until 1857, when as
a result of the Frazer river excitement, he went
there and prospected for one season. Coming
to Los Angeles county in 1868, he rented land
in this vicinity for two or three years, and in
its management met with encouraging success.
Purchasing then one hundred and sixty acres
or railroad land, he improved the ranch on
which he has since lived, and in addition to carry-

ing it on in an able manner has several seasons
rented large tracts of near-by land in order that
he might enlarge his agricultural operations.
He is very practical, seizing every offered oppor-
tunity for advancing his interests, and besides
carrying on general farming in a scientific man-
ner, has made a specialty of bee raising, having
at times had as many as two hundred and twen-
ty stands, although at the present time his apiary
contains but fifty stands.

January 29, 1887, Mr. Mofifett married Annie
G. Cottle, who was born in Missouri, and came
with her parents to California at an early day.
Politically Mr. Moffett supports the principles
of the Democratic party by voice and vote
although in local affairs he is extremely liberal.

AMBROSE WALSH. Closely identified
with the agricultural interests of San Diego
county is Ambrose Walsh, who is pleasantly
situated in Valley Center, where he is profit-
ably engaged in general farmings managing
his affairs with ability and success. A resi-
dent of California since nine years of age, he
is the son of one of those brave and hardy
pioneers who dauntlessly pushed his way into
a wild, uncultivated country, and has left be-
hind him a record for steadiness of purpose
and persistent industry of which his descend-
ants may well be proud. He is a twin brother
of Austin Walsh, in whose sketch, which ap-
pears on another page of this volume, may
be found a brief personal history of his pa-
rents.

Born January 29, 1845, in Atchison county,
^lo.. Ambrose Walsh lived there until nine
years of age. In 1854 he came with the family
to the Pacific coast, crossing the plains with
ox teams, having a long and dangerous trip.
The Indians, who for centuries had held the
intervening country, were not pleased with
the approach of the pale-faced strangers, and
harassed the travelers in many ways, stealing
their cattle when opportunity oft'ered, even
going so far as to massacre, at Mountain
Meadow, the train immediately preceding
them. Arriving in California, the Walsh fam-
ily settled in Contra Costa county, where Am-
brose, in common with the other children, re-
ceived such education as was afforded by the
district schools. In 1868, the family removed
to San Diego county, locating in Mission Val-
ley. Six years later, in 1874, the son Am-
brose, starting in life for himself, took up a
government claim of one hundred and sixty
acres at Valley Center, where he has since re-
sided. From the wild land he has improved
a valuable ranch, his energetic and judicious
toil being well rewarded, his farm being one

1162

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of the best in its improvements and appoint-
ments of any in the vicinity, bearing visible
evidence of his agricultural skill and wise
management.

In 1883 Mr. Walsh married Hannah Shel-
by, a native of California, and the}- are the pa-
rents of two children, Lawrence, a farmer,
who married Clara Borden, a native of this
state and daughter of Jefferson S. Borden ;
and Mary, residing in San Diego. Politically
Mr. Walsh is a firm supporter of the princi-
ples of the Democratic party, and for six years
has served as school trustee. Religiously he
is a member of the Catholic church at Escon-
dido.

REA'. W. E. JACOB. Should any writer
of future years give to the Episcopal Church
a complete record of the growth and progress
of that denomination in Southern California
prominent mention would be made of the life
and pioneer service of Rev. W. E. Jacob, who
since 1885 has been identified with the spiri-
tual upbuilding of San Diego county and
meanwhile has accomplished much in behalf of
the permanent religious and moral develop-
ment of this part of the state. Thoroughly
American in sentiment and patriotic spirit, he
is nevertheless a citizen of our country by
adoption only, and was born in Queens coun-
ly, Ireland, April 27, 1843, the son of a physi-
cian and the grandson of a physician, both of
whom were men of exceptional mental attain-
ments and of high standing in their profession.
.\mono- the eighteen children comprising the
family of Dr. John and Charlotte Jacob he was
the fifteenth in order of birth and received a
thorough classical education, auspiciously
comm.enced in Dublin schools, and afterward
prosecuted in the schools of England and
France. Before leaving Ireland for the Unit-
ed States he married Miss Jane Rebecca,
daughter of Rev. Samuel Madden, a clergy-
man in the Church of England. The only
child of their union is a daughter. Rebecca
Charlotte, who .is now the wife of Douglas
Garden of South Oceanside.

Coming to the United States in 1875, after a
sojourn of a brief period in New York City,
Rev. Mr. Jacob removed to Nebraska and in
Omaha, that state, he was ordained to the
Episcopal ministry in an impressive ceremony
conducted by Bishop Clarkson. When he came
to California in 1885 he established his head-
quarters at Encinitas, San Diego county, from
which point he traveled throughout the entire
county and into neighboring districts in the
interests of the Episcopal Church. Not only
did he hold the first services ever held by the

denomination in Encinitas, but he did the
same elsewhere. Some of his charges were
twenty-five miles distant from his home, but
his eagerness to preach the Gospel and estab-
lish missions overcame his bodily fatigue, and
lie was ever ready to respond to an appeal by
those who were remote from churches. The
congregations at Del Mar, Encinitas, Merle,
Carlsbad, Oceanside, Escondido, Fallbrook,
San Luis Rey and Murietta were established
and organized imder his supervision, and the
first services in each town were held by him,
after which he remained in charge until the
missions were able to engage a pastor inde-
pendently. It was his custom to visit each
congregation once in two weeks, and in order
to facilitate this work he kept a stable of six
horses. To this day he is a lover of good
horses and now has one of the finest to be
found in all San Diego county. The majority
of professional men allow themselves a hobby
as a relaxation from the responsibilities of
their life work, and his hobby has been a love
for horses: few are better judges than he of a
fine animal, and at a glance he detects weak
points or good qualities that might remain un-
noticed by a less careful observer.

For a time after 1897 Rev. Mr. Jacob had
charge of the Episcopal Church at San Pedro
and his wife assisted as superintendent of the
Sunday-school and leader of the choir. In ad-
dition he founded a mission at Terminal Island
and established the cause at Long Beach,
whose substantial edifice of the present day is
the result of the pioneer work rendered by Mr.
Jacob some years ago. Indeed, too much
praise cannot be given I\Ir. Jacob for his serv-
ices in behalf of his church. All through
Southern California his name is known and
lionored among the members of the Episcopal
Church, and there are many who will testify
that the present standing of the church in this
region is largely due to his unremitting, self-
sacrificing and judicious labors at a time when
such work was most needed. Active as in the
past, he now ministers to the congregations
at Carlsbad, Merle and San Luis Rey, making
his home in South Oceanside.

HIRAM MUSSELIvIAN. Among the intel-
ligent and prosperous agriculturists of Compton
is Hiram Musselman, widely and favorably
known throughout this section of Los Angeles
county as an upright, honest man, of sterling
worth, and a worthy representative of the earlier
settlers of this vicinity. He was born, August
27, 1832, in Pennsylvania, where he was reared
and educated, attending first the common schools.

&.Hc./^

.^.^z^^^JL^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1165

and afterwards taking a part of a college course
of study. His parents, Elias and Susan (Mes-
senger) Musselman, were both born in Pennsyl-
vania, and both died in Illinois, the father in
1859, and the mother in 1862. They were peo-
ple of high moral standing, and cons'istent mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church.

In his earlier life Hiram Musselman engaged
in agricultural pursuits in his native state, meet-
ing with success in his labors. Going from tfiere
to Chicago, 111., he engaged in the furniture bus-
iness for a few years, and then moved to Fair-
field, Kans., where he changed his occupation,
becoming a stock raiser and dealer. Coming to
Compton, Cal, in the fall of 1883, he purchased
a ranch of ten acres, and at once began its im-
provement. He devotes a part of his land to
the raising of alfalfa a part to the raising of
fruit of different kinds, and in addition he makes
a specialty of raising chickens, as a poultry
farmer being quite successful.

In Chicago, III, in 1864, Mr. Musselman mar-
ried Julia Wheeler, who was born in Wiscon-
sin, a daughter of Silas P. and Julia A. Wheeler,
the former dying in New York, and the latter
■in Wisconsin. Mrs. I\Iusselman died on the
home ranch, in Compton, Cal.. in 1891, leaving
three children, namely : Charles W., living at
home; Amy, wife of Robert Harper, and living
near Downey, Los Angeles county; and Carrie
E., living at home. Politically Mr. Musselman
is identified with the Republican party, and re-
ligiously he is a Congregationalist.

EDMUND MORRIS PEASE, M. D. In
1634, six years after the founding of Salem,
there came to this young settlement among
other immigrants of Puritan temper, a certain
John Pease. He was the first of his family
m the new world, and eight generations have
been marked by his courageous faith, unswerv-
ing loyalty to truth and devotion to God,
qualities which peculiarly characterized Dr.
Edmund Morris Pease in his life of service to
God and men.

Descended from the John Pease of Salem
through the following line of descent are :
John, David, Benjamin, Job, Job, Asa, Asa and
Edmund Morris. Dr. Pease was born in Gran-
by, Hampshire countv, Mass., December 6,
T828. After studying in the common schools
of that place he went to Williston Seminary,
in East Hampton, to prepare for higher train-
ing. This he later took in Amherst College,
fi-om which he graduated with the degree of
A. B., in 1854. 'Three years later the degree
of A. M., was conferred upon him by his .-\lma
^vlater. After graduation he became a teacher.
first instructing for a period of two years in

a boys' school in Baltimore, and then serving
as tutor for one year in Amherst. He gave
up teaching however in order to prepare him-
self for the medical profession, with a view to
becoming a medical missionary, and in 1862
he graduated from the College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Columbia University. At
this same time he pursued a course at the
Union Theological Seminary, from which he
also graduated.

No sooner had Dr. Pease finished his train-
ing ^ than came the call for volunteers in the
Civil war, and he immediately offered his
services. He was appointed assistant surgeon
in the Sixteenth Connecticut Regiment. One
year later, October 2/, 1863, he was given
the_ position of surgeon, with the rank of
Major, in the famous regiment known as the
Ninth United States Colored Troops. His
regiment was assigned to the Army of the
Potomac, and was the first to enter Rich-
mond when that city was taken. When peace
had been declared, he was sent to Texas and
was chief medical ofiicer of the Department
of the Rio Grande. Later he was ordered to
Louisiana, where he remained until the latter
part of 1866, when he was honorablv dis-
charged at Baltimore.

Dr. Pease then entered upon professional
life and practiced medicine for five- years in
New York, and for six in Springfield, Mass.
In the latter place he met Aliss Harriet A.
Sturtevant, a native of Westport, Essex coun-
ty. N. Y., to whom he was married in Borden-
town, N. J., April 25, 1877.

In early life having decided to devote his
energies to the cause of missions. Dr. Pease
went immediately after his marriage to the
Marshall Islands as a medical missionary. He
located on Ebon, where a church and
school had already been established by former
missionaries. After two years of labor he
transferred the school to Kusari, one of the
Caroline Islands, and made it an effective
training school for native workers. During
Dr. Pease' eighteen years of service as teacher,
jireacher and medical missionary twelve
churches were added to an original three, ten
native pastors were ordained to the ministry,
and thirteen unordained native teachers were
installed in the Islands. After having acquired
a mastery of the language, which by the way,
is totally dift'erent from the Polynesian. Dr.
Pease began immediately to translate the New
Testament an.d revise the Gospels and Acts
already in the native tongue. As the result of
his untiring laliors his translation of the New
Testament and the Psalms has been in use
for several years. He also compiled a dic-
tionpry of the language and some educational

1166

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

books and added many songs to the hymn and
tune book ah'eady in the Marshall Island dia-
lect.

While in the Islands two children were
born to Dr. and Mrs. Pease, Edmund Morris,
Jr., and Francis Sturtevant. In order to edu-
cate his sons Dr. Pease came with his fam-
ily in 1894 to the United States. After spend-
ing several months in the East, he located
near Pomona College, in Claremont, Cal.,
where he lived until his death.

During his residence in Claremont Dr. Pease
identified himself with all the best interests
of the town, aiding in every way the upbuild-
ing of the college, community and church. He
was a Mason and was also identified with the
Grand Army of the Republic. Although far
from the scene of his missionary labors, Dr.
Pease spent the last twelve years of his life
translating the Old Testament into the Mar-
shall Island language. It was his desire that
the entire Bible should be in the hands of the
natives, and this wish of his heart would
have beeji fulfilled had he been spared for
an additional year of labor. At the age of
seventy-eight, while still vigorous in mind
and body, Dr. Pease was seized with the sud-
den illness which caused his death. On No-
vember 28, 1906, he passed away at his home
in Claremont. A man of heroic mold, fearless
and devoted to God's service. Dr. Pease ranks
as one of the great men of the missionary
world.

ELI JACKSON YOKAM. The fifth of a
family of nine children of George and Sarah
(Wilson) Yokam, Eli J. Yokam was born in
Knox county, Ohio, December 25, 1835. Three
years later the family moved to Franklin county
where the boy grew up to manhood on his
father's farm.' His early school advantages were
limited to a few months each year in the old log
schoolhouse, with slab benches. His two older
brothers having enlisted in the war with Mexico,
he became the mainstay on the farm, and at
seventeen years of age had charge of the two
hundred and twenty-acre farm. Supplementing
his meager school opportunities with study at
home he fitted himself for teaching, and taught
a number of terms. On attaining his majority
he rented land of his father, which he tilled on
shares and spent the proceeds in obtaining an
education. After graduating from Duff's Com-
mercial College at Columbus he spent two years
m Antioch College, and in the Ohio Weslyan
University.

Soon after quitting school Mr. Yokam rather
accidentally embarked in the newspaper busi-
ness as joint proprietor and editor of the

Westerville Banner, Westerville, the seat of
Otterbein University, is a good type of col-
lege town. Determining to master the details of
the business the new partner by the end of the
first year had charge of the job department, and
had formed the habit of setting up at the printer's
case much of his local and editorial matter with-
out committing it to writing. After over four
years of successful management, during three
years of which he was sole proprietor and edi-
tor, Mr. Yokam sold the paper and plant, and im-
mediately entered the employ of the publishers
of the Ohio Statesman, the time-honored Dem-
ocratic journal at the state capital, in charge of
its advertising business. Fifteen months later
he accepted a flattering oft'er from the publishers
of the Columbus Dispatch, a wide-awake young
daily, owned by J. H. Putman, private secretary
to the governor, and Dr. Doren, founder and su-
perintendent of the state institution for the
feeble-minded. During his connection with the
Dispatch he served in the several capacities of
bookkeeper, advertising man and local writer.

Upon a change of ownership of the Dispatch
Mr. Yokam resigned his position and purchased
the Columbus Sunday Herald. The Herald had
been founded some three 3-ears before by Gen.
Thomas Ewing for his son "Thom," who had
strong journalistic aspirations, but the young
proprietor had failed to place it on a self-support-
ing basis. Taking editorial and business charge
Mr. Yokam enlarged the paper to a thirty-six
column folio, the largest published in the city,
and arranged to send it out on the Sunday morn-
ing trains and have it delivered by special car-
riers in the towns forty miles out from the city.
The circulation and business rapidly increased
several hundred per cent, every issue showing a
large net profit. The double duties assumed in-
volved active labor sixteen hours a day on an
average. At the end of two years of this stren-
uous life, yielding to the importunities of would-
be purchasers. Mr. Yokam sold the Herald in
1876 for several times the purchase price, and
engaged in other lines of business.

The following year Mr. Yokam went to Illi-
nois, and in 1880 he, in connection with others,
published a history of Peoria county, a quarto
volume of nine hundred pages, he being the lit-
erarv editor. In 1882 he purchased an interest
in the Springfield Ei-ening Post, an infantile
journal in its swadling clothes, and took editorial
charge. The Post had three old-established
dailies as competitors in a city of twenty-five
thousand, and while it reached a daily circula-
tion of nearly two thousand copies (second
largest in the city)', it could not obtain the Asso-
ciated Press franchise ; and failing to reach a
paying basis Mr. Yokam severed his connection
with it. He soon after took the position of

'^CcUJiU.c^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

115y

general agent for a large New York publishing
house, with headquarters in Qiicago. At the
end of three years of successful business he re-
signed, leaving the city May i, 1888, for Cali-
fornia under a two-year contract with a history
publishing firm of that city to engage in historical
work. Before the expiration of that engagement
he purchased the land in Highland which he
transformed from a rough barley field into a fine
orange grove and handsome home which he and
his amiable wife now occupy.

At the time of Morgan's raid in Ohio during
the Civil war, Mr. Yokam, being a member of a
militia company, was called out for a brief cam-
paign as a member of the One Hundred Thirty-
third Regiment of Ohio National Guard, unhitch-
ing from the mowing niachine to obey the sum-
mons of Colonel Innes.

Since settling in Highland Mr. Yokam has
taken an active interest in matters of local public
concern. He was three times elected president
of the Highland Horticultural Club. He was
the originator of the Highland Orange Growers'
Association, which was organized in his resi-
dence, and has served in the capacity of direc-
tor, secretary, vice-president and president of
that organization. He is serving his second year
as president of the Highland Library Club, and
his fourth year as president of the San Bernar-
dino County Ohio Society. Though chiefly oc-
cupied in cultivating his fine orange and lemon
grove, Mr. Yokam has contributed an occasional
article for the public press upon historical and
other subjects of general interest, and has writ-
ten numerous papers on various topics to be read
before public gatherings.

Mr. Yokam was first united in marriage with
I\Iiss Lucretia J. Hyde, October 16, 1861. On the
28th of January, 1870. she passed away, leaving
two children, Frank \V. and Harriet L., both
still living. September 27, 1882, he married Mrs.
Frances E. Loring, who is still the chief factor
in his happy home life.

ABRAHAM HATFIELD. Noteworthy
among the representative pioneers of Ramona
and its vicinity is Abraham Hatfield, who holds
a well-deserved position among the sturdy, en-
ergetic and successful agriculturists who thor-
oughly understand the vocation which they fol-
low, and are enabled to carry it on with pleasure
and profit. He is a native of Missouri, and was
born July 6, 1840. His father. Charles Hatfield,
born in Kentucky, married Catherine Dale, a
native of Virginia, and subsequently moved to
Missouri, taking up land from the government,
and from the unbroken forest clearing and im-
proving a homestead. There he and his faith-
ful helpmate spent their remaining days, both

dying in the prime of life, the father passing
away at the age of forty-seven years, and the
mother when forty-three years old. They were
people of Christian character and worth, and
faithful members of the Baptist Church.

One of a family of nine children, Abraham
Hatfield, in common with his brothers and sis-
ters, was brought up on the home farm, obtain-
ing a limited education. Soon after the break-
ing out of the Civil war he enlisted in Company
A, Sixteenth Texas Cavalry, in which he served
three and one-half years, when he was cap-
tured, and took the oath of allegiance. Going
to ]\Iontana in 1865, he was for a number of
years successfully engaged in placer mining. In
1870 he came to Southern California, and after
living for a short time in the old city of San
Diego settled as a farmer near Julian, buying
three hundred and twenty acres of land, on which
he put a number of improvements. Disposing
of that ranch he took up a government claim of
one hundred and sixty acres, and by dint of per-
severing labor and good management has since
improved the valuable farm on which he now
resides. He has erected a substantial set of
farm buildings, set out fruit trees and planted a
vineyard, and as a general farmer is exceedingly
prosperous, his specialty being the raising of
grain and stock. He is also interested in "gold
and gem mines in San Diego county.

December 7, 1876, Mr. Hatfield married Sarah
M. Casner, who was born in Alabama Septem-
ber 13, 1837, and they are the parents of two
children. Margaret Irene and Charles M., both
of whom are at home. Politically Mr. Hatfield
is not affiliated with any party, but votes accord-
ing to the dictates of his conscience, casting his
ballot for the men best qualified in his judgment
to serve the interests of the people. Religiously
he is a valued member of the Baptist Church.

WALTER CARTER. One of the many
capable and industrious agriculturists of Los
Angeles county is Walter Carter, who is pros-
perously engaged in his free and independent
occupation in Wiseburn. His ranch is pleasantly
located, and with its comfortable and convenient
set of buildings, and their neat and tasteful sur-
roundings, invariably attracts the attention of the
passerby. A son of George C. Carter, he was
born, January 20, 1864, in Virginia, but was
reared and educated in Missouri.

A native of old Virginia, George C. Carter
removed to Missouri in the early '70s, having
previously served as a soldier in the Mexican
war. When the Civil war broke out he was
made captain of a company and served under
General Price in Missouri. He took an active
part in several engagements, and received two

117U

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

flesh wounds while in battle, one bullet striking
him in the right shoulder, and another striking
the right arm and practically paralyzing it. Re-
turning to Virginia at the close of the war, he
established a tobacco factory, but not succeeding
particularly well in operating it, he sold out.
Going then to Missouri, he bought land and im-
proved a good farm, which he managed as long
as he was able, and on which he is now living,
retired from active pursuits. He married Mary
E. Henry, who died in 1870. She was a true
helpmeet to him, and a consistent member of the
Alethodist Episcopal Church. She bore him
seven children, three of whom are still living.

Brought up on the home farm, Walter Carter
was educated in the public schools of Troy, Mo.
At the age of eighteen years he began the battle
of life on his own account. Starting westward,
he came to the Pacific coast, and at Los Angeles
secured work as a fireman on the Southern Pa-
cific Railroad, subsequently being promoted to
the position of engineer. Leaving the railway,
he was for awhile engaged in freighting on the
desert, driving a mule team. Locating then at
Hyde Park, Los Angeles county, he worked
awhile for Captain Clark, and then went to Del
Rey, where he took charge of the dredger, oper-
ating it until the company gave up work. De-
sirous of settling permanently, he came then to
Los Angeles county, and in the Wiseburn dis-
trict rented land and embarked in agricultural
pursuits. Encouraged by his good success, he
subsequently purchased land, buying one ranch
of three hundred and sixty acres, and another
containing sixty-seven acres, on which he has
his house and buildings. His improvements are
of a substantial character, and as a farmer he
is exceedingly prosperous. He has also other
interests connected with mining, and in this busi-
ness reaps quite an income.

Mr. and Mrs. Carter are the parents of two
children, Le Roy and Sylvia. Politically 3Ir.
Carter is identified with the Democratic party.

BEX E. PATCHETT is a native son, his
birth having occurred near San Miguel, Cal..
October 15, 1871, one of the four children com-
prising the parental family. His parents were
among the early pioneers of the state, the father,
John "a. Patchett, having crossed the plains in
an emigrant party in i860, and his mother, who
was .\manda Carpenter before her marriage,
having come to California by the isthmus in the
same year. Both were natives of the state of
Towa. The mother resides at Pismo. while the
father died in 1903. at the age of sixty-two
years. ' During his lifetime he was a strong ad-
herent of the Republican party.

The earlv education of Mr. Patchett was re-

ceived in the public schools of San Luis Obispo
county and was supplemented by a commercial
course at Heald's Business College of San Fran-
cisco. He began his independent business career
in the San Joaquin valley, where he engaged in
the stock business for seven years and soon ac-»
quired valuable property. In 1903 he removed
to Arroyo Grande, where he is now residing, and
owns one of the finest and best improved ranch-
es in this section of the state, comprising four
hundred and sixty acres of ground, three hun-
dred and fifty of which are devoted to the grow-
ing of crops, the rest being pasture land. His
beans yield a large han-est of sixteen sacks per
acre, conclusively proving the fertility of the
soil. The Logan Oil Conipanv well is also lo-
cated on this farm. In politics Mr. Patchett is
a strong Republican and earnest supporter of
the tenets advocated in the platform of that
party, and he takes an active interest in the busi-
ness, social, political and religious life of the
community. He was married in 1897 to Miss
Sarah Bower, a native of Iowa, and to them
have been born three children : Edwin, Ernest
and Stewart.

CHARLES I. MASON. Occupying a po-
sition of prominence among the foremost busi-
ness men of Compton is Charles I. Mason, of
the firm of Mason Brothers, hardware dealers
and plumbers, having their main store in this
town, and a branch establishment in Gardena.
Enterprising, progressive and practical in his
view's, he is actively assisting in promoting
the growth and industrial prosperity of his
adopted city, and in its upbuilding is playing
an important part. He was born in Derby,
England, October 9, 1865. His father, Isaac
Mason, born in England in 1835, married
Mary Smith, also of English birth, and they
became the parents of the following children:
Mary Louise: G. Harold, in partnership with
Charles I. : Alice Gertrude : J. William, of Los
Angeles, an employe in the postoffice : and
Charles L, the special subject of this sketch.

By years of study in the common and high
schools, find by subsequently taking a college
extension course, Charles I, ]\Iason acquired
an excellent education, which was further ad-
vanced by the study of mechanical engineer-
ing at South Kensington. On finishing this
course he worked as an engineer for three
vears, and then took up the study of plumb-
ing in a thorough manner, becoming proficient
in the trade. His health failing, he came to
California in 1888, hoping in this genial cli-
mate to regain his former ph^-sical vigor. Lo-
cating in Compton. h.e purchased seventeen
acres of land, and for about seven years was

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1171

engaged in raising fruit and alfalfa. The
ensuing two years he worked as a plumb-
er, and in a bicycle establishment in Los
Angeles. Returning then to Compton,
in partnership with his brother G. Harold, he
bought a harware and plumbing establish-
ment, and they have since built up an exten-
sive and lucrative business in this line, in the
busy season employing about a dozen men.
L'nder their present firm name, Mason Broth-
ers, Mr. Mason and his partner have opened a
branch store in Gardena, where thev are suc-
ceeding beyond their expectations,' their pa-
tronage being large and remunerative. Re-
cently they erected one of the finest business
buildings in ComiHon, and are now prepared
to fill all orders promptly and satisfactorily.

In 1896 j\Ir. Mason married ]\Iary Whaley,
who was born in California, a daughter of the
late Dr. Francis \A'haley, who came to this
state as a pioneer more than thirty years ago,
and until his death, in August, 1904, was en-
gaged in the practice of medicine. Mr. and
Mrs. Mason have three children, namely :
Lawrence H.. Helen M. and Charles Ronald.
In his political views Mr. Mason is a Pro-
hibitionist, and religiously he is a member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was one
of the organizers and is a director of the
Compton Water Company.

CUTHBERT GULLY. To the energy and
enterprise of her young business and profes-
sional men Long Beach owes much to her phe-
nomenal growth and development, and in the
furthering of this general prosperity Cuthbert
Gully, a successful and practical civil engineer^
has contributed a generous share. Descended as
he is from generations of prominent Englishmen,
it is but natural that he should display the same
strong qualities of character which gave to them
leading positions in their country. His grand-
father, John Gully, a native of Bristol, England,
was a successful business man, a large land own-
er, interested in coal mining and a breeder of fine
horses, having won the Derby one year. As a
public man he exercised his talents in parliament
liaving been a member from York for two terms.

Captain Henry Lawrence, the father of Cuth-
bert Gully, was a commander in the English navy
and at the time of his resignation at the age of
twentv-seven years, was the youngest commander
in service. After his retirement from luilitary
life he engaged in the practice of civil engineer-
ing in England for a time, then came to America
and continued to work in Florida. Later he
removed to the province of Quebec, Canada, and
bought a farm on Lake Memphremagog. for
a number of vears dividing his time between this

IJroperty and coal mines in England which he
owned. In 1889 the family returned to England
and the parents reside in Southsea. Mr. Gully's
mother, who was in maidenhood, Henrietta Wal-
lace, is a native of London and traces her lineage
back to Sir William Wallace on her paternal side
and through her mother claims Robert Emmett
as an ancestor.

A member of a family of nine children, Cuth-
bert Gully was born in 1878, at Lake Mem-
phremagog, Quebec, Canada. He acquired his
education in England at St. George's College,
and later studied civil engineering under his
father. In. 1894 he came to California, locating
at Riverside, and as civil engineer entered the
ofiice of the San Jacinto Land Company under
W. E. Pedly, a position which he retained for
six years. For two years thereafter he was in-
terested in horticultural pursuits, specializing on
(irange growing. Disposing of his ranch he was
for eighteen months employed as assistant super-
intendent of construction with the Riverside
Power Company, resigning this to accept a posi-
tion in Los Angeles with E. T. Wright as civil
engineer and surveyor. Six months later, in
1904, he came to Long Beach and continued the
practice of his profession independentlv, laving
out Willow _ Park and Long Beach Boulevard
tracts. He is now engaged on the Long Beach
Reclamation District work in reclaiming about
three thousand acres of land.

The marriage of Mr. Gully occurred in Long
I'jeach, uniting him with Edna Sovereign, a
native of Illinois, and they are the parents of
one child, Edna Adalza. Mr. Gullv is an active
member of the Episcopal Qnirch and fraternally
was made a Mason in Temescal Lodge No. 314
F. & A. M., in Corona. Politically lie is an ad-
vocate of Republican principles, and as a public-
spirited citizen who is interested in the best de-
velopment of the city he is held in the highest
esteem by all who have the pleasure of his ac-
quaintance.

JOHN KEYES MORRISON. An industri-
ous, progressive and well-to-do agriculturist of
Los Angeles county. John Keyes Morrison, liv-
ing retired near Compton, has improved a fine
homestead, which in its appointments compares
favorably with any in the locality. With its sub-
stantial buildings and well-cultivated fields, it
gives proof to the most casual observer of "the
thrift and care of the owner, and shows con-
clusively that he has a thorough understanding
of the business in which he has engaged, and that
in its management he has exercised excellent
judgment. A son of William Morrison, he was
born. May 5. 1835. '" Philadelphia. Pa., of
Scotch-Irish ancestrx-.

1172

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

William jNIorrison was born and reared in
Ireland, but when a young man immigrated to
America, locating in Penns3'lvania, where he mar-
ried Elizabeth Keyes, who came from Ireland
to the United States with her parents when she
was a young girl. She died in Philadelphia,
Pa., leaving two children, of whom John Keyes,
the subject of this sketch, was an infant three
months old. After locating in Illinois the father
subsequently married again, and by his second
union had a family of four children. The re-
mainder of his life was spent in Illinois, where
he carried on farming until his death. He was
a man of deep religious convictions, and a mem-
ber of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Coming with his father and grandfather as
far west as Illinois when a young lad, John
Keyes Morrison remained at home until after
attaining his majority, receiving a practical com-
mon-school education, and a fine training in the
numerous branches of agriculture. When ready
to settle in life he purchased land in Washing-
ton county. III, not far from the parental home-
stead, and was for several years there success-
fully engaged in tilling the soil. In 1874 he re-
moved with his family to California, settling near
Compton, where he at once bought thirt}- acres of
the land included in his present ranch. A large
part of his original purchase he devoted to thfe
cultivation of fruits of all kinds, a branch of
agriculture which proved exceedingly remuner-
ative. By purchase he has added seventy acres
of adjoining land to his ranch, and here he lives
retired with his family. Since his retirement his
son John W. has taken the active care of the
ranch, upon which he raises large crops of grain
and fruit.

In 1859, in Nashville, Washington county, 111.,
Mr. Morrison married Letitia L. Loughery, who
was born in County Derry, Ireland, and came to
America in 1846. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs.
Morrison six children have been born, namely :
Anna D., wife of Prof. A. J. McQatchie, of
Montobello, Cal., and the mother of one child ;
John W., who has charge of the ranch ; Lillie,
in Los Angeles; Alonzo T., of Calabasas, who
married Harriet Parker, by whom he has two
children, a son and a daughter ; Lorenzo L., who
married Alice Arthur and has two daughters ; and
Margaret Letitia, living at home.

LEON LEHMAN. Throughout the length
and breadth of Ventura county the people are
familiar with the rapid growth and exceptional
popularity of the department store conducted by
Lehman Bros., at Oxnard. LTnder the present
firm title the founder of the business. Leon Leh-
man, associated with his three brothers, Matthew,
Edmond and Paul, has gained a reputation for

reliability of business dealings and success in
mercantile affairs. The department store owned
and operated by the firm has its headquarters
in a building 55x100 feet in dimension, but in
addition there is a two-story brick warehouse
25x100 feet, and a warehouse on Saviers
road 40x80 feet, all of the buildings be-
ing utilized for the storage of goods or for their
display in the interests of customers. As Oxnard
itself has had a rapid growth in importance and
prestige, so this business enterprise has deve-
loped rapidly from an unimportant size to pro-
portions rivalling those of the large cities.

Near the historic city of Strasburg, Erance,
and in the province of Alsace, now a part of the
German empire, Leon Lehman was born Feb-
ruary 6, 1 861, being a son of Moise and Estella
Lehman, natives of the same province and mem-
bers of old families there. The father was a
merchant and real estate dealer during all of
his active years and until shortly before his
death. All of the seven children are now in
America and in 1893 Leon returned to Europe
and brought to the United States his widowed
mother, in order that she might spend her last
days with her children, of whom he was the
eldest. He received an excellent education in col-
lege, and afterward served an apprenticeship to
the dry goods trade in Paris, where he had the ad-
vantage of studying under some of the most suc-
cessful merchants of the continent. At the ex-
piration of two years he came to the United
States, proceeded direct to California, and set-
tled in Hueneme, where in October, 1878, he
entered the employ of Wolff & Levy as a clerk.
Intelligence, skill and executive ability enabled
him in 1886 to buy an interest with Mr. Wolff,
who had succeeded to the business of Wolff &
Levy, at which time the title was changed to
Wolft' & Lehman. For the better accommoda-
tion of the stock of goods the firm erected a brick
building.

On the dissolution of the partnership a new
association was entered into and the firm of Leh-
man & Waterman was organized with W. 1\I.
Waterman as a junior member. In addition to
carrying a stock of general merchandise they em-
barked in the grain business, and continued to-
gether until January, 1906, when the junior
partner's interest was purchased by the senior
member. The firm erected a frame building and
started the first store in Oxnard in 1898, but
later the building became too small for the grow-
ing trade, and the present substantial structure
was erected on the adjoining lot. In the incor-
poration of Oxnard "Sh. Lehman was an active
factor and ever since then he has officiated as
treasurer of the city. At this writing he holds
office as president of the Citizens Club, an or-
ganization composed of Oxnard's leading citi-

J^l<*2--^-y / -^y^^^/^^C^.-/"'

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1175

zens, banded together to promote the welfare of
the town. On the organization of the Oxnard
Masonic Chib he became one of its charter mem-
bers and has officiated as its treasurer for some
time. Since coming to Oxnard he has erected
a substantial residence on the corner of D and
Second streets. Fraternally he is identified with
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in Santa
Barbara and the Masonic fraternity, having been
made a Mason in Hueneme Lodge, of which he
is past master, and the first one to be taken into
that lodge, while at this writing he holds mem-
bership with Oxnard Lodge No. 341, F. & A.
M., also with the Royal Arch Chapter. Ever
since becoming a citizen of the United States
and of voting age, he has given his allegiance
to the Republican party. A man of unusual
business ability, he superintends with care and
keen intelligence the stores at Oxnard and
Hueneme owned by the firm and built up to their
present dimensions largely through his persever-
ing energy. In the growth of Oxnard his con-
tribution as a progressive merchant and public
spirited man has been of the greatest importance.

PRESLEY T. HUB BERT. Bound to the
beautiful valley of San Luis Rey by the ties of
years of identification with its agricultural in-
terests, Mr. Hubbert has for the region a feel-
ing of affection deeper and more abiding than
for any other spot of earth's broad domain. To
the people of the valley his name is significant
of all that is manly and noble in character, pure
and lofty in friendship, and genial and com-
panionable in temperament. As a pioneer he bore
a part in the development of the resources of
the vallev and as a citizen he contributed his
quota to movements for the public welfare. To
know him is to admire him for the possession
of the qualities of mind and heart unusually at-
tractive and deep and also for the possession of
a sagacious judgment that gives weight to his
counsel and permanent value to his advice.

Of southern family and birth. Mr. Hubbert is
a son of Matthew and Elizabeth S. (Thornton)
Hubbert, natives respectively of Tennessee and
Georgia. The father, who was a farmer and
cattle-raiser, came to California in i860 and set-
tled at Julian, but the following year removed to
the San Luis Rey valley, where he entered
land from the government. At the time of his
death in 1886 he was seventy-six vears of age.
while his wife, who lived to be eighty-five, pass-
ed awav in 1903. They were the parent.s^ of
fifteen children and ten of these are yet living.
Preslev T., who was born in Attala county. Miss..
November 27, 1846. was eight years of age when
the familv removed to Texas, and his education
(which was limited to the common school

studies) was received principally in that state.
For a time he worked as a cowboy and during
ten months of the war period he was employed
in the department furnishing beef to the Confed-
erate army. Meanwhile his father had be-
come interested in the cattle business and had
his range on the present site of Roswell in New
Mexico, remaining there for four years, and the
son aided in the business bv driving herds of cat-
tle to and from the range. In the pursuit of this
work he crossed the plains ten times. When
his father closed out the cattle business and
removed to California he returned to Texas,
and from there came to the coast country in
1872, journeying via steamer from Galveston
to New Orleans, thence by rail to St. Louis,
from there on the railroad to Denver, Salt Lake
and San Francisco, thence to San Diego, and
from there via stage to Julian, where he became
interested in mining.

After a year in California Mr. Hubbert re-
turned to Texas for his mother, brothers and
sisters, who came back with him to San Diego
county. In August, 1873, he closed out his
mining interests and came to the San Luis Rev
vallev. where he purchased a quarter section of
land from his father and later entered one hun-
dred and twenty acres from the government, on
which property he has since engaged in ranch-
ing and stock-raising. In 1878 he was united
in marriage with Mrs. Helen M. (Adams) Hub-
bert, a native of Texas, and a dausrhter of Cal-
ifornia pioneers of 1867. who settled in the Hope
school district in San Diesro countv. Thev are
the parents of the following children: Louis
C, now in Mexico: Victoria E.. who is on the
home ranch ; Jennie E. and Bavard T., who are
attending- school in Los .\ngeles : Nannie B.. a
student in the San Luis Rey schools, and Edsrar
T.. at home. The familv attend the Christian
Church, with which Mrs. Hubbert is identified
and to which ATr. Hubbert has been a gener-
ous contributor. Pnliticallv a Democrat, reared
in the faith of that partv and pronounced in his
allegiance to its principles, he is vet liberal and
non-partisan, and in voting considers the char-
acter of the candidate and his qualifications for
office rather than his political views. Alwavs
interested in educational matters, he has served
efficientiv as school trustee and has contributed
materiallv to the advancement of the local
schools.

JOHN P. VARBLE. The reputation ac
nuired by J. P. Varble as a rancher of Los

Angeles countv has been won entirelv by his owr
efforts, having brought to bear in his work an
intelligent and conscientious thought which ha«
resulted in the accomplishment of his aims and

1176

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

purposes. He is located near El Alonte, where
he settled in 1903. He is a native of Franklin
county, Ark., and was born January 23, 1865 ; his
father, Alexander \'arble, was a native of North
Carolina, while his mother, formerly INIargar-
ett Houston, was born in Arkansas. The father
died in 1880, and the mother is still surviving
and making her home in ^lodesto, Stanislaus
county, at the age of sixty-three years, still active
and taking an interest in the work of the Girist-
lan Church, of which she is a member. The
father was a Democrat politically and prominent
in the affairs of his adopted state.

J. P. Varble was the eldest of ten children
born to his parents and in Franklin county he
received his education in the public schools. He
came to California in 1891, after having engaged
as a farmer in his native state, and upon his ar-
rival here located in Stanislaus county, where he
remained for three years. He then came to
Los Angeles county and engaged in ranching, in
1903 locating on his present property, which con-
sists of one hundred and ten acres, devoted to
the raising of alfalfa, which yields eight tons
per acre. He owns seventeen acres of fine land
which he intends to plant to strawberries and
walnuts. He was married in 1886 to Miss Callie
Owen, a native of Arkansas, and four children
were born to this union, Oma, Truman, Ruth and
Valda. J\lr. ^^arble is a member of the ]Mod-
ern Woodmen of America and the \\'oodmen
of the World. Politically he is a stanch adherent
of the Democratic principles and both himself
and wife are members of the Christian Oiurch.

A. L. AL'VTTHE^^'S. Twenty years ago A.
L. Matthews came to California and located
at Wildomar, purchasing land upon which he
is now raising hay and grain. • He was born
Augu.st 21, 1845, in Chemung county, N. Y.,
the son of Isaac and Ann (Manning) ^lat-
thews, the former being a native of New York
and the latter born m England. The ^lat-
thews family is one that has been identified
with the history of the L'nited States for sev-
eral generations, the grandfather, Kortwright
^Matthews, having been an officer in the Black
Hawk war and took an active part in the bat-
tle fought at Horseheads. N. Y. The father
was educated in New- York and became a
Methodist Episcopal minister, having charges
at various points, including Big Flats, Reaser
Hill and Pine Valley. His death occurred in
New York in 1889. at the advanced age of
eighty-fouF years. The mother died in 1859,
when she was fifty-nine years old.

Reared in an intellectual and refined atmos-
phere, A. L. ^latthews in boyhood attended
the public schools, later studying for a time at

.Starkey Seminar}-. In October, 1863, he dem-
onstrated his patriotism b}- enlisting in Com-
pany E, Fourteenth Regiment of New York
Heav}- Artillery, and was injured by the ex-
plosion of a shell at Fort Hamilton, the wound
having troubled him ever since. On account
of his disability he was discharged at Fort
Schu^-ler. N. Y.; and in 1868 located in Ne-
vada, Story county, low-a, where he engaged
in ranching until 1872. He then removed to
Hiawatha, Brown county, Kans.. remaining
there for two years, when he located in Spring
Hill, Johnson county, that state, and bought
a farm upon which he lived until 1875. His
next move was to Arkansas valle}-, Kans.,
there filing upon a homestead claim upon
which he resided until 1886, when he removed
to California. Locating at ^^'ildomar, he
bought ten acres of land, improved it, and en-
gaged in ranching. Besides this he also owns
a quarter section of farming land in Kansas.

June 21. 1902, Mr. ]^iatthew-s received the
appointment as postmaster of \^'ildomar, and
on August 15 of the same year secured the
position of station agent for the Santa Fe at
that point. At about the same time he also
became proprietor of the general store which
he now owns. He has been clerk of the school
board for twelve years, and for the past eight
3-ears has been deputy count}' clerk. Polit-
ically he is an advocate of the principles em-
braced in the platform of the Republican
party, and religiously belongs to the JNIethod-
ist Episcopal Church. He is also a member
of the Riverside post of the Grand Army of
the Republic.

Mr. Afatthews' marriage in Hutchinson,
Kans.. October 24, 1877. united him with i\Iiss
]\Iar}- H. Allison, a native of Illinois, they
.becoming the parents of two children, Anna
and Anson Leo. both of whom died in in-
fanc}-. As a progressive and enterprising citi-
zen 'Sir. AFatthcw-s takes a leading place in
his community, in which he is held in the
highest respect and esteem by all.

CHARLES J. MURPHY. A native son of
California, and the representative of one of its
early pioneer families, Charles J. Murphy is well
deserving of mention in a work of this character.
A well-known resident of the thriving little
village of Oxnard, he is actively identified with
its mercantile interests, holding an excellent posi-
tion among the energetic and thorough going
business men who have attained success through
their own tact, good judgment and perseverance.
Establishing himself here as a member of the
firm of Murphy & Weill nearly two years ago.
he has since built up a lucrative trade, dealing

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

117;

principally in groceries and men's furnishing
goods. A son of the late Thomas Murphy, he
was born, April 17, 1874, in San Francisco,
where he was reared and educated.

Leaving his home in the east when a young
man, Thomas Murphy followed the march of civ-
ilization westward, coming across the plains with
ox-teams ere the thought of construction a trans-
continental railway had been conceived. With his
brother pioneers he labored with pickaxe and
shovel, and as a miner met with encouraging
success. On retiring from that occupation he
located in San Francisco, where he resided un-
til his death. He married ^Nlary Flanagan, who
survives him, and is now living in Alameda.
She bore him eight children, three of whom are
living, Charles J. being the second child.

Having completed the studies of the public
schools of San Francisco, Charles J. Murphy
was graduated from a commercial college, and
soon after that event began the battle of life for
himself. Locating in Hueneme in 1896, he ob-
tained a position as clerk in the store of Lehman
& \'\'aterman, and while there obtained an ex-
cellent knowledge of mercantile pursuits. When
the firm removed to Oxnard Mr. Murphy came
also, and for some time thereafter had charge of
its hardware department. Resigning his clerk-
ship in November, 1904, he, in partnership with
I\Ir. Weill, started in business for himself, open-
ing a store on Fifth street, in the ^^laulhardt
building. Stocking his establishment with a fine
assortment of groceries, both staple and fancy,
and opening a men's furnishing goods depart-
ment, he has since built up a most satisfactory
business, his patronage being large and remuner-
ative.

November 15, 1905, in Oxnard, Mr. Murphy
married Katherine Wilson, who was born in
Hueneme, a daughter of U. S. Wilson, now a
residence of Oxnard. Politically Mr. Murphy is
a stanch Democrat, and fraternally he is a mem-
ber of Santa Barbara Lodge No. 613, B. P. O. E.,
and of Oxnard Lodge No. 750, K. of C.

MORGAN R. WATKINS. Conspicuous
among the California pioneers who have so ably
assisted in developing both the mining and agri-
cultural resources of this state is Morgan R. Wat-
kins, a prosperous farmer, living near Mesa
Grande. His ranch is under a good state of cul-
tivation and well improved, the buildings being
of a neat and substantial character, betokening
the thrift and wise management of the owner.
Like many others of our most respected and
successful citizens, he was born and reared in a
foreign land, his birth having occurred, Decem-
ber 26, 184c;, in South Wales. His parents,
David and Elizabeth (Rosser) Watkins, were

life-long residents of Wales, where the father was
a well-known carpenter and contractor. They
were people of stanch integrity, highly esteemed
for their many excellent qualities of mind and
heart, and were faithful members of the Inde-
pendent Congregational Church. They reared
a family of five children, all of whom left their
native country when ready to settle in life, locat-
ing in America. One son. David F. Watkins,
was for thirtv-tliree years a missionary in Mexico
and later was similarly engaged in South Amer-
ica. Another son. Rev. Thomas R. Watkins, was
a leader of the Labor Union in Pennsylvania.

Immigrating to the Cnited States in 1865,
^Morgan R. Watkins spent a short time in New
York City, and then went to Pennsylvania,
where he followed the trade he had learned in
Wales, working in the mines as an underground
carpenter. From there, having in the mean time
visited his old home and friends in Wales, Mr.
Watkins came to the Pacific coast, arriving in
San Francisco in 1868. Resuming his former
work, he was a foreman in the mines for a num-
ber of years, being thus employed in Plumas,
Butte and Nevada and Placer counties. His health
failing he went first to Mendocino, then to San
Diego, and thence to Mexico, where for about
a year he had charge of a mine. Returning to
San Diego county he purchased his present ranch
which is advantageously located near Mesa
(jrande, and has since been actively and suc-
cessfully engaged in general farming, including
stock raising. He pays some attention to the
raising of fruit, having a productive apple or-
chard, which yields him excellent harvests. He
has met with good success in his agricultural
labors, and as a man and a citizen is held in high
respect throughout the community, his integri-
ty and other sterling qualities being everywhere
recognized.

In 1872 Mr. Watkins married Mar\^ Brier, who
was born in Santa Cruz, Cal. One year prior to
her marriage she taught school and for twelve
years afterwards she taught an Indian school. Her
father. Rev. James Brier, was born October 14,
1814, in Dayton, Ohio, of Scotch and Frencli
ancestry. In 1839 he married Juliet Wells, a
woman of great strength of character and much
force of will. Several years later Air, Brier
accompanied by his wife and three small child-
ren, started across the plains, Mrs, Brier being
the only woman in the company of Jay Hawkers.
After spending six weeks in Salt Lake City the
party were forced to push onward to California
under Mormon guides, who deserted them upon
arriving at Death Valley. They suffered untold
privations, and twenty-eight of the band died of
starvation. The survivors burned their wagons
for fuel and in the weeks that followed their
only food consisted of the hides of cattle, Lo-

1178

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

eating in Los Angeltes Mr. Brier became active
in his ministerial labors, and founded the first
Methodist Episcopal Church established in that
town. During his later 3ears he removed to
San Joaquin county and made his home there
until his death, in 1897. He was very active in
political affairs, and as a stanch supporter of the
Republican party stumped the state for Lincoln,
Grant, Garfield, Blaine and Harrison, acquiring
a wide reputation as a gifted orator, and being
aptly called "The Old Man Eloquent." His
wife survived him, and is still living, being an
active woman of ninety-three years. She bore
him six children, four of whom survive.

Of the union of iNIr. and Mrs. \\'atkins two
children have been born, namely : Arthur S.,
who has a fine ranch of five hundred acres ad-
joining his father's farm, and Juliet. Politically
Mr. Watkins is a Socialist. Religiously he is a
Congregationalist, and ]\Irs. Watkins is an Epis-
copalian.

GASTON JEAN GILLY. As a general mer-
chant Gaston J. Gilly is located in Puente and
carrying on a business enterprise in partnership
with J. Faure, the firm name being Gilly & Faure.
Mr. Gilly is a native Californian, his birth having
occurred in San Francisco January 20, 1867.
His father, Joseph Gilly, was a native of Haute-
Marne, France, and a tailor by trade. He came
to America in 1866, crossing the Isthmus of
Panama, thence by steamer to San Francisco,
where he engaged as a merchant tailor. In 1883
he located in Los Angeles, where he followed his
trade until his death, which occurred January
12, 1905, at the age of sixty-three years. His
wife died in San Francisco in 1873. The parent-
al family comprise four children, all of whom
are living, the eldest being Gaston Jean Gilly.
He was taken to France in 1877 and there edu-
cated in the public schools, after which, in 1883,
he returned to San Francisco and engaged as
a compositor on the Courier, a French publica-
tion. Six months after his father's removal to
Los Angeles he also went there and immediately
took up the study of bookkeeping in a night
school. In the meantime he continued in a job
printing office, working for a Mr. McBride, later
was employed on the old Los Angeles Ez'ening
Express, then on the Herald, and finally on the
Los Angeles Progress, a French publication. He
remained with this last named paper for three
years, a part of the time as its manager. He
then quit the newspaper business and entered the
employ of G. L. Mesnager & Co.. as traveling
salesman, his territory being Southern Califor-
nia. Four years later he gave up this work and
engaged as a clerk in Los Angeles and vicinity,
until September, 1898. when, in partnership with

J. Faure, he established the Puente store, where
they now carry a full line of general merchandise
while they also are large shippers of produce.
The building which they occupy was put up by
them in i8g8. Mr. Gilly is a member of the
French Benevolent Society of Los Angeles, and
politically is a stanch advocate of Republican
principles.

ULRIC T. COOK. The future of Califor-
nia, as of any commonwealth, is based upon
its 3'oung men, to whose enterprise, judgment
and intelligence the prosperity of the country
during the present century will be due, and
from whose activity of mind and body will re-
sult movements of inestimable value to the
people. There are in San Diego county a
large number of young men of unusual capa-
bility, resourcefulness and discrimination, and
among them mention may be made of Ulric T.
Cook, who is engaged in the raising of grain
and stock in the Sutherland valley and on
Smith mountain and also owns an apiary of
fifty colonies of bees. Not a little of his pros-
perous outlook is due to the fact that he has
the encouragement and active co-operation of
his father, a practical farmer of long experi-
ence, and still identified with the agricultural
development of this county, where he and his
son are farming upon an extensive scale.

Los Angeles county is Mr. Cook'.s native lo-
cality and May 22, 1879, the date of his birth.
His parents, George and Hannah (Strong)
Cook, were natives respectiveh' of Texas and
Arkansas, and during the year 1868 became
residents of Los Angeles county, Cal., having
previously met and married in San Diego
county. The family settled on Smith moun-
tain when Ulric was 3'et a small child and he
attended th.e common schools in that district.
Upon starting out to earn his livelihood he
formed a partnership with his father and they
now own three hundred and twenty acres in
Sutherland valley. The old homestead on
Smith mountain has been sold, but the father
now rents the place and continues to reside
there, giving his attention to its management
and the care of his stock, while the son is liv-
ing on their farm in the Sutherland valley.
Both are stanch Democrats in political views.
At this writing the father holds offfce as dep-
uty sheriff and the son is serving with efficien-
cy in the position of school trustee. Before
removing from Smith mountain Mr. Cook
there married, February 7, 1899, Miss Annie
L. Frye, a native of California, having been
born near Santa Ana, and by the union they
have four children, Ella May, Ethel Edith,
Marian Rav and Lucile.

^irT^.

ISOAA^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1181

CAPT. HAAIPTON P. SLOANE. The
founder of the Sloane family in America came
to this country from the north of Ireland and
descended from ancestors driven from Scot-
land at the time of the religious persecutions.
The original immigrant, John Sloane, married
Mary Scarborough and settled in Maryland,
where their son, James, was born November
i8, 1793. Two years later the family crossed
the mountains into Kentucky and settled in
the primitive Avilds of Bourbon county. From
there in the spring of 1810 they removed to
Ohio and settled in Highland count}', twenty-
five miles north of the river of the same name,
in the midst of a dense forest, where the most
arduous application was necessary in order to
clear and improve a farm. The family consist-
ed of Lydia, Jane, James, Rachel, Abigail,
Martha and John. The eldest son was a young
man Avhen the call came for recruits to serve
in the war of 1812 and he enlisted in Captain
Wisby's Company, attached to Colonel Iveyes'
Regiment. The raw recruits shouldered their
flint-lock guns and marched on foot to San-
dusky, Ohio, where they arrived about the
time of the surrender of the British troops.
Their services being no longer needed they
were honorably discharged and returned
home.

The first marriage of James Sloane was sol-
emnized in 1819 and united him with jNIiss
Lacy Bell, who was a daughter of John and
Mary Bell of Brown county. Two children
were born of their union, namely : Eliza, April
28, 1820 ; and John, who was born June 10,

1821, and died August 20. 1822, the death of
the wife and mother occurring October 18,

1822. The second marriage of Mr. Sloane took
place in August. 1823, and united him with
Miss Nancy J. Pangborn, who was born in
Kentucky August 10, 1803, and removed to
Brown county. Ohio, at the age of sixteen
years, accompanying her parerts, Hampton
and Margaret Pangborn. She was a twin sis-
ter of John L. Pangborn, and these two with
their older brother, Samuel, formed the fam-
ily. Always an apt scholar, she developed a
reasoning brain and bright mind, and was al-
ways eager to help forward movements for
Lhe upbuilding of the race. In the early days
of the temperance movement, when it was un-
popular with many, she espoused the cause,
as she did also the anti-slavery movement.
At the opening of the Civil war she gave her
sons her benediction as they entered the Union
army. For more than sixty years she was an
earnest Christian and during the last twen-
ty-five years of her life she held membership
with the Congregational Church. Her hus-
band, also, after having been long a Methodist.

united with the Congregational Church after
the close of the Civil war and continued in that
denomination as long as he lived. Of their
union the following children were born :
Hampton P., whose name introduces this nar-
rative and who was born in Highland coun-
ty, Ohio, May 10, 1824: Marinda B., October
24, 1825; Margaret, July 4, 1827; Samuel P.,
July 17, 1829; Josephj born April 23, 1832,
and deceased in infancy ; Jane, born May 7,
1833; Sarah Annie, March 22, 1835; Lacy
Lucky, May 12, 1838; !\Iartha Elizabeth, Jan-
uary 26, 1841 ; and Ouincy Adams, September
17, 1843. All of the children were born and
reared on the Highland count}' farm and it was
the pri\ilege of their parents to see them all
(excepting Joseph) educated and settled in life,
all honoring their parents by lives of virtue and
uprightness.

After a continuous residence of forty years
in Ohio James Sloane removed to Illinois and
settled in Rockford, where his eldest son had
gone the preceding year. In 1864 he removed
10 Cedar Falls, Iowa, but the rigorous winters
of that latitude caused him in 1868 to remove
to Missouri, where he settled at Windsor,
Henry county. In 1877 he went to Sedalia to
be nearer his children, several of whom lived
in or near that city. August 21, 1873. he and
his wife celebrated their golden wedding and
on that auspicious occasion they were the re-
cipients of the congratulations of their chil-
dren and their many friends. In life they were
companions for sixty-two years : in death they
were not long divided. His death occurred
at Sedalia, Mo.. October 24. 1885, and she
passed away April 19, 1886. The funeral serv-
ices of both were conducted by Rev. J. G.
Bailey, an old friend of the family, and the
bodies of both rest side by side in the beau-
tiful cemetery adjoining Sedalia.

The eldest son of this honored couple was
Hampton P. Sloane, justice of the peace and
an influential citizen of Ramona. San Diego
county, Cai. Educated in the common schools
and Hillsboro Academy in Ohio, he took up
agriculture as his chosen occupation and re-
mained in Ohio until 1850, when he spent a
short time in .St. Paul and Minneapolis dur-
ing the period that Governor Ramsey was the
executive head of the then territory. Later he
removed to Illinois, wliich then had only forty
miles of railroad in the entire state. Settling
near Rockford he engaged in farm pursuits and
acted as assistant editor of the farmer's de-
partment of the Rockford Rc_(;istcr. also took
a prominent part in establishing the Winne-
bago County Agricultural Society, one of the
first organizations of the kind in the state. Of
tliis he served as president for two years. Au-

1182

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

gust 1 8, 1862, he assisted in raising Company
C, Sevent3'-{omth Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
of which he was chosen captain and with
which he proceeded from Camp Fuller to Lou-
isville, Ky. After taking part in the battles
of Perryville and Stone river he fell ill with
typhoid fever while the army was at winter
quarters on the Stone river, and his illness
was of a nature so serious as to oblige him to
resign his commission. Returning home he
speiit some months in regaining his health and
in 1864 removed to Cedar Falls. Iowa, where
he engaged in agricultural and horticultural
pursuits." During the year 1867 he removed
to the vicinity of Sedal'ia, Mo., and bought a
tract of land in Johnson county. The Civil
war had left the locality in a disrupted state
and there was much need of conservative citi-
zenship in order to bring order out of chaos.
School had been closed and school districts
disbanded, and the county court appointed him
school director v^•ith the difficult task of re-
establishing the schools and restoring them
to usefulness. In this work he was signally
successful.

The county court in 1868 appointed Cap-
tain Sloane justice of the peace. While fill-
ing the office he gave the right of franchise to
sixty Confederate soldiers and at the office
where they registered three clerks were sta-
tioned to aid them in the enforcing of their
rights, these clerks being provided with wea-
pons. In 1874 he took a four-year contract to
convey the United States mail from Lamar to
Carthage. Wo., and for this purpose he had a
line of stages and six horses, which enabled
him to make the round trip daily. At the ex-
piration of his contract in 1878 he became re-
porter and assistant editor of the Carthage
Banner, with which he was connected for four
years. In 1884 he removed to Washington
county. Ark., and took up a soldier's home-
stead, which he improved and on which he
planted an orchard of varied fruits. Selling
out the farm in 1890 he came to California and
settled in the Sweetwater valley, but five years
later he removed to Ramona and bought a
ranch near town which he has since sold.
Since 1901 he has held office as justice of the
peace and also he has been more or less iden-
tified with local real-estate transfers. Follow-
ing in the example of his parents, he ever has
been loyal to tlic cause of Christianity and has
been steadfast in his allegiance to the Con-
gregational Church. From the organization of
the Republican party to the present time he
has been a loyal supporter of its principles
and a contributor to its local successes. He
cast his first presidential vote for Martin Van

Buren in 1S48. Fraternally he holds member-
ship with the Grand Army of the Republic at
San Diego.

The first marriage of Captain Sloane was
solemnized in Ohio in 1848 and united him
with Adeline Grandgirard, who was born in
France and died in Illinois in 1856 at the age
cf twenty-six years. Three children were
born of their union, namely. John, who died
in California in 1889, at the age of forty years;
Charles, who died in infancy ; and William A.,
member of the law firm of Luce, Sloane &
Luce of San Diego and justice of the police
court at San Diego. After the death of his
first wife Captain Sloane was married in Illi-
nois to Delia Gripen, a native of New York
state. They became the parents of nine chil-
dren of whom seven are living, namely:
Charles, who is engaged in the real-estate
business in San Diego; Ada. wife of Louis
Kunkler of Missouri ; Samuel, living at Dehesa,
San Diego county, Cal. ; Lydia, wife of Jo-
seph Stockton, a resident of Ramona ; James,
whose home is near Prescott. Ariz. ; Nannie,
Mrs. A. H. Sheldon, of El Cajon ; and Bessie,
whose husband, Charles A, Merritt, has charge
of the electric light and power plant at Santa
Barbara.

ERNEST A. PETTIJOHN. The growth'
of a city depends upon its leading men. When
they are of stable character, energetic in busi-
ness, strong principled and clean in private
life there need be no fear of the stability,
strength, and influence of the municipality. And
when a city is so fortunate as to have had a
man of this character and one who possessed
the true public spirit as its municipal head for a
long period of years that city is bound, as time
passes, to continue to reflect the qualities borne
into it and bequeathed to it by that head. The
city of Colton, San Bernardino county, has
been thus fortunate in the person of the late
Ernest A. Pettijohn, who not only filled its
mayor's chair for fourteen years, but at the
same time occupied other influential positions
in its official circles and was most active in ev-
ery movement for the development and prog-
ress of the community.

The Pettijohn family was among the oldest
pioneers of Illinois and the homestead in
Schuyler county which came to them by a grant
from President Monroe is still owned by "their
descendants. It was on this homestead that
Ernest A. Pettijohn was born December 3,
1861. When he was but five years of age his
parents removed to Missouri, and there the son
received his early education and attended
Dniry College at Springfield. His ambition

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1183

from early boyhood had been to go west, and
accordingly, after his school work was com-
pleted he started out, locating first in Mexico,
where he engaged in mining, and later contin-
uing operations in Arizona, meeting with suc-
cess at both places. In 1887 he came with his
mother and sister Mary (now Mrs. Frederic
W. Wessel to Colton. Mrs. Wessel is now the
only surviving member of the Pettijohn family,
the mother's death having occurred at Colton
about three years ago. The first years while in
Colton Mr. Pettijohn was engaged in the shoe
business and subsequently until the time of his
death was occupied as an orange grower. In
1896 he was married to Miss Ada Robinson, a
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. DeVillo Robinson,
well known residents of Colton. They became
the parents of four children, of whom one son
and one daughter now survive.

Public affairs and politics always received a
large share of Mr. Pettijohn's interests and he
was for a number of 3'ears president of the lo-
cal Republican club, a member of the county-
central committee, and in 1904 he was the pre-
siding officer of the Republican county con-
vention. He was a charter member of the Col-
ton fire department, served as a member of the
board of city trustees for sixteen years, and
was president of that body the greater part of
the time. His fellow citizens were desirous of
heaping further honors upon him, but he re-
fused to become a candidate for the state as-
sembly at their urging, and also declined to
longer occupy a place on the board of trustees.
He was devoted to his home and family and an
active worker in the Presbyterian Church of
Colton. contributing liberally to its support and
that of every charitable cause which he be-
lieved worthv. Fraternallv he was a member
of Ashlar Lodge No. 306, F. & A. M., at Colton,
and of the Foresters. Personally his character
was without blemish and the motto which gov-
erned his life is foimd in that beautiful admoni-
tion in Thanatopsis :

"So live that when thy summons come to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall

take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not like t!ie quarry slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon : but, sustained and

soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams."
His death, which occurred ]\Iarch 29, 1906,
removed a faithful public servant, an upright
citizen, and a tireless worker for the good of
his citv.

CHARLES F. ALLEN. As an inventive
genius Charles F. Allen, the lighthouse keeper
at Point Hueneme, Cal., has to his credit many
important inventions which have been of great
value in simplifying numerous mechanical pro-
cesses in different lines of work. He was born
October 7, 1867, near Cleveland, Ohio, of Eng-
lish-American parentage. His father, Charles
D. Allen, was born in England and located
with his parents near Cleveland, Ohio, when
eight years of age. For some 3'ears he was en-
gaged in the lumber and buggy supply business
there, later settling near Garrettsville, same
state, where he became a farmer, and is still
living at the age of seventy-two years. He did
militars- service in the Civil war, serving six
months with an Ohio regiment as contract
teamster for the war department. The mother,
who was Martha D. Bond before her marriage,
was a native of Ohio. Her grandfather was one
of the founders of Cleveland, he having erected
ihe second log cabin there. Mrs. Allen died
when her son Charles F. was a child of eighteen
months. There were two children, but he is the
only one now living. His boyhood days were
spent on his father .farm near Garrettsville,
where he received his education in the district
and high schools. When seventeen years old
he went to Akron and apprenticed himself to
AVebster, Camp & Lane, manufacturers of min-
ing, hoisting and potter}' machiner\', and spent
two years and nine months with them learning
ihe machinist's trade.

In 1887 Mr. Allen came to California and lo-
cated in San Diego, following his trade there
for a time, and later in Los Angeles and Fres-
no. In the latter city he was machinist for the
Fresno Canal Company for fifteen months, hav-
ing charge of the installation of all of their min-
ing machinery for the Providence and Rich-
mond mine, which they owned. He also con-
structed the cells for the Fresno jail, which was
then in course of construction. After the com-
pletion of this work he went to San Francisco,
where he was employed as machinist by the
Central Alaska Company, by R. T. Ward at the
Horse Fly mines and by the Sutter Street Rail-
way Company, remaining with each about one
year. In 1892 he entered the United States
lighthouse sen-ice, his first position being as-
sistant keeper at the Humbolt lighthouse, re-
maining at that place until 1894, when he was
appointed keeper at Point Hueneme. Under
his management this lighthouse has been im-
proved and now has a flashlight, as well as be-
ing fitted with an electrical telltale appliance
that times the machinery and tells if it stops. In
adopting this invention of Mr. Allen's, which
costs only $16. the government is using it to

1184

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

replace one which cost about $250, and in addi-
tion to the saving in cost it is considered a
much superior attachn.ient. .'Vmong other nie-

. chanical improvements which Mr. Allen has
invented and patented are a beet plow, a steam
turbine, an ore crusher, an amalgamator, a con-
centrator, an improved drive well, improve-
ments on driving gears, for automobiles, a wa-
ter wheel superior to others in use, a new steel-
clad pneumatic automobile tire, and improve-
ments on bicycles and automobiles, as well as
numberless other smaller inventions. He is al-
ways at work on some mechanical contrivance
to facilitate the running of labor-saving ma-
chinery.

In his home life Mr. Allen is fortunate, his
marriage uniting him with ]\Iiss Anna H. Fran-
cis, a native of San Francisco and the daughter
of Capt. Samuel Francis. The latter, who came
to California in 1849, was for many j'ears in the
lighthouse service and was keeper of the Unit-
ed States government supply station at Goat
Island at the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs.
Allen are the parents of two daughters. May
and Melba. Fraternally Mr. Allen affiliates
with Hueneme Camp, M. W. A., and has served
in the capacity of clerk ever since its organiza-
tion five years ago. He is also a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge
at Oxnard. The devotion of Mr. Allen to his
official duties and the mechanical work in
which he is so intensely interested does not pre-
vent him from being an active participant in
matters of public interest and he is an influen-
tial citizen of the community in which he re-
sides, wherein he is held in the highest respect
and esteem.

ALEXANDER DALLAS. The fact that Mr.
Dallas retains but an indistinct recollection of
his birthplace, the Island of Islay, in the high-
lands of Scotland, is due to his departure from
that home in early childhood and his removal
across the ocean to the new world. \Vhile re-
taining but a fleeting memory of the country,
he displays in his character and rugged per-
sonality the sturdy traits for which the Scotch
race is noted the world over, and a stranger
would not hesitate in classing him among the
natives of the land of the heather. However,
the greater part of his life has been passed in
the United States, whither he came with his
parents, William and Rachel (McTaggart)
Dallas, natives of Scotland. Born in the high-
lands on the ancestral homestead January 8, 1836,
he was six years of age when the family settled
in Greene county, Ala., his father embarking in
the growing of cotton and owning twenty negro
slaves. There the mother died in 1848, at the

age of thirty-five years, and the father in 1862,
when sixty years of age.

The private schools of Alabama furnished
Alexander Dallas with fair educational advan-
tages, and the years of youth passed unevent-
fully in study and recreation. The year that
marked the change from youth to manhood was
1856, when he was twenty, for at that time he
bade farewell to family and friends and started
out to seek his own livelihood. With three
friends, the eldest of whom was twenty-five,
while he was the youngest, he started on horse-
back for the far west. With the aid of pack-
mules he crossed the desert and the plains, and
finally arrived in Los Angeles via Salt Lake at
the close of an uneventful trip completed in
only three months from the time of starting.
Shortly after his arrival he mined on the Frazer
river, but his first important work was that of
cutting pile in the San Fernando canyon to be
used in building the first wharf at San Pedro. On
completing that work he bought six team of oxen
and made a contract with the government (which
General Hancock represented) to haul freight
from San Pedro to Fort Tejon, in which employ-
ment he continued for three years.

On leaving the government service Mr. Dallas
engaged in farming, rented land at El Monte.
Three years later he bought a tract forming a
portion of San Antonio ranch, which was one
of the first cut and sold in small holdings. The
land was situated eight miles east of Los Angeles
and there he continued for eight years. On
selling the property he removed to Arizona and
engaged in freighting to the mines for six years.
On his return to California he settled in Los An-
geles and for ten years engaged in grading
streets, a work of great importance and one in
which he proved himself trustworthy and capa-
ble. The year 1890 found him in Redlands,
where he secured employment in making reser-
voirs for the Domestic Water Company, and at
the same time he did grading for the Bear Vallev
Water Company. When he had completed the
grading he sold the teams. The next venture in
which he became interested was the making of
ditches in Moreno valley for the Bear ^^alIey
Company, in whose employ he had charge of dig-
ging and filling with pipe lines fiftv miles of
ditches. When that contract had been filled he
opened a general store at Moreno and also for
ten years held the office of postmaster. Since
selling the store in November, 1905, he has lived
retired from business cares. Included in his pos-
sessions are ten town lots in Moreno, his home
town, as well as forty acres of farm land in the
vicinity.

The marriage of Mr. Dallas was solemnized
at El Monte, this state, in 1861, and united him
with Jane Whiteman, a native of Texas, who died

/j^^:2--^i.t>ui^ /^^ /^cy^^^i^^.^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1187

ill 1881, at the age of forty years. Five children
were bom of their union, namely : James, who
is engaged in the printing business in Los An-
geles ; Annie, who married George Williams and
lives in Shasta county, Cal. ; Peter A., who con-
ducts a general store at Redlands Junction ; Ray-
mond, living in San Bernardino county, and
Louis, whom death removed from the family cir-
cle at the age of three years. In political views
Mr. Dallas has been a stanch believer in Demo-
cratic principles ever since boyhood ; reared in the
south, he imbibed the southern spirit and a strong
faith in its institutions. As a rule he has de-
clined offices, but he made an exception since
coming to Riverside county, and for four years
filled the position of justice of the peace, in which
office he proved himself familiar with the law and
an impartial exponent of its teachings.

BENJAMIN B. HIGGINS. For upwards of
thirty years a resident of San Diego county, Ben-
jamin B. Higgins, of Bonsall, is noted as one of
its most valued citizens, resolute, energetic and
enterprising, and one who has made his mark-
in the building up of the township in which he
resides, both socially and financially. He is en-
gaged in general agriculture, to which he de-
votes his whole attention, and is meeting with un-
bounded success in his undertakings. A native
of Oregon, he was born in Polk county, Au-
gust 27, 1856, a son of the late Hiram Higgins.

Born in Illinois, Hiram Higgins was brought
up on a farm, and when old enough to start in
life em'barked in agricultural pursuits. He sub-
sequently resided for a few years in Missouri,
and while there traded extensively in Mexico.
Crossing the plains with ox teams in 1849, he
arrived in California after a long and dangerous
trip, and for awhile tried mining. He subse-
quently went to Polk county. Ore., where he
cleared a ranch from the wild land, upon which
he made his home until locating once more in
California. Having purchased land near Comp-
ton he located upon it in 1867 and continued in
his chosen occupation. About 1875 he entered
the land now included in the present home ranch
of his son Benjamin, and established an apiary,
which he managed successfully for some vears.
He married Malinda Derben, a native of Mis-
souri, and of the eleven children, seven sons and
four daughters, born of their union, ten are liv-
ing, the oldest child being now sixty years of
a2;e. Both parents united with the Christian
Church when young, and the mother, who resides
in Compton, in one of its most faithful and con-
sistent adherents.

When four years of age Benjamin B. HTggins
came with the family to Southern California, and
for al)nut seven vears lived in Los Angeles, where

he laid the foundation for his future education.
In 1867 the family removed to Compton, where
he attended the graded schools, completing the
full course of instruction. Coming with his
father to Bonsall in 1875 he assisted him in start-
ing an apiary, and for many years carried on an
extensive business in bee farming, having on an
average about one hundred and fifty colonies of
bees, one season this number being increased to
four hundred colonies. In 1889 Mr. Higgins
bought from his father this ranch of one hundred
and sixty acres, and has since devrited himself to
general farming, including the raising of grain,
beans, walnuts and peaches. He raises good
crops, and as an agriculturist is exceedingly pros-
perous, fortune smiling on all of his ventures.
He also has a French Percheron stallion for
breeding purposes.

In 1879 Ml'- Higgins married Laura Combs,
and they became the parents of six children,
namely: Alfred A., of Bonsall: Frances, wife of
Augustus Culp, of Oceanside : Lizzie, wife of
Charles Trotter, of Oceanside : Elon, living at
home; Benjamin, at home, and Mary, at home.
In 1903 Mr. Higgins was again married, Sadie
Kitching becoming his wife. Politicallv Mr.
Higgins is identified with the Detuocratic party,
and although not an aspirant for public office
has long served as school trustee, for fifteen
years being clerk of the board. Fraternally he
is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.

JAMES BRO^^•X WATSON. Situated at
the foot of the San Bernardino mountains, six
and one-half miles from the city of that name
and along the route of Highland free delivery
No. 2, may be seen the well-improved home-
stead owned and occupied by Mr. Watson,
and brought by him to its present high state
of improvement since he acquired the land by
purchase in 1893. Immediately after buying
the property he built a residence and barn
and established his home on the tract. At that
time the land was in its wild state, no attempt
having been made at improvement, but un-
der his energetic labors a transformation soon
was effected. Owing to the adaptability of
the soil to fruit, he has made horticulture his
specialt}'. Shortly after coming here he plant-
ed seed of various fruits, and now has one of
the finest orcliards in the locality. The thir-
teen acres are in navel oranges, lemons and
grape fruit, as well as deciduous trees of the
best varieties. Through using great care with
the trees, some of which have their original
tops and some have been budded twice, he has
made his grove one of the most productive in

1188

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the vicinity and the fruit finds a ready sale at
the highest market prices.

During the early years of his life Mr. Wat-
son was a resident of Missouri, born in Ray
county, July 31, 1859, his parents being James
and Rebecca (Ragan) Watson, natives of
Kentucky and England. Educated in com-
mon schools, the knowledge he now possesses
has been acquired by close observation and
careful reading rather than from early train-
ing in school. On starting out to earn his
own way in the world he took up agricultural
pursuits and continued to reside in Missouri
until he was twenty-one years of age. On
leaving that portion of the country he came to
California, landing at Riverside in September,
1880, and seeming employment in that town,
where soon he acquired a practical knowledge
of orange culture. In the spring of 1888 he
removed from Riverside to Highland district,
where since he has made his home and en-
gaged in fruit-raising with energy and grati-
fying success.

In all of his work Mr. Watson has been
aided by the co-operation of his amiable wife,
who was Elsie R. Hill, a native of Des Moines
county, Iowa, and a daughter of William and
Mary (Banta) Elill. Their home is brightened
by the presence of three children, Viola, James
Ro}^ and AI. Adele, who are attractive and
promising children, and to whom will be
given the best educational advantages the dis-
trict affords. Tv^^o daughters have been taken
from the home by death. Mary Rebecca was
two years of age when she passed from earth
June 9, 1899, and Lois was three years and
five months old when the home was bereaved
of her presence on Christmas day of 1904.
Among their neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Watson
are esteemed for the qualities of mind and
heart that have won them friends in large
numbers and given them a high social stand-
ing; in the communitv.

JOSIAH ALKIRE. The life which this
narrative sketches began on Christmas Day
of 1818, in Williamsport, Ohio, and closed at
Kenoak, in Pomona, Cal., February 4, 1895.
Between these two dates is the epitome of
a career that was busy, useful and successful.
Wherever duty called him he performed well
his part, and the prosperity that came to him
was directly attributable to his wise judgment
and tireless activity. With a record of over
forty years to his credit as a wholesale mer-
chant in St. Louis, Mo., he came to Pomona
in 1890 and settled down on a part of the
famous old Palomares rancho, upon which
was located the old adobe house erected by

Tomas Palomares in 1840 for a family resi-
dence. It served the purpose for which it
was originalhr built and later became the wel-
come half-way liouse for travelers, this in the
early days being the principal hotel between
San Bernardino and Los Angeles. Another
incident worth}' of note in connection with
this historic relic of other days is the fact
that the first school in Pomona valley was
held in the east room and was taught by C.
B. Towner. When Mr. Alkire took posses-
sion of the property in 1890 he reset the
orchard to navel oranges and laid out the
grounds into a beautiful park. The old adobe
house was remodelled and replastered and put
in excellent repair throughout, and today
Kenoak, as the homestead is called, stands as
a model of comfort and completeness.

Josiah Alkire was a son of Rev. George Al-
kire, a minister in the Christian denomina-
tion. Up to the year 1840 he filled pulpits in
various parts of Ohio, but in that year re-
moved to central Illinois, where during the
remainder of his life he went about doing good
and fulfilling his mission as a minister of
the Gospel. In all of his work he had the
sj'mpathy and co-operation of his wife, who
was in maidenhood Katie Rush. In the primi-
tive schools that prevailed in Ohio prior to
1840 Josiah Alkire gained such knowledge as
the equally primitive teachers were able to
furnish, but notwithstanding the difficulties
under which he labored he made the most of
his meagre opportunities and laid by a larger
fund of information than the less ambitious
students. In 1849 lie set out for the gold
fields of California. The records do not state
with what success he met as a miner, but
it is known that he returned east soon after-
ward and that he made a similar trip across
the plains three years later, in 1852. In the
fall of that year, however, he returned east
as far as St. Louis, Mo., where he established
him.self in the wholesale grocery business.
From unpretentious beginnings the business
grew and prospered with the passing of years,
until he commanded a trade that extended
over a wide radius, shipping goods to points
along the Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri and
Red rivers. He became an important factor
in the business circles of St. Louis, where he
had gained a record for uprightness and in-
tegrity, and his removal to the west in 1890
was deeply deplored. It was not until three
years later, however, that he finally disposed
of his business in St. Louis and thus severed
connections which had been sustained with
mutual pleasure and profit to himself and his
home city for over forty years. Purchasing
thirteen acres of the Palomares rancho near

J4^t2>/( St/^'^^ocUif^a^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1191

Pomona and adjoining Genesha Park, he re-
modeled and improved the adobe residence and
set the orchard to navel oranges exclusively,
making the homestead one of the most delight-
ful and restful spots in this part of Southern
California. AJr. Alkire was not long spared
to enjoy his new home, however, for his death
occurred amid the surroundings which he had
learned to love February 4. 1895.

Near Pleasant I'lams, Sangamon county,
111., in 1864, Josiah Alkire formed domestic
ties b)r his marriage with Aliss Lydia Tomlin,
the daughter of Almarine and Rhoda (Smith)
Tomlin. During young womanhood Mrs. Al-
kire attended the Illinois Woman's College at
Jacksonville, from which institution she was
■graduated. Two sons blessed the marriage of
;\Ir. and Mrs. Alkire, Frank, who is a shoe
merchant in Phoenix, Ariz., and George, who
is engaged in the cattle business in the same
place.

JOSIAH W. IIUDSOX. The agricultur-
ists of Los Angeles county ha\-e had in J. W.
Hudson one of their most prominent and suc-
cessful citizens, his enterprises in this section
of Southern California extending over a period
of a considerable number of j-ears. He is a
native of New York, where his birth occurred
in Oswego, February 18, 1844; his father, J.
W. Hudson, was born and reared in Boston,
rVIass., the representative of a distinguished
family of that state, and he there learned the
trade of cooper, which he followed until his
death, which took place in Ohio in 1894, His
wife was formerly Sarah F. "\A^ells, of Welsli
ancestry, her birth occurring in Connecticut
and her death in Ohio in 1892. They were the
parents of the following children : .\marette,
Amos, Lottie. ]\lar_v, Susan, Sarah, and Jo-
siah W., of this review : of this family all are
living except Amos and Lottie.

Josiah W. Hudson was reared in his native
state, receiving his education in the public
schools up to the age of fourteen years, when
he became dependent upon his own resources.
After leaving home he drifted further west and
in Iowa secured emjilc-ment in .\llamakee
county. At the fir'^t tnp of the drum in 1861.
however, every thought but that for his coun-
try's need was put aside and he immediately
enli.sted for the three months' service. The
quota of men being obtained, he was not
needed, but nothing daunted nor satisfied that
he would not be needed in the future, he then
enlisted in Company K, Fifth Regiment Iowa
Infantry, for three vears, and participated in
manv of the most important engagements of
that historic struggle. He was in the battle

of luka, Corinth, siege of Vicksburg, Cham-
pion Hill, and after the surrender of Vicks-
l)urg because of disability he was transferred
to Company C, Fourth United States Veteran
Reserves, and in this he served faithfully until
his honorable discharge in 1864.

Returning to civic life 'Sir. Hudson was lo-
cated in Peoria, 111., and from that point in the
spring of 1865 joined a party for the overland
trip to the Pacific coast. He drove an ox-
team across the plains to Virginia City via
Salt Lake City, and the following year he
drove oxen to ilontana. His first employ-
ment in the west was as a miner, with other
prospectors going to the Big Florn mountains,
returning via Salt Lake City and afterward
engaging in a venture in southern Utah. In
the m.eantime he had come to Southern Cali-
fornia and in the year 1867 he began spending
h.is winters in Los Angeles county, while dur-
ing the summers he engaged in mining in
Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. He met
with success in his work, not because he never
lost, but because he never let misfortime daunt
him, but went perseveringly to the task again,
and in the main was successful in his efforts.

In November. 1870, Mr. Hudson was united
in marriage with Miss A^ictoria R. Rowland,
the youngest daughter of John Rowland, one
of the earliest pioneers of Southern California,
who with a partner secured a grant of many
thousand acres of land, a large part of which
afterward passed to his children. His marriage
in an earlv day united him with a lovely daugh-
ter of a Spanish settler. Subsequently Mr.
Rowland was married to Mrs. drav and their
daughter became the wife of Mr. Hudson.

Mr. Hudson has over two thousand acres
of fine land, upon which is the old Rowland
homestead, the first brick house built in South-
ern California. The bricks were burned on the
old farm, the house being erected by Mr. Row-
land in t85c;. This extensive acreage is used
principally for grain and grazing purposes, one
of Air. Hudson's interests being in the raising
of horses. He has been ^-ery successful in this
effort and has ncqnired a position among the
citizen.s of the section who hold him in hisrh
esteem for the ability, energy and industrv he
has displayed in the management of his prop-
crtv. Progressive in ever}- sense of the word,
and liberal with his large means, no citizeiT is
more depended upon to further important
movements in the growth and development of
this section. When the Salt Lake Railway
were putting th?ir line through the country he
donated two acres of land for what is now
known as Hudson Station. Mr. Hudson has
been an interested witness in the developiuent
of the countr}- as well as an active participant.

1192

HISTORICAL AND BIOGR-APHICAL RECORD.

he being the man to sink the first artesian well
in Los Angeles count}-, and in many other
ways assisted materially in the upbuilding of
the community in which he makes his home.

3ilr. and Mrs. Hudson are the parents of
three children, namely : Rowland, Lillian and
Josiah W., Jr. Fraternally ;\Ir. Hudson is
connected with Pentalpha Lodge Xo. 202, F.
& A. AI., in Los Angeles, and politically he
is Independent. He is a member of the Pio-
neers Society of Los Angeles County. He has
always taken a special interest in educational
affairs of the community and his school dis-
trict, organized in 1888. was named Hudson
district in his honor. ]\Ir. Hudson merits the
position of esteem and respect he holds in the
community, having won it by the qualities of
manhood he has displayed during his long res-
idence in Southern California. He is account-
ed a helpful and practical citizen, a generous
and loyal friend, and a man who seeks always
to advance every influence toward the better-
ment of the moral life of those about him.

AIOSES ATWOOD FLINT. Shortly af-
ter his removal to California in Ma}^ 1898, Mr.
Flint bought ten acres of improved land
(planted to vines, olives and citrus fruit)
which formed the nucleus of his present prop-
erty. Since then he has added to his hold-
ings and now owns twenty-five acres. The
cottage has been enlarged and other improve-
ments made as the needs of the family de-
manded or their inclination directed. ' The
barn which still is in use was built by the
Mormons who years ago took up the land from
the government.

The family of which ;\Ir. Flint is an hon-
ored representative comes from New England
ancestry, and he was born in Vermont, but
passed tlie years of youth principally in New
Hampshire, where for some time his parents.
Rev. :Moses and Nancy fHovey) Flint, made
their home. The best educational advantages
were given him that the neighborhood aflford-
ed. On the completion of a common-school
course he was sent to an academy, where he
fitted himself for the work of teaching, and af-
terward for a long period he continued suc-
cessfully as an educator in the east and in
Towa. For twent3'-one years he lived in Iowa
and followed his chosen calling with gratify-
ing success, winning a position among the fore-
most teachers of his locality. On retiring from
the school-room to engage in outdoor activi-
ties, he removed to California and since then
has resided in San Bernardino county.

The marriage of Mr. Flint was solemnized
>rarch iy. t86i, and united him with Hannah
Sophronia P.alch. a native of Grafton countv.

N. H., and a daughter of Theodore and Sally
CLovejoy) Balch. On both sides of the fam-
ily her ancestors were identified v/ith the ear-
ly history of our country. Both of her grand-
fathers participated in the war of 1812, one
enlisting from Hebron, Grafton county, and
the other from Lyme, same county. The pa-
triotic spirit characteristic of the famil)^ finds
further proof in the fact that two of Mrs.
Flint's brothers bore a brave part as Union
soldiers in the Civil war, and were faithful in
their allegiance to the cause from the time of
their enlistment with a New Hampshire regi-
ment until the expiration of their term of serv-
ice. Six children were born to the union of
^Ir. and j\Irs. Flint, namel}-: Edwin At-
wood, who was born January 3, 1863,
in NcAV Hampshire, and received his educa-
tion in Iowa: Theodore Balch, wdio was born
in Iowa November 28, 1865, and now resides
in California : Sarah Elizabeth, who was born
April 27, 1868, and is now the wife of David
Scoville, of Decatur county, Kans. ; Levi Car-
roll, who was born December 28, 1871, and
died !March 5. 1876: ■Moses Deloss, who went
to the Philippines as a soldier in the Spanish-
Am.erican war and since the close of the war
has rem.ained in ^[anila as a supervisor of
teachers : and Emma Frances, who was born
April 2y, 1877, and is now the wife of Daniel
Ledford. of San Bernardino.

The family are identified with the Baptist
Church and in former years Mr. Flint officiat-
ed as a deacon of his congregation. In fra-
ternal relations he became affiliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows many
years ago and has retained his interest in that
organization, besides being identified with the
Masonic Order in the blue lodge. As a citi-
zen he is always found on the side of meas-
ures for the benefit of the people and for thf
efficient training of the rising generation, 't
being his belief that a thorough edncAtion is
the best preparation for a successful life.
Through all of his labors he has shown a
thoughtful considc-ation for others and a spir-
it of irnoartiality and justice most important
to a teachc. In the quiet life of an orchardist,
remote from the turbulent world of affairs, he
finds abundant exercise as well as a keen pleas-
ure in the improvement of the land, and after
years of energetic application to educational
work he enioys the chansre to his present oc-
ciuintion with its nccomnanying activities.

I'LYSSES F. RICHARDVTLLE. Having
been left an orphan in his sixth year. Ulysses
!■'. Richardville had a childhood lacking in the
lender care of paren*:s. and from the age of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1195

eleven years was obliged to make his own way
in the world. Armed only with a scanty com-
mon school education, his two empty hands,
and indomitable pluck and energy he has suc-
ceeded in acquiring a good working education
by careful and extensive reading, and accumu-
lated considerable property, as well as attained
a position of some prominence in his locality,
where he is held in the highest esteem by all
who have the pleasure of his acc^uaintance.
The Richardville family is of French extrac-
tion, the first members having come to Ameri-
ca four hundred years ago. U. F. Richardville
was born in February, 1868, in Knox county,
Ind., the son of Peter and Ida (Cornpint)
Richardville, both of whom were natives of
Indiana. The father was a farmer in that
state, his death occurring there April 30, 1874,
at the age of thirty years; his wife died in
1870, when twenty-five years old. From the
time he was eleven years old until 1892 Mr.
Richardville worked on farms by the month
for Indiana farmers, and in that year he de-
cided to seek wider opportunities in the west.
Arriving in Redlands, Gal., he worked out for
six months, and then started to ranch for him-
self in Moreno, beginning necessarily in a
small way. By the exercise of prudence and
careful and economical business methods he
was able gradually to add to his interests un-
til now he is recognized as one of the lead-
ing ranchmen in the valley.

By his marriage in Yuma, Ariz., in July,
1898, Mr. Richardville was united with Maggie
Suey, a native of California, and they have
one child, Myrtle May. Fraternally Mr. Rich-
ardville is a member of Redlands Lodge No.
343, I. O. O. F., and of Redlands Lodge No.
583, B. P^ O. E. Politically he is a Republi-
can. His home ranch comprises seven hun-
dred acres of land which is devoted to the rais-
ing of barley and the indications are that this
(1906) year's crop will yield ten sacks per
acre. Besides owning all of the machinery
necessary to operate the ranch he also has
fourteen head of stock horses.

CORNELIUS R. SHORT. Prominent
among the pioneer ranchers of Southern Cali-
fornia is Cornelius Short, now a resident of
Los Angeles county and engaged in ranching
near Norwalk. He has witnessed the develop-
ment of the state and participated in its up-
building, enduring the hardships and priva-
tions incident to pioneer life and now in the
evening of his days he is privileged to enjoy
the phenomenal progress of the western com-
monwealth. His boyhood home was on the
Atlantic coast, his birth having occurred De-

cember 5. 1830, in Lewiston, Delaware. His
parents, Stanley B. and Eliza (Clifton) Short,
were natives respectively of Baltimore, Md.,
and Lewiston, Del., the maternal grandfather
being a patriot in the war of 1812. The par-
ents were farmers throughout their entire
lives, removing to Missouri, where the mother
died at the age of fifty-five years, and to Ore-
gon in 1864, where the father died at seventy-
eight. One of their sons served in the Mexican
war under General Scott and was advanced to
the rank of captain ; he died about two years
after the war. The other three children are
still surviving, a daughter living in Oregon at
the age of seventy-eight, a son in AVashington
at eighty-four, and Cornelius R. in California
nearly seventy-seven.

Cornelius R. Short received his education in
the schools of Delaware county, Ohio, where
the parents located in his childhood, and there
he remained until nearly fifteen, when, in 1845,
his parents removed to Missouri. He com-
pleted his education in that state, after which
he learned the trade of brick mason and
worked at it for a time, finally engaging with
Russell, J\Iajors and Waddell, who were em-
ployed by the government in the delivery of
freight to all frontier forts as far as Salt Lake
Git)'-. In 1858 Mr. Short came as far west as
Salt Lake City and there spent the winter at
Camp Floyd, returning then to Missouri and
the following }'ear crossing the plains to
Placerville, Cal. From there he went on to
Oregon, arriving Januar}' 6, i860, and became
occupied in furnishing miners' supplies, and
also conducted some personal mining enter-
prises, and engaged in the butcher business.
In 1869 he returned to California and near the
present site of Santa Ana, Orange county, en-
gaged in ranching and also had charge of a
lumber yard. Later he engaged in the stock
business and for seven years shipped stock
from Arizona to Los Angeles ; finally selling
out he came to his present place as manager of
a ranch of one hundred and five acres of the
Glassell estate, thirty-five acres being in bear-
ing fruit, the balance in grain land. He has
lived on this ranch for nineteen years and has
made it a profitable investment for its owner.
In 1875 Mr. Short married Floretta Houghton,
a native of Texas, and their home is located at
No. 528 South Eastlake avenue, Los Angeles,
where he owns property. They have two chil-
dren, Edna, wife of Fred Davis, of New York
City; and Claude, who married Cora Hath-
away, of Arizona. Mr. Short is identified fra-
ternally with the Odd Fellows, and is a mem-
ber of the Pioneer Society of Los Angeles
county ; in political affiliations he is a stanch

1196

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

adherent of Democratic principles and while a
resident of Oregon was chosen by his party to
the office of sheriff of Josephine county, hav-
ing previously sen-ed for two terms as deputy
sheriff.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ]\IAXSON. An
inheritance of sterling traits of character, have
made the members .of the Maxson family able to
take a place among the representative citizens
of whatever section they have made their home.
New England ancestry gave to their de-
scendants name and character, later members
locating in New York, where in Allegheny
county, Abel ilaxson, a native of Rhode Isl-
and, engaged as a farmer. Following the ex-
ample of his Revolutionary sires he served in
the war of 1812, participating in several im-
portant engagements, among them Sacket's
Harbor. Some time after the close of the war
he removed to Dane county. Wis., where he
made his home until his death, which oc-
curred in his eightieth year. He married
Abigail Lull, a native of New York, in which
state her death occurred. They had six sons,
namely: Mathew, a miner, located in El Mon-
te, and the only son living; Schuyler and Ed-
mund, who were killed during service in a
New York regiment during the Civil war;
William, who served as captain in a New
York regiment in the Civil war; George, who
served as major in a Georgia regiment, in the
Confederate army: and Benjamin Franklin,
the father of the subject of this review.

Benjamin F. Maxson, Sr., also served in
the Civil war, enlisting in Company K, Thir-
teenth Wisconsin Infantry, and participated
in many important engagements, principally
in the middle west. His hearing was serious-
ly impaired at the battle of Nashville by the
concussion of a shell, which injury in after
years resulted in deafness and caused his
death ; while crossing the Southern Pacific
tracks at Shorb he failed to hear the oncom-
ing train and was struck and killed in May,
1899. After the war he remained in Wiscon-
sin until 1867, when he came to Colusa coun-
ty, Cal., and engaged in farming for about
eight years. Coming to Southern California
in 1875 he located in Tustin and purchased a
ranch, which he improved with an orange,
lemon and walnut grove. In 1889, having
sold his Tustin ranch, he came to El Alonte,
where with P. F. Cogswell he purchased a
tract of land and set out one of the first wal-
nut groves in the Mountain View district.
He improved about two hundred acres of
land, and owned at the time of his death
about one hundred and scventv acres, which

was considered one of the best improved prop-
erties in this section. He was not only active
in his personal aft'airs, but maintained a cred-
itable interest in all matters of public import,
being particularly associated with education-
al and religious work, and was instrumental
in the building of schools and churches. He
was a liberal and public-spirited man in ev-
ery avenue of life and one who could always
be counted upon to uphold public honor,
either personally or by his vote. He was a
Republican politically, while in religion he
belonged to the Presbyterian Church. He had
been associated for many years with the
Grand Army of the Republic. His wife, for-
merly Olive Merwin, was born near Genesee
Falls, N. Y., a daughter of James Merwin, a
farmer, who also removed to Wisconsin. Her
mother was a Miss Babcock, the lineage of
Avhose family can be traced back to John Al-
den, of Pilgrim fame. Mrs. Maxson died in
February, 1900, leaving a family of six chil-
dren, of whom five are now living: Al3-ra,
wife of A. C. Drake, of El Monte ; Annie,
wife of Thomas R. McMichael, of El Monte;
Benjamin Franklin Jr., of this review : Fay,
Mrs. Neely, of Manila, Philippine Islands ;
and Olive, of El Monte.

Born in Tustin, Orange county, Cal., Alay
15, 1879, Benjamin Franklin IMaxson, Jr., was
reared on the paternal farm and educated in
the public schools in youth; entering Pomona
College, which course was interrupted by the
death of his father. Returning home he gave
his attention to the management of the home
ranch, conducting its interests for two years,
when he located in a twentj'-acre tract and
engaged in the management of a walnut
grove. In 1906 he sold out, and in the mean-
time, having purchased other property which
he had set out in walnuts and upon which
in 1905 he had installed a pumping plant for
its irrigation, he immediately located upon
this ranch and began the raising of walnuts
and alfalfa. I'his ranch of forty acres is lo-
cated in the Bassett district and is well im-
proved, 1907 witnessing the erection of a
iiandsome and comfortable residence.

In El Monte Mr. ?\Iaxson was united in
marriage with Miss Mary Alexander, a native
of this place, and born of their union are the
following children : Frances, Marjorie, Ben-
i.amin Franklin, Jr., Stanley and Alice. Mr.
Maxson supports the Baptist Church in its
charities, his wife being a member of that de-
nomination. Mr. IMaxson is a Republican in
his political convictions. He belongs to the
Mountain View Walnut Growers' Associa-
tion and seeks to advance the interests of the
<;ection in which, he makes his home. Mrs.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1197

Maxson is the daughter of pioneer parents,
her father, John Henry Alexander, a native of
the Pickett district, of South CaroHna, having
come to Cahfornia when twenty years old,
crossing the plains with ox-team and on his
arrival engaging in the mines of the state. He
became foreman of a mnie in Drytown, Ama-
dor county, and later engaged in mining in
Calaveras county. Disposing • of his interests
in t88o, he came to El Monte, where he made
his home until his death, which occurred in
1882, at the age of fifty-three years. He was
married in Drytown, Cal., in 1863, to Miss
Marie Publetis, a native of Chili, whose fath-
er, Jose, was born in that country, of Spanish
ancestry. She came to San Francisco with an
aunt in 1849, then a city of tents, and after
the death of her relative at Spanish Flat she
made her own way in the world. She, came to
El Monte with her husband and children in
18S0, and two years later was left a widow
with seven children. v>diom she reared with all
the advantages children could have, and con-
tinued to improve and add to the value of her
five acres of walnuts. She has six children
living; namely: John H., of Nebraska; Al-
bert A., in Nevada; Andrew J., a carpenter of
El Monte ; James S., an engineer of Bassett ;
Rosa, Mrs. Reynolds, of Puente ; and Mary J.,
wife of B. E. Maxson. Mrs. Alexander still
survives and is prominent socially in El
Monte, supporting the interests of the Baptist
Church, to which she belongs.

MRS. HELEN B. GRISWOLD. The pos-
sessor of a comfortable home situated in Twin
Oaks valley seven miles northwest of Escondido,
San Diego county, Mrs. Griswold enjoys in the
afternoon of her life the pleasures afforded by
an equable climate and an attractive environ-
ment. Though far removed from the land of
her birth and the home of her childhood, she is
happily not remote from kindred, but has the
companionship of a sister, Mrs. Janet Craig, who
resides with her, also of two sisters, Mrs. Jane
O'Brien and Mrs. Agnes Andrews, who reside
only one mile distant. The four sisters are well
known throughout the valley and have won the
friendship of their large circle of acquaintances
in the county.

Of English birth and Scotch lineage, they are
the daughters of David McCutcheon, who was
born at Ayr, Scotland. May 7, 1809, and by
occupation followed mercantile pursuits. While
still a single man he removed to England and set-
tled at Dudlev, Worcestershire, and there, in.
St. Thomas' Church, March 19, 1832, he was
united in marriage with Jane Little, who was
born in Scotland June 3, 1809. Ten children

were born of their union, namel}' : Anthony, who
was born in 1834 and died at Davenport, Iowa,
at the age of eighteen years ; Margaret, who was
born in 1836 and died in England at three years
of age; Janet, Mrs. Craig, who was born in 1837;
David, born in 1839, deceased in 1840 in Eng-
land; Jane, Mrs. O'Brien, who was born in 1840;
Agnes, Mrs. Andrews, born in 1842; Helen B.,
jNIrs. Griswold, born in 1844; William, who was
born in 1846 and in 1862 enlisted in the Twen-
tietk Iowa Infantry, marched to the front with
the regiment, was taken ill at Mobile and there
died ; Mary, who was born in 1848 and died
in Davenport, Iowa; and Sarah, who was the
only member of the family born in the United
States, a native of Davenport, Iowa, and there
deceased in infancy.

It was during the year 1850 that the family
left England to seek a home in the United States,
setting sail on the ship Gypsy, from which they
debarked at New Orleans. Thence they went
up the Mississippi river on the Josiah Lawrence
to St. Louis, and on the Archer to Davenport.
Misfortune soon befell them. The father was
taken ill with cholera and died on the 24th of
May. His body was buried at Villa Vista Land-
ing and the widow and children proceeded to
Davenport, Iowa. In a few more years another
bereavement came upon the children, when their
mother was taken from them by death, in 1854,
at the age of forty-five years. When the only
surviving brother died during his service in the
Union army, the sisters were left as the sole
representatives of the once numerous family.
Of the sisters Helen B. became the wife of
Cornelius Griswold, their marriage being sol-
emnized in Jamestown, S. Dak., whence they
proceeded to Mr. Griswold's home at Boulder,
Mont., and there he died in April, 1887, at the
age of forty-one years. After a brief sojourn in
Davenport, Iowa, Mrs. Griswold went to St.
Paul, Minn., and there made her home for a
number of years. About 1894 she came to Cali-
fornia and purchased ten acres two miles south
of Carlsbad, San Diego county, erecting thereon
a commodious structure which she utilized as
a hotel. For four years she lived at that place
and it is still in her possession. Returning to
Iowa she visited in Davenport for a year and
then came back to the coast. After a year she
bought thirteen acres seven miles northwest of
Escondido and built a substantial residence with
modern appointments, where since she has made
her home.

Mrs. Craig, who for some years has been with
Mrs. Griswold, was married in Davenport. Iowa,
in 1861, to William T. Craig, and thev resided
in Waterloo until his death, in April of 1881, at
the age of forty-seven years. Three children
blessed their union, namelv : Ella I\I., wife of A.

1198

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

L. Gartside, member of the sash and door manu-
facturing firm of Curtis, Gartside & Co., of
Oklalioma City, Okla. ; Edward Challen, who is
employed as draftsman with Curtis, Gartside &
Co.; and \Vinnifred M., wife of John A. Bev-
ington, principal of the schools of Santa Fe
Springs, Cal. Fraternally Mr. Craig was identi-
fied with the Masonic Order. In religious views
Airs. Craig upholds the doctrines of the Baptist
denomination and Mrs. Griswold also is in sym-
pathy with the teachings of that church.

The next to the eldest of the four sisters is
Jane, who in October, 1898, married Capt. Will-
iam Thomas O'Brien, a native of Rockland, Me.,
and for thirty years a captain on the high seas.
After their marriage they removed to his ranch
in Twin Oaks valley, San Diego county, and
there he died August 23, 1904, at the age of
sixty-five years. The third of the sisters, Agnes,
was married at Wapello, Iowa, in 1868 to Ira
E. Andrews, who was born in Connecticut, served
in the Civil war, and engaged in business for a
time at Davenport, but subsequently at Newton,
Iowa, where he died in 1886, at the age of forty
years. Three children were born of their union.
The sons, Ira G. and Warren, are engaged in
the grain business in St. Paul, Minn., and the
daughter. Lulu, makes her home with them in
that city. In religious connections Mrs. Andrews
holds membership with the Christian Church,
but Mrs. O'Brien, like the other sisters, favors
Baptist doctrines. Fraternally Captain O'Brien
was a stanch believer in the principles of Masonry
and long affiliated with that order. The origin
of the O'Brien family in America has in its his-
tory something of the element of romance. The
captain's great-grandfather, while in England,
was taken on board a man-of-war and forced to
enter that country's service. Eagerly he awaited
a chance to escape and such an opportunity came
when the ship was ofif the coast of Maine, when
he swam on the shore and sought a refuge
among the Indian tribes then frequenting that
coast. To him belonged the distinction of being
the first white school-master on the shores of
Maine and his descendants long lived and
flourished in that state where he had become a
settler unexpectedly to himself.

HANS ANDREAS JOHNSON. The presi-
dent of the Klamath Falls Land and Live Stock
Company, who until recently also was proprietor
of the Johnson Packing Company of San Diego,
is of Scandinavian birth and ancestry, and w^as
born in the village of Honefossen. twenty-eight
miles from Oiristiania. His parents, Gilbert and
Bertha (Juul) Johnson, natives of the same local-
ity, owned and occupied an improved farm named
Ostmocn. meaning "Eastern" or "Clearing in

the woods." The mother was the daughter of
parents who came from Drammen and who were
of old Norwegian families, allied with the Luth-
eran denomination from the epoch immediately
following the Reformation. When somewhat
beyond middle life she came to the United States
and later died in Minnesota. All of her four
children have established homes in the new
world. Hans AVidreas, who was second among
the four, was born June 26, 1845, and received
a fair education in his native tongue. During
the spring of 1861 he came to America and set-
tled at Winona, Alinn., but soon removed to
Chicago.

Enlisting in the Union army in the fall of
1862 Mt. Johnson was assigned to the One Hun-
dred and Thirty-second Illinois Infantry, but on
account of illness did not join his regiment. On
his recovery he was placed on detached service
as wagonmaster under General Steadman, with
whom he served in Alabama, Georgia and Ten-
nessee. At the expiration of his time, April 2,
1865, he was honorably discharged from the
army. Meanwhile his mother had settled in
Allamakee county, Iowa, and there he joined the
family, soon after which he embarked in the
grain business at Lansing, same county, making
shipments from there by river. In addition he
owned warehouses and business interests in De-
Soto, Wis., and Decorah, Iowa. During 1871
he became interested in the hotel business at
Mankato, Minn., but the following 'year he re-
moved to Sioux Rapids, Iowa, and erected the
first store building and opened the first store in
that town, continuing in the place for some
years.

During the spring of 1877 JNIr. Johnson re-
moved to the Black Hills and bought a ranch
on the Box Elder, eighteen miles from Dead-
wood, where he had a large range for his stock.
Later he established a second ranch near Hot
Springs, S. Dak., and the Diamond J Cattle Com-
pany, of which he was the owner, became known
throughout the aitire northwestern country,
where his brands of J within a diamond, and two
half circles, together with his horse brand of
HA connected, were to be seen on many of the
finest cattle and horses of the territory. On
selling out his cattle and ranches in 1899, he
canie to San Diego, where he first purchased an
interest in the Mixon Packing Company and
eventually bought the entire stock of the com-
pany, whereupon he changed the title to the
Johnson Packing Company. Besides engaging
in the wholesale and retail grocery business he
made a specialtv of manufacturing and packing
»pickles, ketchup. Worcester sauce, etc., all of
which bore the Diamond J label. On account of
his health he closed out the business in the spring
of 1906. since which time he has given his at-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1201

tenlion to the development of the Klamath Falls
Land and Live Stock Company, recently started
in the vicinity of Kalamath Falls, Ore. The
company is incorporated under the laws of the
State of California with a capital stock of $200,-
000, three-fourths of which amount is now ( 1906)
in the treasury, and the remainder on sale at
fifty cents a share, par value $1 per share, fully
paid and non-assessable. The land owned by
the company is within the government irrigation
project, for which $4,500,000 has been appro-
priated; it is also within a short distance of a
projected railroad, which will be the main line of
the Southern Pacific Railway Company between
San Francisco and Portland.

The first wife of Mr. Johnson was Miss Mary
Hanson, who was born in Norway and died at
Sioux Rapids, Iowa, leaving three children,
namely : George, living in Wyoming ; Mrs. Clara
Austed, of Buford, N. Dak., and Mrs. Hattie
Revendal, who lives near Deadwood, S. Dak.
In Fayette county, Iowa, Mr. Johnson was united
in marriage with Miss Carrie Clement, who was
born in Norway. Two children were born of
their union. The daughter, Mrs. Gina Lowman,
lives in San Diego. The son, Carbonate O., is
now secretary of the Klamath Falls Land and
Live Stock Company and secretary and treas-
urer of the Native Gem Mining Company. Mr.
Johnson belongs to the San Diego Chamber of
Commerce, in politics votes with the Republican
party, fraternally was made a Mason in Storm
Lake Lodge No. 309, A. F. & A. M.. at Storm
Lake, Iowa, and on the organization of the
Scandinavian Society of San Diego became one
of its charter members, later holding the office
of vice-president for a time.

CHARLES A. WESTGATE. Prominetit
among the venerable and highly respected resi-
dents of Long Beach is Qiarles A. Westgate, a
man of sterling worth and character, who, though
having outlived the allotted span of man's life,
bears with grace and dignity his burden of years.
Thrown upon his own resources in boyhood, he
labored untiringly, and by dint of perseverance,
self-reliance and thrift won success in his under-
takings, and now, living retired from active pur-
suits, is enjoying in comfort and leisure the visi-
ble fruits of his many years of toil. A son of
Levi Westgate, he was born April 10, 1824, in
Chenango county, N. Y., coming from New Eng-
land ancestry.

A native of New York state, Levi Westgate
spent his early years there, following the shoe-
maker's trade. In 1847 ^^ removed to Kendall
county, III, locating in Little Rock township,
where he resided until his death, August 30, 1857,
aged sixty-five years. While young he served

as a soldier in the war of 1812, participating in
several engagements. He married Hannah B.
Hall, who was born in Massachusetts, on Cape
Cod, and died in Piano, Little Rock township,
111., August I, 1862 aged sixty-five years. She
was descended from a family of prominence in
colonial days, having been a great-granddaughter
of Charles Bunker, who owned the hill in Charles-
town, Mass., on which the battle of Bunker Hill
was fought, and who was killed in that memor-
able engagement.

At the age of nine years Charles A. Westgate
was bound out, and thereafter received such an
education as he could obtain in the winter terms
of the district school. Beginning for himself when
eighteen years old, he worked by the month for
a number of years. In 1845 he migrated to Illi-
nois, locating in Kendall county, where he rented
land and for many years was prosperously em-
ployed as a tiller of the soil. August 8, 1862,
he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and
Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry, under com-
mand of Capt. Charles Schriver, and served until
the close of the war. He took part in many im-
portant engagements, including among otliers tlie
engagements at Yazoo, Arkansas Post, the siege
of Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge and Atlanta,
and marched with Sherman to the Sea, driving
a six-mule team from Atlanta to Washington,
D. C, where, on June 11, 1865, he took part in
the Grand Review.

After receiving his discharge Mr. Westgate
returned to Kendall county. 111., remaining there
until 1867, when he located in Will county and
started a nursery, which he conducted for about
a quarter of a century, meeting with good suc-
cess in that industry. He was also prominently
identified with the agricultural advancement of
that part of the state, more especially with that
branch relating to the breeding of stock, be-
coming a pioneer raiser of registered Hereford
cattle, and one of the organizers of the American
Hereford Breeders' Association, of which he is
still a stockholder. Disposing of his farm and
stock in 1890, he came to California on account
of ill health, locating at Orange in December of
that year. Purchasing a fruit ranch, he operated
it for five years, when he sold out. Coming to
Long Beach in i8g6 he invested in city property
and also bought land northeast of town, buying
a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which he
sold in July, 1904, He then bought the house
and lot where he now resides, and is living re-
tired from the activities of business. While liv-
ing in Illinois he was very prominent in public
affairs, both in Kendall and Will counties, in the
former helping to organize the town of Piano,
and in the latter the town of Peotone, serving for
a while as trustee of each place, and for six
\'ears was a member of the local school board.

1202

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

For forty years he was an auctioneer, starting
after the war to sell condemned government
goods throughout Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and
Missouri.

November 12, 185 1, Mr. Westgate married
Mary Jane Hall, who was born February 23, 1835,
a daughter of David and Sarah (Jenner) Hall.
Her parents were both born in England, were
there married, and in 1833 immigrated to New
York, where they resided until 1847. Removing
to Illinois, they remained there seven years, when
they removed to Iowa, taking up government land
in Jones county. Later they sold from their
land the site of the Oxford mills. Mr. Hall
died in 1873 3-^ the age of seventy-five, and Mrs.
Hall in 1871, at the same age, both being buried
in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Westgate are the parents
of six children, three living, namely : James E.,
Ella A., and Charles A., Jr. James E. Westgate
was the first white child bom in Piano, 111., and
is now a resident of Chicago; he is married and
has four children. Ella A., the only daughter,
is the wife of Dr. James T. Arwine, who has
recently opened an office for the practice of his
profession in Los Angeles. Prior to her mar-
riage Mrs. Arwine was employed in the pension
office at Washington, D. C, for nine years, and
was one of two special clerks sent from that de-
partment to the land office, with which she was
connected for two years. Charles A., Jr., who
is in business in Santa Ana, Cal., is married and
has two children. Politically Mr. Westgate is a
stanch Republican and is a member of the Grand
Army of the Republic. Fraternally he was
made a Mason in 1865 in Sunbaam Lodge No.
636, A. F. & A. M., in Piano, 111. ; he assisted in
organizing the lodge in Peotone, serving six
years as master, and upon his retirement was pre-
sented with a silver pitcher ; he is now a member
of Long Beach Lodge No. 327. Mrs. Westgate
has been a member of the Eastern Star Chapter
since 1870 and for twenty years held office in
Peotone, Dorcas Chapter : she was presented with
an emblematic pin at the time she left Illinois.
She is also a member of the Woman's Relief
Corps. Mr. Westgate joined the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows in Little Rock, 111., in 1853
and his wife joined the Rebekahs the following
year. Mrs. Westgate is an artist, having some
very fine reproductions in oil from her brush,
her work being remarkable from the fact that she
had never taken the brush in hand until she was
fifty-eight years old. November 12, 1901, Mr.
and Mrs. Westgate celebrated their golden wed-
ding anniversary at their home on Linden street,
and on the same day in 1906 they celebrated their
fifty-fifth anniversary. Comparatively few cou-
ples are spared to enjoy this privilege and the oc-
casion was celebrated in a fitting manner, old

friends as well as new calling to pay them hom-
age and wishing them many more years of con-
tinued health and happiness.

FRANCIS J. SILLIFANT. Actively en-
gaged in business as one of the foremost contract-
ing plasterers of San Diego, Francis J. Sillifant
is contributing his full share towards the advance-
ment of the industrial prosperity of the city, and
holds an assured position among its respected
and valued residents. An excellent workman, fa-
miliar with every branch of his trade, and ever
willing to oblige all patrons, he is kept busily
employed at all times and gives employment to
several journeymen plasterers. An Englishman
by birth, he was born in Launceston, County
Cornwall, May 18, 1857, the son of William Sill-
ifant, the latter a contractor and builder of
Launceston, and the descendant of an old and
respected family.

On July 4, 1897, Francis J. Sillifant located in
San Diego, and ere many seasons had passed
he has successfully filled many contracts in
plastering, winning a fine reputation for durable
and artistic work, and building up a substantial
business. Politically he sustains the principles
of the Republican party in national affairs, but
in local matters votes independent of party re-
strictions. Fraternally he is a member of the
Foresters of America, of the Royal League and
of Silver Gate Lodge, No. 296, F. & A. M.

ORVILLE S. HECOX. Early in the col-
onial history of our country the Hecox family
cam.e from Ireland and became identified with
the pioneer element of Connecticut, where
some of the name aided in the building up of
the town of Durham. About 1786 Robert Mor-
ris purchased a large tract in New York from
the Seneca nation, and shortly afterward
James Hecox, of Farmington. Conn., accom-
panied by his son, Adna (then a 3'outh of nine-
teen vears), and some six others of the same
neighborhood, started out to explore the new
purchase and after arriving at the Big Tree
began to survey land for Air. Morris. How-
ever, on account of the liostility of the Indians,
immigration was temporarily abandoned, but
later James Hecox purchased six hundred
acres of land. In his family there were four
sons. James, Salmon, Adna and Reuben. Of
these Adna (through whom the present gen-
ealogy is traced! made his home at Fort Mal-
din in Canada and from there moved to Goose
Island near Detroit, where his son, Adna A.,
was born January 26, 1806. While the father
was engaged in repairing some of his farming
imolements. on the 3d of lulv, 1812, a friend.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

li'OS

James Chittenden, came to his house with the
alarming news that war had been declared
with England. Two hours later the father and
mother, with their six children and three hired
men, were in two canoes on their way to De-
troit, seeking the protection of the soldiers at
that post. In tlie spring of the following year
the father went to a small island, where he
planted and han.'ested a sufficient quantity of
corn and potacoes to keep the "wolf from the
door" until the war had ended. Later he re-
turned to Goose Island and after the death of
his wife, in 1820, he bought a tract of land
near Fort Rock, where he remained until his
death in 1829. His life had been character-
ized by the stirring incidents of the frontier,
and he was a typical pioneer, honest, hospit-
able, companionable and energetic, well quali-
fied by a stahvart frame and robust constitu-
tion to endure the vicissitudes of existence be-
yond the confines of civilization.

The early recollections of Adna A. Hecox
were associated with scenes of peril and hard-
ships on the frontier, where he was reared. In
February of 182Q he married Catherine Man-
nausan and three years later moved to St. Jo-
seph county, Mich., where he remained for six
years. Meanwhile, in 1834, his wife died of
cholera while visiting at Brownstown. July
TO, 1836, he married Margaret M. Hamer, of
Pennsylvania, a woman of beautiful character
and saintly life, whose memory is cherished in
the hearts of her children. From Michigan
they moved to Illinois, but considerations of
health caused them to seek a more genial cli-
mate. April I, 1846, an expedition started for
California with three wagons and ox-teams.
The party consisted of seven men, two women
and seven children, among them being A. A.
Hecox, wife and four children. When they
reached the Chariton river the road became
blocked with Mormons headed by Brigham
Young, but the party of emigrants proceeded
without pause and on their arrival at camp
found the Mormons V,ad gone forward. On
the 4th of Mav Ihev arrived at St. Joseph, Mo.,
thence crossed the Missouri river, and started
vvestward via Forts Kenrny and Laramie, and
the Platte river. While crossing the plains
they were attacked bv a herd of buffaloes and
Mrs. Hecox received a fracture of the collar-
bone. While at Big ^Feadows they were vis-
ited by "Old" Truckee and two others who
proposed to accompany them to the new land.
October of 1846 found them camping in the
.Sacramento vallev. .\s soon as it became
known that they had arrived at Sutter's Fort,
Captain Swift of Fremont's battalion visited
them to solicit volunteers to aid in reconquer-
ing the Mexicans. A few of the party joined

Captain Swift and the balance proceeded to
San Jose in the hope of securing a permanent
location.

On the 1st of November the company ar-
rived at the old mission at Santa Clara, where
they had been told they could get shelter, but
they found the place almost uninhabitable.
The number of the expedition had increased
to eighty women and children, twenty-iive
men, and some eight boys old enough to shoul-
der a rifle, but too young to join General Fre-
mont. Soon typhoid fever Iiroke out among
the emigrants and fourteen of the number died
of the disease. In one instance a man endea-
vored to buy a few boards with which to make
a bed for his sick wife, but, not finding any-
one who would sell, he took a few boards.
With these he constructed a rude bed and a
few days later made them into a cofifin for his
dead wife. Afterward the alcalde fined him
$25 and put him in jail for taking the boards.
The first Protestant sermon e\er preached
in California, so far as known, was preached
by A. A. Hecox on the 15th of December, 1846,
his audience being the few Protestant emi-
grants who had settled in the neighborhood.

During the spring of 1848 a report came to
the settlers that workmen at Sutter's Fort had
found small quantities of gold. The year pre-
vious A. A. Hecox had moved to Soquel, San-
ta Cruz county, and had erected a mill for
Michael Lodge, also had built the first billiard
table made in California, using redwood in its
construction. While he was operating a mill
rented of Mr. Lodge in 1848, all of his hands
left to dig gold and he closed the mill and also
proceeded to the mines, where he was one of
the discoverers of the rich gold mines at
Hangtown. On the afternoon of their arrival
his party picked up six pounds of gold. In
Tulv he returned to Santa Cruz, where he was
ill for six weeks. In September he started for
the mines of the Mokelumne river and meet-
ing Captain .\ram he hauled his good? to So-
nora. Though gone but fi\-e days, they cleared
$2,200. In the fall of 1848 he returned to Santa
Cruz, where at first he 'sold goods for William
C. Parker & Co.. and in 1849 opened a store
with Elijah Anthonv. In the fall of 1849 'i^
\\-as elected alcalde, in which office, during
1850. he had sixtv-tliree cases (mostly crim-
inal) in two months. After the admission of
California as a state he was made justice of
the peace, holding that office several terms.
Also he served as public administrator and as-
sociate justice of the county court. In 1861 he
was elected county treasurer of Santa Cruz
county, which office he filled for two years and
six months. At the expiration of his term he
was appointed lighthouse keeper of the Santa

1204

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Cruz station and continued in that position
until his death, March 17, 1882, since which
time his daughter, Miss Laura J. F., has filled
tlie place.

Surviving Adna A. Hecox is his widovv,
Margaret M., who possessed the fortitude and
powers of endurance necessary to frontier ex-
istence. During the war in California and
while they lived at the old mission in Santa
Clara, her husband was appointed one of the
guard; for several nights he was too sick to
fill his post, so she shouldered his rifle and
took his place as a guard. In July, 1847, she
was interested in the organization of a tem-
perance society, and she still holds in her pos-
session the pledge, written on a blank leaf of
the Bible. The following is a copy: "Wash-
ington Pledge, July. 1847.

"We, the undersigned, anxious to promote
the true principles of temperance, do pledge
our honors that we will not use any intoxicat-
ing liquors as beverages."

(Signed) : A. A. Hecox

Margaret M. Hecox
Edwin Shaw
James G. T. Dunleavy
Mary Ann Dunleavy
Michael Lodge
William Parks
Curtis Comstock
lames T. Kearnv
Henry Hill
Robert Devereaux.
Three of the children who crossed the plains
with their parents are still living, namely:
Mrs. Sarah E. Stampley, of Oakland, Gal;
Mrs. C. M. Brown, of Berkeley; and Adna H.
of Santa Cruz. The four children born after '
the family came to California are as follows:
Mrs. Matilda Longley, of Santa Cruz; Airs.
A. R. Organ : ?\Iiss Laura J. F., who succeed-
ed her father as keeper of the lighthouse ; and
the youngest, On'ille S., whose name intro-
duces tliis article, and who was born at Santa
Cruz, this state, May i, 1859. One of the most
talented members of the family, Douglas Til-
den, a nephew of Orville S. Hecox, has an in-
teresting history. Born at Chico in i860, he
was stricken with the scarlet fever at the age
of five years and though he regained his
health he was left deaf and dumb. In order to
receive proper care he was sent to the asylum
at Berkeley in 1883 and afterward became an
instructor in the institution. He was twenty-
four years of age before he discovered his tal-
ent for the sculptor's art. In 1885 he produced
his first work, "The Tired Wrestler," and later
spent seven months in the National Academy
of Design in New York, after which he went
to Paris as a private pupil of Paul Chopin, the

winner of the gold medal at the salon. After
five months he began modeling without an in-
structor. Among his exhibits at the salon were
"Our National Game" or "The Baseball
Player," the "Young Acrobat," "The Bear
Hunt" and "The Football Player." Since his
return to California he has modeled the large
fountain erected by the Society of the Native
Sons in honor of the admission of California
as a state.

Upon completing the studies of the public
schools Orville .S. Hecox began to learn the
trade of house painting, which he followed for
many years. In 1886 he came to Oceanside,
San Diego countj^ where he found ready em-
ployment at his trade. For two years he also
engaged in farming near Rainbow, San Diego
county. In 1896 he went to Tustin, later fol-
lowed his trade at Monrovia for two and one-
half years, and May 15, T905, he returned to
Oceanside, where now he engages in the sale
of real estate, both city property and farm
lands. His marriage took place in Santa Cruz,
Mav 12, 1880, and united him with Miss Etta
L. B., daughter of J. E. Butler, who rounded
the Horn in 1849 ^"d settled in San Francisco,
where he kept the Ocean house and also fol-
lowed the trade of a builder. Removing to
San Mateo, he took the contracts to erect the
finest residences of that place. In 1876 he went
to Santa Cruz and built a flour mill, but lost
a fortune in the enterprise. In 1882 he settled
at Riverside and two vears later came to
Oceansifle, near where he took up two hun-
dred acres of government land. During the
boom he sold his property at a high figure,
but later lost heavily through investments at
Rainbow. While making his home at Rain-
bow he died in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Hecox
have an adopted daughter, Margaret. The fam-
ily are identified with the Advent Church and
are honored members of the best social circles
of Oceanside.

LOUIS L. LARSEN. Although he has been
conducting his restaurant business in San Ber-
nardino but a short time Louis L. Larsen has
built up a large trade and is conducting one of
the most successful establishments of the kind
in this citv. He is a native of Drammen, Nor-
way, his birth having occurred there August 19,
1876. His father, Olaf Larsen, was a Norwegian
sailor, who, when he came to America, followed
the same business on the Great Lakes, his head-
quarters being in Milwaukee. He later removed
to Minneapolis, where his death occurred. Mrs.
Larsen, who was in maidenhood Christine Louise
Olafson, is now residing in Minneapolis.

The first nine vears of the life of Louis L.

(Slo.,^^ Oa^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1207

Larsen were spent in his native town and his
education was received principally in the public
schools of Minneapolis. After completing his
school work he was apprenticed to Reagan
Brothers of that city to learn pastry cooking,
finishing the training in three and one-half years.
He then took up professional cooking and spent
a summer in Yellowstone Park as pastry cook
in one of the hotels owned by the Yellowstone
Park Hotel Association. From there he came to
San Mateo, Gal., in 1897 accepting a like posi-
tion in the St. Matthew boarding school at that
place. Following this he held positions as pastry
cook successively at the Arlington hotel, Santa
Barbara, and the hotel at El Paso Robles, re-
maining in the latter place eighteen months. His
next position was in Los Angeles in the Imperial
cafe as night cook. In 1899 he entered the em-
ploy of Fred Harvey as pastry cook at Needles,
then went to San Diego, to what is now known as
Hotel Robinson. Again engaging himself to Mr.
Harvey he was in San Bernardino for a time,
then went to Ash Fork, Ariz., and finally bad<
to San Bernardino, becoming chief cook of the
Harvey house. He resigned this position in 1904
to take charge of the Squirrel inn as proprietor,
and in October, 1905, opened Larsen's lunch
counter and has since been conducting it with
splendid success. In 1906 he remodeled the
quarters, put in a new range, and cold storage
rooms, and now has a fifty-stool modern place
which is enjoying great popularity.

Fraternally Mr. Larsen is a member of the
Eagles and the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks. He belongs to the Merchants" Association
and also the Board of Trade. No enterprise
tending to upbuild San Bernardino goes without
his support and co-operation.

CHARLES POST. The advantages afforded
to a sojourner in the west and particularly that
portion of the west embraced within the limits
of Southern California find in Mr. Post an en-
thusiastic advocate and stalwart champion. For
a long period he has made his home in the west.
By actual experience he has gained an insight
into the soil, climate and possibilities of various
portions of the country lying west of the Rocky
mountains, .and of all this broad domain lie
considers the finest section to be in the vicinity
of his present home. Since 1891 he has resided
in Redlands, and for a considerable period he
rendered efficient service as zanjero with the
Bear \'alley Irrigation Company. i\Iore recently,
however, bv reason of ofiicial duties, he has had
his headquarters in the citv of San Bernardino.

The lineage of the Post family is traced back
to Peter Schuyler Post, who owned sixteen hun-
dred acres in Orange county. N. Y., and wielded

a large influence among the men of his day and
locality. Next in line of descent was Edwin
Post, who passed his early years upon his father's
vast estate in the east, but on starting out for
himself sought the then unknown regions of
Illinois and in the midst of the wilderness carved
out a home for himself. The now prosperous
city of Galesburg numbered him among its early
settlers. For a number of years he followed
lumbering, for a long period engaged in the
cattle business, and also at another time carried
on a large farm. Since his death, which occurred
in 1894, his widow, Mary (Doolittle) Post, has
removed to California, and now resides at Red-
lands. The family of which she is a member
came to this country from Holland in a verv early
Jay. '

During the residence of Edwin and Mary
Post, at Galesburg, 111., their son, Charles, was
born there January 5, i860, and there he re-
ceived a fair education in the grammar and high,
schools. At the age of sixteen years he left school
and gave his attention wholly to aiding his father
in the care of their farm near Lincoln, Neb.,
where he remained for several years, during this
time taking considerable interest in the cattle
industry. During 1884 he came to California
and in 1891 settled at Redlands, which has been
his home. Two years before coming to Califor-
nia he married Miss Clara Henderson, daughter
of William T. Henderson, a prominent citizen
of Galesburg, 111. Of their union five children
were born, namely : Clara, Mary E., C. Alfred,
Llewellyn C. and Katherine. Fraternally Mr.
Post holds membership with Redlands Lodge No.
86. K. of P., in which he now officiates as dis-
trict deputy, and further holds office as deputy
grand chancellor. In addition he is a member
of the Woodmen of the World, being past com-
mander of the local camp. The Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks number him among their
members, his name being that of a leading mem-
ber of No. 583, at Redlands.

Through all of his active life, ever since at-
taining his majority, Mr. Post has been a stanch
supporter of the Republican party and has given
its candidates his vote. In the various places
of his residence he has been an influential local
worker. At this writing he is a member of the
Republican county central committee and ranks
among the leading men of the part\- within the
limits of San Bernardino county. In recogni-
tion of his fitness for office and his services in
behalf of the party, in 1901 he was appointed
deputy county clerk under L. A. Pfeiffer, and
this position he held until he was elected county
clerk November 6. 1906, by the second largest
majority received by any candidate in San
Bernardino countv.

1208

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ISAAC FUNK BAKER. The business in-
terests of El Alonte have in Air. Baker one of
their most important factors, his enterprise and
progressive spirit having contributed no little to
the material upbuilding and development of the
place. He has built a substantial business block-
where he is located and carrying on a mercan-
tile enterprise which is bringing him large finan-
cial returns. j\Ir. Baker is a native of Illinois,
and was born in the vicinity of Bloomington,
February 15, 1865. His father, N. S. Baker,
was born in Somerset, Pa., in 1814, and in man-
hood became a pioneer settler of Indiana and
thence removed to Illinois, where he engaged in
farming from i860 to 1875. He then located in
Story county, Iowa, where he made his home
until 1893, in which year his death occurred. He
was descended from a Revolutionary family, his
father having served as a patriot in the colonial
amiy. By his first marriage he had two sons,
Isaiah H., a resident of Nebraska, and David.
They both served in the Civil war, in which serv-
ice David was killed. Subsequently Mr. Baker
married Mary Jones, a native of West Virginia,
whose death occurred in Iowa in 1885. Of this
union were born ten children, seven of whom
are living.

Isaac Funk Baker was the fifth child by his
father's second marriage. When ten years old
he became a resident of Iowa, where he grew to
manhood, alternating home duties on the farm
with an attendance of the public schools, which
was completed by one year at the State Agricul-
tural College at Ames, Iowa. His first inde-
pendent effort was as a clerk in Colo, Story
county, where he continued for about two years,
and in 1886 went to Boone county and followed
a similar occupation for six years. He then
went to Chicago and clerked for three years,
when, in 1895, he came to California and 'in El
j\Ionte established a meat market with his broth-
er, B. F. Baker, the two continuing in business
for two and a half years. He then sold his in-
terest and in 1897 went to San Francisco and
embarked with an excursion party for Alaska,
arriving at St. Michaels and thence going to
Dawson by river boat, reaching his destination
October i of the same year. He remained one
year engaged in mining with success, when he
returned to El Monte, September i, 1898, pur-
chased a lot and put up the block in which he
is now engaged in business. In 1904 he put
up a brick building 52x84 feet in dimensions, on
the corner of Lexington and San Bernardino
road, and put in a stock of general merchandise
which includes ever>-thing to'be found in a busi-
ness of this character. He is one of the original
stockholders of the First National Bank of El
Monte, which was organized in 1903, and is now
serving as a director.

In Providence, R. I., September 26, 1906, Mr.
Baker was united in marriage with Miss Jennie
Tucker. She is a native" of Providence and a
descendant of the famous Tucker and Greene
families of Rhode Island, whose ancestry can be
traced for five generations in that state. She
was born on the old Greene homestead a mile
from Shannock, which had been in the family
for five generations, received her preliminary
education in the public schools, after which she
attended and graduated from the State Normal
School. She came to California and in Los An-
geles became prominent in educational work, and
at the same time accepted the principalship of
the El Monte schools, which position she re-
tained for fourteen years. Her resignation took
place in July, 1906, when she returned to Rhode
Island and in her home in Providence was mar-
ried in the September following. She is a
woman of rare ability and culture, abreast of
the times in every particular, broad-minded to an
unusual degree, and capable of making and re-
taining friends wherever known.

Mr. Baker is associated fraternally with Lex-
ington Lodge No. 104, F. & A. AL, of El Monte,
in which he has served as master for the past
six years, having been made a member of the
organization in Columbia Lodge No. 202. of
Colo, Iowa. He also belongs to the Royal Arch
and Knights Templar of Boone, Iowa, and Al
Malaikah Temple, N. M. S., of Los Angeles.
His wife is a member of the Cojigregational
Church, which he supports liberally. Politically
he is a Republican and stanch in the support of
the interests of this party, being an ex-member
of the Republican county central committee. He
is a man of splended ability, of executive force
and strength, capable of making a place for him-
self in whatever portion of the world his lot may
be cast. He has won a wide circle of friends
who appreciate him for the qualities of character
he has displayed during his long residence in El
i\Ionte.

JEREMIE CHEVALIER, of El Alonte, is a
native of France, his birth having occurred in
Hautes-Alpes, May 23, 1868. His parents,
Jacques and Mary (Blanc) Chevalier, both died
in France, where as agriculturists they had spent
their entire lives. They had five children, of
whom Jeremie was next to the oldest. He was
reared on the parental farm and educated in the
common schools. He was sixteen years old
when he came to California, arriving in Los
Angeles February 22, 1885. Without means or
friends he began at the bottom, securing em-
ployment in a vineyard in this city, after which
he went to San Pedro and engaged with Ed
Amar in the sheep business. After four months

HISTORICAL AXJ) BIOGRAPHICAL RF.CORD.

V2i)9

he went to Tehachapi and worked for ten
months in the saine business, when he returned
to Los Angeles county and engaged in the dairy
business. Four years later he undertook an in-
dependent effort, purchasing teams and renting
land in Orange county, where he successfully
engaged in raising grain. Four years later he
engaged in raising alfalfa at Los Nietos, Los
Angeles county, for a similar period, and finally,
in 1902 he bought twenty-five acres of the Peck
tract, where he raised alfalfa and walnuts. He
installed a pumping plant with a fifty horse pow-
er engine and a capacity of two hundred inches,
with two wells one hundred and twenty-five feet
deep each, this being in partnership with two
other ranchers near him'. He still retains this
property and makes it his home, at the same
time renting land with which to carry on more
extensive enterprises, devoting the rented land
to grain and hay.

In Los Nietos Mr. Chevalier married Miss
Mary Buschard, a native of Sacramento, and a
daughter of Frank Buschard, who was born in
Canada of French descent, came to California in
1849 and for years engaged in mining. He is
now retired and living in Los Nietos. Mr. and
Mrs. Chevalier have two children, Henry and
Clementina. Mr. Chevalier is independent in
politics.

WILL LUCIUS FOWLER. The name of
Fowler is one well known and highly honored in
Redlands, where father and son have given their
efforts toward the upbuilding of the city"s best
interests and its advancement among the other
sections of Southern California. The son. Will
L. Fowler, is serving at the present writing as
city marshal and ably discharging the duties that
fall to him as an incumbent of this position : the
father, William Fowler, was a prime factor in
the municipal government up to the time of his
death. The family was originally of English
ancestry, the name being located in Connecticut,
where William Fowler was born, a son of Bildad,
who brought his family to Ohio and established
the town of Fowler's Mills, near Cleveland,
where he engaged as a farmer until his death.
About 1852 William Fowler located in Newport,
Minn., and followed farming until the breaking
out of the Civil war, when, in 1861, he volun-
teered for service in Company F, Eighth ]\Iinne-
sota Infantry, serving a full three years" term
as second lieutenant. At Murfreesboro he re-
ceived his only wound during the war, being shot
through the right hand. Honorably discharged
in 1864 he returned to his farming pursuits in
Minnesota, and was there honored by election to
the state legislature two consecutive terms.
Previous to this he had served his countv as su-

pervisor and was a prominent advocate in the
advancement of educational affairs. He served
for three years as president of the Minnesota
State Dairymen's Association, and in a like ca-
pacity for the State Agricultural Association of
Minnesota for two terms. In 1891 he came to
Redlands and bought an orange grove and later
set out more acreage to this fruit, and in this
work and his connection with municipal affairs
of the city as member of the city council, at first
by appointment and later by election, and presi-
dent of the board of trustees for seven years, he
occupied his time until his death, which occurred
May 20, 1905. Redlands owes much to this en-
terprising and helpful citizen, whose name will
forever be inscribed on the roll of the city's hon-
ored men. He was a member of Redlands Lodge
No. 300, F. & A. M., and was commander of the
Grand Army post here, and also held the same
office in Alinnesota. He was an active member
of the Baptist Church and gave liberally to its
support and upbuilding, while in Minnesota be-
ing a delegate to the state convention. Politi-
cally he was a stanch advocate of Democratic
principles. In Ohio Mr. Fowler married Miss
Caroline A. Lane, a native of Ohio, and she is
now surviving and making her home in Red-
lands. They became the parents of six children,
of whom four are now living, nameh- : Frank
L., engaged in horticulture in Redlands ; May C,
Mrs. Thompson, of this city ; Nellie C, of San
Jose ; and Will L., of this review.

In Newport. Minn., March 16, 1875, Will
Lucius Fowler was born and there obtained his
education primarily in the public schools, com-
pleting the course in the Redlands high school,
after his location here with his parents in 1891.
He was graduated in 1895 and the following
year entered the University of California and-
passed the ensuing two years. In 1898 he en-
listed in Company G, Seventh California In-
fantry, and was mustered in at San Francisco
for service in the Spanish-American war. He
was mustered out with his regiment in Decem-
ber, 1898, with the rank of corporal, after which
he returned to Redlands and at once engaged
in horticultural pursuits and also in building un-
til April, 1906, when he was elected city marshal
and ex officio tax collector on the Good Govern-
ment ticket. Taking the oath of office April 18,
1906, he at once entered upon the duties of his
position and has since given it his entire time
and attention. In Redlands Mr. Fowler was
united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth E. Shorey,
a native of Omaha, Neb., but who was brought
to California at the age of three years and here
reared to womanhood and educated in the Red-
lands public and high schools. Mr. Fowler is
a member of the Spanish-American War Vet-
erans' Association, a member of the Sons of Vet-

1210

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

erans and the Red Men. He belongs to the First
Baptist Church and officiates as deacon, having
previousl)' served as superintendent of the Sun-
day-school. He is a member of the Board of
Trade and active in his efforts to promote the
best interests of the city.

GEORGE S. KLING. The milling interests
of San Pedro have in (icorge S. Kling a com-
petent representative and a man whose energy
and ability are enlisted in the line of his work.
He is now superintendent of the San Pedro
Lumber Company's mill department, a position
which he has filled since June, 1905, and his
past record is one that evidences a future of
success wherever he is located. He is a native
of Lewis county, N. Y., his birth having
occurred at Lowville, September 30, 1866. His
remote ancestors were German immigrants,
who located in New York state, where his
grandfather, Peter Kling, was born and in man-
hood engaged as a farmer. In the course of
time he married and reared a family, a son,
Stephen S., born in Schoharie county, becom-
ing in manhood a manufacturer of sash, doors
and blinds in Lowville, N. Y. Later he re-
moved to New Bremen, same state, where he
followed his business until retirement from
active duties. During the Civil war he served
in the Twenty-sixth New York Cavalry, be-
ing quartermaster-sergeant in Company H.
He is a stanch member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, and is now Hving retired in Los
Angeles. He married Ann Janette Hoyt, a
native of Lewis county, N. Y., and a daughter
of James F. Hoyt, a native of Connecticut,
who became a pioneer of Lewis county, N. Y.
Mrs Kling is still living and enjoying the
evening of her days among the delights of
Southern California. They were the parents
of three sons and one daughter, of whom the
sons attaining maturity are : George S., of this
review ; Spencer J., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa ;
and Wayland H., of Los Angeles.

Reared to young manhood in New Bremen
and LowrA'ille, George S. Kling received a good
education in the public schools and Lowville
academy, after which he began teaching in his
county, being then but seventeen years old.
He followed this occupation for four years,
during the summers continuing as he had in
boyhood by working Vv^ith his father in the
sash and door factory. After attaining his
majority he worked with his father steadily
mitil the spring of 1894, when he went to
Illinois, and in Hamilton became superin-
tendent in the same kind of factory under
Dickenson 8z Bartlett. v.'hich position he re-
tained for one vear. He then went to Hermans-

ville, Mich., and accepted the position of as-
sistant superintendent in a hardwood flooring
plant of the Wisconsin Land & Lumber Com-
pany, with whom he remained for three years,
when he resigned, and in December, 1897,
came to California, arriving in January of the
following year. Going to Los Angeles he
established a real-estate business there with
his brother Spencer J., but after two years he
returned to the milling business, accepting a
position as a stickerman at the San Pedro mill,
where he remained for eighteen months. He
then returned to Los Angeles and accepted a
position with the Pacific Tank Company (now
known as the Pacific Coast Planing Mill Com-
pany), the plant being then in course of con-
struction. He helped to install the machinery
and remained in their employ from 1901 until
1905, in the course of time becoming superin-
tendent of the mill and lumber business. He
resigned from this position in June, 1905, and
came to San Pedro to accept the position of
superintendent with the San Pedro Lumber
Company, having charge of their mill, which
is one of the largest on the coast.

In Los Angeles, Mr. Kling was united in
marriage . with Ardella E. Sharp, a native of
Ontario, Canada, and they have one son,
Spencer S., a daughter. Birdie, having died in
infancy. . Eraternally Mr. Kling was made a
Mason in San Pedro Lodge No. 332, and is
also a member of the Knights of the Modern
Maccabees. His wife is a member of the Bap-
tist church, to which he gives a liberal support.
In his political affiliations he is an adherent
of the principles advocated in the platform of
the Republican party .

JOSEPH E. JONES. The family repre-
sented by this progressive young business
man of San Diego county traces its lineage to
Wales, where many generations lived and la-
bored. The locality where they resided was
largely given over to the mining industry,
hence they naturally sought their livelihood in
this occupation, and proved themselves pa-
tient, industrious and painstaking miners. The
first to come to the United States found in the
new world greater opportunities than his na-
tive land could ofifer. After leaving Wales Jo-
seph Jones became a miner in the southern
part of Illinois and made his home at Chester,
that state, in which locality his wife, who was
a member of the Scotch family of McKinzie,
was born, reared and educated. About the
year 1888 they removed to California and
eventually became established on a farm near
San Luis Rey, where he engaged in ranching
until 190S. the year of his retirement from act-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1213

ive agricultural cares. While they were living
at Chester, 111., their son, Joseph E., was born
December 4, 1873, and in the schools of that
city he was primarily educated, but after com-
ing to the Pacific coast he had the privilege of
attending excellent schools, including the
Santa Barbara Business College. In 1893 he
became a clerk for the firm of Irwin & Co.,
dealers in dry-goods and general merchandise
at Oceanside, and from a humble position he
worked his way upward through diligent at-
tention to every detail connected with the
business.

On the selling out of the mercantile stock
in 1898, the firm of Irwin & Co. embarked in
the ha\' and grain business at San Diego, but
continued to be identified with the commer-
cial life of Oceanside through the establish-
ment of a hardware store in this town, and Mr.
Jones was retained in the capacity of manager,
a position that he fills at the present writing.
In addition to conducting the business with
judgment and energy, he has been actively
associated with the civic life of his town and as
a Democrat has been prominent in local poli-
tics. In 1903 he was appointed city trustee to
fill an unexpired term in that office and the
following year he was duly elected to the po-
sition, which he has since filled with charac-
teristic intelligence and fidelity. In fraternal
relations he is connected with various organ-
izations in Oceanside, including Lodge No.
346, I. O. O. P., Lodge No. 385 of the Frater-
nal Brotherhood, and Lodge No. 4402, I. O.
P., in the work of all of which he maintains a
warm interest.

GEN. SENECA PI. :MARLETTE. The
pioneer days of General Marlette have result-
ed in a material upbuilding for California, for
he brought with him to the state the ability
and perseverance which alone could give to
the commonwealth its impetus toward the po-
sition it now occupies among its sister states
of the Union. He was born in New York,
near Syracuse. January 18. 1824, a son of Will-
iam J. Marlette, a native of New York and the
descendant of an old Prench family, three
brothers of the name having located in Amer-
ica many years prior to the Revolution, in
-.vhich a member of the family served with the
rank of major. William J. ^larlette engaged
as a contractor in New York, working on the
Erie canal and other public works ; he later lo-
cated in Ohio and engaged in railroad con-
tracting. His last days were spent in Illinois,
where he died at an advanced age. By his
marriage with Lucy Balch. of INTassachusetts,
he allied his fortunes with those of an old Rev-

olutionary family, her death occurring in
Iowa. Of their seven children Seneca H. Mar-
lette was the fourth in order of birth, and aft-
er receiving his preliminary education in the
])ublic schools entered the Rensselaer Insti-
tute, now the Polytechnic, at Troy, N. Y.,
from which institution he was later graduated
with the degrees of B. N. S. and civil engineer.
He started in as a railroad surveyor, but not
securing the business he wished, he took up
the study of medicine with Wright & Bryns-
made, in Troy, but was later occupied as civil
engineer with the New York «& Erie Railroad
Company. He remained with this company
until 1849, when he concluded to come to Cali-
fornia, and accordingly he joined the Albany
company which was organized by Bishop Kip
and Mr. Collier. They made the journey on
the Helena via Cape Horn, starting March 4
and arriving at their destination September

Mr. ?ilarlette went at once to the mines of
Calaveras connt3^ Cal., but a short time after
retm-ned to San Francisco for provisions, and
while there obtained a position with the city
surveyor. He followed surveying in that city
at $20 per day, but having to pay $3 per day
for the use of a compass. Later he purchased
instruments for surveying, including a theo-
dolite, going in debt for them and paying 6
per cent interest per month. For Halleck,
Peachy. Billings & Wright he made a survey
of a part of the Larkin grant, now the western
addition to San Francisco, surveying blocks
and lots: during this time he had many inter-
esting experiences with the squatters, who
l^ulled up their stakes and came ^^'^th axes and
threatened them for trespassing. He then sur-
■ '\'eved a sub-division between this and the city
for Hervey Sparks. Later Mr. Marlette made
arangements for the publication of a map of
San Francisco, including the AVestern Addi-
tion. After making a trip to Santa Clara
county he was so well impressed with the place
that he took up a ranch, but before he could
£ret a home on the place a friend jumped it.
He then returned to the mines in Calaveras
county. In the meantime he had become ac-
quainted with ex-governor Edwards of Mis-
.souri, and he having established a general
merchan.dise store at Mokelumne Hill asked
Mr. Marlette to become a partner in the con-
cern. Not having made a success of his min-
ing he was willing to accept the proposition,
,-md accordingly became connected with the
mercantile interests of that section. In 1852
he was elected county surveyor and later was
compelled to close out his mercantile interests
at a loss of $1500, for which he settled by note
at (1 per cent interest per month. He was nom-

1214

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

inated for re-election in 1853 but in the same
year was nominated for the office of surveyor-
general of the state of California, and being
elected by a good majority he assumed the du-
ties of his position, the capital being located at
Benicia and during his term was moved to Sac-
ramento. He served from January, 1854, to
January, 1856, and during this time surveyed
most of the emigrant wagon roads. Later he
closed the survey of the Pico grant in Cala-
veras county, after which he purchased an in-
terest in a mine in San Andreas and retained it
until i860, when he went to Washoe, Nev.,
which was a part of Utah, as a surveyor. He
was elected county surveyor of Carson county,
Utah, and had to make his report to Salt Lake
City until Nevada was organized as a terri-
tory. Governor Nye appointed him surveyor
of Story county, and he was later elected first
state surveyor-general of Nevada. He was
re-elected but failed to qualify because he was
so busy making out his report ; he was later
appointed by the governor to this office until
the next election.

Retiring from his professional work Gen-
eral Marlette engaged in the lumber and water
business in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe and
Truckee, there building sawmills and manu-
facturing lumber in partnership with W.
S. Hobart, who died in 1892, after which he
sold his interests to the estate for a small
amount. They had been known as the Sierra
Nevada Wood & Lumber Company, and
owned together about eighty-five thousand
acres of land, of which forty thousand acres
belonged to the general. They owned what
has since been named Marlette lake, having
disposed of this to the Virginia & Gold Hill
Water Company. After disposing of his in-
terests General Marlette came to Southern
Califronia to make his home in Los Angeles,
having made the first trip south in 1883 in
search of timber lands. He has become in-
terested in Alentone and in partnership with
William P. Mcintosh and others purchased a
claim on INIill creek in 1884, having already
bought other lands here, in 1887 laying it out
and bringing water on the place, being the
organizers of the Mentone Irrigation Com-
pany, now owned by General Marlette and Mr.
Mcintosh. They have about two thousand
acres in the tract, of v/hich about four hun-
dred acres are improved to navel oranges all
in full bearing, water having been developed
by a tunnel a quarter of a mile in length from
Mill creek, while they also have wells and
pumping plants in case of need.

General Marlette located here in 1896, now
owning a beautiful home on Mentone avenue,

where he and nis wife have seventy acres in
oranges. He was married m Washington, D.
C, May 3, 187.4, to Miss Alice Ingham, a na-
tive of Illinois but reared in California and
Utah from early childhood. The general is a
stanch Republican in his political convictions;
in the line of his profession he is a member of
the National Geographic Association.

FRANCIS HARDEN STANTON. Horti-
culture and general farming have in Mr. Stanton
an active and capable exponent, his efforts since
1900 being the upbuildings of his own personal
interests in the vicinity of Bassett, Los Angeles
county, as well as the best development possi-
ble for the community. He came to California in
1899. He was born in Grantville, Md., twenty-
four miles west of Cumberland, August 5, 1855;
his father, William Stanton, was a native of
i\Iaryland, as was also his grandfather, George.
The great-grandfather came from England and
located in Maryland, where he participated in
the Revolutionary war. William Stanton en-
gaged in farming until his death, which occurred
at an advanced age in his native state. He mar-
ried JNIary Ann Ridgley, also a native of Mary-
land and daughter of Eli Ridgley, a farmer. They
became the parents of ten children, six of whom
are living. One son, A. Jackson, served in a
Pennsylvania regim.ent during the Civil war, sur-
vived its perils and eventually located in Kansas,
where he died.

Francis Harden Stanton was next to the young-
est in the large family of children born to his
parents. He was reared on the paternal farm, re-
ceiving his education in the public schools and
being trained to the practical duties which have
proven of so much benefit to him in manhood's
years. L'pon attaining his majority he went into
partnership with his brother, Uriah, and together
they farmed the old homestead. He remained at
home until the spring of 1880 when he set out
for the west and engaged in mining in Ouray,
Colo. He was successful and acquired some
means with which he purchased a farm on the
Uncompahgre river, helping to take out a ditch
and canal for irrigation purposes, and contin-
uing to improve and develop the propertv for
some years. He had two hundred acres devoted
to alfalfa, general farming and stock raising, and
in this enterprise was uniformly successful. On
account of his wife's health he came to California
in 1899 and in Los Angeles engaged in a retail
mercantile enterprise. After one year he disposed
of this interest and in December, 1900, purcliased
forty acres at Bassett. built a residence, barns
and outbuildings, and engaged in general farm-
ing once more. In 1902 he set out twenty acres
of walnuts and followed this up two years later

^rRMjn(^ — ~

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1217

by setting- out the balance in the same commod-
ity. He also engages in grain raising at Puente.
Mr. Stanton's wife was formerly Miss Alice
Killen, a native of Missouri, their marriage hav-
ing taken place in Colorado. They have eight
children living, namely : Mary, Harry, Alva,
Ridgley, Elnora, Francis, Robert and Eugene.
Mr. Stanton was made a Mason in Ouray (Colo.)
Lodge No. 37, and is now identified with Lexing-
ton Lodge No. 104 of El Monte. He has always
taken a deep interest in educational affairs and
while a resident of Ouray was a member of the
school board, and also occupied a similar posi-
tion in Bassett until his resignation.

DANIEL RANDAL CLAY. The present
growth and prosperit)^ of San Pedro is a ful-
fillment of the early visions of Daniel Randal
Clay, for years one of the most progressive
citizens and most sagacious authorities in real
estate whom the town boasted in its list of
prominent residents. Ere yet his dreams had
come to their realization he was called from
the activities of life, leaving a void in the
hearts of family and friends and a vacant
place in the business circles of his home city.
Through his labors as a' member of the board
of trustees for several years ; through his serv-
ices as the first chief of the fire department
of San Pedro : througlj his membership in the
Chamber of Commerce, and in other capaci-
ties he was a promoter of San Pedro's welfare,
and his interests likewise extended into the
business activities of Los Angeles, where he
held membership in the Chamber of Commerce.

Gorham, in the state of Maine, was Mr.
Clay's native place, and November 13. 1849,
the'date of his birth. His father, Rev. Daniel
Randal Clay, a native of the same place and
a minister in the P)aptist denomination, re-
moved to \\'yoming at an early day and from
there came to California, where now he makes
his home in Los Angeles. In 1898 he was be-
reaved by the death of his wife, who passed
away at San Pedro: she bore the maiden
name of Mary Hamlin and was a native of
Maine. Born' of their union were four sons
and two daughters, of whom the next to the
youngest was given his father's name and re-
mained in Maine until nineteen years of age,
when he turned his steps toward the west.
While still quite young he learned telegraphy
and this occupation he followed throughout
much of his active life. For eight years he
acted as telegraph operator and station agent
for the Union Pacific Railroad Company at
Carbon, Wyo., from which point he removed
to Denver and took up the real-estate and in-
surance business. His next location was at

Rico, in the mountain districts of Colorado,
where he remained for two years.

Coming to California in 1884, Mr. Clay se-
cured employment with the Southern Pacific
Railway Company as telegraph operator at
San Pedro and for a brief period gave his at-
tention to the duties of the position. In the
meanwhile he had become interested in the
possibilities of the town. Thoroughly believ-
ing in its future growth, he decided he could
advantageously engage in the real-estate busi-
ness, hence he gave up telegraphy in order
to devote himself exclusively to business- af-
fairs. The firm of D. R. Clay & Co. was the
first general real-estate and insurance busi-
ness established in the town and under his ac-
tive supervision it was developed into an im-
portant institution. Among his most import-
ant enterprises was the laying out of the Cla^'-
subdivision to San Pedro and he was inter-
ested in other additions, his real-estate trans-
actions being extensive and important, and
aiding greatly in the upbuilding of the town.
AVhile still actively engaged in business he
died February 18, 1904, and a few days later
his body was interred in a cemetery at Los
Angeles. The business since his death has
been purchased by his son-in-law, J. W. Wal-
ton, who conducts it under the title of D. R.
Clay Co., and maintains the high reputation
established durmg the lifetime of its founder.

The fraternal associations of Mr. Clay in-
cluded membership in the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellows, Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks, Royal Arcanum, and the Ma-
sonic Order, in which he was the first master
of San Pedro Lodge No. 332, F. & A. M., and
also an active member of the Royal Arch chap-
ter. Though not a partisan in politics, he had
pronounced convictions upon the leading ques-
tions of the age, and gave his unqualified sup-
port to the Republican party. Surviving him
are his widow and two daughters. The for-
mer, who bore the maiden name of J\lay J.
Sanders, was born in Cardiff, England, and
v.^as a daughter of James and Hannah Char-
lotte fjones) Sanders, natives respectively of
Bristol and London, England. The father,
who was an engineer by occupation, brought
the family to the United States and settled at
Salt Lake City, where both he and his wife
remained until death. In the family of Mrs.
Clay there are two daughters, both of Avhom
are married and reside in San Pedro. The
elder daughter, Josie May. is the wife of J.
W. Walton, and they have one daughter. Mary
Lillian ; the younger, Lillian, married L. W.
Goodhue. The Clay family residence .'stands
on the corner of Tenth and Bacon streets and
is one of the most attractive homesteads in

1218

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the city. Like her husband in political views,
Islrs. Clay believes m the principles of the Re-
publican party. With the other elements
forming a rounded character religion blends
its harmonious light. The creed which Mrs.
Clay espouses is that of the Episcopal Church
and to its charities she is a thoughtful con-
tributor. In fraternal associations she is iden-
tified with the Order of the Eastern Star and
the Rebekah?.

ALEXANDER GILL. The life of the noble
pioneer will ever be held in reverent remem-
brance in the community that he helped to build
up. Among pioneer settlers Ventura county
had in Alexander Gill of Springville one of its
most enterprising citizens, a man of energy and
ability, successful along personal lines and at
the same time prominent in public afifairs, in
which he constantly sought to advance the best
general interests. He was a pioneer of Califor-
nia, having located in the state in 1867 from his
birthplace, Canada, he having been born No-
vember 2, 1847, in Grinnville. His parents,
David and Mary (Frazier) Gill, were natives
respectively of North Ireland and Scotland, the
father emigrating to this country at the age of
sixteen years. They were married in Canada
and spent the balance of their lives in that lo-
cation, his death occurring at the age of fifty-
six years and hers at the age of thirty. Alex-
ander Gill received his education in the public
schools of Canada and during the years of boy-
hood and young manhood received parental
training which fostered in his character those
traits that distinguish natives of the countries
from which his father and mother emigrated.
He followed agricultural pursuits in Canada un-
til 1867, in which year he came to the Pacific
coast, and in iNIendocino county, Cal., farmed for
about nineteen years. In 1886 he came to the
Santa Clara valley in A'entura county and piu"-
chased the property where he ever since made
his home. This property, which consists of two
hundred and forty acres, was then raw land en-
tirely devoid of cultivation or improvements ; to-
day his farm holds rank with the best in Ventura
county, being well improved with a comfortable
residence, substantial barns and outbuildings,
good fences, and also has a fine artesian well
which furnishes a good supply of water. In ad-
dition to his own land he rented three hundred
acres, his interests being principally centered in
the raising of beans (to which sixty acres are
devoted) and the cultivation of wheat and barley.
He ably demonstrated his ability along agri-
cultural lines and was accounted one of the most
successful men of this section, as well as a liberal
and public spirited citizen.

Mr. Gill established home ties through his mar-
riage in Canada, in 1876, to Miss Linda Smith,
a native of Canada, and born of this union are
the following children : Ernest, residing in Los
Angeles county ; Bessie, Alice, Edmond Roy,
George, Qiarles, Marion, Harry, John, Allen,
Jessie and Myrtle. The family are members of
the Presbyterian Qiurch, to which Mr. Gill gave
liberally, supporting all its charities. Fraternally
he was identified with the [Masonic organization,
being a member of Oxnard Lodge No. 341, F.
& A. M., and Oxnard Chapter No. 86, R. A. M.
Educational matters received no little of the at-
tention of Mr. Gill, whose best efforts were al-
ways given toward the promotion of the best ad-
vantages possible. For a number of years he
served efficiently as trustee of the Springville
school, which office he held up to the time of his
death September 17, 1906, Politically he was a
Republican, and although too much occupied
with his personal afifairs to care for official recog-
nition, was counted upon to support the men and
measures of his party in a public-spirited man-
ner.

EDWIN WATERMAN COLMAN. Busi-
ness connected with the Lumber Surveyors' As-
sociation of Southern California receives the en-
tire time and attention of Edwin Waterman Col-
man of San Pedro, he having been one of the or-
ganizers and the first president of the association.
For more than thirty years he has been a resi-
dent of California, the greater part of which time
he has been identified with the development and
upbuilding of this city. The Colman family is
of English extraction and the name was form-
erl\- spelled Caiman. The first members who
came to this country settled in Massachusetts
and the grandfather, .\mial, who was born in
Scituate. was proprietor of and originally laid
out Colman's Hills in Scituate and Cohasset,
Mass. Waterman Colman, the father of Edwin
^^'aterman, was also born in Scituate. Mass.,
and as a young man followed seafaring life. Af-
ter making two trips he gave up that life, how-
ever, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in Med-
ford and West Medford. Later he came to Cali-
fornia and is now living in Woodland, this state,
at the advanced age of eighty-three years. His
wife, who was before her marriage Nancy Eli-
zabeth Loring, was born in Yarmouth, Me., of
English descent, and her death occurred in 1890.

The only child of his parents, the birth of
^Ir. Colman occurred May i, 1856, in Boston,
and he was reared in North Cambridge. After
completing his studies in Shepherd grammar
school he entered the high school preparatory
course at Cambridge, being in the same class with
ex-governor \\'illiam l^. Russell of Massachusetts.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1221

His eyesight failed him before the work in the
school was completed and he was obliged to give
up further study. For an entire year he took
treatment for his eyes without apparent results,
when suddenly his sight returned to him and has
not troubled him since. He then entered the
employ of J\lr. Woodworth of Boston and learned
to become a proficient tea taster. His health
becoming impaired he was obliged to give up
this business and refusing an offer of a position
at a salary of $3,500 in 1876 he came to San
Francisco. Upon his arrival he secured employ-
ment at Woodland, then became connected with
the California Pacific Railway, at Willows he
being engaged in checking up all of the
material which was sent to the northern road.
In 1884 he came to Southern California and
took a position with the San Pedro Lumber
Company, a year later removing to Los An-
geles, where for the succeeding four years
and four months he filled the position of
foreman for the Davies-Henderson Lumber Com-
pany. He then returned to San Francisco and
was occupied as tallyman until 1893, when he
took up his permanent residence in San Pedro
and began as a lumber survej-or. In 1903 he
assisted in the organization of the Lumber Sur-
veyors' Association of Southern California and
after filling the office of president for two and
a half years refused longer service in that capa-
city.

Mr. Colman was made a Mason in Wilmington
Lodge No. igS, F. & A. j\l., and is now a charter
member of San Pedro Lodge No. 332. Politi-
cally he is a stanch advocate of the principles
embraced in the platform of the Republican party.
As a public-spirited citizen he is actively in-
terested in the upbuilding of this section and takes
a leading part in the furthering of all enter-
prises tending to develop the community in which
he resides.

SIMON FAIRBURN. Prominent among
the large and prosperous fruit growers of Los
Angeles county is Simon Fairburn, owner of
one of the most valuable ranches in Burbank.
A man of exceptional, executive and finan-
cial ability, he has filled positions of
trust and responsibility with great cred-
it to himself and to the pecuniary ad-
vantage of others, having for more than
twenty years been connected with the Stand-
ard Oil Company in an official capacity. A
son of William Fairburn, he was born, May
16, 1850, in the Shenandoah valley, Augusta
county, Va., of substantial Scotch descent. His
grandfather was born and reared in Pennsyl-
vania, but subsequently settled as a planter in
Virginia, being a pioneer of the Shenandoah

valley. He served in the Revolution, and like-
wise in the war of 181 2, in the latter being in
the army until his death, in 1814.

William Fairburn was a life-long resident of
\'irginia, his birth occurring there in 1800, and
his death in 1890. He was owner of a planta-
tion, and a citizen of influence. He married
Elizabeth Funk, the descendant of a family
that emigrated from Germany to the United
States in 1706, and located m Pennsylvania.
Her birth occurred in Virginia in 1808, and her
death in 1872. She bore' her husband twelve
children, five of whom reached years of ma-
turity, and four are now living.

Brought up on the home plantation, Simon
Fairburn assisted his father in its manage-
ment until seventeen years of age, when, as an
apprentice he learned the miller's trade. Sub-
sequently leasing the mill of his former em-
ployer he operated it successfully for three
years. In 1874 he made a new departure. Go-
ing to Parkersburg, W. Va., he secured a po-
sition with the Standard Oil Company, with
which he was connected for twenty-two years.
Beginning wich the firm in a low position, he
gradual!}- worked his way upward, carefully
learning the details of the business in its every
branch, and for three years, from 1883 until
1886. was superintendent of their works in
Parkersburg. In the fall of 1886 he was sent
as a representative of the company to ^Mexico,
with instructions to locate, construct and op-
erate a refinery in the City of Mexico. In 1889
he was instructed to build a refinery in Vera
Cruz, Mexico, and was then made superintend-
ent of the entire Standard Oil business in the
Republic of Mexico, a position of great re-
sponsibility, which he held until 1896. Being
obliged to send his children north to be edu-
cated, and wishing to be in Parkersburg a
part of the time each year, Mr. Fairburn then
asked the company for a transfer, and this be-
ing refused, he at once resigned his position.
Returning to the United States, he traveled
through many parts, and in September, 1896,
decided to locate permanently in Southern Cal-
ifornia. .Accordingly, he bought sixty acres of
land in North Glendale, near the line of the
Pacific Electric road, paying $4,500 for the
first thirty acres, and $2,850 for the other half.
Taking up ranching in earnest, he has made im-
provements of an excellent character, includ-
ing the setting out of an orchard, and has now
one of the most desirable estates in this part
of the county.

In Washington. D. C. JNlr. Fairburn mar-
ried Bettie M. Williams, a native of Bath
county, Va., being a daughter of Dr. R. P.
Williams, who served throughout the Civil

1222

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

war as a surgeon in the Confederate army.
Mr. and Mrs. Fairburn are the parents of five
children, namelv: Charles W., Eva E., Elora
E., Ollie W., and Ruth A., the latter born in
California. Air. and Mrs. Fairburn are mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church at
Burbank, and Mr. Fairburn is a member of the
Masonic fraternity.

MICHAEL BALDRIDGE. To the pioneers,
the pathfinders to civilization and prosperity, a
special debt of gratitude is due, and the resi-
dents of California who now enjoy the delights
and privileges of a locality which has no equal
in the country, should never forget the meed of
praise which they owe the few sturdy frontiers-
men who made their pleasant life here possible.
Among this noble band of pioneers who came to
the state during the gold period was Michael
Baldridge, whose accounts of the happenings of
early days have probably had more readers and
listeners than any other one of the remaining
pioneers. He never tires of recounting the inci-
dents of those days, which were filled with hard-
ships which we of this day cannot even picture
in our most vivid imagination, but even under
these conditions kind-hearted liberality and
brotherly love prevailed. Not only is Mr. Bald-
ridge a fluent speaker, but he is a ready writer
as well, and his reminiscences and anecdotes of
pioneer life in the west are eagerly read and
greatly appreciated, not only by those who, like
himself, have crossed the plains and experienced
its perils and hardships, but by the younger gen-
erations.

The first of the name to settle in the new
world was the grandfather, another Michael
Baldridge, who was born in the north of Ireland
and upon coming to the LTnited States located
in Little Britain, Lancaster county. Pa. In his
religious belief he was a strict Presbyterian. His
son John was born in Little Britain. Pa., where
he made his home until reaching his nineteenth
year, when he transferred his interests to Sen-
eca county, N. Y. There he established himself
as a tiller of the soil, an occupation which he
followed throughout his life, or until his death
in 1876. Not only had he lived long, but he had
lived worthily, putting into daily and hourly
practice the principles of his belief in Christianity
as set forth in Presbyterian doctrines. His mar-
riage united him with Agnes Barr, a native of
Seneca county, N. Y., and a daughter of Rob-
ert Barr of Scottish birth. Upon coming to the
United States he first settled in Washtenaw
County, Mich., and later in Kent county on the
present site of Grand Rapids. At that time there
was little evidence that the straggling settle-
ment woidd ever attain its present prominence

in the commercial world, but Mr. Barr was a
far-seeing man and often prophesied a brilliant
future for the town on account of its excellent
water power. To Mr. Barr and his wife were
born seventeen children, all of whom grew to
mature years and all early in life established
their independent careers, which was perhaps a
matter of necessity rather than one of choice. A
large family also blessed the marriage of John
and Agnes Baldridge, and of their twelve chil-
dren eleven attained maturity. During the Civil
war John Baldridge, one of the sons, served in
the engineering corps ; Robert is now a resident
of Covina, and James was a resident of Pomona
at the time of his death, having come to the west
with his brother Michael in 1858.

Michael Baldridge was born in Seneca coun-
ty, N. Y., December 21, 1826, and was brought
up on his father's farm, attending district school
during the winter months and working on the
farm in the summer. Notwithstanding the crude
surroundings and lack of present-da}- advan-
tages he became a brilliant scholar and was es-
pecially apt in spelling, and in the old "spelling
school" of former days he carried oflf the honors
as a champion speller, being able to "spell down"
the entire class. Among the memories of those
days he recalls his intimate acquaintance with
the old Cobb speller, a text-book then in general
use and which served as an arbiter in case of
dispute in the study of orthography. When he
was nineteen years of age he left. the east and
went to ]\Iontcalm county, Mich, where he had
relatives, but it was not long before he returned
to his native state, and later became an em-
ploye in the counting room of C. C. Marsh, in
New York City. It was while there that he
heard of the French expedition to California,
plans for wh.ich were exploited in the daily pa-
pers, and his youth and ambition could not
withstand the challenge. With colors flying and
hopes high the steamer Georgia, under com-
mand of Parker H. French, left New York har-
bor with its load of gold seekers bound for the
Pacific coast. On the way they touched port
at Havana, New Orleans, Galveston and El
Paso del Norte, in which latter place the expedi-
tion was broken up on account of French not
keeping his promises. From there they made
their way as best they could, walking a distance
of one thousand miles in reaching Mazatlan, and
on the way passed through Giihuahua and Du-
rango. When Mr. Baldridge started from New
York he had $20 in ready money and as sec-
retary of the expedition was to receive $25 per
month for his sennces. He received nothing,
however, and when he arrived in San Francisco
eight months from the time of leaving New
York, he was exceedingly short of funds. His
prime object in coming to California had been

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1223

to seek wealth in the mines, and for three years
he bent his efforts in this direction. That his
efforts did not meet with the desired results was
evident from the fact that at the end of that
time, in 1853, he returned to familiar scenes
and surroundings in the east. From then until
1857 he engaged in business in Waterloo, Sen-
eca county, N. Y., but as that was the year of
the panic he suffered the fate of many other busi-
ness men and was forced to close his doors. The
following year he again started for the Pacific
coast, coming by way of Panama, and on this
trip was accompanied by his brother James. Once
more he tried his luck at the mines, but with
about the same results as before, sometimes
making money but more often losing, until af-
ter thirteen years he gave it up entirely and fur-
thermore resolved never to be tempted to try
mining again. For twelve years he worked in
the employ of others as clerk, remaining with
one house in San Francisco for eight years, and
during all of this time was a most indefatigable
worker, his motto being how much and not how
little he could accomplish for his employer's
welfare.

Thus far in his career Mr. Baldridge had
struggled against great odds, but with the year
1873 brighter prospects opened up before him.
In that year he started in business on his own
account, handling bonds and stocks under the
title of M. Baldridge, banker and broker. A
large commission business grew out of this hum-
ble beginning, and he became a charter mem-
ber of the Pacific Stock Exchange, being chair-
man of its executive committee for seven years.
Failing health, however, compelled him to give
up his interests in San Francisco and in 1880 he
located in Covina, where he started a nursery
composed of orange trees entirely. At that time
there was no market for these trees, so he bought
land at $11 per acre and set out one hundred
and eleven acres to orange trees, and in time
was able to sell the nursery stock. He gave
away thirty-one acres of the land, still retaining
eighty acres, which he carried on as a nursery
for seven years, during which time his health
was greatly improved. At the end of this time
he was offered $70,000 for his ranch, an offer
which he accepted, and the same year came to
Pomona and built his present residence on
Kingslev and ^^'ashington streets. During the
thirteen years which he has made this place his
home he has built up one of the finest ranches in
this part of the county. It comprises ten acres,
and is supplied with a pumping plant which fur-
nishes an abundant supply of water for both
domestic and irrigating purposes. He also owns
a ten acre orange grove at Bloomington, as well
as a block of five acres on a street in San Ber-
nardino, upon which he is erecting twenty-six

cottages of patent stone, having put in his own
manufacturing plant for that purpose.

Upon his return east after his first expedition
to California JMr. Baldridge was married, in
1853, to Miss Elizabeth Garrison, a native of
New York, but their married life was of short
duration, as her death occurred four years later.
His second marriage occurred in Indiana in 1871
and united him with Mrs. Elizabeth (Graham)
Lee, who was born in Ohio, and is still living.
Politically Mr. Baldridge is a Republican. As
may be surmised he is a member of the Society
of California Pioneers of 1849, "on^ of whose
members, it is safe to say, experienced more se-
vere or prolonged hardships than did Mr. Bald-
ridge in reaching the Golden West. His motto
through life has been to put into daily practice
the principles of the Golden Rule, and all who
have been brought in contact with him will tes-
tify that he adhered to these principles rigidly.
His name is on the membership roll of the Uni-
tarian Church of Pomona.

SETH AlARSHALL. There are few citi-
zens in San Bernardino who have so em-
phatically impressed their worth upon their
community as has Seth Marshall. His advent
into the Pacific coast country dates back to
the spring of 1875. coming hither in the hope
that the ocean voyage would restore his health,
wdiich had become greatly impaired by over-
work in East Sagmaw, Mich., where he was
then residing. His quest for health had not
been in vain, the sea voyage and the bracing
climate of San Francisco, where he remained
for a time, both contributing to his welfare.
So well pleased was he with the outlook in
the west that he decided to remain and grow
up v.'ith the country.

Of Puritan stock, Seth Marshall was born
April 25. 1850. on the old Marshall homestead
on the W^estern Reserve, in what is now the
citv of Paincsville, Ohio, whither his grand-
father had immigrated from Colebrook, Conn.,
in the earlv '305. .\mong the children in the
grandfather's family was one Seth, who be-
came an important factor in the upbuilding
of that new country. Before the building of
the Lake Shore Railroad he was a clerk on
one of the large lake steamers, and subse-
quently was bookkeeper and later president
of the old Bank of Geauga, an institution
which in later years became the First Nation-
al Bank of Painesville. Before the Civil war
he took a firm stand in the question of slav-
er}-, and throughout northern Ohio no one
labored more zealously to abolish the nefarious
institution than did Mr. Marshall, whose home
was one of the stations on the underground

1224

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

railroad used for the escape of the negroes.
As one of the organizers and upholders of the
Republican party in that state he counted
among his friends and co-laborers such men
as Ben Wade, Joshua R. Giddings, Salmon
P. Chase, besides others of equal fame dur-
ing that time. As a delegate to the national
convention of his party Mr. Marshall had a
hand in the nomination of Lincoln for his sec-
ond term, and was one of the presidential
electors from Ohio at that election. As a fit-
ting close to his long and useful life he was
permitted to spend his last days in the land
of Sunshine and Flowers, passing away at
the home of his son in San Bernardino in 1880.

By the time he was eighteen years of age
Seth Marshall, Jr., had completed his studies
in the school of Oberlin, -Ohio, and was ready
to launch upon his business career, which he
did by becoming a clerk in the wholesale
hardware business owned by his uncles, Mor-
ley Brothers, of East Saginaw, Mich. It was
not long before he had acquired an interest in
the business, and finally became general man-
ager of the plant, but after seven years of
close application his health became impaired
to such an extent that he followed the advice
of his physicians and took an ocean voyage,
the same "which brought him to California in
1875. After disposing of his interests in
Michigan he entered with vigor into the life
of the new country and among other enter-
prises which he assisted in founding was the
Pacific Stock Exchange, organized in the
summer of 1875. His interest in various min-
ing properties in Nevada, Arizona and in the
Ord district of San Bernardino finally led to
his location in this country in 1880.

With his brother-in-law, William H. Chen-
ey, and the latter's uncle, John Cheney (the
latter one of the original Cheney Brothers
who founded the Cheney Brothers silk works
at South Manchester, Conn.), Mr. Marshall
purchased one thousand acres of land, the
eastern part of the Muscupiabe grant. Legal
complications which followed delayed the im-
provement of the tract and in the mean time
John Cheney died. Mr. ^larshall was appoint-
ed administrator of the estate, which was
finally bought by an eastern syndicate of
which he was a memljer. To secure water for
this large acreage he organized the Highland
Ditch Company, to build a canal from the east
side of City creek west, above the Cheney
tract, on to North San Bernardino, where
Mr. Marshall then owned another tract of one
thousand acres. In time the canal was com-
pleted to the Cheney tract, which enabled the
land owners along the foothills of Highland
to secure water for their lands, the Cheney

land benefiting likewise. Subsequently this
canal was sold to the Bear Valley Company
with the proviso that the latter company was
to complete the canal to north San Bernar-
dino, which has since been accomplished.
Mr. Marshall was also one of the organizers of
the North Fork Water Company, of which for
}'ears he was a director and also president.
^\l^en the loop line of the Santa Fe road was
built around the east end of the San Bernar-
dino valley its construction was largely aid-
ed by the personal effort of Mr. Marshall, he
contributing over $3,000 and the right of way
for over two miles through his property. Hor-
ticultural affairs also have received an im-
petus through his efforts, a practical demon-
stration of which was seen at the time of the
organization of the Highland Orange Grow-
ers' Association, of which he is now presi-
dent. One of the most stupendous undertak-
ings in San Bernardino was set on foot with
the organization of the Arrowhead Hot Springs
Company. With the assistance of a strong
local directorate Mr. Marshall inaugurated an
enterprise which promises to out-distance any
undertaking of the kind in the world. The
companv is incorporated for $1,000,000, and
has among its stockholders some of the lead-
ing men in this part of the state and also of
the east. It is the confident expectation of
all concerned that with the natural advantages
of scenery, climate, elevation and surround-
ings these springs will develop a resort which
will make the San Bernardino valley world
renowned.

In San Francisco, in 1878, l\Ir. ^Marshall
was married to Frances Marie Mo3de, a sis-
ler of Mrs. William H. Cheney, of South Man-
chester, Conn. After almost twenty years of
happy married life Mrs. Marshall was called
up higher, February 15, 1897, leaving a void
in her home as well as in the many charitable
and social organizations with which she was
connected. Her greatest happiness consisted
in doing for others, and none knew her but
to love her. She was a devoted member of
the Episcopal Church and one of its active
workers.

AMASA PARKER JOHNSON, JR., the
president of the city council of San Diego, is a
member of one of the pioneer families of Cali-
fornia. In a family of six daughters and two
sons, of whom all are living except one son, he
is next to the oldest and represents the third
successive generation bearing the same name.
.San Francisco is his native city, the date of
his birth being October 29, 1866. Primarily
educated in public schools, he later had the

JI/-0.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1227

advantage of study in St. Matthew's Hall at
San Mateo, and meanwhile became interested
in stenography. When eighteen years of age
he started out to earn his own way in the
world, his first position being that of private
secretary to Jesse D. Carr,, president of the
Salinas Bank. From Salinas he came to San
Diego in February, 1888, and after filling a po-
sition as stenographer for two months he be-
came a deputy in the office of the county re-
corder. There he continued for five years,
and during the last three years acted as chief
deputy. The following five years were spent
in the county assessor's office as deputy (a
part of that time being chief deputy) and then
he returned to the county recorder's office as
chief deputy for five years.

By the purchase of the interests of the Reed
& Burt Abstract Company, in February, 1903,
]\Ir. Johnson organized the Union Title &
Trust Compan)', and by forming a combina-
tion with the Title Insurance & Trust Com-
pany of Los Angeles the strongest organiza-
tion of its kind in Southern California was se-
cured. The company has a capital stock of
$100,000, and Mr. Johnson acts as manager,
secretary and treasurer.

Under appointment by Governor Pardee in
the year 1904 Mr. Johnson became a member
of the city council according to the new char-
ter. The following year he was elected to rep-
resent the eighth ward in the council, where
he served as chairman of the street committee
and a member of the finance and water com-
mittees. On the resignation of Mr. Osborn as
president of the city council, in November,
1905, Mr. Johnson was chosen to fill the va-
cancy and since then has acted in the capacity
cf president.

stock. He is progressive and enterprising and
although young in years bids fair to make
one of the most successful ranchers of this
community. In August, 1901, he was united
in marriage with Miss Marinda Sackett, who
was born in Artesia, Los Angeles county, a
daughter of William A. Sackett, represented at
length elsewhere in this volume. They have
two children, Emma and William. Mr. Orr
is verv prominent fraternally, being a mem-
ber of Norwalk Lodge No. 315, F. & A. M.,
and serving as senior warden, while both him-
self and wife are associated with the Order of
Eastern Star in the Norwalk chapter; he also
belongs to the camp of the Maccabees of Ar-
tesia,'and the Odd Fellows, of Artesia, and
self and wife are identified with the Rebekahs
of that place. He supports the Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which his wife is a de-
voted member. Politically he is a stanch ad-
vocate of Democratic principles. Mr. Orr
stands exceptionally high in the community,
respected alike for his business ability so early
displaved, and bis personal qualities of charac-
ter which have won him many friends.

JOHN J. ORR. A native Californian, John
J. ' Orr was born on the old Orr homestead
near Norwalk, Los Angeles county, March 3,
1876, a son of W. W. Orr, one of the esteemed
pioneers of this section whose personal history
is given at length in another part of this vol-
vcme. His preliminary education was re-
ceived through the medium of the public school
of Little Lake, .ifter which he attended Wood-
bury Business College, of Los Angeles. Re-
turning home he remained with his parents
until attaining his majority, when he began
the cultivation and improvement of a ranch
of forty acres on which he resides. This is
largely devoted to alfalfa although he has a
fine dairy herd of twenty cows, which net him
a handsome income. For one year pf the time
he has spent on this ranch he was in Tulare
countv, where he went with a large herd of

JAMES HENRY LEWIS. In tracing the
genealogy of the branch of the Lewis family
represented bv this influential citizen and horti-
culturist of Pomona we find that he is descended
froni ancestors who came from England with
the Pilgrims and landed at Plymouth Rock in
1620, they later settling in Barnstable, Mass.
Representatives of the family finally drifted into
Connecticut, for it was there that the great-
grandfather, John Lewis, was born January 3,
1754. He was a young man of about twenty-
one years when the war for independence was
waged between England and the colonies, and
as one of the soldiers who fought in behalf of
the voung nation he lived to see the accomplish-
ment of their purpose and enjoy the freedom
from tyranny and oppression. He died in Con-
necticut in 1828. The grandfather, James
Lewis, was also born in the Nutmeg state, where
he was reared and married, but during middle
life he settled as a pioneer in Kane county. 111.,
and there rounded out a useful career. His mar-
riage united him with Desire Remington, she
too" being a native of Connecticut. Among the
children born to them was Norman Lewis, whose
birth occurred in Suffield, Hartford county.
Conn., and he too became a pioneer in the newer
west. For some years he made his home in
Ohio, and it was while the family were living in
that state that James Henry Lewis was born.
After the death of the wife and mother, which
occurred in that state, the father returned to
Connecticut, where for a time he was employed

1228

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

as a blacksmith in Colt's armory. Coming to
the west once more he located in Kane count)',
111., in 1853, and the year following went to
Iowa, where he carried on fanning until the
breaking out of the Civil war. Going to Tama
City he opened a general merchandise business
which he conducted until the close of the war,
and then, in partnership with his son James,
engaged in the lumber business in that city.
Later he retired from the business and for a
number of years prior to his death had been free
from business cares. He died in Tama City at
the advanced age of seventy-eight years, his
loss being deeply felt in his community, for he
had been an active citizen and had done much to-
ward the upbuilding of the town. He was a
member of the county board of supersasors,
justice of the peace and was also postmaster
of the town. Up to the time of the war he had
stanchly upheld the principles of the Democra-
tic party, but thereafter he allied himself with
the Republicans. From the age of twenty years
he had been a member of the Baptist Church,
and the teachings of the Qiristian religion were
manifest in his daily life and sustained him in
his death. His marriage united him with Lucy
Kent, who was a native of Suffield, Conn., and
who died in Medina county, Ohio. Four chil-
dren were born of this marriage, three of whom
grew to maturity, but only one of the number
is now living.

The only representative of his parents" family
now living. James Henry Lewis was born in
Akron, Ohio, June 13, 1840, and was reared in
Ohio until he was a lad of nine years, when his
mother having died, his father took the family
to Connecticut. His schooling was gained al-
most entirely during the five years they remained
in that state, for when thev came west and settled
on a pioneer farm in Tama county, Iowa, in
1854 his services were needed in breaking the
soil and preparing the fields for cultivation. In
response to the call to arms at the time of the
Civil war he laid down the implements of peace
and industry and instead shouldered the musket
in defense of the principles which he believed
were just and upright. In August. 1862, he
volunteered as a member of Company E, Twenty-
fourth Iowa Infantry, being mustered in at ]Mus-
catine, and in the following October his regi-
ment was sent to Helena. Ark., thereafter tak-
ing part in the siege of Vicksburs:. Champion
Hill_, Port Gibson, and Black River Bridge. For
meritorious service in the latter campaign he
was promoted to corporal and with the remainder
of his regiment was made a part of the Depart-
ment of the Gulf and under General Banks
participated in the Red River expedition, among
others taking part in the battle at Sabine Cross
Roads. By boat thev went from Xew Orleans

to Washington, D. C, and under General Sheri-
dan took part in the Shenandoah Valley cam-
paign, taking part in the battles of Winchester,
Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill. Thereafter,
from January, 1865, until mustered out in July
of that year in Savannah he remained on duty
in that city and vicinity, having in the mean-
time been promoted to sergeant, and as such
was honorably discharged from the service in
Davenport in August of 1865.

After the war Mr. Lewis prepared himself
for commercial life by taking a course in East-
man's Business College in Chicago, 111., and there-
after returned to Tama City, Iowa, where for
about six years he was engaged in the lumber
business. Later he became interested in the agri-
cultural implement business, first in Tama City,
and later in Traer, following this business until
1879. when he removed to Nebraska and once
more took up farming. Near Oxford, Furnas
county, he took up four hundred and eighty acres
from the government, upon which for the fol-
lo\\'ing fourteen 3'ears he made a specialty of
stock-raising. Upon the sale of his land and
stock in 1893 he came to Pomona, where for
the past fourteen years he has been interested
in horticulture, owning among other ranches a
ten-acre orange grove known as the San Antonio
tract in San Bernardino county.

In Tama City, Iowa. Mr. Lewis was married
to Miss Emeline Carmichael, who was born in
New York state and died in Pomona in August,
1901. Of the four children who were born to
them three are now living, Qiarles N., having
died in Pomona. Sarah L., is at home with her
father : Arthur P.. who is a graduate of the
College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Fran-
cisco, is now a practicing physician in Amador
county ; and Lucy M., who graduated from the
University of Illinois at Champaign, is now libra-
rian of the Agricultural College in New Alexico.
I\Ir. Lewis keeps his war experiences . fresh in
memorv by associating with old comrades in
A'icksburg Post No. 61. of Pomona, of which he
is post commander, and at one time was aide on
the department staff. He is an active member
of the Baptist Church, in which he is serving
as trustee, and politically he is a Republicah.
AMiile a resident of Nebraska he joined the Odd
Fellows and the .\ncient Order of United Work-
men, being an officer in the latter organization.

\\TLLIS EARL NEWTON. The success
achieved by Willis E. Newton since his residence
in Bassett is the result of his own efforts and
application, bringing to bear in his work an in-
telligent appreciation of the difficulties to be sur-
mounted and the best method of laboring. The
family is of eastern origin, the grandfather. }*far-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1229

cellus, a native of New York, having become a
pioneer settler of Illinois in an early date in its
history. He made his home in tlie vicinity of
Springfield for some time, finally removing to
Lake Mills, Wis., where he followed farming for
a livelihood. His son, Almond P., the father of
Willis E., was born in Illinois and reared in Wis-
consin, where in manhood he engaged in a land
and loan business. He eventually removed to
Denver and engaged in mining and real estate en-
terprises in partnership with Eben Smith, a
connection which was broken by the death of jNIr.
Newton. He is survived by his wife, fonnerly
Isabelle Lamb, a native of Wisconsin, and some
time after Mr. Newton's death she married J.
C. Hutchinson, of Los Angeles, in which city
she now resides.

Of the five children born to his parents, of
whom four are now living, Willis Earl Newton
was born October 8, 1873, in Waterloo. Wis.,
next to the youngest in the family. He was
quite young when the family located in Denver
and in that city received his education in the pub-
lic and high schools, graduating from the latter,
after which he entered the postoffice under Coch-
ran and served under him and Jordan in the
inspection department until his resignation in
1897. In the last named year he came to Cali-
fornia and in Los Angeles secured a position as
traveling salesman with the John D. Farwell
Dry Goods Company, and for the ensuing six
years traveled over the state of California. In
1903 he resigned and accepted a position in the
purchasing department of the Dolge Manufac-
turing Company, resigning two years later to en-
gage in farming. He purchased sixty acres of land
at Walnut Center, in the Bassett district, and has
since set it out in walnuts and alfalfa, has install-
ed a pumping plant which irrigates the entire
place and has improved it by the erection of a
residence, barns, outbuildings, etc. Equal to his
success in other lines has been that which he has
met with in his farming enterprise, and he is to-
day numbered among the representative horti-
culturists of this section.

In Whittier, Mr. Newton married Miss Jennie
Tyler, a native of El ?\[onte, Cal., and daughter
of J\Irs. Tyler English, located on Villa street,
Pasadena. They have one daughter, Majorie.
Mrs. Newton is a member of the Presbvterian
Church and her culture and refinement add much
to the social circles of El [Monte.

CHARLES FINNEY RUGGLES. While
Oxnard was yet a small village Mr. Ruggles
became identified with its commercial devel-
opment and remained one of its earnest and
devoted citizens up to the time he sold out his
interests there and removed to Ventura. For

some years he was the owner and proprietor
of the largest laundry in Ventura county. The
business was conducted in a building specially
erected for the purpose, consisting of a main
structure, 25x80 feet, with two additions, each
20x20 feet, also a boiler room with a boiler of
twenty-four horse power and an engine of
twelve horse power. The building was
equipped with machinery of the latest pat-
tern and adapted for its special purpose, the
whole being arranged so that work could be
turned out with dispatch and yet with scrupu-
lous care. Water was furnished from an ar-
tesian well on the premises, and in addition
Mr. Ruggles manufactured distilled water for
sale, shipping the same to Santa Paula, Nord-
hoff and other neighboring towns.

Of eastern extraction, ]\lr. Ruggles is a son
of William M. and Hannah (Hoke) Ruggles,
natives respectively of Illinois and West Vir-
ginia. The maternal grandfather, Jacob Hoke,
was a member of the F. F. \"s and removed
from Virginia to Illinois, settling upon a farm.
Being a man of means and culture, he was
solicitous to give his children the highest ad-
vantages, and his daughter was sent to col-
lege at Oberlin, Ohio. One of his sons, Hon.
J.T. Hoke, held office for years as district
judge of Kings county, Va., and now fills the
position of American consul at Halifax, Nova
Scotia. After having cultivated a farm near
Dixon, 111., for some years, William M. Rug-
gles removed to Iowa and settled in Jones
county near ^lechanicsville, where he took up
farm pursuits. Later he removed to Cherokee
county, Iowa, and transformed a raw tract of
land into a cultivated farm. Eventually he
became a pioneer farmer of South Dakota and
now resides in Beadle county, that state, where
he is a county commissioner and a man of
large influence and acquaintance.

Of the family of William M. Ruggles three
sons and one daughter have passed from earth,
and two sons and two daughters are now liv-
ing. The eldest of the family was Charles
Finney, who was born at Jackson, Wis., Feb-
ruary 10, i860, and passed the yeajs of boy-
hood on a farm in Jones county, Iowa. After
having completed the common-school studies
he attended Mount Vernon College, the State
Agricultural College at Ames and Hillsdale
College, leaving school at the beginning of his
senior year. The expenses of his collegiate
course he had paid by teaching eight terms of
school, following the occupation in Iowa, In-
diana, Michigan and Ohio. After leaving col-
lege he settled at Coldwater, Branch county,
Alich., where he engaged in the insurance busi-
ness, held office as city clerk, acted as pen-
sion attorney and also served as deputy coun-

3230

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ty clerk. Leaving oMichigan in 1889 he came
to California and in 1890 assisted in surveying
the colony of Dos Palos in the San Joaquin
valley, working with the agent of the land
department of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
As he made a careful study of the land he de-
cided that it was less adapted to orchard pur-
poses than a strip three miles distant, there-
fore he bought land in the locality he preferred
instead of in the colony itself. On his prop-
erty he set out a vineyard and orchard, and
had the satisfaction of seeing the vines and
trees start most auspiciously. jNIeanwhile the
colony was found to be planted on land affect-
ed by alkali and therefore not adapted for
orchards, so afterward the colonists moved to
the district he had preferred, and he built the
first store building in Dos Palos.

Coming to Ventura in 1892 j\lr. Ruggles
bought eight and one-third acres on Ventura
evenue and set out a lemon orchard, which he
still owns, and which he has occupied since
disposing of his interests in Oxnard. While
that town was still in the incipient stages of
its development he located there, erected a
store building on the Plaza and engaged in the
mercantile business, but later turned his at-
tention to the laundry enterprise previously
mentioned. After coming to California he was
married at Los Angeles to Miss Asenath R.
Waite, who was born in Michigan, received
an excellent education, is a ladv of culture and
a member of the Universalist Church. While
in Coldwater, l^.lich.. Mr. Ruggles was initiat-
ed into Masonry and the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and is past chief patriarch of
the encampment. For eight years he held the
commission of lieutenant-colonel of the First
Regiment, Patriarch Militant, also was iden-
tified with the canton. At this writing he is
connected with Oxnard Lodge, I. O. O. F.,
of which he is past noble grand. Politicallv
he favors Republican principles and votes with
that party. For several vears he was a mem-
ber of the Iowa State Militia and later joined
the Michigan State :\lilitia at Coldwater,
serving altogetlier for twelve vears.

ROBERT G. LIVINGSTON. In Robert G.
Livingston is found one of the finest types of
the California pioneers who crossed the plains
in 1853, a man who has been identified with the
business and social, public and private interests
which have tended toward the highest develop-
ment of the state ever since. He succeeded in
amassing a comfortable fortune and is now
enjoying the fruits of his labors, having re-
tired from active business some time ago.
Tlie Livingston family is one of the oldest in

America and one of the ancestors of this branch,
Robert R., was a chancellor of England who
came to America before the days of the Revolu-
tion and had the honor of administering to Wash-
ington his oath of office upon his election to the
presidency. The grandfather of Robert G.
Livingston fought in the war of 181 2, and the
father, George, was born in old Virginia and
became a pioneer of Ohio, moving to a farm
near New Lisbon with teams, where his death
occurred. The mother was in maidenhood Sarah
McClure, her native home having been in Vir-
ginia. The family consisted of eleven children,
nine of whom grew to maturity, but only two of
whom are now living, and Robert G. is the only
one who came to California. He was born Sep-
tember 20, 1830, at New Lisbon, Ohio, where he
spent his boyhood days, receiving his education
in the public schools at that place.

In 1848 he went to Adams county, III, locat-
ing on a farm near Ouincy, but in the spring of
1853 decided to push on further west. In com-
pany with three companions he purchased four
yoke of oxen and crossed the plains, traveling
by the way of Council Bluff's, Salt Lake and
Beckwith Pass. The five months" trip was ac-
complished without important incident and the
journey was ended at the point which is now
Ouincy, Cal. For some years he engaged in
placer mining and tunneling on the Feather,
Yuba, American and Consumne rivers, meeting
with good success. In i860 he went to Contra
Costa county, locating near what is now Danville
and engaged in farming. Continuing there un-
til 1865, he then went to Lake county and farmed
for four years, or until 1869, when he removed
to Southern California, locating at Hueneme,
■where he engaged in the mercantile business for
twenty-five years. His other property interests
embrace the ownership of a two hundred acre
ranch located four miles southeast of Hueneme,
which he rents for beet and grain farming pur-
poses. It is well improved with all necessarv
farm buildings.

December 3, 1863, Mr. Livingston was married
to Miss Hannah ^'. Palmer, a native of Trenton,
Tenn., and a daughter of William Palmer. Her
father was a native of South Carolina, who in
his young manhood taught school in his home
state and later removed to Bloomfield, ]\Io., be-
came a farmer and died there. Her grandfather,
who was also a native of South Carolina, was a
patriot of the Revolutionary war. Her mother,
before her marriage Pamelia IMiller, was born in
Virginia, and died in Alissouri. Mrs. Livings-
ton is a member of a family of twelve children,
the most of whon] are deceased: She came to
California in 1859 with her sister, ]\Irs. Flippin,
and settled in Contra Costa county. She is a
very fine woman and has done much active work

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1233

in tlie cause of Prohibition, in which she is in-
tensely interested, and is now president of the
Woman's Christian .Temperance Union of
Hneneme. Mr. and Mrs. Livingston are the
parents of four children, of whom they are just-
ly proud. They are Charles, a traveling sales-
man with headquarters at Portland ; William, a
graduate of the American College of Physicians
and Surgeons, and who is now practicing his
profession at Oxnard : May, the wife of Dr.
Broughlan of Oxnard : and Lottie, a graduate of
the Cumnock School of Expression of Los
Angeles, and now a teacher of physical culture
and elocution at Pasadena. Both parents are
members of the Pioneer Society of Ventura
county and Mr. Livingston is also a prominent
Prohibition worker, being a member of the ex-
ecutive committee of the Anti-Saloon League of
Snuthern California. Fraternally he was made a
member of the San Ramon Lodge, F. & A. M.,
became a charter member of the Ventura Lodge,
then master of Hueneme Lodge and is now a
member of the Oxnard Lodge. F. & A. J\I. He
also belongs to the Order of Eastern Star. He is
a man who is interested in every business or
social interest that has a beneficial and elevating
influence and is highly esteemed and respected
b^- the whole communitv.

AVARREN COOPER LUKENS was born
in Harrison county, Ohio, March 20, 1845,
and is the second oldest son of a family of six
children born to William E. and j\[argaret
I'Cooper) Lukens. The former was born in
Pennsylvania, the latter in Maryland and were
both members of the Society of Friends. The
father was a farmer in Harrison county, Ohio,
and later was a miller in Sterling, 111., where
tlie parents died. One of their sons is Theo.
P. Lukens, superintendent of Forest Reserve,
residing in Pasadena, a man of much promi-
nence and influence, ?^^r. Lukens was educat-
ed in the common schools until the age of six-
teen when at the first tap of the drum he vol-
unteered in Company B of the Thirteenth Illi-
nois A^olunteer Infantry and was mustered
into the three months" service. Early in 1861.
and before the expiration of his time, he re-
enlisted May 24 with Company P., Thirteenth
Illinois Infantry, serving under General Curtis
in the Army of the Southwest, until Novem-
lier. 1863, when on account of physical disabil-
ity he was mustered out in St. Louis, Mo. He
then returned to Illinois, but his constitution
had received such a setback that he never re-
covered, and for four years was unfit for any
labor. For two years he engaged in horti-
culture in San Jose and then returned to Sterl-
ing, 111., following the same business until

1880, when he came to Pasadena, Cal., when
there was but one store and blacksmith shop
in the place. He purchased thirteen acres
and set out a peach and apricot orchard, which
at the time of the boom he, in 1887, sold to
good advantage. He then removed to Red-
lands where he purchased thirteen and one-half
acres of cacti and sage-brush and started a
nursery and at the same time set it out to
oranges, which he sold in 1900. In the mean
time, in 1899, he had purchased seventy-nine
acres at Oak Glenn in the Upper Yucaipe val-
ley and with four others formed a private com-
pany known as the Oak Glen Land and Water
Company. The water was brought bv ditch
and pipe-line from Oak Cilenn creek to irrigate
their farms and he set out thirteen acres to
apples, now an excellent blooming orchard.
lie with four others of the Oak Glenn com-
pany in the Southern California exhibit at St.
Louis received the highest award for apples.
In March of 1905 he removed to Los Angeles
and located at No. 2707 Normandie avenue.

His marriage occurred in Fairview. 111.,
uniting him with ^laria Jane iMcIlmoyl and to
them have been born five children : AA'illiam
Ellis, who died in Redlands ; Annie M. and
Ernest B. of Los Angeles ; Charles .\. of Oak
Glenn and Walter at Colon, on the Isthmus of
Panama. Mr. Lukens is a member of Bear
Valley Post. G. A. R., at Redlands, and his al-
legiance politically is with the Republican
party.

JOHN HEXRY FAIRBANKS. Of original
English extraction the Fairbanks family in co-
lonial days settled in Massachusetts, and from the
time when the great-grandfather, Nathaniel, gal-
lantly fought for freedom in the Revolutionary
war until the present day its members have been
closely identified with the upbuilding and devel-
opment of our country. John Henry Fairbanks.
who was born July 20, 1837, in Schoharie county.
N. Y., was a son of John B. and a grandson of
John Fairbanks, both of whom were natives of
Worcester, Mass. The grandfather lived on the
old family homestead in Worcester and served in
the war of 181 2. The father was by trade a con-
tractor and stone mason and at the age of twenty-
five years removed to New York state, where he
was married to Hannah Granidier, a native of
that state, her family being of German and
French extraction. Her father, Abraham, was
one of the earliest settlers in New York, and he
also was a soldier in the war of 1812, in which
he attained the rank of major. Seventeen years
after locating in New York state Mr. Fairbanks
went to Racine. A\'is., and engaged in business as
a contractor and builder, and it was while resid-

1234

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing in that state that the death of his wife oc-
curred. In 1849 he joined the rush of gold seek-
ers to Cahfornia, crossing the plains with his old-
est son, and for three years they worked at min-
ing. Two years later the son died at Sacramento
and the father returned to Racine, where his
death occurred.

A member of a family of seven children, four
sons and three daughters, John Henry Fairbanks
is the only son now living. One of his brothers,
Abraham F.. served as a second lieutenant in the
Fifty-first Regiment of Wisconsin \'olunteers
during the Civil war. His own boj'hood days
were spent in Wisconsin, where he attended the
district school in the primitive log schoolhouse
furnished with slab benches. With generations
of patriotic blood flowing in his veins it is not
surprising that his decision to offer his services
to his country at the outbreak of the Civil war
was quickly made. After leaving school he had
occupied himself as a teamster, going from Ra-
cine and Milwaukee to Burlington, and later was
foreman of Norton's ranch for four years. He
was working on a threshing machine when the
news of the declaration of war reached him. and
turning the job over to his father he immediately
vohmteered his services. In 1861 he was mus-
tered in at Milwaukee as a member of Company
C, First Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry, and
among the engagements he took part in were
those at Murfreesboro, and Marietta, assisting in
the taking of Atlanta ; was wounded in the bat-
tles at Buzzard's Roost and at Oiickamauga, hav-
ing been shot from his horse and made insensible
at the latter place. He was an officer in the ord-
nance department, having supervision over the
ammunition of the Fourteenth Army Corps, to
which he had been previously attached. At the
expiration of his time of enlistment he was re-
turned to ?\Iilwaukee and there mustered out in
1864. After the close of the war he went to
Sparta, bought a farm, and continued to raise
stock and conduct a threshing business until 1884.
For eighteen continuous seasons he operated a
Case thresher, made many inventions for the ma-
chine and helped J. I. Case, who had been a boy-
hood schoolmate, with many improvements both
on the thresher and the steam engine. Having
disposed of his farm Mr. Fairbanks retired from
active business for five years and resided in
Sparta.

In 1889 he came to Los Angeles and made
his home in that city for two years, after which
he went to Downey, purchased a ranch and im-
proved it and raised fruit and hay. still owning
ten acres of land there. He had early purchased
a lot on West Third street. Long Beach, and the
residence which he erected thereon is still the
family home. He has witnessed many changes
in the citv since first coming here and himself

farmed land which is now occupied by city
homes. By his marriage in Monroe county, Wis.,
he was united with Phoebe Ann Dame, a native of
Maine, and they became the parents of three
children : Imogene, who married Lewis Millard,
of Long Beach ; Mattie. who became the wife of
a Mr. Whalen and died in Los Angeles in 1905 :
and J. T., who resides on the ranch at Downey.
]\Ir. Fairbanks is a strong Republican, has served
on the county central committee for years and
has been sent as delegate to conventions. He is
a member of Long Beach Post, G. A. R., and
Mrs. Fairbanks is a member and active worker in
the Baptist Church. In all matters relating to
the social and civic development of the city he
takes an energetic and enthusiastic interest, and
is held in the highest respect and esteem through-
out the communitv.

ALBERT JOHNSON. As clerk of the board
of school trustees of Long Beach Albert Johnson
is recognized as one of the most progressive
citizens of this city, for those men who interest
themselves in the cause of education -are the most
valuable citizens a community can have. On
his mother's side he is a direct descendant of
Governor Bradford of Massachusetts, and his
father's family comes from old English stock.
jNIr. Johnson was born July 8, 1843, in Stock-
bridge, Mass., the son of Jonathan and Eunice
(Bradford) Johnson, the former .a native of
Stonington, Conn., and the latter of Massachu-
setts, her father, William, having been born in
Connecticut. There were five children in the fam-
ilv, and of them William Bradford came to Cal-
ifornia in 1852. via the Isthmus, his death oc-
curring in Petaluma in' 1857; Edward L. is a
resident of Dixon, III; Mrs. S. J. Carr lives in
Los Angeles; Mrs. Brewer died in Dixon, and
Albert was the youngest child.

Reared on his father's farm in Massachusetts.
Air. Johnson received a preliminary education in
public schools, and then entered Lennox Acad-
emy to prepare for Williams College. August 20.
1862, he demonstrated his patriotism by enlist-
ing in Company F, Forty-ninth Regiment of
j\Iassachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and was mus-
tered into service in Pittslield, having enlisted for
a term of nine months. He was first sent to New
York City on provost duty on the steamer Illi-
nois, went from there to the gulf and New Or-
leans under General Banks, took part in the
siege of Port Hudson, being there at the time of
its surrender, and was engaged in skirmishing
until he had served three months over time. He
was then ordered back to INIassachussetts and
mustered out at Pittsfield. In the fall of 1868
he removed to Dixon, 111., where he farmed for
a short time, but in 1875 entered the county re-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1235

corder's office as deputy circuit clerk and deputy
county recorder. At one time he also conducted
a large abstract business in partnership with Ira
W. Lewis, under the firm name of Lewis &
Johnson, in all of his work meeting with good
success.

The condition of Mrs. Johnson's health neces-
sitating a change of climate the family removed
to California in 1894, locating in Los Angeles,
where Mr. Johnson engaged in the real estate
business. In 1902 he came to Long Beach and
continued to deal in realty, the greater part of
his time being devoted to the handling of his own
property. The family residence is at No. 225
West Fourth street. Mr. Johnson was united in
marriage with Emily Comstock, a native of Lee,
Mass., and they are the parents of three children :
William Bradford, teller in the German-Ameri-
can Savings Bank of Los Angeles ; Lottie, Mrs.
John T. Laing, who resides in Dixon, III. ; and
Emma L., who makes her home under the par-
ental roof. Mr. Johnson is an active member of
the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder.
Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Wood-
men of America and belongs to Long Beach Post
G. A. R. He is an advocate of Republican prin-
ciples and in all matters of social and civic in-
terest lends his influence to the furthering of
those enterprises which tend to elevate and up-
build.

SYLVANUS THURMAN. Prominent
among the old pioneers of Southern California is
Sylvanus Thurman, who came to the state with
his parents in i860, a lad of ten years, and since
that time has made his home in the land adopted
by them, content to pass his declining years in
its pleasant surroundings. He was born in Ta-
ney county. Mo., April 5. 1850, the eldest in a
family of four sons and one daughter ; their
father, Elisha A. Thurman, was a native of
Kentucky, where the paternal grandfather, John,
located from Virginia and engaged in farming,
finally removing to Missouri and following the
occupation of flatboating on the Mississippi river.
He was a soldier in the war of 181 2, serving un-
der General Jackson at New Orleans. Elisha A.
Thurman located in Taney county. Mo., and en-
gaged as a farmer and stockman, and in i860
outfitted with ox-teams and necessary provisions
and brought his family across the plains, via the
Platte, Sweetwater, Fort Hall on the Snake
river, across the Humboldt, thence by the Car-
son route to California, making the journey in
seven months. He located in lone, Amador
county, and engaged as a farmer, and remained
there until 1866, when he went to Jackson coun-
ty. Ore., and followed a similar occupation for
tile period of three years. Returning to Califor-

nia in 1869 lie located in Los Angeles county and
near the Seventeen Mile house at Anaheim en-
gaged in the stock business. In 1872 he bought
a farm at La Puente, later resided in El Monte,
and finally located in the vicinity of Downey,
where he farmed until his death, which occurred
in 1902 at the advanced age of eighty-two years.
His wife, formerly Eliza Phillips, was born in
Tennessee, a daughter of John Phillips, who re-
moved to Moniteau county. Mo. ; she died in El
Monte. Besides Sylvanus, there were three sons
and one daughter, namely : Columbus, who died
in Downey; William C, located in Humboldt
count}', Cal. ; Elisha A., Jr., who died in Red-
lands ; and Susan, wife of O. H. Beardsley, of
Mentone.

S}'lvanus Thurman was reared in Missouri to
the age of ten years, when he accompanied his
parents on the memorable journey across the
plains. He helped drive the ox-teams and the
cattle, taking his turn at standing guard, and
early learning the lessons of self-reliance and
courage. Besides his father's two wagons, his
mother's brother had a team and wagon, and he,
having crossed the plains before, knew the way
and they came through without trouble. After
locating in Amador county he attended the pub-
lic school, after their removal to Oregon assist-
ing in the management of the home farm. He
remained at home until attaining his majority,
when he began for himself, starting in the sheep
business two years later at Puente, and continued
there until 1877. This being the dry year, he
sold out and then engaged in farming at El
Monte, and after two or three years spent one
year at Verdugo, and then went to Tombstone,
Ariz., and took charge of a freighting outfit for
Springer & Van Tazzle. One year later he re-
turned to California and in 1882 located on Mill
creek just below the Tyler ranch and engaged in
farming and the conduct of a pack train, he run-
ning the first passenger pack train over the San
Bernardino mountains from his ranch to Bear
valley and Seven Oaks. He continued this work
for many years and was very successful in it. In
1891 he purchased a ranch of one hundred and
twenty acres at Bluff lake, and now has two
hundred acres. In 1884 this was named Bluff
lake by the Bear Valley dam workers ; it has an
altitude of seventy-five hundred and seventy-five
feet, and consists of a beautiful meadow a mile
long and a quarter of a mile wide, with the lake
in the center ; the plateau is surrounded by. pines
and fir trees, one fir being eight feet in diameter
and one hundred and fifty feet high. Here he
has erected log cabins and shake cabins which
are used for cottages, Mr. Thurman himself con-
ducting the dining room, running a dairy in con-
nection with it and having his own beef to sup-
ply the table. Since 1891 he has made this place

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his home, spending his winters in Crafton and
his summers in this beautiful resort. He also
owns four hundred and forty acres a mile from
Crafton, and this property is devoted to the rais-
ing of hay, grain and stock. He has an orchard
on the place which supplies all his own fruits and
also for market. There are eleven mountain
springes on his ranch which supply ample water.

In Redlands in 1892 ^Nlr. Thurman was united
in marriage with ^liss Mary Abbie Pillsbury, a
native of New Hampshire and a graduate of Alt.
Holyoke College of Massachusetts and who has
been a resident of California since 1889. They
are members of the First Congregational Qiurch
of Redlands, and are liberal supporters of its
charities. PoUtically j\lr. Thurman is a stanch
advocate of the principles advocated in the plat-
form of the Democratic party.

GEORGE A. LAXE. Oceanside has a full
quota of live, energetic business men, promi-
nent among whom is George A. Lane, who, as
one of the re-organizers and managers of the
Bank of Oceanside, is carrying on a substan-
tial general banking business. In the varied
occupations in which he has been employed
he has gained valued experience and become
well and favorably known in mercantile and
financial circles. A son of Gilbert Lane, he
was born, in 1856, at Long Branch, N. J., be-
ing descended from an old and honored fam-
ily. His father v/as born in New Jersey eighty
years ago, and during his active life was en-
gaged in the transportation business in New
York City. Pie and his wife, whose maiden
name was Catherine Hathaway, are still liv-
ing. Of their four children, George A., the
subject of this sketch is the only one residing
in California.

Brought up in Long Branch. George A.
Lane attended llie public schools when young,
completing his education at a business col-
lege in Poughkeepsie, X. Y. Starting in life
on his own account when a young man. he
went to Wamego, Kans.. where he was for a
time engaged in mercantile pursuits. Locat-
ing in Trinidad, Colo., in 1879, he remained
there a number of years, first as a merchant.
after which he took a contract with others to
supply ties for the Utah extension of the Den-
ver & Rio Grande Railroad. Later he engaged
in the cattle business with a partner, his in-
terest.? remaining there until 1890. In the
meantime in i88(), he went to Flagstaff, Ariz.,
to take the management of the commissary
department of the .\rizona Lumber Company.
Disposing of his property in that locality in
iSqo. he came to California, and for the next
ten vears was in the emnlov of a wholesale

iiardvvare company in Los Angeles, and while
in the pursuit of his duties in that capacity
became associated with many of the promi-
nent business men of Southern California. Re-
signing his position in 1900, he removed to
Winslovv, Ariz., to take the position of cashier
of tlie Xavajo County Bank, which he held
for five years. Returning to California in the
spring of 1905. he. in company with J. X.
Woods, bought and re-organized the Bank of
( Jceanside. and he is rapidly building up a
large and lucrative business as a banker, and
in addition to managing that institution or-
ganized, in 1906, the First Xational Bank of
( )ceanside, and is also interested to some ex-
tent in real estate in this vicinity. Since the
death of J. X Vi'oods he has been elected to
the presidency of both banks, giving to these
institutions his personal supervision. The
present officers of the First Xational Bank of
Oceanside are: G. A. Lane, president; W. \'.
Xichols, vice-president ; and E. S. Payne,
ca.shier; while those of the Bank of Ocean-
side are : G. A. Lane, president ; C. S. Libby,
vice-president ; and E. S. Paj-ne, cashier.

In Los Angeles, Cal., Mr. Lane married
?(Iav Welch, a native of Wisconsin, and they
have one child, Edith. Politically l\Ir. Lane
is a Republican, and fraternally he was made
a jMason in Los Animas Loclge Xo. 28, F.
& A. ]\I.. Trinidad, Colo., and is now a mem-
ber of Oceanside Lodge Xo. 381. F. & A. M..
of Oceanside, of which he is junior warden;
he is also a member of AVinslow Chapter. R.
A. M., of Winslow, Ariz., and both he and
his wife belong to the Order of the Eastern
Star. Mrs. Lane is a woman of culture and
refinement, highly esteemed, and is a consist-
ent member " of the ?*Iethodist Episcopal
Church.

^^TLLIAM C. HUXT. The active, able and
progressive business men of San Diego have no
better representative than William C. Hunt, who
is widelv known as one of the leading contract-
ing painters of Southern California. Endowed
l)v" nature with many gifts, he has cultivated his
perceptive faculties, developing to an eminent
degree his mechanical skill and his knowledge of
form and color, becoming, in truth, an artist with
both pencil and brush. He is noted for his fine
workmanship, and as a sign writer and painter
has no peer in the county. A native of Dublin,
Ireland, he was born May 3, 1852,

Learning the trade of a painter when voung,
Mr. Hunt located in Xew York City in 1875. and
there followed both carriage painting and house
painting for awhile, being subsequently similarly
employed in Xew Jersey. Pennsylvania and

^

'^

GOTFRIED MAIJLHARUT

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHIC.VL RECORD.

1239

r^fassachusetts. From the latter state he came,
in 18S3, to C)akdale. Stanislaus county, Cal.,
which was then the terminal point of the railway,
and was there profitably employed at his trade
for four years. In 1887 he took up his residence
in San Diego, and has since been engaged as a
contracting painter, and has built up a thriving
and lucrative business, not only as a painter of
houses and carriages, but as a sign painter, in
the latter line especially winning an enviable
reputation. He does much of the contract work
of the city, keeping from ten to twenty hands
employed during the busy season, and in the
filling of his contracts invariably giving satisfac-
tion to all concerned.

In the Isle of iNlan Mr. Hunt married Fannie
Ireland, a native of England, and they are the
parents of two children, namely: \\'illiam
Charles, engaged in the painting business at Santa
Clara, and Dorothy Frances. 'Sir. Hunt is a
member of the San Diego Chamber of Com-
merce, and of the ^Master Painters" Association,
which lie assisted in organizing. He is one of the
most active and prominent Odd Fellows of the
county, being a member and past grand of Sun-
set Lodge No. 328, I. O. O. F. ; past district dep-
uty grand : a member and past chief patriarch
of San Diego Encampment No. 58 ; while Mrs.
Hunt is a member and past grand of the Re-
bekahs, and past district deputy. Mr. Hunt
also belongs to Silver Cate Court. Foresters
of America.

GOTFRIED M.VULHARDT. In the rush of
twentieth century enterprise we often fail to give
the credit due to the unostentatious patriots and
pi(ineers of the century g<Mie by. and often too
we fail in appreciation of the work accomplished
by the men and women who laid the foundation
of the present ])rosperity ; hence it were well
to record their names in the annals of local
history in order that future generations mav give
their memories the tribute of respect they deserve.
From the time of his arrival in \'entura county
in 1867 until his death more than thirty years
afterward Mr. ^ilaulhardt lived up to the measure
of an honest and conscientious oublic and pri-
vate life. Though of German birth he was in-
tensely American in ideals and spirit, and he
w^as one of those men who, in pursuing the even
tenor of their way, form the bone and sinew
of Americanism.

Dutterstadt. Germany, was ^Ir. Maulhardt's
native place, and May 27, 1836, the date of his
birth, he being a son of Jacob and Giristine
(Krukenberg) ATaulhardt. lifelong residents of
Germany, where the father followed the builder's
trade. Three of the sons came to California,
namelv : Tacob and Gotfried. who died in A''en-

tura county, and Anton, who died in Los Angeles.
On the completion of the studies of the common-
schools Gotfried IMaulhardt learned the carpen-
ter's trade and at the expiration of his apprentice-
ship he worked as a journeyman in his home
locality. On coming to America in 1867 he
proceeded direct to California and settled in Ven-
tura county, where he rented land and engaged
in raising grain and stock. After a time he in-
vested his savings in four hundred and ten acres
situated one and one-half miles from the present
site of Oxnard, and on this place he followed
general farm pursuits with gratifying success.
When land in the vicinity became very valuable
he disposed of a portion of the ranch, but the
bulk of the propertv is still owned by his estate.
On the homestead he remained engaged in ranch-
ing until his death, which occurred on Giristmas
day of 1898. In politics he voted with the Demo-
cratic party after becoming a citizen of the L'nited
states, while in religion he was an earnest mem-
ber of the Roman Catholic Church.

Some years before leaving his native land
Mv. Maulhardt established domestic ties, his
marriage in 1862 uniting him with Miss Sophia
Maena, a native of the same locality as him-
self. On the liome farm of her parents, John
and Dora (Peter) Maena (both .of whom are
now deceased), she grew to womanhood, mean-
•\vhile fitting herself for the practical duties of
a housekeeper and also receiving a fair educa-
tion in German schools. Of all her family she
was the only one to emigrate to America, and the
death of her husband now leaves her alone, yet
her life is far from lonely, for .she is surrounded
by warm friends and well-wishers and has a large
circle of acquaintances in Oxnard, where since
1904 she has made her home on E street. Reared
in the Roman Catholic faith, she always has re-
mained true to its teachings and has given gener-
ously to its charities and missionary organiza-
tion. Not only has the church been the recipient
of her generosity, but also other movements of
a practically helpful nature have commanded her
ready sympathy and active co-operation, and
probably no one in Oxnard is more deeply in-
terested than she in the progress of all that makes
for the permanent prosperity of the city.

MELYIN WILLARD HURST. A man
of many estimable qualities is ^lelvin Willard
Hurst, one of the i3rn|)rietors of the Dream-
land skating rink at Oxnard, who has been a
resident of this state since 1878. He was born
October 8. 1858, at Connersville, Tnd., a .son of
Rennett and Cynthia Simp.son Hurst, both na-
tives of Indiana. His grandfather. Sanford
Hurst, was a stockman and farmer, and the
father still resides on his farm nine miles from

1240

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Connersville. The mother, who died many
years ago, gave birth to three children, two of
whom are now Hving. ?.Ir. Hurst spent all of
his youthful days on the home farm in Indiana
and received his education through the medi-
um of the public schools. At the age of twenty,
years, being of an ambitious nature and desir-
ing to see something of the world, he turned
his steps toward the land of the setting sun
and arrived in Santa Barbara in 1878. Ap-
prenticing himself for three years to a carpen-
ter, when he had mastered the trade he went
to Pasadena and worked for a similar period.
Following this he spent a short time at work
in Los Angeles, then spent five years at Ven-
tura assisting in building operations. From
there he went to San Francisco for a few
months, when he came to Oxnard, in the 3'ear
1898, and helped to build the third structure
erected in the then new town. The following
three years he was engaged as contractor and
builder, having formed a partnership with J.
H. Myers, and at the close of this period went
to Arizona and prospected in the mines for
six months.

Mining did not prove as attractive and prof-
itable as he had hoped it would, however, and
upon his return to Oxnard he accepted the
position of foreman of the contracting firm of
M3'ers & Abplanalp, retaininsr the place until
the spring of 1906, Avhen he formed a partner-
ship with Mr. ]\rcAndrew and built the large
Dreamland skating rink on C street. The
building is a very large and commodious one,
measuring 72x120 feet, the fine maple floor
covering a space 60x120 feet, the capacity of
the floor being sufficient for two hundred
skaters. The equipment is of the finest and
the skates are the best Spaulding and Union ball
bearing. Many high class entertainment feat-
ures are given from time to time, including
masked parties, dances and races. A regula-
tion double bowling alley is also run in con-
nection with the rink. ^fr. Hurst is interested
in other property in Oxnard, among his
holdings being two residences in the city. Fra-
terrially he affiliates with the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellows' Lodge of Oxnard. and po-
litically he is an earnest advocate of the prin-
ciples embraced in the platform of the Repub-
lican party. He is well informed on social
and economic subjects and is a public-spirited
citizen, highly respected by the whole com-
munitv.

his birth having occurred in Piedmont, January
6, 1856, the second in a family of three children
born to his parents ; his father, Peter, was also
born in Piedmont, of an old and distinguished
family, and both himself and wife died in their
native country. Joseph Ferrero was the only one
of the family who ever came to America. He
was reared on his father's farm in Italy, receiv-
ing a rather limited education in the public schools
of his native country, after which he engaged
independently in farming operations. Deciding
in 1886 to try his fortunes in America he crossed
the ocean and came to Los Angeles, Gal., where
he remained for five years employed principally
on ranches. He then purchased a ranch in the
vicinity of Whittier and remained there until
1898, when he came to Puente and engaged in
the raising of grain on the Puente ranch, in 1903
purchasing the eighty-five acre ranch which he
now owns, adjoining the town of Puente. He
has added improvements to the place and brought
it to a high state of cultivation, installing a
pumping plant, equipped with a twenty-three
horse power engine, with a capacity of eighty
inches. He has set out eight acres in a walnut
grove, while the balance is devoted to alfalfa and
hay.

In Italy Mr. Ferrero was married to Carlotta
Fea. a native of Italy, where her death occurred.
Of their three children, two are living, Peter, a
farmer in Puente, and IMaddelena. Mrs. Faure of
Puente. Mr. Ferrero was married a second time
to Dominica Boggetti, a native of Italy, and born
of this union are the following children : George.
Mary, Joseph, Albert. Dominic, Frank, Vincent,
^Marguerite and David.

JOSEPH FERRERO. A business man of
Puente. Joseph Ferrero is engaged in dealing in
alfalfa and ha\-. and managing a fine ranch in the
vicinity of thi-; place. ITc is a native of Itnlv,

D. E. BOWMAN. A^'aried occupations pre-
sent themselves as a source of livelihood to the
residents of Southern California, and not the
least important of these is the management of
an apiary. Experience has proved that certain
sections are well adapted to bee-culture, and
availing themselves of this fact a number of men
have devoted themselves successfully to the in-
dustry. Nuinbered among the enthusiastic
apiarists of Valley Center may be mentioned Mr.
Bowman, who owns an apiary of one hundred
and nine colonies and at one time had as many
as seven hundred colonies. Long experience has
given him a thorough knowledge of the busi-
ness and there are in the community few men
more thoroughly acquainted with the industry
than is he. The apiary is situated on his ranch
of forty-five acres and forms the principal source
of revenue from the property.

A native of Berlin, Canada, born in 1839, Mr.
Bowman is a son of John B. and L>-dia E. (Erb~)
Bowman, both of whom are deceased. .\s a bov

/^^,

jy^ |*Bf^

^^7^^-^"^ c>f/=

MISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1243

1k' was given the best educational privileges the
neighborhood afforded, and on leaving school be-
gan to teach not far from the old home, where
he remained for a considerable period following
the profession of a teacher. In 1869 he removed
to Lawrence, Kans., and for a few years resided
in that city and state, but in 1874 he proceeded
west to the Pacific coast and settled at Valley
Center, San Diego county, where he soon ac-
quired e.xtensive apiary interests. During 1886
he became interested in mining at various mines
and for twelve years he devoted himself almost
wholly to that occupation, but since 1898 he has
given his time to the bee business. His knowl-
edge of bees embraces every detail connected
with their habits and their needs, and by reason
of his long experience and thorough knowledge
he is enabled to bring to the markets honey of
superior quality and unsurpassed richness of
flavor.

After having remained a bachelor for years,
in December of 1905 he was united in marriage
with j\Irs. Jennie Strong, who shares with him
the esteem of acquaintances and with him is an
attendant upon services at the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. Thoughtful reading and a close
study of conditions relating to capital and labor
have made of him a socialist. In him the poor
have a helpful friend, and his sympathies are
ever on the side of the unfortunate and op-
pressed. The course of a long and active life
has brought him a wide knowledge of the human
race and of the conditions under which the poor
struggle for their daily bread, and this knowl-
edge has broadened his outlook as well as deep-
ened his sympathies. To the people of Valley
Center, where he holds the rank of a very old
settler, he has many warm and sincere friends,
who have been drawn to him by his earnestness
of character and kindness of heart.

JAMES FINLEY. One of the modern and
up-to-date residences in Long Beach is Em-
erald Cottage, at No. 37 Lime street, which
was formerly the home of Mr. Finley, and is
still the home of his widow and children. In
thus naming his home Mr. Finley perpetuated
a name which is dear to all natives of the Em-
erald Isle, for he was a native of Ireland, born
in County Antrim in 1845, a son of William
and Eliza (Hanna) Finley, of Scotch and
English antecedents respectively.

During his boyhood James Finley was
reared on his father's farm until he was
eighteen years old, but the routine of the
work was irksome to him and he determined
to prepare himself for work in another line.
The raising and preparing of flax into articles
of commerce is one of the chief industries in

his native country and it was along this line
that his inclinations led him. He learned the
art of flax dressing and became so expert at
the work that before long he was placed in
charge of the mill, holding this position for
several years, or until resigning in 1867 to
come to the United States. Going direct to
Painesville, Ohio, he obtained employment
with Stores, Harrison & Co., nurserymen in
that city, with whom he remained for about
one year, at the end of that time coming to
California. Locating in San Jose he obtained
a position with the Saratoga Paper Mills Com-
pany, while there learning the details of the
business and finally rose to the position of su-
perintendent of the mill. Subsequently he was
interested in a tannery in Santa Cruz, but was
overtaken by disaster in this undertaking when
he had been in it about a year, thus losing all
that he invested in it. Going then to Santa
Rosa, Sonoma county, he accepted a position
as traveling salesman and engineer for Joseph
Enright. a large dealer in steam harvesters.
Returning to San Jose, it was in 1880 that he
entered the fire department of that city as en-
gineer, a position which he held for five years,
or until March, 1885, when he resigned to ac-
cept his appointment as superintendent of the
.Santa Clara County almshouse. In this as in
all other positions which he had filled he gave
his undivided pttention to the duties that fell
to him. with the result that he left a record
behind him which was greatly to his credit.
After eight years as manager of the alms-
house he" resigned in 1892 to take chargeof his
ranch of forty acres near Downey, which he
had purchased some years previously. He set
out the entire tract as a walnut grove, erect-
ing a fine residence and other necessary im-
provements, making of it one of the finest
ranches in that part of Los Angeles county.
After making his home there for eight years
he disposed of the property and removed to
Long Beach, erecting the residence on
Lime street occupied by his widow and
children and known as Emerald Cot-
tage. Here he lived retired during his
latter years, although his death occurred at the
California Hospital, whither he had gone for
treatment. An operation finally became im-
perative, but even this expedient failed to
bring desired results and he passed away Sep-
tember 25, 1904. He was recognized as a pub-
lic spirited man, self-made in every sense im-
plied by the term.

In San Jose, November 24, 1881, Mr. Finley
luarried Sarah E. McGary. who was born in
Yamhill county. Ore., four miles north of Mc-
Minnville. The INlcGary family was for manv
years well known in the. south, especially in

1244

. HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Kentucky, where the grandparents of Mrs.
Finley, James and Martha (Thomasson) '\lc-
Gary, were born and reared and there spent
their entire lives. Their son, Garrett W., was
born near Frankfort, Ky., and continued to
make his home there imtil a few years prior to
the rush to California as the result of the find-
ing of gold. Leaving Kentucky in 1847 he
crossed the plains by means of ox-teams and
arrived at his destination in Oregon six
months later. The Cayuse Indian war broke
out soon afterwp.rd, and with the other settlers
he did his part in quelling the disturbances,
serving as lieutenant of his regiment. He
came to the west with the idea of settling
down as a farmer, and the first property which
he owned was in Polk county. Subsequently
disposing of this he purchased a half-section of
land near Mc^Iinn-^-ille. which was the home
of the family at the time of the birth of his
daughter. In 1868 he located near San Jose,
Cal.. where he carried on a farm until 1884,
when he removed to Downey and engaged in
wainut-growing. He died on th.e ranch which
he had established there December 20, 1897,
at the age of sevent3--five 3'ears and six
months, firm in the faith of the Christian
Church, of which he was a member. The wife
of Garrett W. AIcGary was before her marriage
Catherine Sparks, a native of Surry county. N.
C, and a daughter of INIathew and Sarah (El-
mer) Sparks, both also natives of North Car-
olina, and the latter of English descent. From
North Carolina ]\Ir. and Mrs. Sparks removed
to Lone Jack. Mo., but later, in 185 1, brought
their family across the plains to Oregon, two
sons having preceded them to California in
1849. Settling on a farm in Polk county they
there passed the remainder of their lives, hav-
ing become the parents of ten children, of
whom seven are living. Four children were
born to ATr. and Mrs. Finley. all of whom are
residents of Long Beach, and with the excep-
tion of the eldest, who is married, are still at
home with their mother. Named in order of
their birth thev are as follows : Bessie, Mrs.
W. W. Brady :' William J., Edward Ayer and
James Robert. During his earlier years Mr.
Finlev was a Re])ublican in his political belief,
but during later years took sides with the Pro-
hibitioni.sts. Religiously he was a member of
the Holiness Association, while Airs. Finley is
a member of tlie Christian Church of Long
Beach.

W. A. WICKERSHAAI. As a progressive
and successful ranchman Air. Wickersham of
San Diego county is ranked among her leading
citizens. Bv the exercise of thrift and good

business judgment he has become the owner of
two very fine ranches, although he is yet a
young man. His birth occurred December 10,
1872, in Kansas City. AIo., his parents, Joshua
J. and Damearis (Hipes) Wickersham, both
being natives of Indiana. The father was a con-
tractor and builder by trade, a Republican in
politics, and an adherent of the Quaker sect in
religion. His death occurred at Rainbow, Cal.
at the age of sixty-eight years. The mother,
who is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Giurch, makes her home with her son. A\'. A.,
he being one of three children. With his father
Air. Wickersham came to Califoniia when ten
years of age. receiving his education in the pub-
lic schools of San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles.
At the latter-named place he learned the •
printer's trade, although he followed it for a
short time only. Later he came to San Diego
county and filed on a piece of government land
comprising eightv acres, and also bought twenty-
five acres. Starting with fifty swamis of bees,
he engaged in the production of honew his gain
for the first season being $165. He has eight
acres of ground devoted to the raising of raisin
grapes, while on the homestead he cultivates hay
and grain crops.

Air. Wickersham"s marriage to Ada Z. Cole-
man, a native of Kansas, occurred in 1899.
Roy Walter,, the only child born to them, died .ui
infancy. In 1891 Air. Wickersham also suffered
the bereavement of his wife. He leans toward
the religious opinions of the Alethodist Episco-
pal denomination and politically is a strong ad-
herent of the Republican party, at present fill-
ing the office of deputy clerk of San Diego
county. He is one of the most highly esteemed
citizens of the communitv in which he resides.

SALITH LEEDOAI. Since 1902 Smith Lee-
dom has been engaged as a liveryman in San Ber-
nardino where he is well known as the proprie-
tor of the Santa Fe stables located on D street.
He was born in 1837 near Ricksmill, in Alusking-
um county. Ohio, where his father followed the
occupation of farmer. Educated in the public
schools, when he grew to maturity he resolved
to continue in the work to which he had been
trained through his boyhood and engaged in
agricultural pursuits. On June 24, i8r)3. he was
united in marriage with Aliss Annie E. Humph-
rey, born near Cumberland. Ohio, her father.
Thomas Humphrey, having been a native of the
same state and the son of parents who claimed
\'irginia as their native home. Air. Humphrey
was a successful farmer, drover, stock dealer
and business man, who, after a life of useful-
ness, died in Ohio, mourned by all who had the
pleasure of his acquaintance. Airs. Lecdom's

^^'^'^-^^^ ^^^£>^t^

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1247

mother, who was Louisa Ann Harlan before her
marriage, died when her only child was Init two
years of age.

After their marriage Air. and !Mrs. Leedom
operated a farm for about two years near Ricks-
mill, afterward locating near Cumberland and
following the same business until 1888. In that
year they removed to California, settling in Col-
ton. Two years later they removed to Redlands
locating on Xinth and State streets, and after-
ward bought an orange ranch west of Redlands,
known as the Barton tract. Air. Leedom engaged
m ranching for a number of }ears in this locality
and in iyo2 purchased the livery Ijusiness in San
Bernardino, which he now conducts. Of the ten
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Leedom we men-
tion the following : Allen H. and Walter are
successfully engaged in the automobile busine-^s
in Colton ; W. T. is in the same business in Red-
lands ; Jennie, J\Irs. Littlefield, resides in San
Bernardino, where her husband is a plumber :
O'Dell is also engaged in the automobile business
in Colton : Etta became the wife of John Bost-
wick, who is successfully following the painter's
trade in Colton ; Harry, a lather and shingler by
trade, lives in Los Angeles; Orra died in Colton
at the age of nineteen years ; Clarence died in
Redlands when ten years old : Alary became the
wife of Willie Gillogey, who is a carpenter by
trade and owns a residence in Redlands. Mrs.
Leedom is a member of the Baptist Qiurch. Po-
litically Mr. Leedom is a Republican and frater-
nally is a JNIason, having attained the master's
degree. As an enterprising and progressive citi-
zen he is held in the highest esteem by all who
know him.

WILLIAM WHITE. Prominent among
the early pioneers of Sherman was the late
^^'illiam White, who during his thirty years of
residence in this locality was known and re-
spected as an industrious and worthy citizen,
a kind neighbor and a loving husband and
father; and his death, which occurred Januar}'
24, 1904, at the homestead where he had long
resided, was a cause of general regret. He
was born August 12, 1822, in Harrisburg, Ky.,
where he grew to man's estate.

Going to Trenton, Grundy county, Mo., in
1845, while yet a young, single man, William
WHiite laid a soldier's warrant on a tract of
land, and purchased an adjoining tract, ob-
taining title to many acres. He subsequently
served as an officer in the Mexican war. for
which he was entitled to a pension from the
government, the papers having arrived at his
home just four days after his death. At the
close of the war he married and settled as a
carpenter in his Missouri home. In 1862, hear-

ing glowing descriptions of the lands to be
bought for a song farther west, he, accom-
panied by his wife and two small children,
went across the plains with ox-teams to east-
ern Dregon, locating near the present site of
Baker Cit}-, where he took up land on which
he lived and labored for a year. Forced to
leave there on account of ill health, he located
in the Willamette valley, near Eugene, Ore.,
where he bought eighty acres of land. Renting
his land, he afterwards followed his trade in
that vicinity until 1875. Selling out in that
year, he came to Los Angeles county, settling
near the present site of Sherman, where he
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild
land, which he parti}- cleared and improved, al-
though not domg quite as much as he would
had he been physically more able and strong.
When he came here, neither railways nor tele-
graph or telephone wires spanned the country,
and the native Indians and the wild beasts had
not fled from the advancing steps of civiliza-
tion. He lived, however, to see the country
well settled and himself the owner of a good
ranch, fairly well improved, and yielding good
crops.

On July 14, 1850, Air. White married Alar-
tha F. Blew, who was born November 17, 1833,
in Huntsville, Randolph county, AIo., and they
became the parents of four children, nameh- :
Robert AL, of Hollywood, Cal. ; William 6.,
wdio died at the age of thirty-three years ;
Thomas L.. owning a part of the old home-
stead ; and Charles R., also owner of a portion
of the old home farm. Since giving up pos-
session of the ranch to her sons. Airs. A\niite
has lived in the village of Sherman, where
she owns a small house. Politically Air.
White was a zealous supporter of the princi-
ples of the Democratic party, and for one term
served as constable. He joined the order of
the Ancient Free and Accepted Alasons when
young, and in 18^5 both he and his wife united
with the Christian Church. Although he was
in poor health for many years, he was confined
to his bed but two days before death relieved
him from his sufiferings, the end coming sud-
denly in the midwinter of 1904.

GEORGE \y. FRAZER. A man who has al-
ways had the best and highest interests of hu-
manity at heart and has done much work in the
promotion of elevating influences throughout
the state is George W. Frazer. of Colton, whose
profession is that of horticulturist. He was born
January 29, 1831. in Greenbrier county. \'a..
and when a child of three his parents removed
to Will county. Til., where he spent his boyhood
days and was educated in the public schools.

1248

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

At a tender age he was deprived of a mother's
loving care. The father, John Trazer, was a
native of Virginia who settled in Illinois in 1834
and continued to reside in that state until the
time of his death in 1864. He was an active
member of the ^Methodist Episcopal Church and
an enthusiastic class leader and Sunday-school
worker and surrounded his family with every
elevating and refining influence at his command.

From Illinois Mr. Frazer went to New Orleans
and Texas, remaining for one winter, after
which in 1852 he came to California across the
isthmus via Nicaragua route, landing in San
Francisco July 14. His experiences on this
trip came near to proving disastrous. The sail-
ing vessel which he boarded, after leaving the
isthmus port was becalmed in midocean for six-
ty-seven days with only twenty-five days' rations,
and when help reached them crew and passen-
gers were nearly famished. Arriving in San
Francisco he left shortly for the mines, but his
health being very poor, he soon left that employ-
ment and went to Contra Costa county, where he
engaged in ranching until 1858. The following
twenty years were spent in Salano county in the
cattle business. In 1861 he settled on a piece
of government land there and the succeeding
year was married to Miss Eliza Root, a native
of Indiana, a family of eight children blessing
their union: Albert, Alice, George, Guy, Lulu,
Fred, Adele, and' Jessie. The mother's death
occurred when she was forty-four years of age.

In 1888 INIr. Frazer located in Southern Cal-
ifornia and was a fruit dealer in Monrovia for
two years, and in 1890 he came to Colton where
he has bought a fine home and expects to spend
the remainder of his days. Since i860 Mr.
Frazer has been a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church and has always been an en-
thusiastic worker in religious circles. He is
a stanch Prohibitionist and at one time was very
active in the Good Templars lodge in which he
held ofifice many times. In Contra Costa county
he was state lecturer for the Grange organiza-
tions there, and served that county officially as
deputy sheriff and constable. He is a broad-
minded man of strong principles and is held in
the highest esteem by all who have the pleasure
of his acquaintance.

D. N. DODSON. Probably no man in San
Diego county is better acquainted with real life
in the west, southwest and northwest than D. N.
Dodson, the well-known editor and proprietor
of the Ramona Sentinel, who has lived in many
states and has had a varied experience. Learn-
ing the printer's trade at the compositor's case,
he has since been more or less identified with
journalistic work, and as owner of the Sentinel

for the past four years has greatly increased its
literary excellence and its circulation. Public-
spirited and enterprising, he has endeavored
through its columns to promote all progressive
civic movements and to further advance the edu-
cational, business, social and moral welfare of
the community in which he resides and whose
welfare he has at heart. A son of John H.
Dodson, he was born, August 31, 1851, in Du-
buque, Iowa.

The grandson of one of the earliest settlers of
Ohio, John H. Dodson was born and reared in
that state, and during his earlier life was there
a farmer and hotel keeper, and subsequently a
merchant, dealing exclusively in boots and shoes.
Going from there to Wisconsin, he was for a
short time employed in lead mining, but without
sufficient success to continue there. Removing to
Iowa, he bought land near Dubuque, and for
awhile was engaged in tilling the soil. Locating
then in Texas, he carried on general farming
and stock-raising until his death, at the age of
seventy-one years. He was a man of much in-
fluence in the places in which he lived, being
active in the Republican party, a Mason and an
Odd Fellow, and a valued member of the JNIeth-
odist Episcopal Church. He married Mary Ann
Noleman, who was born in Ohio, and died, at
the age of fifty-five years, in Texas. She was a
woman of rare personal worth, and a consistent
member of the Baptist Church. Of the six sons
born of their union, three are residents of San
Diego county, namely: J. H., a rancher in the
EI Cajon valley, now serving as justice of the
peace; A. E., of San Diego, an insurance and
government land lawyer; and D. N., the special
subject of this sketch.

Having acquired his elementary education in
the common schools of Iowa Falls, Iowa. D. N.
Dodson served an apprenticeship at the printer's
trade in Fort Dodge, Iowa, remaining there
until twenty years of age. Going then to Texas,
he followed his trade for six years, in the mean-
time studying law. Being admitted to the Texas
bar in 1878, he practiced his profession at Den-
ton, Tex., for two years, and while there served
as mayor of the city one term. He was after-
wards a resident for a time of Clay county,
Tex., and there was justice of the peace. Sub-
sequently, in partnership with one of his brothers,
he was for a year or more engaged in the print-
ing business at Dallas, Tex. In December, 1887,
he came from there to San Diego. Cal. and tHe
following three years was similarly employed in
that city. Subsequently locating in Escondido.
he bought four hundred acres of wild land an4
began the improvement of a ranch, at the same
time owning and managing a newspaper at Otay.
Disposing of all of his in"terests in that locality,
he went to Alaska, investing his money in Yaka-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1249

tat claims, which proved worthless. Not in the
least discouraged, Mr. Dodson, in company with
a ]\Ir. Patterson, then located in Valdez,
Alaska, where he practiced law, and also served
as notary public for a few years. Accumulating
some money, he erected eight cottages, all of
which were soon after entirely swept away 6y a
sudden rise in the Glacier stream. Returning
then to the States, he lived for six months in
Washington, traveling for an insurance com-
pany. Coining back to San Diego county, he
started life anew, without moQey, rich only in
friends and courage. With characteristic enter-
prise he continued his labors, and in his pro-
fessional career has met with eminent success.
Four years ago he bought the Ramona Sentinel,
which he has managed so ably, and while as-
sisting the material and financial growth of the
town, has added to his own wealth, building a
good residence here and accumulating other
property. He takes an intelligent interest in
everything concerning the public welfare, and
is now serving as notary public.

In Denton, Tex., in 1880, Mr. Dodson married
Tillie Cleveland, who was born in Missouri, and
died in San Diego December 24, 1889, at the
early age of thirty years. She was a woman of
refinement and culture, greatly esteemed and be-
loved by a large circle of friends, and was a
member of the Baptist Church. Four children
blessed their union, namely : Bruce, residing in
Los Angeles; Clare, wife of Clarence M. Tel-
ford, of Ramona, a carpenter and ranchman ;
Nellie, who died at the age of eighteen years, in
Ramona; and William, seventeen years old, liv-
ing in Glendora, Los Angeles county. Possess-
ing the courage of his convictions, Mr. Dodson
votes for the best men and measures, independent
of party restrictions, and fraternally he is a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

HIMALAYA MINING COMPANY. Col-
lectors of precious gems are today finding an al-
luring field for study and discovery in the tour-
maline, a beautiful and brilliant gem from
Nature's treasure house which connoisseurs de-
clare to be second only to the diamond. Like the
diamond, the tourmaline is not found in paying
quantities in many localities. Indeed, there
hitherto have been but three fields to yield this
gem, Maine and Connecticut in the United
States and Ceylon in India. The gem has been
found in Brazil and other countries, but not in
sufficient quantities to render successful mining
possible. Up to the present time the demand
has far exceeded the supply, hence the discovery
and successful development of new mines pre-
sents points of great interest to those engaged
in buying and selling stones and gems.

Recent important discoveries of tourmaline
have been made in the Mesa Grande mountain
district, fifty-four miles from the city of San
Diego and thirty miles from the town of Foster,
the nearest railroad station. Three companies
have been pioneers in developing this rich field,
namely: Tannebaum JNIining Company, whose
properties cover eighty acres ; San Diego Tour-
maline Compan}-, forty acres ; and Mesa Grande
Tourmaline and Gem Company, seven hundred
and eighty-four acres. It was in 1891 that Prof.
George F. Kunz, while prospecting in Mesa
Grande mountain, found tourmaline in distinct,
isolated crystals, many of which were translucent
and even transparent, with separate forms and
perfect prisms. Though the rubelite predomi-
nated, there were also to be found specimens
made up of four or five distinct sections, re-
sembling those at Haddam Neck, Conn., and
Paris, Me. ; while the Brazilian form is also to
be found; with the exception that those have the
interior of the crystal red inclosed in white, with
green exterior, while the Mesa Grande crystals
show green in the interior or yellow green in-
closed in white, with the exterior red.

Ten years after making his original statement
concerning this discovery Professor Kunz re-
ported that $15,000 in gems had been taken from
the mines, of which almost one-half were found
within twelve feet of the surface although the
best stone was taken out at a depth of fifty feet.
Some of the stones he stated to have more bril-
liancy than anything in the world with the sole
exception of the diamond. In value the tour-
maline ranges from $5 to $50 a carat according
to qualit}' and size. The rubelite tourmaline is
taking the place, in a large degree, of the ruby.
The demand continues to exceed the supply and
there is every encouragement for stockholders in
the various companies to push forward the work
of mining with all the celerity possible, as the
results cannot be otherwise than gratifying.

The Himalaya Mining Company, which lo-
cated eightv- acres in 1900, is owned by Lippman
Tannenbaum of New York City, one of the
largest importers of diamonds in the world. The
general manager and superintendent of the com-
pany's interests is J. Goodman Braye, Jr., who
ranks as one of the expert tourmaline miners in
the world and has a knowledge of the Mesa
Grande mines exceeded by no one.

JAMES WEIR, president of the board of
trustees of San Pedro, is also chief engineer of
the San Pedro Lumber Company, besides which
he is first vice-president of the Harbor City
Savings Bank, in the organization of which he
took an active part. He is a native of Mercer
county, Pa., born September 21. i860, the eldest

1250

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of four children and the only one to locate on
the Pacific coast. His father, George Weir, was
a native of Scotland, from which country he
immigrated to America and in Pennsylvania en-
gaged as a farmer until his death. His wife,
formerly Eliza Craig, was also a native of Scot-
land.

Educated in the district schools, which he at-
tended hetween the years of six and sixteen,
James ^^'eir, began the battle of life with a sub-
stantial foundation upon which to built future
knowledge. At the age of sixteen years he left
school and accepted a position as apprentice to
learn the trade of machinist, and upon his mastery
of the work began a prosecution of his trade in
Pennsylvania. He made that place his home un-
til 1892, when he came to Madera, Cal., and en-
tered the employ of the Madera Flume and Trad-
ing Company in the capacity of engineer and
machinist. He remained widi them for about
four years, when, in 1896, he came to San Pedro
and accepted the position of chief engineer at
the mill of the San Pedro Lumber Company,
which was just then completed. This position
he has subsequently filled with efficiency, and since
the installation of the engine and machinery im-
provements his responsibilities have been lessened
considerabl}-.

In this city 'Sir. \\'e\r married Delia Hann. a
native of Indiana, and they are now the parents
of two children. James and Mabel. Mr. Weir
is prominent in fraternal circles, being a member
of San Pedro Lodge \o. 332, F. & A. j\l.. in
which he was first initiated into the order,
is also enrolled among the members as high
priest, of San Pedro Qiapter. No. 89. R.
A. M., and is identified with the Modern
Woodmen of America. He has taken a deep
interest in the development of San Pedro in
1902 being elected a member of the board of
trustees for a term of four years, and two years
later selected as president of the board. In 1906,
at the April election, he was re-elected to his
office and made chairman by the members which
position he holds at the present writing. He is
a man of ability and a citizen of worth, who is
best appreciated where best known.

WILLLVAl L. CL.\RK. superintendent of
the Cleveland-Pittsburg Gold ^Mining Com-
]5any and one of the most efficient and ex-
perienced mining engineers of the west, has
held his present position for several years,
coming here from Colorado. The mine of
which he has been given the charge has been
in operation for ]ierhaps one-half a century
and is owned by the company named, whose
main offices are in Pittsburg. The location of
the mine is on a ])ortion of ihc rancho Rincon

del Diablo of one hundred and thirty acres,
situated two and one-fourth miles southeast
of Escondido, and here he may be found busily
engaged in the details of his work, which he
superintends with business acumen and expert
skill.

^Ir. Clark was born in Pennsylvania, near
Pittsburg, in 1859, and is a son of D. S. and
X. H. (Long) Clark, the former of Scotch
ancestry, and the latter of Irish extraction.
During an early period in the history of the
west Mr. Clark removed from the east across
the plains with ox-teams and embarked in busi-
ness in the then small village of Denver, with
whose commercial development he remained
identified until his death. His wife also con-
tinued to reside in that city as long as she
lived. Their son, William L.. was educated in
the schools of Golden and at early age gained
an excellent knowdedge of mining, being es-
pecially skilled in engineering work. When
onlv sixteen years of age he became interested
in mining at Leadville and later formed min-
ing interests at Aspen. While making these
two towns his headquarters he traveled over
every part of the United States and ]\Iexico
where mines are to be found and was retained
as engineer in many responsible connections.
Later he took up work in the Cripple Creek
mines, where he continued from 1892 until his
removal to California in 1903, and since the ist
of August of the latter vear he has been in
charge of the Cleveland-Pittsburg Gold Alin-
ing Company's interests at Escondido.

The marriage of Mr. Clark took place in .\s-
pen, Colo., in June, i88g. and united him with
Anna L. Girard. who was born in Pennsyl-
vania and received superior educational ad-
vantages. One child, a son. Girard. blesses
their union. Airs. Clark is a daughter of a pio-
neer of 1849. J- B. Girard. who was born and
reared in Pennsvlvania, and at the time of the
discovery of gold in California came west by
wagon across the plains and engaged in min-
ing. After a time he returned to the east and
eventually settled in Colorado. WMien the
.\ncient Order of United Workmen became
established in Pennsvlvania he was one of the
charter members of tlie original lod.ge and
took a warm interest in the development of
the fraternity. During the Civil war he ren-
dered faithful service as a member of the
Union army and later identified himself with
the Grand Army of the Republic. He died in
.-\spen in 1891. In their church affiliations
Air. and Mrs. Clark are Episcopalians, but
maintain liberal views and contribute as far as
possible to all worthy religious movements
without reference to creed or doctrines. In
fraternal relations he holds affiliations with

PDSTOLUCAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL Rl-:CORD.

iLloi

the Masons, having been prominent in the
work of Cripple Creek Lodge No. 96, A. R. &
A. M., also a member of the chapter in the
same city.

GEORGE A. HAILS. Prominent among the
successful men of \ entura county is George A.
Hails, a rancher located five miles southeast of
Oxnard, where he has been a resident for nearly
twenty years, establishing his personal fortunes
on a secure basis and at the same time lending
his aid toward the furtherance of all movements
toward the general welfare of the community.
Mr. Hails is a native of New England, his birth
having occurred in Sudbury, Mass., September
23, 1856; his father, Richard Hails, was born
in Newcastle-on-the-Tyne, and in young man-
hood immigrated to the western world, where, in
Sudbury (then Quincy) Mass., he engaged as
a merchant tailor. He remained in that loca-
tion until 1873 when he came to California and
passed the remainder of his days, dying at the
advanced age of eighty-four years. He is sur-
vived by his wife, formerly Abbie Jones, who
was born in South Lincoln, Mass., a daughter
of James Jones, a native of the same vicinity
and the representative of an old New England
family, prominent in the history of that section.
She resides in Santa Barbara at the present writ-
ing. Of her children, Abbie resides in Santa
Barbara ; Charles died in young manhood in that
city; George Alvin is the subject of this review,
and Alary, wife of John T. Torrance, resides in
Santa Ynez, Cal.

The first seventeen years of George A. Hails'
life were spent in his native state, where he re-
ceived an excellent education in the pub-
lic and high schools, fitting him for the
work of his young manhood. In Oc-
tober. 1873, he came with his parents to
Santa Barbara, and shortly afterward secured
employment on a ranch in Santa Barbara coun-
ty. This occupation he decided to make his life
work and from that time on he followed ranch-
ing, being associated with his brother at Goleta.
In 1887 he came to his present location, which
was a part of the Scott estate, purchasing prop-
erty upon which he has since placed all of the
improvements. He has erected a handsome and
modern residence, commodious barns and out-
buildings, has his property well fenced, and the
land in a high state of cultivation. He has set
out a fine orchard as well as numerous shade
trees, which greatly enhance the beauty of the
place. For a time he was engaged in the raising
of grain and stock, but has since devoted the
greater part of his time to the cultivation of
iicans and beets, in which he has met with suc-
cess. In addition to the one hundred acres he owns

he also rents one hundred and fifty acres, the
entire property being devoted to beans and beets.
His methods are strictly modern and up-to-date,
his interest keen in the science of farming, and
in the conduct of his farm has well earned the
position he holds among the ranchers of \'entura
county — that of a progressive and enterprising
farmer.

In Goleta, Santa Barbara county, Mr. Hails
was united in marriage with Miss Ettie Kenyon,
a native of Michigan and the daughter of Ger-
don Kenyon, who became a pioneer rancher in
the vicinity of Goleta. They are the parents of
three children, Mary E., Eva M., and Elsie I.
Mr. Hails has not allowed his personal affairs
to so engross his attention as to render him value-
less as a citizen, but has instead interested him-
self on all questions of the day and has kept
closely in touch with progress along all lines. He
is specially active in educational interests, and
since the organization of the Oxnard Union higli
school district has served as a member of the
board of trustees, assisting materially at the time
of the erection of the high school building. He
has also served as a member of the Ocean Mew
school board of trustees. Fraternally he is iden-
tified with the Knights of Pythias and the Fra-
ternal Brotherhood, while politicallv he gives
his stanch support to the principles advocated
in the platform of the Republican party. The
support of the family is given to the Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Hails is a
member, although all charitable enterprises,
whether denominational or otherwise, receive
financial aid from them. Mr. Hails merits the
high esteem in which he is held by all who know
him, either in a business or social way, for he
has carried into active practice his belief in
stanch principles of integrity and honor. Pleasant
and courteous in demeanor, he has won many
friends who appreciate him for his sterling
traits of character.

P. H. BARTRON is a native of Tioga countv,
N. Y., and was born April 19, 1842. Taken by
his parents to Potter count}'. Pa., he there had
the advantages of the public schools, of a prac-
tical agricultural training and an apprenticeship
at well boring, which he has followed at inter-
vals during his entire active career.

Mr. Bartron was nineteen years old when the
proclamation of Abraham Lincoln fell like a
clarion call upon the heart of every able-bodied
son in the land. Enlisting in Company K. One
Himdred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Infan-
try, he served for three years, taking his part
in camp, on the march and in battle until dis-
abled. This injury necessitated his retention in
the hospital at West Philadelphia for three

1254

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

months, after which he rejoined his regiment and
participated, among others, in the battles of Get-
tysburg, The Wilderness, Chancellorsville and
Fredericksburg. He was a brave and fearless
soldier, and during his career accumulated a fund
of interesting information.

After the war Mr. Bartron engaged in lum-
bering in Pennsylvania for abottt four years,
and in 1871 removed to Wisconsin, where the
Eau Qaire river offered excellent opportunity
for the same industry. The following year he
married Elsie Dodge, a native of Wisconsin,
and soon afterward returned to Pennsylvania,
where he worked in a grist and saw mill for a
couple of years. In 1878 he brought his family
to California, settling on land near Hanford,
Kings county, where he lived three years, and
from where he came to Santa Barbara county
during the summer of 1881. He had, in the
meantime, both made and saved money, and this
he invested in property which is devoted to pas-
ture, hay and stock-raising, besides which he
owns lots in Santa Maria.

Of the children born to Air. and Airs. Bartron.
Elison is the wife of J. H. Mahurin ; Myra D. is
the wife of John Grant ; Bert is at home ; Isabelle
is the wife of John Aubert : and Ethel, James and
Roy live with their parents. Mr. Bartron is a
Republican in politics, but confines . his political
activity to casting a conscientious vote. He is
a member of Foote Post No. 89, G. A. R., and
Mrs. Bartron is a member of the Woman's Re-
lief Corps. Mr. Bartron's reputation is based
upon practical efforts as a farmer and well borer,
upon courage as a soldier, and honesty as a citi-
zen of a prosperous and moral community.

JOHN BARTLEY SMITHSON, JR. The
present deputy sheriff of Needles, Cal., John B.
Smithson, Jr., is the descendant of English an-
cestors on the paternal side, but it is not
definitely known when the family was first rep-
resented in this country. It was prior to the
birth of the grandfather, Allen F. Smithson,
however, for it is known beyond a doubt that
he was born in Mississippi. Leaving the south
with his family in 1846 he started for the west,
his son, John Bartley Smithson, Sr., then being
a lad of about five years. Several years were
spent in Colorado and Utah, and it was not until
1850 that they finally reached San Bernardino,
Cal. Here they found th'e Indians more numer-
ous than white settlers and as a matter of safety
they built a fort as a retreat for the women and
children. John B. Smithson, Sr., well recalls
these pioneer conditions, and as he was of an
age to be of service in driving the teams he
proved a valuable assistant. Subsequently he en-
gaged in teaming and farming in this locality.

following this dual occupation for nineteen years,
and in the mean time accumulating considerable
land. At one time he owned four hundred and
eighty acres, set out to apples principally, al-
though he also raised other fruits and vegetables
m addition to managing a dairy. With his wife,
formerly Miss Jane Cadd, he is now living re-
tired in San Bernardino, loved and respected
by many who are familiar with his long and in-
teresting career.

Of the large family of children born to' these
parents ten are now living and of these John
Bartley Smithson, Jr., is the second, his birth
occurring in San Bernardino September 18. 1868.
During his boyhood and youth he attended the
public schools of his home town, and as soon
as old enough and when his school duties would
permit, he worked for his father, assisting him
in freighting and caring for the home ranch.
Subsequently he accepted a position in the Atchi-
son, Topeka & Santa Ee boiler shops in San
Bernardino, filling the same until 1901, when he
relinquished it to engage in business for him-
self. Seeing a good opening ahead in running
a line of teams to the mountains he secured
the necessary teams and outfit and for about two
years, or until May, 1903, carried on a very
profitable business along this line, giving it up
on the date last' mentioned, however, to accept
his appointment on the police force of San Ber-
nardino. In January of the following year he
was promoted to his present position as deputy
sheriff' and special officer for the Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Ee Railroad, having charge of the
station at Needles, and to which he devotes his
entire time and attention.

The family home however is in San Ber-
nardino, at the corner of Ninth and I streets,
and is graciously presided over by Mrs. Smith-
son, who before her marriage was Miss Florence
Case, a native of this city and the daughter of
James H. Case. The home of Mr. and Airs.
Smithson is brightened by the presence of one
child, Lois Alene, who is the joy and pride of her
parents and will receive every advantage in their
power to bestow. Fraternally Air. Smithson af-
filiates with the Woodmen of the World, and
also with San Bernardino Parlor, N. S. G. W.,
and in his political belief he is a Republican.
Personally he is well liked for the many fine
traits of his character, which is in keeping with
his stalwart and well-built frame.

AIILLS BROTHERS. California is rich in
the possession of men of ability and enterprise
who have given their best efforts toward the
material growth and progress of the state.
Among these prominent mention may be made
of two native sons, the Alills brothers, Francis

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

E. and Edward T., located in the vicinity of EI
Monte, and actively engaged in the improvement
and cultivation of a fine walnut grove. Their
father, E. T. Mills, was born in Buffalo, N. Y.,
in 1833, their grandfather, Abel, being a native
of the same state and the descendant of Eng-
lish ancestry. E. T. Mills engaged as an assist-
ant in his father's business, which was that of
a miller, until he was seventeen years old, when
he came to California ; he outfitted with ox-
teams and in company with a large train set out
across the plains for the Mecca of the fortune
hunter's dreams. They had many exciting and
fearful experiences during the journey, running
out of provisions, which forced them to eat mule
meat in preference to starvation. They finally
abandoned their wagons and made the remainder
of the journey as best they could, arriving in
Hangtown after several weary, trying months,
where Mr. Mills found employment in the mines.
After several years in this occupation he came
to Southern California and in San Bernardino
county engaged in lumbering. Following his
marriage there he removed to Los Angeles
county and became a pioneer settler of El
Monte, where he followed farming and stock
raising, and also conducted a freighting busi-
ness between Los Angeles and San Bernardino
beforfe the railroads supplied the early hotels of
the former city. He always retained an inter-
est in the mining operations of the state. He
was a stanch Republican, an ardent advocate of
all upbuilding enterprises, and foremost in what-
ever looked toward the betterment of the com-
munity. His death occurred in 1887, while his
wife, formerly Mary Margaret Cleminson, a
native of Missouri and sister of James Clemin-
son, whose history appears elsewhere in this
volume, passed away in 1879. They were the
parents of three children, Francis Eugene, Ed-
ward Theron and Imogene, Mrs. Thompson, of
Azusa.

Francis Eugene Mills was born on the Qem-
inson place in El Monte, February 5, i860,
while Edward Theron Mills was born on the
present site of the high school building of this
town, July 10, 1862. They were classmates in
the public schools of El Monte, studying to-
gether, playing together, and as early as 1875
began working land together. They leased land
in the vicinity of El Monte and engaged in
general farming and the raising of grain, which
occupation proved successful and gave them
means, with which, in 1884, they began the im-
provement of ten acres of land. Slowly adding
to this property with their accumulated means
they have now thirty acres, finely improved and
capable of the highest cultivation, all devoted
to apples and walnuts, which make of the prop-
erty one of the fine groves of this section. They

have been successful in their efforts, have ac-
cumulated a competence, and at the same time
established for themselves a place among the
progressive and enterprising men of this section.
Francis E. Mills is married, his wife in maiden-
hood being Gertrude Hall, a native of Vermont.
She was reared in Kansas and came to this state
with her parents in 1880, her marriage occur-
ring in El Monte. They have had five children,
namely : Ellsworth, Francis, who died in in-
fanc)'; Gertrude, Mary Imogene and Ruth
Gladys. Both brothers are members of the
Mountain View Walnut Growers' Association,
in which Francis E. is a director, and officiates
as treasurer. Both are stanch adherents of Re-
publican principles.

FRED G. BIERLEIN. A popular and suc-
cessful young business man Fred G. Bierlein of
Long Beach has within the three years of his
residence in this city made himself a leader among
automobile dealers and is conducting a rapidly
growing trade. The family is of German de-
scent, Mr. Bierlein's grandfather having been
born in Germany and after coming to this coun-
try he settled on a farm in Frankenmuth, Sagi-
naw county, Mich., where his son, Mathew, was
born. The birth of Fred G. occurred July 9.
1880, in Richville, Tuscola county, Mich., his
father now owning a farm near that place. His
mother; who is also living, was before her mar-
riage Anna M. Ranke, a daughter of Fred Ranke,
who was a native of Pennsylvania and became
an early settler in Saginaw county, Mich., and
was there engaged in farming.

A member of a family comprising thirteen
children, Fred G. Bierlein acquired a common-
school education and helped his father until
twentj'-one years of age, then went to Bay City
and secured employment in the West Bay City
Sugar Company's factory, and within two years
had risen to the position of assistant to the super-
intendent. Desiring to secure a commercial
education he went to Lansing and entered the
Lansing Business University, from which he
graduated in 1902. The following year he filled
the position of bookkeeper and office man with
the Huber Manufacturing Company in Lansing,
and in December, 1903, came to Los Angeles and
was employed bv L. T. Shettler, agent for the
Oldsmobile, as bookkeeper and salesman. Re-
taining this place until January, 1905, he con-
ducted an Oldsmobile agency in Riverside for
four months, then came to Long Beach and built
the old Palace garage on Fourth street, becoming
the proprietor and securing the agency of the Reo
and Winton automobiles. In the spring of 1906
he sold out and started an automobile supply
business at No. 38 Locust street and erected a

1256

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

new garage at No. 232 Pacific street, moving into
the new quarters in September, 1906. The build-
ing is 50x190 feet, the materials used in its con-
struction being entirely of brick and stone, mak-
ing it an absolutely fireproof structure. In the
front are the spacious salesrooms and offices, and
back of this is the main room for machines,
equipped with private lockers for regular cus-
tomers, air tanks and everything that goes to
make a thoroughly up-to-date complete garage,
no expense having been spared to instal every
modern convenience. Automobiles are kept for
rent and Mr. Bierlein has the agency for the
Reo, Winton and Strothers machines, his busi-
ness in every department being the larg-est of
the kind in the citw

^Ir. Bierlein's marriage in Bay City, Alich.,
united him with Miss Emily A. Kloha, a native
of that state, and they have become the par-
ents of one child, Leon Jacob. They are mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church, whose charities
and benevolences they support liberally, and ex-
ert an elevating and progressive influence
throuo-hout the communitv in which thev reside.

S.AAIUEL TRELOAR is one of those fine old
gentlemen whom it is always a delight to meet,
and the various paths which his life has followed
and the stirring scenes through which he has
passed make him an interesting conversational-
ist. His father, also Samuel Treloar, wiis born
in England and with his family came to this
country in 1834, when his namesake was but
two years old. Settling in the territory of Wis-
consin, he there reared his eleven children,
seven of whom grew to maturity, and of these
two now make their homes in California. The
mother passed away at the age of fifty years, but
the father attained the advanced age of eighty-
six years.

As has been previouslv stated Samuel Treloar
is a native of England, his birth occurring No-
vember 9, 1832, but as he was brought to the new
world when he was a mere child he has no per-
sonal knowledge of his native land. His boyhood
and youth were associated with the pioneer con-
ditions which then prevailed in Wisconsin, and
in the mean time he attended the subscription
schools in the vicinity of the family homestead.
In 1852, before he had attained his majority, be
joined a party of immigrants bound for Cali-
fornia, and upon reaching the state went at
once to the Placerville mines. From Eldorado
county he went to Sierra county, following mining
in both localities for about twenty-seven years,
and in the mean time had investigated the mining
prospects of the Eraser river country. Returning
to his old home in Wisconsin, he remained there
seven vears, at the end of tliat time retracing his

steps to the Golden state. Going to Yuba coun-
ty, he there settled down as a tiller of the soil,
in addition to which he also followed mining.
Selling out his interests there in 1896 he came
to the southern part of the state, and near Car-
pinteria, Santa Barbara county, purchased one
hundred acres of choice land upon which he still
malces his home, although the work connected
with the management of the ranch is performed
by others.

In 1864 ^Ir. Treloar was united in marriage
in Forest City. Sierra county, with Lizzie Lee,
who was a native of his childhood home, Wis-
consin. Nine children were born to them, and
with the exception of two, all are married and
established in homes of their own. Named in
order of birth the children are as follows : Liz-
zie J., who is the widow of Ed Jeffrey ;; Frank
Benjamin ; Carrie, the wife of George Martin ;
William, who married Hattie ^^'ebster : Forrest,
who chose as his wife Ora Lentz ; Qiarles, who
married Mabel Baton ; Stella, the wife of Philip
Dane: ^[yrtle E. and Albert Lee. Since 1864
Mr. Treloar has been identified with the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and has passed
through all of the chairs of the order, this also
being true of the United Workmen Lodge, of
which he is also a member. For three years he
was a member of the Home Guard in Califor-
nia. Politically he supports Republican prin-
ciples, and in religion he affiliates with the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church.

PATRICK QUINN. As the owner of the
Ouinn granite quarry, Patrick Ouinn is known
as one of the successful and progressive business
men of Temecula, where he has one hundred
and sixty acres of mountain land with a front-
age of half a mile of solid granite. The stone
is of fine quality and is used for head stones,
building and curbing purposes, and is shipped
at the rate of about fifty carloads per year to San
Francisco and Los Angeles markets.

Mr. Quinn was bom in April, 1853, in Gal-
way county, Ireland, where he received his ed-
ucation. .At the age of seventeen years he came
to the United States and located at Waltham,
Mass., there learning the trade of stone cutter.
His arrival in California dates from 1876, when
he reached San Francisco. Subsequently he
traveled all over the coast section and in 1886
came to Temecula and began his present busi-
ness, which was the first one of the kind in this
section, and has now grown to proportions re-
quiring the employment of sixteen men in the
quarries. Mr. Ouinn is a public spirited citizen,
interested in the development of his section of
the state and lends his support to all enterprises
tending towards its upbuilding.

'^.^^^'^^^^-r

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1259

GEORGE H. JOHNSON. The owner of one
of the finest orchards in the San Jacinto Val-
le}-, George H. Johnson is known as one of the
most successful and highly respected citizens of
this section of the state. His ranch was in a very
neglected condition when he bought it, but he has
improved it until it is now considered a very de-
sirable property. It is located diree-fourths of
a mile east of \'alle \'ista, on Florida avenue,
and the greater part of the forty acres is devoted
to oranges, although he also raises sufficient hay
for his own use. The birth of jNIr. Johnson oc-
curred December 5, i860, in Phelps county, ]\Io.,
he being the son of JMilton and Trythene (Deem)
Johnson, both of whom were natives of Indiana.
They settled in Missouri in early years, in 1862
becoming residents of Indiana, where they re-
mained twelve years, the succeeding ten years
being spent in Illinois, and in 1884 they removed
to the still further western state of Kansas, lo-
cating in Burr Oak, where ]\Irs. Johnson's death
occurred. The father then came to California,
arriving here in 1893, lived in San Jacinto and
\'alle \'ista until 1897, when he returned to Kan-
sas, his death occurring a short time later at the
age of sixty-seven years.

The education of Mr. Johnson was received
in the schools of Indiana and Illinois, in which
latter state he was married, February 25, 1884,
and the following year he removed to Kansas,
whither his parents had already located. A de-
sire to come still further west induced him to
make another change in the spring of 1891, at
which time he settled in Diamond valley. River-
side county, Cal., later removing to the San
Jacinto valley and purchasing a half interest in
the ranch upon which he now makes his home.
The death of his wife occurred in Kansas in
1890, the year previous to his removal to this
state. She was before her marriage Miss Mary
Belle i\Iason, a native of Illinois, in which state
she was married. Two children were born of
diis union, Roy, whose death occurred in his
eleventh year, and Earl, now nineteen years of
age, who lives at home with his father. Frater-
nallv Mr. Johnson is a member of San Jacinto
Camp No. 100, W. O. W., and Hemet Lodge No.
190, I. O. O. F. He is a man who takes an
especial interest in educational matters and served
on the school board of his district for two vears.

GEORGE A. TELFORD. The attractive
country home situated one-half mile south of
Ramona has been occupied and owned by Mr.
Telford during the entire period of his residence
in the west. On coming to California in 1890
he at once settled in Ramona and purchased a
ranch adjacent to the village, where he set out
an orchard of thirtv-five acres of all kinds of

fruit. About the same time he erected a mod-
ern and substantial residence containing ten
rooms and ecpiipped with the latest improvements,
ibis being still recognized as one of the most
elegant farm houses in San Diego county. Every-
thing on the place bears an appearance of thrift
mdicative of the energy and judicious manage-
ment of the owner, who in addition to super-
intending the farm takes contracts for the erec-
tion of residences and other buildings.

The Telford family is of eastern stock, coming
from New York State. For many years David
W. Telford was a prominent member of the bar
uf Cayuga county and ranked high for his knowl-
edge of jurisprudence and the fundamental prin-
ciples of the law, but eventually he retired from
practice and established himself upon a farm. For
a time he also filled the office of surveyor of Ca}'-
uga county. There he continued to reside until
his death, which occurred in 1900, at the age
of eighty-nine years, many years after the de-
'.nise of his wife, Caroline (Mason) Telford, who
had passed away in 1865, at the age of thirty-four
} ears. Among their children was George A.,
born in Cayuga county, N. Y., April 28, 185.^,
and educated in public schools and Red Creek
Academy. During 1872 he started out for him-
self and went west as far as Missouri, where
he settled in Meadville, Linn county. As time
passed by he acquired various interests and form-
ed important business relations, becoming one of
the well-known men of his town. The packing
and poultry industries were his principal occupa-
tions for some time and he also held a position as
traveling salesman with J. H. Dunn, while in ad-
dition for twelve vears he engaged in contracting
and building in that town and county.

\Miile making his home in Missouri Mr. Tel-
ford was united in marriage in 1876 with Miss
Eva J. Butler, a native of Beloit, \'\'is., but from
childhood a resident of Missouri. Four chil-
dren were born of their union, namcl}' : Ida, who
married J. C. Bargar, represented on another
page of this volume ; Eunice, wife of William
Stockton, who is engaged in the stock business
and resides at Ramona ; Clarence M.. who mar-
ried Oara Dodson and resides in Ramona, and is
liis father's partner both in the cultivation of the
farm and the contracting business, and Carrie E.,
who remains with her parents on the home farm.
The family stands high in social circles of the
neighborhood and is identified with the Congre-
gational Church in religious connections. In poli-
tics Mr. Telford for years has been a believer in
Republican principles and a voter of that ticket
at all elections. Fraternally he holds member-
ship with Court No. 8520, Ancient Order of For-
esters. The general esteem of the people is ac-
corded him, and he enjoys the confidence of all.

1260

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

for his uprightness of Hfe and probity in business
transactions have been such as to commend him
to tlie people with whom he has liad associations.

FRED P. SMITH. Varied business ex-
periences in different parts of the east were fol-
lowed by l\Ir. Smith's removal to California,
where since January, 1897, he has been em-
ployed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railroad as their agent at the Carlsbad station.
IJorn and resred in New York City, he is a
member of an old eastern family of Quaker
ancestry and he was by birthright a member of
the Society of Friends, but forfeited his mem-
bership through enlisting in the Civil war,
participation in warfare being in direct oppo-
sition to the societj^'s teachings. His parents.
Dr. John T. S. and Amelia (Franklin) Smith,
Vv^ere natives respectively of New Bedford,
Mass., and New York City, and the former, re-
moving to the metropolis at an early age,
there established a homeopathic pharmacy.
When seventy-three j^ears of age, in October,
1876, he died in New York City, and his wife
also died there at the age of fifty-six years.

Born December 5, 1849, Fred P. Smith was
given an excellent education in private schools
of New York City and later assisted his father
in the pharm.acy business, eventually becom-
ing a partner in the same business with his
brother, Henry ^T. Smith. About 1875 he
lurned his attention to the provision business,
in which he remained for seven years. The
next occupation in which he became interested
was that of nursing, in which capacity he was
retained by patients of homeopathic physi-
cians in New York. On leaving that city he
removed to Camden, N. J., and acted as agent
for the Wheeler & \A'ilpon Sewing Machine
Company for a short time, afterward engag-
ing in the grain business for the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company. On leaving the Atlantic
seaboard he settled in Toledo, Ohio, where he
had charge of collecting rents for his brother-
in-law's real estate business and for a time he
also filled the position of warden in the Home-
opathic hospital of Toledo. Removing to the
Pacific coast in 1886, he soon afterward settled
in Twin Oaks valley, San Diego county, and
made his home in Escondido for two years or
more, since which time he has resided in
Carlsbad, and is a well-known citizen of this
place.

Tiiough very young when the Civil war was
in progress Mr. Smith was accepted as a mem-
ber of Company K, Eighth New York State
Militia, and served until the expiration of his
tim.e. Later he affiliated with the Grand ,\rmy
of the Roinibltc, in the activities of which he

has maintained a constant interest. Among
the other organizations in which he has borne
a part may be mentioned the Knights of
Pythias (his membership being with the Es-
condido Lodge) and the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows (affiliating with the Oceanside
Lodge). While living in New York City he
there married, in 1874, Miss Josephine Stevens,
a native of Michigan. Two children were born
of their union. The daughter, Marion, mar-
ried James Furber and resides in Rahway, N.
J., while the son, Sherman S., also makes his
home in the same citv.

CAPT. LEWIS ALBERT PAINE. Since
November, 1901. Capt. Lewis A. Paine has been-
a resident of California and in the city of Long
Beach has given his best efforts toward advance-
ment along all lines calculated for the upbuilding
of this section of the state. He is at the present
writing serving as deputy city clerk, and al-
though but a brief time has elapsed since his ap-
pointment to this position by the city council he
has ably demonstrated his ability and' bids fair to
rise to higher positions of trust and responsibil-
ity in the gift of the people. Captain Paine is the
descendant of an old New England family, his
father, Elbridge M., and grandfather, William
Henry, both being natives of the state of Ver-
m.ont, where the elder man engaged in agricult-
ural pursuits for many years. He eventually
brought his family to the middle west, where in
the vicinity of Fond du Lac and Manitowoc,
Wis., he spent his last days. Elbridge M. Paine
was reared on the paternal farm in Wisconsin to
years of maturity, when he removed to Charles
Citv, Iowa, passing a brief time in that location ;
returning to Wisconsin he was occupied as a
farmer for three years and then became a resi-
dent of Boone county, Neb., where in the vicinity
of Cedar Rapids he engaged in general farming
and stock-raising. Locating in Long Beach in
1901 he has since lived retired from the active
cares of life and is now numbered among the cit-
izens who are enjoying the advantages produced
by their early years of efifort. His wife, who is
also living, was formerly Rhoda Emigh, born in
the northern part of New York state, a daughter
of Henrv Emigh, a farmer who later in life lo-
cated in Fond du Lac, Wis.

Of the three children born to his parents Lew-
is Albert Paine is the second in order of birth, he
being a native of Charles City, Iowa, born April
2, 1875. His childhood days were passed in Ne-
braska, where he attended the public schools, sup-
plementing this training by a course in the high
school of Cedar Rapids and the University of
Nebraska at Lincoln. He left the university to
enlist for service in the Spanish-American war.

/

'/ryi^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1261

becoming- a member of the Second Regiment Ne-
braska Volunteer Infantry, in Company A, after
an eight months' service being honorably dis-
charged as corporal. Following his release from
the army he spent one year in traveling, after
which, in 1901, he came to Long Beach with his
parents and for the ensuing four years engaged
in contracting. In May, 1906, he was appointed
by the city council to his present position of dep-
uty city clerk. He takes a deep interest in the
advancement of all public enterprises and has a
firm faith in the future of this city, where he has
invested in real estate.

On the 2i.st of December, 1.904, Mr. Paine was
one of the organizers of Company H, Seventh
California National Guard, and was at that time
elected second lieutenant. May i, 1906, while in
service at Oakland following the great San
Francisco disaster, he was elected captain of the
company. In matters fraternal he is identified
with the Modern Woodmen of America (of which
he is venerable consul). Knights of Pythias and
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is an
honored member of the Spanish-American War
A^eterans of Long Beach.

WILLIAM SINGLETON. ' In the citizen-
ship of San Bernardino and Riverside counties
AVilliam Singleton occupies a prominent posi-
tion, esteemed alike for his business character-
istics as well as for personal qualities which
have been displayed during his long residence
in this section of Southern California. Mr.
Singleton was born in Lancashire, England, a
son of James and Ann (Houghton) Singleton,
both natives of the same place. His grandfather,
William Singleton, was a brewer in Lancashire,
where he spent his entire life. James Single-
ton engaged as an engineer and machinist in
his native country until 1853. -when he brought
his family to America, arriving in New
Orleans, transferred to river steamer and land-
ing at Keokuk, Iowa, and completing the
transcontinental journey h}- means of the time-
honored ox-teams. Arriving in Salt Lake City
he engaged in farming until 1857, when he
once more loaded his worldly effects into an
ox-wagon and finished the trip to the Pacific
coast, arriving in San Bernardino, and there
securing employment as a machinist and en-
gineer in a sawmill and also entering a farm,
locating upon the same in 1868. With his son
\Villiam he purchased the old Roubideaux
place of forty-four hundred and forty acres,
and there followed agricultural pursuits until
his death, which occurred in 1881 at the age
of sixty-seven years. One-half of this large
propert)' was sold to a farmer located near

them and the remainder kept in the family. His
wife, a daughter of William Houghton, a
miner in England, survived her husband until
1894. They had two children, William, of this
review, and Ann, now ]\Irs. Hiram Haskell, of
this place.

Born November 13, 1834, William Single-
ton was reared in his native country and edu-
cated in a private school to the age of eleven
years, when he engaged with his father to
learn the trade of machinist. He was first em-
ployed as a wiper and from that learned the
trade. In 1853, on February 8, the family em-
barked at Liverpool on the sailer Elvira Ow-
ens, bound for New Orleans, and after seven
weeks they^ arrived at their destination. They
went up the Mississippi river to St. Louis,
thence to Keokuk, where they outfitted with
ox-teams and necessary provisions and set out
on the journey overland to Salt Lake City.
Arriving in that cit}^ October 6 Mr. Singleton
began farming with his father, and remained in
that location until 1857, when they again out-
fitted and came overland to San Bernardino.
Here he first followed the work of engineer in
a sawmill, remaining so occupied for the pe-
riod of two years, and then again becoming
interested in farming. In 1868 with his father
he located on the farm before mentioned, and
with him developed and unproved it, erecting
a residence in which he now resides, and con-
ducts an extensive dairy business and cream-
ery, as well as general farming operations.

In San Bernardino Mr. Singleton was united
in marriage with j\Iiss Lydia Brooks, a native
of St. Louis, IMo. ; she came to California in
1852, crossing the plains with her father,
James Brooks, to Salt Lake City, and ten
years later came to Southern California. They
are the parents of the following children : An-
nie, Mrs. Goetting, of El Casco ; William
James, engaged with his father; Helen, at
home; Thomas Henry, fanning near Beau-
mont; and Charles Edward, at home. For
many years Mr. Singleton served as school
trustee of the San Timoteo district and has al-
ways taken a practical and helpful interest in
educational matters. In political affiliations
he is a stanch Democrat. The business inter-
ests of Redlands had in Mr. Singleton one of
its prominent factors, as with his nephew, W.
H. Singleton, mentioned at length in this vol-
ume, building the Club Stables and operating
them until their sale some time since. He en-
joys the esteem of the citizens of this section
who have known him for a half century, and
merits the high place he holds as a representa-
tive rancher, stockman and business man.

1262

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

LEWLS CALVIN LINDSEY. Since his
location in Long Beach ]\Ir. Lindsey has
taken an active interest in the development
of the city and has manifested his faith in the
permanency of conditions here by investing
largely in real estate holdings. He is prac-
ticalh' retired from active business cares,
seeking a needed relaxation in the evening
of his days. Mr. Lindsey is a native of Nor-
wich, ]\Iuskingum county. Ohio, his birth
occtirring February 22, 1830, the tenth of a
family of thirteen children, of whom but two
are now surviving. His father. Joseph Lind-
sey, a native of Penns^h-ania, \vas a carpenter
and builder who located m .Muskingum coun-
tv, Ohio, and in addition to his building enter-
prise engaged in the improvement and culti-
vation of a large farm. He spent his last
years in Cedar county, Iowa. His wife, for-
merly Ellen Miller, a native of Ohio, died in
Illinois.

Lewis Calvin Lindsey was reared in Ohio
until he was seven years of age, when he was
taken by his parents to Illinois, in Champaign
county, receiving a limited education throu^'h
an attendance of the public schools whose
sessions were held in tlie log cabin of the day.
At the age of twenty years he removed to
Iowa, having at that age been dependent upon
his own resources for five years. His prin-
cipal occupation was as a farmer in Iowa, im-
proving a farm of one hundred and twenty
acres in the ^'icinity of ^^'ilto^ Junction, break-
ing prairie with five yoke of (jxen. He re-
mained a resident of Iowa until 1881, when he
removed to Nebraska and three miles west of
Hastings purchased and improved a farm.
Later he purchased a farm of one hundred and
sixty acres in Hayes county. Neb., which
property he still owns. Finally retiring from
active farming life he located in Hastings
where he made his home until the fall of 1901,
when he came to Southern California and lo-
cated in Covina. Two years later he came to
Long Beach, where he now owns a com-
modious residence and also owned a ranch
of three acres near Signal Hill.

In Cedar county, Iowa. February 22, 1852,
Mr. Lindsey married Ellen Halderman. a na-
ti\e of Illinois, and born of this union were
ten children, eight of whom are now living:
Martha J., wife of Nelson Ridenour of Custer
county, Neb. : Mary, wife of Eugene Nye ;
Laura, widow of John Elmer De Forest, of
Los Angeles; William, of Long Beach; Clara,
Avife of Eugene Hammond, of Hastings, Neb. ;
Charles Upton, of Long Beach; INIinnie, wife
uf C. F. Casebeer; and Irene, wife of Fred
Hart, of Seattle, Wash. :\lrs Lindsev is a

daughter of Christian Halderman, who was
liorn in Germany, and after his immigrating
to America engaged as a farmer and carpenter
in Illinois. Later in life he located in Cedar
count}-, Iowa, and on Rock creek operated a
flour mill and also engaged in farming, being
a pioneer of that section. He died there in
early life. His wife, formerly ]\Iartha Lake,
was a native of Ohio, whose death occurred
when her daughter was but four years old.
Mr. Lindsey is a Democrat in his political
affiliations and takes an acti\-c interest in the
iirincinlcs he endorses.

JEFFERSON HAIL HATHAW.VV. The
family represented by Mr. Hathawa}' of Pomona
is traced to Old Virginia, where the grandparents
were born, but later years numbered them among
the residents of Alissouri, the birth of their
son Jefferson M. occurring in St. Joseph, that
state. When he was a lad of about seven years
removal was made to Texas, and in that state
he was reared and received such meagre edu-
cational advantages as were in keeping' with
the pioneer conditions. When the fever of ex-
citement following the finding of gold in Cali-
fornia had somewhat subsided a more conserva-
tive class of homeseekers followed in the wake
of the forty-niners, and among the number who
came to the state with this object in mind was
Jefferson M. Hathaway. Behind . a team of
slow plodding oxen he crossed the plains in
1853, passing through Arizona, and finally
reached Santa Ysabel, San Diego county. From
there he came on to El Monte, Los Angeles
county, and then crossed over into San Bernardi-
no county. After his marriage, which occurred
in the latter county, he returned to El Alonte and
engaged in farming, following this until 1867.
when he went to Rincon and purchased a ranch
in that vicinity. Sixteen years later he removed
to Azusa, and four years later, in 1887, he
took up ranching near Pomona, and it was here
that his earth life came to a close December 14,
1905. His wife was formerly !\Iartha M. Rus-
sell, who was born in Illinois, the daughter of
Hiram Russell, who brought his family across
the plains in 1858 and settled in San Bernardino
county. Mrs. Hathaway is still living and makes
her home at No. 808 West Ninth street. Pomona.
Seven sons and three daughters were born to
this worthy couple, and of the number four sons
and three daughters are now living.

Next to the oldest of the surviving children
is Jeff'erson H. Hathaway, who was born in El
i\[onte, Los Angeles county. March 14, 1863.
He was a child of only two years wlien the familv
removed to Rincon and settled upon a raiicli

CAPT. JOSEPH MASSEMN

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

12(35

ill that vicinit}-. As soon as he was old enough
to he of assistance on the ranch he gave his ser-
vices to his father, at the same time attending
the puhHc schools when in session. This as-
sociation crintinued until i8(jg, when the son, who
had always displayed a mechanical turn of mind,
estahlished himself in the bicycle business in
I'oinona, in connection with which he also does
general machine and repair work. I lis shop
is located at Xo. 443 West Second street, where
may be seen a good assortment of second-hand
bicycles, as well as new ones of his own manu-
facture. His interests are not solely absorbed
in the business just mentioned, however, for he
is the owner of a fine ten-acre alfalfa ranch near
Chino.

Mr. Hathaway's fraternal associations are
numerous and include membership in the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to
the Encampment and the Rebekahs ; the Inde-
pendent Order of Foresters, P'raternal Aid and
Fraternal Brotherhood. In politics he is a Demo-

CAPT. JOSEPH MASSE LIN was born in
Havre, France, August 16, 1830, and was reared
on a farm until he went to sea, sailing out of
liavre. In 1849 he came around Cape Horn
to .San Francisco. He sailed on the coast and
bay of San Francisco, becoming captain of
vessels and later on owned his own vessels,
which he sailed as master, among them being
the Garibaldi, Jean Fredrick and Safety. The
latter was burned in San Francisco bay. In
1870 lie sold his vessels and located in Los
.\ngeles and for many years was successfully
engaged in the sheep business, ranging them on
La Brae and Cienaga ranches in Los Angeles
county. In about 1880 he purchased a farm
of one hundred and forty acres, part of the
Cienaga ranch, and there engaged in farming
until his death, October 21, 1898.

Captain Masselin was married in San Fran-
cisco October 29, i860, to Miss Marie Sehabia-
gue, who was born in Basses-Pyrenees, France,
the daughter of Alichael and Dominica Se-
habiague, who were successful agriculturists
in the south of France. By way of Cape Horn
Mrs. .Masselin came to California in 1859, leav-
ing Havre on tiie sailer Chatelon, and after
a voyage of six months and fifteen days land-
ed in San Francisco. Since the death of her
liusband she has continued to reside on her
ranch looking after her interests. It is lo-
cated on Wilshire boulevard, one and one-half
miles west of the city limits, and aside from
engaging in general farming she has it leased
to an oil company, which has several produc-

ing wells, two of them flowing. Six children
were born to Mr. and Mrs. ^Masselin, namely:
John B., a grocer on west Pico street, Los
Angeles; Zellie, wife of Pierre Sarrail, pro-
prietor of the Ramona Bottling Works of Los
Angeles ; Eugenia, Joseph, Julia and Cornelia,
all under the parental roof. Captain Masselin
was a very enterprising man and always ready
to give of his time and money towards the up-
building of his community. He was much in-
terested in education and for many years
served as trustee of the Cienaga school dis-
trict.

A [ARK McLaughlin. Throughout Ven-
tura county are to be found men of wealth and
position who came to this country from the
British Isles poor in purse, but with an unlimited
stock of energy and perseverance, and who by
untiring industry and wise management have
acquired a competence. Prominent among this
number is Mark McLaughlin, a large landholder,
who is now living retired from active pursuits
on his well-appointed ranch near Oxnard, en-
joying a well-earned leisure. One of the earlv
settlers of the Santa Clara valley, he has ever
taken a warm interest in its development, en-
couraging and supporting all beneficial projects,
and as a man and a citizen is held in higli es-
teem. He was born, April 20, 1843, in Ireland,
where his parents, Patrick and Ellen (Wynne)
McLaughlin, spent their long and usefuf lives,
the father attaining the age of eighty-eight years,
and the mother living until eighty-two vears old.
Of the twelve children born into their household,
eleven grew to years of maturity, and two came
to America, one son settling in Detroit, Mich.,
and the other, Mark, being the subject of this
review.

In common with his brothers and sisters.
Mr. IMcLaughlin attended the district school until
about fourteen years old, when he began to be
self-supporting. At the age of seventeen years,
being firmly convinced that there were greater
facilities for a poor boy to better his financial
condition in America than in his own country,
he crossed the Atlantic, landing in New York-
City, where he remained eighteen months, a
part of that time being night watchman in some
of the wholesale stores. Coming to California
in 1863. he lived for six months in San Fran-
cisco, after which he was engaged in farming
in Alameda county for several seasons, working
by the month. Desirous then of making a per-
manent settlement, in 1870 he came to the Santa
Clara valley, locating near Hueneme, where he
made his first purchase of land, buying three
hundred and eighteen acres. In its care and
management he was very successful, and as he

1266

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

accumulated money lie at once invested it in
additional land, and now owns, besides his origi-
nal farm, a ranch of one hundred and twenty
acres near Oxnard, one of two hundred and
forty-three and one-half acres near Camarillo.
and has also considerable land in Los Angeles
county near the Palms. His home ranch he
devotes to the raising of beans and sugar beets,
and his other two ranches to the growing of
beans and hay. All of these are profitable crops,
yielding excellent harvests, the beans averag-
ing a fair number of sacks to the acre, and the
beets doing equally as well in this fertile valley.
To some extent he is also engaged in the cattle
business, raising enough horses for his own use.
In 1871, in the Santa Clara valley of the
Southern Coast, J\Ir. AIcLaughlin married
Margaret Clyne, a native of Ireland, and into
their home nine children were born, three of
whom have passed to the life beyond, two dying
in infancy, and Alargaret Ann at the age of
thirteen years, while six are living, namely :
Thomas F., who married Annie Lidle, and has
four children ; James P., living at home ; Mary
Kate, wife of Henry Borchard; Nellie, wife of
Frank Borchard ; and Caroline and Sarah E.,
both at home. Politically Mr. McLaughlin is
a straightforward Democrat, and for over twen-
ty years has served as school trustee. Fra-
ternally he is a member of the Knights of Colum-
bus, and religiously he and his family belong to
the Catholic Giurch. He is connected with the
People's Lumber Company of Ventura county,
being one of its directors, a capacity in which
he is doing much to promote the interest of the
organization. He is also a stock holder in the
Oxnard Commercial Bank, and is also similarly
identified with the A. Levy bank.

THOMAS FREER gives to the state of his
birth his most loyal allegiance, upholding her
interests in every possible way, supporting her
principles, and is enthusiastic concerning the
future which awaits California among the com-
monwealths of the nation. He was born in
Berryessa, Santa Clara county, December 25,
1859, a son of William H. Freer, one of the early
pioneers of California. For a full account of
his career refer to his personal sketch, which ap-
pears elsewhere in this volume. Reared in Santa
Clara county until he was fifteen years old,
Thomas Freer received his education in the
public schools of that section, attending for a
brief time the schools of El Monte, Los Angeles
county, to which place his father removed. He
remained on the paternal farm until July 25,
1893,. when in El Monte, he married Miss Vic-
toria Schmidt. She was born in San Gabriel.
Los Angeles county, the second in a family of

five children born to Henry and Eliza Schmidt,
the father a native of France and the mother of
California, the latter being a daughter of Will-
iam Slack, a pioneer of this state.

After marriage Mr. Freer engaged in farming
in the IMountain ^'iew district and later con-
ducted a dairy of sixty cows on the old Freer
homestead. In 1903 he located in El Monte and
is now engaged in walnut raising, having pur-
chased twenty acres of land in the Mountain
View district. He is enterprising and pro-
gressive in spirit, putting forth an intelligent
effort in the management of his property and
is proving himself a popular and profitable citi-
zen of this section. He upholds the best in-
terests of the community, educationally and
socially, and is an advocate of Democratic princi-
ples. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient
Order of United Workmen. He has a family
of three children, Walter, ^lerle and Thomas, Ir.

LEE FREER. Inheriting the qualities of
character which have made the Freer name re-
spected and esteemed throughout Los Angeles
county and indeed all Southern California. Lee
Freer holds rank as one of the representative
citizens of El Monte. He is a native son of
the state, his birth having occurred in San Jose
April 6, 1870, and five years later he was brought
by his parents, William H. and Zerelda (Stucker)
Freer, to Southern California, where all of his
life has since been passed. Reared in Savannah
he received his education in the public schools
and St. Vincent's College, after which he went
to Tehachapi, and worked on a farm for one
year. Returning to El jNIonte he entered the em-
ploy of John Barton, with whom he remained
until 1889. when he purchased his present ranch
of forty-six acres. This was then new land,
which he has since improved and cultivated.
After following farming for some years he finally
set it out in walnuts, which are now all in bear-
ing and his grove is pronounced one of the fine-
est in the section. He has built a handsome resi-
dence, barns and outbuildings, and added every
possible comfort and convenience, and during
this time also improved a thirty-six acre tract,
which he subsequently sold.

In Savannah Mr. Freer married INIiss Caddie
Adams, who was born in this place, a daughter
of Rev. Abrani Adams. The latter was a native
of Lowndes county, Ala., and son of .\bram
Adams, Sr., who removed from his birthplace
in North Carolina to Alabama, where he be-
came a planter and accumulated considerable
wealth, continuing this occupation until his death
in 1869. He served in the war of 1812. and
also in the Mexican war, in the latter acting as
captain of a company. He was of Scotch-Irish

^..<.L-^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1269

ancestry and adhered to the behef of his ances-
tors in rehgion, being a member of the Presby-
terian Church. Abram Adams, Jr., became a
minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church
South, and preached in INIobile, Ala., and Colum-
bus, Adiss., being presiding elder in the church
in the latter state. In 1869 he came to Los An-
geles and in that city established the first church
of his denomination, and until 1891 followed
the ministry in various parts of Southern Cali-
fornia. Retiring from the ministry in the last
named year he gave his attention to the ranch
which he had purchased in the year of his arrival
in the state, and continued its improvement and
cultivation up to the time of his death, which
occurred April 10, 1901, at the age of seventy
years. In early life he adhered to the principles
of the Democratic party, but finall}' affiliated him-
self with the Prohibition party. He married
Isabella Williams, a native of Greene county,
Ala., and a daughter of Benjamin Williams, a
native of South Carolina, who located in Ala-
bama and engaged as a planter until his death.
Her mother was in maidenhood Edna Hitt,
whose father was an emigrant from Wales. Mrs.
Adams died in El Monte, in February, 1892, at
the age of fifty-one years. They were the
parents of nine children, namely : Annie ; Augus-
tin; Belle, Mrs. East; Caddie, wife of Lee
Ereer; Margaret, wife of William Pearson;
Mary ; Jeannette, Mrs. Kasling ; Alice, deceased ;
and Abra, wife of Edward Hayes, all of the
living children being residents of El Monte with
the exception of Mrs. Kasling, who resides in
Salida, Colo.

Mr. and Mrs. Freer became the parents of the
following children ; Zerelda ; Ruth ; Wesley ;
Shirley, who was burned to death in Tehachapi;
Margaret, who died in El Monte; Haven, Em-
mett and Edwin Allen. Mr. Freer supports the
charities of the Presbyterian Church, of which
his wife is a member. Politically Mr. Freer is
a Democrat. He is associated with the Mountain
View Walnut Growers' Association, and is prom-
inent in all matters of public import.

JOSEPH GISLER. Near the shores of the
far-famed lake of Luzerne, whose beauty of
scenery and calm loveliness overshadowed by
the snow-capped mountains have attracted
tourists from every part of the world, for
many generations the Gisler family lived and
labored in simple content. The first to seek
the possibilities of the new world was INTax
Gisler, who crossed the ocean and settled in
California in 1877. Later the family joined
him at El Rio, where he bought land and en-
gaged in general farming. When he died, in
January, 1890, at the age of sixty-two years,

he ov.med a well-improved farm of fifty acres,
the same representing his efforts after coming
to California. In his native country he had
married Josepha Blouser, who was born and
reared there, and died at El Rio September
9, 1905. Survivmg the parents are all of their
children, namely : Sigmund, of Oxnard ; Gab-
riel, farmer at Spring-ville, Ventura county^ ;
Samuel, who is engaged in agricultural pur-
suits in Orange county ; Solomon, who oper-
ates land near Oxnard ; Edward, a farmer liv-
ing in the vicinity of Ventura ; Max, also farm-
ing near Ventura ; Frank and Joseph, who
have been partners in extensive farming oper-
ations : Mary, a resident of Oxnard ; Theresa,
whose home is at Camarillo, Ventura county ;
and Hannah, who lives at Spring\-ille, this
county.

The youngest of the eleven children is the
gentleman whose name mtroduces this sketch
and whose birth occurred May 14, 1873, in the
Canton of LTri, Switzerland, near the village
of Altdorf on the bay of Uri. When six years
of age he was brought to the United States,
the family joining his father in California,
where he attended common schools and helped
in the cqltivation of the farm. At the age of
nineteen years he and his brother, Frank, en-
gaged in raising beans on the Jack Hill place
and later leased a part of the Patterson ranch,
successfully cultivating four hundred acres in
grain, beans and beets. During 1900 they
bought one hundred and fifty-seven acres
north of Oxnard and there raised beans and
beets with encouraging success. A division
was made of the property in 1905, and Joseph
now owns eighty-three acres on the Saviers
road one mile north of Oxnard, the same form-
ing a very valuable farm. Irrigation is ar-
ranged for by means of a pumping plant, in
which Mi-. Gisler owns an interest. The sub-
stantial modern residence was completed in
1905 and to it ]Mr. Gisler brought his bride,
whom he married in Oxnard in February,
1906, and who was Miss Adeline Brooker, a
native of San Francisco. Both are identified
with the Santa Clara Catholic Church and
contribute to its maintenance with generosity,
as well as aiding other movements for the
uplifting of humanity.

While Mr. Gisler has been averse to ac-
tivity in public affairs, he has kept posted con-
cerning national problems, is well informed
as to the issues of the age, and gives unquali-
fied support to the Republican party and its
principles. The only fraternity with which he
holds membership is the Order of Knights of
Columbus. His attention has been given
closely to agricultural aflfairs and the manage-
ment of his interests has required such close

1270

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

attention as to preclude ])articipation in other
affairs. Already a large degree of success has
come to him, his home farm one mile north of
Oxnard being quite valuable, while in addi-
tion he and his brother own about fifty-six
acres at El Rio. Industry and perseverance
have aided him in the accumulation of a com-
petency and tlie attaining of financial inde-
pendence, while a course of steadfast integ-
rity in all dealings has brought him the re-
spect of his community.

JAAIES BASCOM FREER, the second son
of William H. Freer, whose name is known and
honored throughout Southern California as that
of a pioneer, was born in Trenton, Grundy coun-
t\, AIo., April 15, 1843, remaining a resident of
his native state until 1849, when he was brought
across the plains to California, .\lthough a child
of but six years the events of that ever-memor-
ble journey are fresh in his mind. His duty was
to assist in driving the cattle, which he performed
faithfully to the close of their six months' trip,
and although parties ahead and behind them were
attacked by the Indians they were mercifully
spared this added trial. Leaving Missouri in
April they arrived in California in September,and
in 1850 they located in San Jose, where James B.
received his education in the primitive schools
of the day. He remained at home until he was
twenty-five years old, when he started out for
himself, engaging in farming on the old Palla
ranch, near San Jose, being interested principally
in the raising of grain. In 1869 he came as far
south as Ventura county and purchased a stock
ranch in Hopper cafion, improved the place, and
at the same time raised cattle in the mountains.
He remained a resident of that section until 1884,
when he located in Los Angeles county, con-
ducted his father's place for two years, then
farmed in the Rowland tract for several years.
In 1888 he went to Oregon and near Penning-
ton, Umatilla county, he followed stock-raising
for two years, after which for one year he was
located in Puente. Cal. In 1891 he located on
his present ranch near El Monte, consisting of
forty-five acres, all set out in walnuts.

In Santa Clara county, March 25, 1868, Mr.
Freer was united in marriage with Miss Sarah
Hopper, who was born near Lone Jack, Mo.
Her father, .\ri, was horn in Indiana and re-
moved to Missouri, where he en.gaged in farm-
ing. In 1850 he crossed the plains to California
by means of ox-teams, and for a time following
his arrival worked in the mines. He returned
to Missouri by way of the Isthmus of Panama,
and in 1852 once more made the trip across
the plains, bringing his wife and two children to
California. Thev located first in Petaluma and

then in the Santa Clara valley, and in 1868
settled in \'entura county, where Mr. Hopper
purchased land in what was afterward known
at Hopper canon. He farmed there for many
years, eventually removing to Covina, Los An-
geles county, where he spent his last days, dy-
ing January 22, 1898, at the age of seventy-
si.x: years. He was survived by his wife, for-
merly Susan Easelv, a native of North Carolina,
whose parents removed to ^Missouri when she
was a child. She passed away in Covina No-
vember 18, 1905, at the age 'of seventy-eight
years. They had three children, all of whom
attained maturity, two now surviving, of whom
Mrs. Freer is the eldest.

Mr. and Mrs. Freer are the parents of seven
cliildren, namely: Albert, an engineer residing
in El Monte: Mary, Mrs. Miller, of Los An-
geles; Ida, Mrs. Avis, of Los Angeles; Henry,
a farmer in El Monte; Eldridge, an engineer
residing in El ]\Ionte ; Wallace and George at
home. Mr. Freer supports the Baptist Qnirch
of El Monte, the oldest church of that denomina-
tion in Southern California, having been built
in 1853, and of which his wife is a devoted mem-
ber. Mrs. Freer is prominent in the social
circles of El Monte, belonging to the Degree of
Honor and the Shakespeare Club. Mr. Freer is
a Democrat and has served as delegate to county
conventions. He is a member of the Society
of Los Angeles County Pioneers.

GEORGE F. BRIXKERHOFF, One of
the best known and successful ranchers of Los
Angeles county is George F. Brinkerhoff. lo-
cated in the vicinity of Compton and engaged
in the cultivation of a well-improved farm. He
is a native Californian, his birth having oc-
curred in Santa Barbara county. October 12.
i860, his parents being Peter S. and Jane
(Nidever) Brinkerhoff. Peter S. Brinkerhoff
was born in Oswego, N. Y., where he taught
school and followed farming for many years. He
made a trip to California by water in 1852 and
five vears later married Jane Nidever, who had
crossed the plains in the same }ear. He engaged
in farming" in the vicinity of San Francisco and
later was located in Santa Barbara county, his last
days being spent with his sons near Compton.
His death occurred June 16, 1891, at the age of
seventy-six years. He had witnessed the de-
velopment of the western state and participated
in large measure in its advancement. He made
five round trips to the east, seven passages be-
ing made by water and three bv land. He was
twice married, having si.x children by his first
union, and seven by the second. Alice B. I^w-
ton and John N. live in Santa Barbara : David
H. in Compton : Henry R. in The Palms :

/^ ^-

^/^^U?.cA<JL^-

2^^.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1273

Roelit C. in Riverside: and Sarah Breckenridge
in Compton. Mr. Brinkerhoff was a devoted
member of the Methodist Episcopal Churcli.
while his wife, who died January 15, 1870, was
a Presbyterian.

Georg-e F. Brinkerhoff received his education
in the schools of Santa Barbara, after which he
was taken by his parents across the Isthmus
of Panama and thence by water to New York
City ; from that point they went to Michigan,
where their home remained for four and one-
half years. The next residence was in Kansas,
to which state they moved by wagon, and there
the father rented land for two and one-half
years, after which they came overland to Cali-
fornia and located in Santa Barbara county. In
1880 he came to his present ranch in the vicinity
of Compton, consisting of one hundred and
twenty-two and one-half acres and at the same
time purchased fortv acres of land near here,
and has since carried on general farming and
dairying, having at the present time eleven milk
cows.

In October, 1894, Mr. Brinkerhoff married
^liss Rose Brunton, a native of Kansas. They
have no children of their own, but have taken
into their home two little girls, Alice and Edna.
Mr. Brinkerhoff" is a nephew of George Nidever,
who found an Indian woman on the Island of
St. Nicholas, and to the best of all calculations
she had been there about eighteen years. She
iiad been taken there as a hostage and was the
only one of the tribe left, the remainder having
been killed by the Northwest tribe. Her dress
was made of birdskins and sewed together with
sinews. ]\Ir. Brinkerhoff' is a member of the
Fraternal Aid. to which society his wife also
belongs, and both are members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He is a stanch adherent of
the principles advocated in the platform of the
Prohibition party.

JOHN ENGEBRETSEN. One of the most
successful and enterprising of the foreign-
born citizens of San Diego is John Engebret-
sen, who for years has conducted a general
contracting business and has taken contracts
for street paving, grading and excavating,
with a specialty of cement work. At his office.
No. 614 Fifth street, he superintends his work
and furnishes estimates for all kinds of ce-
ment and stone work, street paving, excavat-
ing, grading and all kinds of hauling. His
yards are at the northwest corner of IT and
Twelfth streets. During the busy season he
furnishes employment to fifty hands and util-
izes twenty-five teams, and the management
of a business of such magnitude makes him
one of the busiest men in his home citv.

In the southeastern part of Norway, near
the city of Drammen, lies the little hamlet of
Harbro, where John Engebretsen was born
j\Iarch 5, 1858, being next to the youngest
among eight children, only two of whom sur-
vive. His parents, both of whom are de-
ceased, bore the names of Engebret Petersen
and Maren Olie Nilson, the latter being the
daughter of a harness-maker. The father, who
was born near Drammen, became an iron
manufacturer at Harbro, but later engaged in
the lumber business at Drammen, where he
died. When the family removed to Drammen
John was a small child and his education was
principally recei\-ed in the schools of that
town. After leaving school he learned the
lumber business. In 1880 he shipped on the
bark Beta via Cape Horn to the Sandwich Isl-
ands, where he landed after a voyage of more
than four months. Eighteen months were
spent on the islands, where he followed team-
ing. In 1882 he shipped for California on the
vessel Emma Augusta, and arriving in this
state settled at Eureka, Humboldt county,
where he secured employment at lumbering.
In 1884 he went to San Francisco and from
there to Martinez, Contra Costa county, where
he learned the stone-cutter's trade. For one
season, beginning in 1886, he operated the
Concord quarries under lease.

On coming to San Diego in the fall of 1887
]\rr. Engebretsen leased the quarry at Teme-
cula and engaged in the cut-stone business,
furnishing all the stone used in building in San
Diego and shipping also to San Francisco. Af-
ter a time the railroad between Temecula and
Oceanside w^ashed out and he then removed to
San Bernardino, where he took contracts for
street paving of a most important and sub-
stantial character. The contracts were com-
pleted in t^vo and one-half years, and he then
returned to San Diego, where he has since en-
gaged in general and street contracting.
Among his contracts have been those for open-
ing and grading Logan avenue, IMilton avenue.
Elm street. Thirteenth street, L street, E
street, Third street. Brooks avenue, Columbia
street, Robinson avenue. Fourteenth street.
Main street. India street and others; also he
has had the contract for most of the grading
at the Homestead, Point Loma, and roads in
the county. The amphitheater, golf links,
foundations, etc.. at Point Loma are fine ex-
amples of his skill and workmanship.

The first ^•acation -which Mr. Engebretsen
allowed himself from his work occurred in
1894. when he spent four months in the old
country after an absence of many years. While
abroad he visited the legation at Christiania
and made a tour of inspection to many points

127^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of world-wide interest, besides enjoying a
pleasant visit with those of his relatives and
boyhood friends who still remained in Nor-
way. His marriage iook place in Los Angeles
in 1895 and united him with Miss Augusta Pe-
tersen, who was born in Norway and reared
in Wisconsin. Her death occurred in San Di-
ego April 2, 1896. For a decade or more ^Ir.
Engebretsen has been identified with the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows. During 1896
he was initiated in San Diego Lodge No. 153,
in which he is past officer. Besides being a
member of the Encampment and senior war-
den of the same, he is past captain of San Di-
ego Canton No. 22. and a member of the Or-
der of Rebekahs. In religion he was reared a
Lutheran and always has been in sympathy
with the doctrines of that denomination. In
national politics he votes with the Republican
party. In 1896 he was appointed and com-
missioned deput}- consul at San Diego for
Sweden and Norway and two years later was
made acting consul pending his appointment
and commission as consul, said appointment
occurring April 29, 1901, confirmed by Secre-
tary of State John Hay June 5, 1901. Since the
dissolution of the union between Norway and
Sweden he has been instructed to continue to
act as consul for each country, and was reap-
pointed for Norway in 1906. On the organiza-
tion of the Scandinavian-American Society of
San Diego he became one of its charter mem-
bers and since then has been actively inter-
ested in its meetings and its work.

HENRY T. COOK is a native Californian
and the son of one of the pioneer settlers of the.
state. His father. John J. Cook, was born in
Michigan, and his mother, who was Miss Mary
Ann Turley before her marriage, was a native
of Canada. There were five children born to
them, Henry T. first seeing the light of day
one year after the emigration of the family
to California. The father died at the family
home in San Bernardino county when fifty-six
years old. and the mother, who later made her
home with this son, lived to be seventy-seven
years of age. The birth of Henry T. Cook oc-
curred February 9, 1863, in San Bernardino, and
his education was received through the medium
of the public schools of that city and Los An-
geles county. After ranching in the San Joaquin
valley for one year he removed to Hollister,
where he remained for three years, and from
there in 1876 moved to the Santa Clara valley
of Southern California and purchased the ranch
which is now his home. It comorises one hun-
dred and twenty acres of as fertile land as there
is in the vallcv, and of this he has ninety acres.

of beans, the rest being bay land. He has more
recently planted sixty acres to walnuts, which
will soon yield him a handsome income.

Mr. Cook's marriage united him with Sarah
E. Wilkinson, who was born in Illinois, and
to them have been born two children, both of
whom are now married. William H. married
Winnifred Huff, and Walter A. married Irene
Stockton, and to them one child has been born.
Mr. Cook is a member of the Odd Fellows
Lodge at Santa Paula, and takes a lively in-
terest in political matters, being a member of
the Republican county central committee. He
is a hale fellow well met, highly respected and
esteemed and in every way a successful business
man.

ROY HOLCO]\IB. Prominent among the
most popular, progressive and highly esteemed
young farmers of A alley Center is Roy Holcomb,
who is actively and successfully employed in
agricultural pursuits. He is distinguished not
only for the excellent New England ancestry
from which he is descended, but a native born
son of California, his birth having occurred Oc-
tober 12, 1880, in Bear Valley, San Diego coun-
ty, on the homestead of his father, the late
Benajah Holcomb.

A native of New England, Benajah Holcomb
was born in 1846 in Connecticut, where he was
reared and educated. Public spirited and
patriotic, he oft'ered his services to his country
during the Civil war, enlisting in Company I,
First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, with which he
was connected three and one-half years. Suf-
fering the trials and hardships of army life, he
lost his health, and soon after receiving his honor-
able discharge came to California, hoping in this
genial climate to regain his former physical vigor.
He lived for a while in jMariposa county, but
subsequently settled in San Diego county, taking
up a homestead claim near A'alley Center, and
improving the ranch now owned and occupied by
his son Roy. He engaged in dairying and grain-
raising, living here until his death, in April, 1903.
He was a man of sterling qualities of heart and
mind, a useful and valued citizen, and his death
was deeply deplored throughout the community.
He married Nancy Holcomb, who was born in
Illinois, and died on the home farm, at Valley
Center in 1895. Of their union, seven children
were born, namely: Clara, wife of H. Shelby,
of Paradise ^Mountain ; Bertha, wife of Edward
Hunter, of Randsburg; Nettie, wife of C, M.
James, of Lusardi : Myrtle, living on the home
ranch Avith her brother ; Ray on the home ranch :
Walter, of San Diego; and Roy, the special sub-
ject of this sketch.

Receiving a good common school education,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1275

Roy Holcomb was subsequently employed as a
farm hand or surveyor for a number of years,
always keeping busy. Since 1900 he has been
carrying on general ranching on his own account,
managing the old home farm of one hundred
and sixty acres. Energetic and industrious, lie
is meeting with well merited success in his un-
dertakings, and is carrying on general farming
and dairying after the most approved modern
methods, and though young in years has attained
a noteworthy position among the prosperous
ranchers of this part of the community. He
shows excellent judgment in his business opera-
tions, being regarded as one of the rising young
men of \'alley Center, and is in every way
worthy of the respect and esteem accorded him.
In October, 1905, Mr. Holcomb married Allie
Risdon, who was born in Kansas, a daughter of
Nathaniel Risdon, now living in this valley. Mr.
Holcomb is a stanch Republican in politics, as
was his father, who was likewise a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic.

FANKHANEL BROTHERS. Recognized
throughout the vicinity of Ramona, San Diego
county, as enterprising and prosperous agricult-
urists, H. O. and F. E. Fankhanel hold a posi-
tion of note among the esteemed and respected
citizens of their community. Although young in
years, their energy and progressive spirit have
placed them where they rightfully belong, and
many men twice their years might be proud to
lay claim to their achievements. Besides owning
a fine ranch of three hundred and twenty acres
stocked with high-grade cattle, they also rent a
tract of three hundred and fifty acres devoted en-
tirely to the raising of grain, all in all owning
and managing one of the most productive ranches
in the county.

Although the father, C. F. Fankhanel, was a
native of Germany, at a very early age he was
brought to the United States, growing up in an
atmosphere of push and independence which de-
veloped like qualities in himself and resulting in
the accumulation of a large property. Ill-health,
however, made inroads upon his constitution and
means and a change of climate was the only al-
ternative. Selling his farm of eight hundred
acres in Butler county, Kans., in 1893 he started
by wagon for California with his family. Innu-
merable hardships confronted them on the jour-
ney, and by the time El Paso, Tex., was reached
it was deemed advisable to give up the original
plan and complete the trip under less trying condi-
tions. After disposing of the outfit tliey boarded
a train for San Diego and reached their destina-
tion without further inconvenience. As soon as
Mr. Fankhanel's health would permit he once
more became interested in agricultural afifairs

and folloAved ranching throughout the remainder
of his life. His death occurred December 16,
1899, at Barona Valley, at the comparatively ear-
ly age of fifty-four years. His political sym-
pathies were in accord with Republican princi-
ples, but he was never ambitious to hold public
office, preferring to discharge his obligations by
way of casting a conscientious ballot. The wife
and mother, before her marriage Jennie McLen-
on, was born in Ohio and her marriage to Mr.
Fankhanel was celebrated in Kansas. She is still
living and makes her home with her sons. One
daughter, Laura, was born in 1876, and is now
the wife of George L. Frey, of Poway.

At the time of the removal of the family to
California Henry Olvin and Frederick Earl
Fankhanel were fourteen and eight years old re-
spectively, the birth of the former occurring in
Butler county, Kans., June i, 1879, and the latter
in the same place January 6, 1885. On account
of the ill-health of the father their chances for an
education were rather limited, and at an early age
they began their self-support by working out on
neighboring ranches. The father's death a few
years later was a sad blow, but their previous ex-
perience had prepared them to assume the re-
sponsibilities which fell to their lot. By careful
financiering they were enabled to purchase their
present ranch near Ramona in 1903, and have
since become known as progressive and thor-
oughgoing ranchers in this part of the country.
As was their father before them both are Re-
publicans, and the elder son, H. O., is filling the
office of school trustee and roadmaster in his dis-
trict. San Diego county is fortunate in possess-
ing two such progressive citizens as the Fank-
hanel brothers, and judging from their early ef-
forts and the results accruing therefrom it is not
too much to expect that the coming years will
find them among the most prosperous ranchers
and successful business men in this part of the
state.

JOHN FRANCIS. Twelve miles from Red-
lands and located in the San Timoteo caiion is
the ranch of twenty-three hundred acres operated
by John Francis, one of the progressive and en-
terprising dairymen and ranchers of this section
of Southern California. He is proprietor of the
T. C. creamery and in his work has proven him-
self a reliable business man, prompt and accurate
in his methods, courteous and obliging to all cus-
tomers, and showing himself possessed of un-
usual executive ability and shrewd judgment.
May 10, 1866, Air. Francis was born in Mont-
gomery county, Wales, a son of John Francis,
Sr., also a native of that place, where his death
occurred some time since, having followed farm-
ing throughout his life. He is survived by his

1271

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wife, formerl}- Ellen Manford, also a native of
Montgomery comit}-, Wales, where she now
mal<es her home.

Of the three children born to his parents John
Erancis, Jr.. is the only son and the eldest child;
he was reared in his native country and educated
in its public schools, where he continued until
attaining the age of seventeen years, when he
came to the United States anxious to make the
best of the abundant opportunities olfered here.
He finally located in Iowa City, Iowa, and in the
vicinity of that place followed general farm work.
He was located in that place for about four years,
when, in 1887, he came to California and in the
vicinity of Los Angeles engaged in general farm-
ing and dairy pursuits. Two years later he came
to Riverside county and in San Timoteo canon
entered the employ of David Johnson, a dairy-
man of this section, in the capacity of butter
maker. With his accumulated earnings he was
able four years later to buy out his employer's
interests, and leasing land from ]vlrs. Clough he
engaged in the dairy business and general farm-
ing, operating twenty-three hundred acres, of
which five hundred acres are tillable and the bal-
ance is in pasture and alfalfa. Irrigation is sup-
plied from twenty-five wells one hundred and
sixty feet deep, and also from a ditch from the
San Timoteo creek. He has a dairy of one hun-
dred and seventy cows of Holstein stock, and a
herd of cattle of five hundred head. The T. C.
creamery is equipped with every modern de-
vice for a successful conduct of this business,
having a combined separator and churn with a
large capacity, and the products are considered
among the finest on the market.

In Los Angeles jNIr. Francis was united in
marriage with ^liss Anita Hovera, a native of
San Bernardino county, Cal.. her father being
a resident of this caiion. They became the par-
ents of the following children : Herbert, Row-
land, Gladys, Agnes and Anita. Fraternally Mr.
Francis is associated with the Foresters of Nor-
walk, and politically adheres to Republican prin-
ciples.

E. M. WILLIAMS. One of the well-known
and successful ranchmen of Santa Paula is E. 'SI.
Williams, who owns a property of two hundred
and fifty acres of fertile land devoted to stock
and the raising of beans. His father, Edward
r>enton Williams, was born in Xew York City,
and his mother, who was Elizabeth Rogers before
her marriage, was also a native of New York
state. In 1855, when his son E. M. was an infant,
the father came to California by way of Panama,
and in San Francisco was employed in the H.
C. Hudson & Co. spice mill. In December, 1866,

he came to X'entura county, and in the vicinity
of Saticoy engaged in agricultural pursuits.
Twenty years later, in 1886, he removed to Santa
Paula and since then he and his wife have
made their home with their son E. M. The
father is now in his eighty-first year, and both
himself and wife are members of the Presby-
terian Church. Both father and son afSlia'te
with the Republican party and give it their loval
support.

E. M. Williams was born in Oneida county,
N. Y., February 3, 1855, and was an infant when
he was brought to California. He received his
education in San Francisco and afterwards came
to \"entura county and engaged in ranching near
Saticoy. where he purchased a ranch in 1882.
In 1895 he was married to Ida Hudson, who
is a native of California, the daughter of John
Hudson, her grandfather, H. C. Hudson, being
the pioneer cofifee and spice manufacturer of
San Francisco. Mr. A\'illiams is a member of
the Fraternal Brotherhood Lodge at Santa Paula,
and of the Presbyterian Church, both himself
and his wife giving the latter their support as
active members.

XORMAN ASHCROFT. The postal service
of Hollywood, Los Angeles county, is under the
able supervision of Norman Ashcroft, who has
risen to his present position as the result of ef-
ficient work while in the rural delivery service
in this locality for a number of years, His initia-
tion in the rural service dates back to the post-
mastership of Philo J. Beveridge, and he also
served under his successor, Hervey Friend. The
resignation of Mr. Friend made a vacancy which
Mr. Ashcroft was selected to fill, which came to
him as a reward for faithful and conscientious
work as carrier.

Mr. Ashcroft is the son of New England par-
ents, Norman and Mary I\I. (Davis) Ashcroft,
having been born in New York state and Maine,
respectively. Before the bjrfh of their son, how-
ever, they had settled in the Mississippi valley,
his birth occurring in Kankakee county. 111..
February 19, 1870. With the education received
in the schools of his native county he started out
in business, first as a grocer and later as an em-
ploye of the Adams' Express Company. Sub-
sequently he held a position with Armour & Com-
pany, where for three vears he was in the time-
keeping department. For five and a half years
following he was car-shop clerk with the Pro-
vision Dealers Dispatch, a position which he held
up to the time of starting for the west. He left
his Illinois home February i, 1900, and in due
time arrived in Antelope valley, where he re-
mained for about eight months. Coming to
Hollvwood at the end of this time, he became

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1279

interested in ranching, a business which he car-
ried on for about three years, or until giving it
u]5 to accept a position under the government as
rural mail deliverer under Philo J. Beveridge.
As has been previously stated his selection as
postmaster of Hollywood followed the resignation
of Mr. Beveridge's successor, Hervey Friend,
and since February ii, 1906, 2ilr. Ashcroft has
given efficient service as chief of the department.
Two rural routes radiate from Hollywood and
carry mail into the outlying districts.

In Chicago, 111.. January 31, 1900, Norman
Ashcroft and Libbie White were united in mar-
riage. Mrs. Ashcroft being a daughter of Robert
and Emma (Levy) White. The only child bom
to Mr. and Mrs. Ashcroft is Harold! The fam-
ily occupy a commodious residence of ten rooms
on Iowa and Wilson streets, Hollywood, which
JNlr. Ashcroft erected in 1905. Its location in the
center of the best residence district in the city
makes it a valuable piece of property, which is
a credit alike to the owner and to the city. In
their religious views Mr. and Mrs. Ashcroft
are Baptists, and in the church of which thev
are members Air. Ashcroft has served as clerk.
Politically he is independent in the casting of his
vote, his ballot and influence both being given in
favor of candidates and measures opposing the
liquor traffic.

J( )HX BURR. Prominent among the lead-
ing agriculturists and fruit growers of Fer-
nando is John Burr, who has had many years
of practical experience in his chosen "field of
labor, and in his various operations has met
with eminent success. Descended from a long
line of honored Scotch ancestry, he was born,
November 13. 1849, '" Scotland, the country
of industry, thrift and frugality.

Completing his studies in the common
schools of his native land, John Burr subse-
quently turned his attention to horticultural
pursuits, for seven years working as a garden-
er. Becoming proficient in his work, and de-
siring to try life in the new world, he crossed
the Atlantic in 1872, and immediately made
his way across the continent to San Francisco.
Locating soon afterward in San Mateo coun-
ty, he secured a position as landscape garden-
er ^^ ith Senator Fulton, whose grounds he laid
out in a most attractive and artistic manner.
His abilit}^ in that line becoming known, he
had no trouble in finding an ample amount of
congenial work, and remained in that vicinity
until 1884. Going then to Tulare county, he
settled near Visalia. where he purchased a
ranch of two hundred and fifty acres, a part of
which he set out with vines, while on the re-
mainder he raised \vheat, continuing thus oc-

cupied for three years. Disposing of that
property in 18S7, he came to Fernando, Los
Angeles county, with a view to locating here
])ermaneiitly. With two partners he bought
forty acres of land and immediate.ly began the
cultivation of oranges and small fruits. The
\cnture proving successful, he subsequently-
purchased the interests of his partners and has
since carried on the business alone. From time
to time he has bought additional land, and has
at the present time sixty-two acres devoted to
the growing of oranges, fifteen acres of olives,
and in addition has a grain ranch containing
one hundred and ten acres. He is constantly
adding to the improvements on his home es-
tate, which is one of the most beautiful and
rttractive in this section of the county, bear-
ing visible evidence of the intelligence, ability
and thrift of the owner.

In England J\Ir. Burr married Anna Phil-
liott, and they are the parents of three chil-
dren, namely: John a'^l Charles, both resi-
dents of A-^isalia: and A\'il!iam, living at home.
Politically Mr. Burr is an active member of
the Republican party, and as sheriff of Los
Angeles county from T894 until 1898. and as
horticultural connnissioncr for the count}' for
<.ne and one-half years, rendered excellent
service to the people. In Masonic circles he
stands high, being- a thirty-second degree Ma-
son : he is a member and past worthy master
of Fernando Lodge No. 324, F. & A. M., also
belonging to the Mystic Shrine of Los An-
geles. In 1877, at Redwood City, he joined the
Odd Fellows, and is now a member of the
lodge at Fernando ; he also belongs to Los An-
geles Encampment, and is a member of the In-
dependent Order of Foresters.

GEORGE F. JACOBY. An active and i>rac-
tical agriculturist, energetic and ambitious.
George F. Jacoby is iiieeting with excellent re-
sults in his chosen occupation. His ranch of
eighty acres is pleasantly located at \'alley Cen-
ter, and from its thrifty appearance it is evident
that he takes pride in his business, his land being
finely improved and under a good state of culti-
vation and well supplied with all the accessories
of a first-class estate, having a substantial set of
farm buildings and all of the needed machinery
to facilitate the otherwise slow and tedious work
of a farmer. A son of Herman Jacoby, he was
born. January 6, 1872, in Bloomington. 111., but
his childhood days were spent in Iowa.

Herman Jacoby moved with his family from Illi-
nois to Iowa in 1872. and was there a resident
eleven years. His family came to California in
1883. and has since resided in this state. .A
faitlifid and loyal citizen, during the Indian

1280

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

troubles he served under General Crook. He
married Elizabeth Fleshnian, and they became
the parents of three children, namely : Albert F.,
residing in Orange county ; Annie C, wife of
James Woods, of Bear A'alley, San Diego coun-
ty; and George E., the subject of this sketch.

But eleven years of age when he came with
his mother to this state, George E. Jacoby con-
tinued his studies in the common schools, ac-
quiring a practical education. Coming then to
\'alley Center, he lived for a few years with an
uncle, in the meantime becoming familiar with
farm work. Wishing to know more about the
northwestern country before making a perma-
nent settlement in life, JNIr. Jacoby and his wife
made two trips to \\'ashington and Oregon, being
away about six years, working and sight seeing
throughout those states. Einding no place that
pleased them especially, they returned to X'alley
Center, invested money in land lying a few miles
above their present homestead, and began its
improvement. Subsequentlv selling out at an
advantage, Mr. Jacoby bought his present ranch
of eighty acres, which is one of the most valuable
in many respects of any in the valley. He has
since made improvements of an excellent char-
acter, erecting all of the buildings required on
a well-kept homestead, and is now devoting his
time and attention to grain raising, dairying and
chicken raising, intending to make a specialty of
the two latter branches of industr}\

In 1894 Mr. Jacoby married Miss Ivy West-
moreland, a daughter of A. S. and Emma A.
(May) Westmoreland. On the breaking out of
the Civil war, Mr. Westmoreland, then a resi-
dent of Tennessee, was a volunteer in the South-
ern army, in which he served until the close of
the war. In 1881 he came with his family to
California, and here he and his wife reared their
family of eleven children. In their religious be-
liefs Mr. and Airs. Jacoby are in sympathy with
the creeds of the Southern Methodist Episcopal
Church. Politically ]\Ir. Jacoby is an uncompro-
mising Democrat, and for a number of years has
been a school trustee. Eratemally they are mem-
bers of Escondido Camp. I. O. F.

FRANK D. FOOT. When the enterprising
men of San Pedro are mentioned the name of
Frank D. Foot is always found in the list. He is
well known in the community, for his various in-
terests bring him in contact with all classes of
people. As a general contractor and proprietor'
of the Foot Transfer Company he has demon-
strated his right to the title of a successful busi-
ness man. His father, Solomon R. Foot, was a
native of Ohio, and a pioneer of Sterns county,
]Minn., immigrating to that section in the early
days and starting in business as a stock raiser.

The Sioux Indians were on the war-path and
soon put him out of the stock business and came
very near putting him out of the world. In those
early days of the settlement of the west, men
seeking homes in a new country not only had to
endure the privations incident to pioneer life, but
frequently were called upon to protect their fam-
ilies and their homes from the bloodthirsty sav-
ages who were ever ready to make raids on un-
protected settlers. The Foot family, consisting
of himself, his wife and two little ones, and a
neighboring family by the name of Erickson find-
ing themselves in danger from the Indians, for-
tified one of the houses to withstand attack. The
Indians came as expected and for two days and
nights harassed the families, badly wounding
both men. During a suspension of hostilities the
men finally persuaded the women to take the chil-
dren and make an attempt to reach the fort,
charging them as they valued their lives to travel
only at night and to keep a constant watch for
the Indians who were liable to discover them at
any time, and discovery meant death, and death
in its most horrible form. AMth the little ones
the women set out to reach the fort and on the
second day of their journev met a party of sol-
diers, who conducted them to the fort. In the
meantime Foot and Erickson were rescued by
some men passing their way and were brought
by them to the fort, where they and their families
were happily reunited. Both men recovered from
their wounds, and very soon afterward Mr. Foot
enlisted in the Minnesota Volunteer ^Mounted In-
fantry, and served in the campaign against the
Sioux Indians. In 1862 he was at the Indian
massacre at Green Lake, where he received a
gim-shot wound through his right lung and six
buckshot in his back. At the close of the war he
took his family and located in Melrose, where in
addition to farming he kept a hotel on the stage
route. In 1883 he removed from ^Minnesota to
North Dakota, near ]\Iinot. and again engaged
in the stock business. In 1888 he came to CaH-
fornia and located at San Pedro, where he lived
until his death in 1903.

Frank D. Foot was bom at IMelrose. Minn..
Augitst 25. 1867, the youngest of his father's
family of six children, four of whom are still liv-
ing. His mother died when he was twelve years
of age. He hved in the town of Melrose and at-
tended school there until he was sixteen years
old and then went to North Dakota and engaged
in stock-raising until 1889. In the last-named
vear he came to California and located on a farm
near Gardena, where he engaged in grain-raising
for nine years. In 1898 he came to San Pedro,
.ind seeing an opening for business he started a
liverv stable at the corner of Second and Beacon
streets. It proved to be a profitable investment
for him and he awaited his opportunity to enlarge

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1281

his business in the same hne. When the Pony
hvery stable was for sale he purchased it, run-
ning it until November, 1905, when he sold it.
Since then he has devoted considerable attention
to his transfer business, the Foot Transfer Com-
pany having the largest business of the kind in
San Pedro. In addition to his transfer business
he has taken up a line of general contracting, do-
_ ing an extensive business in grading, building
and all contract work of that class.

While living in North Dakota Mr. Foot mar-
ried Annie Miller, who was born in Galesburg,
111., of Scotch descent. They have one child, a
son, Clyde, and have a beautiful home on Ninth
street near Palo A^erde. Mr. Foot is a member
of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, is
president of the Eagles, and a member of the In-
dependent Order of Foresters. In politics he is a
Republican.

GEORGE W. COLE. When George W. Cole
arrived in Los Angeles county from Texas in
1864 and settled near what is now Downey things
looked quite different from what they do at the
present day. Los Angeles was a very small
frontier town with a population composed mostly
of Spaniards and Mexicans and the country
around was in a wild and unsettled condition,
with scant vegetation to lend beauty to the
scenery. Mr. Cole at first purchased one hun-
dred and sixteen acres of the old Downey ranch,
but later, in 1875, located on his present ranch
near Whittier. Originally it contained two hun-
dred and twenty acres of land, but he is now
the owner of but sixty acres, having divided the
balance among the various members of his
family.

April 3, 1827, occurred the birth of George
W. Cole in Bureau county. 111., his parents,
Sampson and Vina (Tompkins") Cole, being na-
tives respectively of Kentucky and Tennessee.
They were among the pioneer settlers of Bureau
county and spent their last days in California.
When their son George was twelve years old the
family moved to Carroll county. Ark., and after
a short sojourn there went to the Cherokee
nation, near the Grand river. There the father
bored salt wells under contract for the Indians,
the sinking of the famous Grand Saline well
having befen accomplished in the completion of
his contract. Subsequently the family lived for
several years in Jasper county. Mo., and next
located on the Colorado river, thirty-five miles
below Austin, Tex. At the expiration of a year
in Texas George W. Cole enlisted in the Jack
Hayes regiment of Texas rangers, being first
under command of Zachary Taylor, and later
under General Scott. Their principal work was
in the skirmishing line, although they participated

in the battle of Buena Vista. His term of service
lasted one year and fifteen days, after which
he returned to Burleson county, wiiere the fam-
ily were living. A little later he went to Jasper
county. Mo., where he was married November
15, 1848, to Olive Margaret Chilson, who was
born in Indiana in 1832. Her parents, Emer and
]\Iary (Osgood) Qiilson, were natives of Ver-
mont and Maine respectively and pioneers of
Bureau county, 111. Mr. Chilson died in Califor-
nia and his wife in Missouri. After his mar-
riage Mr. Cole returned to Burleson county,
Tex., and for years engaged in general fanning
and stock raising there. In 1853 he came to
California on a prospecting tour, but remained
only a short time. Ten years later he enlisted
in Captain Turner's company, C. S. A., and
while he fought in the battle of Donaldsonville,
on the JNIississippi river, he was principally oc-
cupied as a scout and skirmisher. Upon the ex-
piration of his term of enlistment he returned
to Texas, a'nd in the spring of 1864 he started
for California, making his way over the plains
with a wagon and ox-team, the journey taking
about eight months. Since permanently locat-
ing on his present ranch, near Whittier, he has
witnessed many changes in the country and in
many of them he has been an active participant.
Mr. Cole is a. Democrat in politics, with strong
independent tendencies. Fraternally he is as-
sociated with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows at Downey, and is a charter member
of the local lodge. He is a member of the
Baptist Church and contributes generously to-
wards its support. To Mr. and Mr. Cole have
been born eight children : Aurelia, Mrs. John
Tweedy; Mary E., Airs. William Keller; Cali-
fornia, wife of Henderson Cheney ; George W. ;
Charles E. ; Dora, wife of Jacob Ginther: Joseph
A. and Bvron S.

CHARLES ANDREW. The ranch now oc-
cupied by Charles Andrew, located two and a
half miles south of El Monte, has been brought
to a high cultivation by his own personal efforts.
Energetic and ambitious, he has given his entire
lime and attention to the upbuilding of his in-
terests and has succeeded in making for himself
a place among the prominent ranchers of this
section. He is a native Californian, his birth
having occurred in San Bernardino February 14,
1875, his father, Tilghnian D. Andrew, an hon-
ored resident of El Monte, having been one of
the early pioneers of the state. ■ For more com-
plete details concerning the life of the latter re-
fer to his personal biography, which appears else-
where in this volume.

Brought to Los Angeles county by his father
in 1881, Charles Andrew grew to manhood in the

1282

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

^Mountain \"iew district, receiving his education
in the pubHc schools uf El ;\Ionte. He remained
with his father until attaining his majority, when
he engaged in teaming and general farming in
the vicimty of El Monte. In 1899 he began farm-
ing on the damp land owned by the Baldwins
in La Puente school district, raising grain, al-
falfa, potatoes, etc.. and meeting with a success
in his venture which enabled him to accumulate
sufficient means to purchase in 1903, twenty-one
acres of land, upon which he has since made his
home. This property lies alxiut two and a half
miles from El I\Ionte and after his purchase was
set out in walnuts, while he at the same time
raised alfalfa and potatoes. He improved the
ranch by the erection of a good residence and
all necessary outbuildings, and the place now
stands as a substantial evidence of the young
man's energy and ambition. His home is pre-
sided over by his wife, formerly IMiss Edna A.
Taylor, who was born in ^Michigan, the daughter
of George Taylor, who died in that state. She
then came to California and was reared by her
maternal grandfather, M. D. !Mason, of Alham-
bra. Mr. and !Mrs. Andrew are the parents of
four children, Florence, Ra}^ and Roy (twins),
and George. J\Ir. Andrew is quite prominent
fraternally ; he belongs to the JNIodern Woodmen
of America, and is past officer of the lodge in El
^lonte; holds a like position in the Alodern
Brotherhood of America, and is past chief temp-
lar of the Independent Order of Good Templars.
In politics he is a stanch Prohibitionist.

MARCUS L. SPARKS. One of the tine ap-
pearing ranches in the Pomona valley is that
owned and managed b\' ]Mr. Sparks, comprising
one hundred and thirty acres and lying in close
proximity to Lordsburg. Although he has been
a resident of the state since 1875, 't was not un-
til 1890 that he came to this vicinity, the nu-
cleus of his present large property consisting of
twenty acres, to which he has added from time
to time as his means would permit until today he
has one of the large ranches of Los Angeles
county.

Mr. Sparks is a native of North Carolina,
born in Wilkes county, March 20, 1853, one of
seven children, three sons and four daughters,
born to his parents, Joseph and Mary (Gray)
Sparks, they too being natives of North Caro-
lina. It was about 1866 that the father left the
south with his family and located in Kansas,
which was the family home for about nine years.
I'pon coming to California in 1875 he located in
the Sacramento valley, where his remaining
years were spent, his death occurring when he

was in his sixty-sixth year. Up to the time of
his death he was a stanch- member of the Baptist
Church, of which denomination the mother was
also a member. December 5, 1906, she passed
away at the home of her son, Marcus L., who,
with the exception of a sister in Oregon, is the
only one of the children living.

The schools of North Carolina during the boy-
hood of i\Ir. Sparks were far from complete
as compared with the temples of learning in
that state today. Such as they were he attended
them with as much regularity as the home duties
would permit, and at night in after years con-
tinued his studies by the light of the pine knots
on the hearth at home. \\l:en he was thirteen
}-ears old he removed with the family to Kansas.
In 1875 he came to California with his father
and settled in the Sacramento valley, for about
five years working as a ranch hand in that lo-
cality. In 1880 he came to Pomona valley and
W'ith the means which he had accumulated pur-
chased five acres of land. In connection with
the cultivation of his own land he still continued
to work for others, following this for about
six years, when he came to the vicinity of Lords-
burg and purchased the nucleus of his present
ranch. He now has fifty acres in navel oranges
and lemons, all of which he set out himself, and
the remainder of the land, eighty acres, is in
grain. Water is supplied from a pumping
station on the ranch, which makes it possible '
to irrigate the land thoroughly.

In 1880. during his residence in the Sacra-
mento valley, ^Ir. Sparks was married to ^liss
Nancy AI. ^lichael, and of their union three
children have been born. Nellie became the wife
of L. L. Ehresman and is now the mother of
three children ; Elsie is the wife of W. A. Keat-
ing and the mother of one child, the family resid-
ing in Lordsburg: Edith is unmarried and at
home with her parents. The family attend the
Baptist Church of Pomona, of which Mr. Sparks
is a member, and fraternally he is affiliated with
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Air.
.Sparks has always -been an ardent advocate of
good schools. He is now serving as trustee of
the grammar school at LaVerne. and is presi-
dent of the board of trustees of the Boneta high
school, both in Los Angeles county. Two organ-
izations in which he takes a special interest and
which bring him into close association with other
ranchers of this vicinity, are the La\'ernc Citrus
.\ssociation and the San Dimas Land and Wa-
ter Company, in both of which he holds the office
of president. Politically he casts his vote for
Democratic candidates at national elections, but
in the choice of local candidates he supports the
Proliihition ticket. Mr. Sparks has a genial-
ity of nature that wins and retains friends, and
these he numbers bv the score.

(^ J^ }io^i^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1285

LAKE W. HOUGHTOX. Those who
have enjoyed the hospitahty of the Houghton
home in Rivera and who have noted with ar-
tistic appreciation the comforts evidenced
throughout the entire residence of twelve
rooms, unite in bestowing upon Mr. Hough-
ton the highest praise for the success he has
attained b}' unaided exertions. Possessed of
a sterhng character and contented spirit, he
was no less at ease amid the frontier environ-
ment of the early days than when surrounded
by the luxuries of the twentieth century, seat-
ed in his attractive home, with telephone at
hand to furnish private conversation with any
of the four telephone stations on his ranch.
Though identified with Rivera for a brief
period only, having moved to the town in Sep-
tember of 1905, he has formed a large circle of
acquaintances and has gained a reputation for
public spirit and energy.

Not many years after Texas had secured its
freedom from Mexican rule and had acquired
independence, W. L. Houghton removed to
that then unknown country, where he re-
mained from 1844 until his removal to the Pa-
cific coast twenty-four years later. In his
family was a son, James D.. who with his wife,
Nancy E. (Hastings) Houghton, became an
early settler of Hopkins county, Tex., at that
time a stock-growing region, but now studded
over with large cotton plantations. While
James D. Houghton was still in the prime of
life he was taken from his family by death and
soon afterward the widow determined to re-
move to California. During 1868, in company
with W. L. Houghton and wife, and with her
two sons and three daughters, she traveled
overland with wagon and team, via Denver,
Colo., the wagon road running almost parallel
with the present route of the Union Pacific
Railroa^!.

For one year the Houghton family remained
in Northern California, where they occupied a
ranch near Modesto (then called Paradise
CitvL the county-seat of Stanislaus county,
and from that locality they traveled south, fol-
lowing the coast road through to Santa Bar-
bara. In the vicinity of Santa Fe Springs they
bought a tract of forty-four acres, where the
grandparents and the mother died soon after
settling in Southern California. Reared to a
knowledge of ranch life, it was natural that
Lake W. Houghton should select agriculture
«<; his life work, and the record of his years
proves that he made no mistake in his choice.
Though by birth a Texan (having been born
near Sulphur Springs, Hopkins county. .'Kpril
2=;. 1858, he has been a resident of California
since a boy of ten years, and is thorouglily in
touch with the histor}- of this commonwealth

and its rapid progress toward permanent pros-
perity, Througii the exercise of industry and
wise management he has acquired a tract of
iwo hundred and seventy-five acres of farm
and pasture land near Studebaker, which is de-
voted to alfalfa and dairy. Of recent years he
has also turned his attention to the raising of
soft-shell walnuts and now has fifty acres in
that profitable product.

The first wife of Mr. Houghton bore the
maiden name of Julia Borden and died in 1893.
Five children were born of that union, name-
ly: Roy J., Archie (who died at eleven
years), William L., Ella and Stella (twins).
After the death of Mrs, Julia Houghton on the
home place, Mr. Houghton was united with
Miss Jennie Brooks, by whom he has a daugh-
ter, Nannie. Though well posted in state and
national afifairs, he is not a politician and
maintains an independence of attitude in re-
gard to politics, voting for the men he deems
best qualified to represent the people, irre-
spective of their political views. Downev
Lodge No. 220, F. & A. M., has his name en-
rolled as an active member, and the doctrines
of brotherhood and charity promulgated by
the order receive his stanch support and svm-
pathy.

ABRAHAM ONTIVEROS. The ranch of
two thousand acres owned and occupied by
Abraham Ontiveros is his by inheritance, and
was -the property of his father, Juan Pacifico
Ontiveros, who was born in Los Angeles
county, in 1782. Juan Pacifico inherited the
qualities of martial ancestors, and in early life
joined the Spanish soldiery in their eflfor'ts to
subdue the Indians and protect Spanish in-
terests in Southern California. As reward for
services rendered he was given a tract of land
known as the Cajon de San Ouan ranch in
Los Angeles county, and which he eventually
sold for what in those days constituted a large
fortune. He then purchased the Tepusquet
ranch of nine thousand acres, now the home
of his son, where he attained to ninety-five
years, the possessor to the last of gracious
qualities of mind and heart, and of the respect
and good will of all with whom he had ever
been associated. His wife shared his fortunes
luitil her eightv-ninth vear, and in the mean-
time reared a family of thirteen children, nine
of whom are living.

At the age of fifty-four Abraham Ontiveros
is one of the fortunate men of California. He
has a beautiful home, a large income, a family
of children who have largely realized his ex-
pectations for them, and a host of friends.
His reputation as a rancher is unexcelled, and

1286

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in the iiianagenieiit of his propert}- he con-
forms to the> standards of the progressive
farmer. He is a breeder of line horses, owns
two hundred and fifty head of blooded cattle
and raises large quantities of grain, grapes,
oli\-es, walnuts and general produce. He built
a reser\oir of two hundred thousand gallons
capacity on a hill one hundred and fifty feet
Jiigh and brings the water from the mountain
springs for family use and irrigation. He has
lived on his present ranch for half a century,
coming here in 1856 from his father's ranch
in Los Angeles county, where his birth oc-
curred April 5, 1852. In 1879 he was united
in marriage to Doraliza Vidal, a native of
Santa Barbara county, and around his hearth-
stone have grown to maturity six children:
Ozell A., Erasmus A., Edmund F., Evanoy L.,
Blanche and Ida. In 1904 he married Petra
Arellanes, of the city of Santa Barbara. He
is a Republican in politics, and a member of
the Catholic Church. His energies have been
devoted to the improvement of his extensive
holdings, to a quiet and dignified interest in
public afifairs, and to the exercise of a delight-
ful hospitality.

WILLIAM H. PEIRCE. Travels through
manv sections of the country, followed by the
establishment of his home in San Diego coun-
ty, gave to Mr. Peirce an excellent knowledge
of coiulilions of soil and climate through va-
j-ied localities, and convinced him that no re-
gion jiossesses a climate more equable than
that of his home. For some years after set-
tling in this county he followed the carpen-
ter's trade and later for a number of years held
the position of collector for the Linda ^'ista
irrigation district, following which in 1899 he
removed to Mesa Grande, and in 1902 bought
a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres near
the town, where since he has engaged in rais-
ing grain and cattle. Besides the supervision
of his ranch he owns and operates the stage
line between Mesa Grande and Ramona and
also carries the United States mail.

During the earlier half of the nineteenth
century there resided in Middleboro, Plym-
outh county, Mass., a carpenter and contract-
or bearing the name of William S. Peirce, who
was a native of the old Bay state and a de-
scendant of an old family. During 1844 he
lost his wife. Prudence fDean) Peirce, who at
the time of her death was thirty-four years of
age. At the time of the discovery of gold in
California he was among the first to start for
tlie new gold fields and in 1849 he set sail from
Xew Bedford, Mass., rounded the Horn and
cventuallv landed at San Francisco, from

which point he went, to the mines. Soon he
returned to San Francisco, leased lands and
erected houses, but three times in the early
fires that destroyed that city he suffered the
loss of his property and so decided to return
to the east. During 185 1 he went back to
Massachusetts, where he engaged in contract-
ing and building. \Mth the exception of one
year spent in Kansas he remained in Massa-
chusetts until his death, which occurred in
1859, at the age of forty-eight years.

Among the children of William S. Peirce
there was a son, William H., who was born
in jMiddleboro, Plymouth county, Mass., June
13, 1836, and was orphaned by his mother's
death when he was a boy of eight years.

After having completed his education in the
public schools and Peirce Academy he learned
the carpenter's trade and followed the same in
Massachusetts until 1857, when he removed to
Lafayette, Kans., and became interested in the
building business. Two years later he left that
town and during the next fifteen years he
traveled much, visiting' many sections of the
country and acquiring mining interests in Col-
orado. From that state he went to St. Joseph,
AIo., in January, 1861, and there joined a party
en route for the Pacific coast, making the jour-
ney with teams and wagons and arriving in
safety at Auburn, Ore. From that point he
proceeded into Idaho and in December of
1864 came to San Francisco, but during the
same month took passage on a steamer and
returned to his old home. After nine months
in Massachusetts he secured employment in
Xew York City and remained there until the
failure of his health in 1867 demanded a
change of climate. For that reason he went
south to Texas and spent a year in Galveston,
returning from there to New York City and
then rem.oving to Sumner county, Kans.,
where he engaged in farming until he trans-
ferred his residence to his present county.

The marriage of Mr. Peirce took place at
Oxford, Kans., June i, 1876, and united him
with Miss Margaret M. Bain, a native of In-
diana, but from four years of age a resident of
Iowa and after 1871 making her home in Kan-
sas, where her father, Samuel, engaged in ag-
ricultural pursuits. Five children were born
of the union. Edith A. taught four terms of
school in San Diego county and then entered
the Leland Stanford University, where she is
now a student. Roland E. follows the black-
smith's trade in San Francisco. Eldred E. was
formerly a student in the Lowell high school
and now is taking a course in mining engi-
neering at the Lake school in San Francisco.
Earl D. is a student in the State Agricultural
College at San Luis Obispo. Everett C, the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1287

voungest member of the family, is a student
in Lick University. While in Massachusetts
in 1865 Mr. Peirce was initiated into Masonry
and ever since has been a believer in the phil-
anthropic principles of the fraternity. With
his wife he attends the Baptist Church and
contributes to its charities. In politics he votes
with the Republican party.

ALLEN J. RUSSELL. Although a compara-
tive newcomer in Fallbrook, Allen J. Russell is
well and favorably known and is numbered among
its best men, socially and financiall}-, being es-
pecially valued as a large-hearted, public-spir-
ited citizen, whose enterprise and liberality have
done much towards advancing the welfare of the
conmnmity and adding to the comfort and hap-
piness of its people. As an agriculturist he is
meeting witH marked success, his large and well-
kept ranch bearing visible evidence of his energy,
thrift and good management. A son of Allen
Russell, he was born August 29, 1856, in Buch-
anan county, Pa., where he lived until after at-
taining his majority.

Born in the mountainous section of Tennessee,
Allen Russell migrated when young to Missouri,
going there in 1837. He subsequently took up
land" in Buchanan county, and there began life
for himself as a tiller of the soil. During the
excitement that followed the discovery of gold in
California he came across the plains in an ox-
team train, arriving in San Francisco in 1850.
Becoming discouraged as a miner, he boarded a
vessel and started for home. At Mazatlan, Mex-
ico, the boat was shipwrecked, and he made his
way from there back to ]Missouri by mule back.
Resuming his former occupation, he was sub-
sequently there engaged in agricultural pursuits
until his death, in 1883, at the age of sixty-three
years. He married Eliza Wolf, who was born
in Pennsylvania, and died in Missouri in early
womanhood.

Left motherless when a mere child, Allen J-
Russell attended the district schools, remaining
at home until after the death of his father. Going
to Kansas in 1884, he followed farming in that
state for about a year, when he returned to Mis-
soiiri, and there continued as a farmer for sev-
eral years. Starting overland from Missouri
June 9, 189.S, he followed the southern route
through the panhandle of Texas and New Mex-
ico, crossing the Pecos river at Eort Sumner, the
Colorado river at Fort Yuma, thente by Banning
Pass and Temecula to San Diego county, arriv-
ing at Fallbrook with his five wagons, stock and
horses on December 8 of that year. Althougli
long, the trip was a pleasant one, and much en-
joyed. There were twenty-one days of the time
when not a white person was seen by any of the

family. Since settling here, ;Mr. Russell has been
actively engaged in his independent calling, and
has now a magnificent ranch of seven hundred
acres, the larger part of which he devotes to the
raising of grain. He exercises good judgment
in financial matters, and in the establishment of
beneficial enterprises gives willing aid and en-
couragement. In 1903 he was one of the or-
ganizers of the Mercantile Store, of which he
has since been a director, and he is likewise one
of the directors of the Fallbrook Hardware Com-
pany.

December 24, 1882, in Missouri, Mr. Russell
married Martha Elizabeth Russell, who was born
in that state, and they are the parents of four
children, namely : Opal W., Cleveland Lee, Jessie
Obern and Thomas Franklin. Politically Mr.
Russell is a straightforward Democrat, and re-
ligiously he belongs to the Baptist Church.

WILLIAM WILEY. Among the earlier set-
tlers of Los Angeles county was the late Will-
iam Wiley, who located near Downey when this
section of the country was comparatively new,
and was one of the most interested witnesses of
its development and growth. Turning his at-
tention to agriculture, he improved a fine ranch,
raising principally walnuts and fruits, in this
line of industry meeting with signal success. A
native of Pennsylvania in the vicinity of Pitts-
burg, he was born September 22, 1836, and died
at his home in Downey, November 9, 1896, his
death being a loss to the community, as well as
to his immediate family and many friends. When
a child of only five years he was orphaned by
the death of his mother, and later he began his
education in the primitive schools of his native
state. Until seventeen years of age he lived on
a farm in that state, and then went to Minnesota,
remaining there for two years. In 1855, when
nineteen years of age, he came to California,
driving an ox-team for the government. Upon
reaching Salt Lake City he remained there for
a short time and then resumed the journev to
San Bernardino, and from there later came to
Los Angeles county. Subsequentlv for five vears
he drove teams from Los Angeles to Wilming-
ton. His first experience in the west as an agri-
culturist was on rented property near El Monte,
and later, in 1868, he came to the vicinity of
Downey. To his first purchase of twenty-five
acres he later added ten acres adjoining, also
purchased thirty-one acres in this locality, be-
sides which he owned seventy-three acres at Wil-
lows, but this latter tract Mrs. Wiley disposed
of in 1906. In his political preferences Mr.
Wiley was a Democrat, and fraternally affiliated
with the Society of Chosen Friends. As a con-
stalilc he rendered acceptable service to his con-

1288

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

stituents, and was a stanch advocate of good
schools.

^Ir. Wiley married, J\Ia_v 19, 1872, Elizabeth
M. Simmons, who was born in Rapides Parish,
La., and is the only survivor of the four chil-
dren, three sons and one daughter, of James
Simmons, of Orange county. Gal. A native of
Mississippi, James Simmons moved when a young
man to Rapides Parish, La., where he resided a
number of years. In 1868 he came across the
plains to California, and is now living near San-
ta Ana, on the ranch which he has improved.
He is a man of sterling worth, highly respected
throughout the community, and is a faithful mem-
ber of the Baptist Church. In politics he in-
variably supports the principles of the Demo-
cratic party.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Wiley was
blessed by the birth of eight children, five sons
and three daughters, as follows : Robert T., of
Tustin, Cal. ; James H., Jil. Lulu; WalteV C,
\\'illiam K., Frederick E., Lena E. and Iva Mae.
Since the death of her husband Mrs. Wiley has
lived on the home ranch, which is under the su-
pervision of two of her sons, Walter C. and Will-
iam K. The home place, as well as the thirty-
one acre tract in the vicinity, is devoted to the
raising of apples and walnuts, both of which
yield abundantly and from which a good annual
income is realized.

ALEXANDER J. CUNEO. An example of
the results of well-directed efforts coupled with
pluck and persistence is to be found in the per-
son of Alexander J. Cuneo, a resident of San
Gabriel and its principal merchant, who set out
in the world dependent upon his own resources
and with nothing but his native qualities to
presage any future success. He has won the
esteem of the entire community through his
business methods, his fair dealing with the pub-
lic, and has built up an extensive custom which
has brought him' large financial returns. Born
in Genoa, Italy, March 7, 1870. Mr. Cuneo is
a son of M. and Mary (Garibaldi) Cuneo, both
natives of Italy, and immigrating to America
many years ago. Their first home was in New-
York City, but they soon removed to Los An-
geles county, Cal., for two years making their
iiome in the city of that name, and thereafter
being residents of San Gabriel. The father died
in 1884 in San Gabriel and the mother in 1897
in Los Angeles, leaving a family of nine children,
of whom four are surviving, those besides
Alexander J. being a daughter in Nome, Alaska,
one in San Diego, and one in Los Angeles. Mr.
Cuneo was a stanch Republican politically; in
religion he belonged to the Catholic Church.

.\lexander J. Cuneo left his native land at

three years of age, and coming to New York
City with his parents remained there nearly two
years, when he was brought to California, which
ever since that time has remained his home. His
education was received in the public school of
San Gabriel, and his first employment was as
a clerk in a mercantile establishment. In 1896
he engaged independently in this occupation,
establishing himself in San Gabriel with a fine
stock of goods, to which he has continued to add
with the passing years until to-day he is proprie-
tor of one of the best equipped grocery, dry
goods, hardware, feed and grain enterprises in
this section of the county. He has built his trade
to lucrative proportions and now employs two
delivery wagons to handle his country custom.

On the 27th of August, 1897, Mr. Cuneo
was united in marriage with Miss May Slack,
a daughter of William Slack, a well-known
pioneer resident of San Gabriel, in which place
she was born. Both himself and wife are mem-
bers of the Catholic Church. He is a Republi-
can in politics, a progressive and public spirited
citizen, and one whose interest in public affairs
results in practical helpfulness at all times.

THOMAS D. MENDENHALL. Fertile val-
leys lying between the stern and rugged stretches
of foothills and plains afford opportunity for the
carrying forward of agricultural pursuits under
favorable surroundings, and the numerous val-
leys for which San Diego county is noted are the
sources of the considerable agricultural wealth of
this part of the state. Bear valley is not without
its fertile farms and among them may be men-
tioned the ranch of four hundred ' and eighty
acres occupied and managed by Mr. Menden-
hall, who is a native son of California and a life-
long resident of the coast county. The family
of which he is a member came from Southern
ancestry and early was established in the far
west. His father, Enos T., was born and reared
in North Carolina. When General Fremont
blazed a path for emigrants across the desert
and mountains, and reports were brought back
by the expedition concerning the fertility of
the lands in that unknown and unsettled region
lying west of the Rockies, the plans of many
were turned toward immigration, and he was one
of the number who braved the vicissitudes of
the perilous trip in order to gain the possible
returns that Destiny might bring. As early as
1847 lis followed the overland route to Oregon
and conveyed in his wagon the first fruit trees
ever taken into that state.

After having engaged in teaching school in
Oregon. Enos T. Mendenhall was led to remove
to California bv reason of reports concerning
the discovery of gold, and during 1849 he became

C , (jj. dyS^-rr-u^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1291

a pioneer of San Francisco. A short time after-
ward he went to Placer county and opened a
general store near the mines, also operated a
sawmill and a hotel in Colfax (then known as
Iliinoistownj. For a long period he retained
important business interests in that region, but
during 1870 he removed to Bear valley and
took up a tract of land from the government.
In addition he bought the claims of many set-
tlers who needed money more than they needed
land, and in this way he increased his holdings
until at the time of his death he owned more
than seven thousand acres in Bear valley and
on Smith mountain. His death occurred Decem-
ber 20, 1904, at the age of eighty-two years.
In early life he married Emily Mills, who sur-
vives him and now, at the age of seventy-three,
makes her home at Oakville, in Napa county.

During the residence of his parents in Sacra-
mento, this state, Tliomas D. Mendenhall was
born November 2. i860. Few educational oppor-
tunities blessed his yoirth. For a few years he
attended the public schools of Placer county, but
while still quite young he began to earn his own
livelihood, and from that time to the present he
has depended upon his own exertions. His
first occupation was that of railroading. At the
age of sixteen years he was employed as brake-
man "on the narrow gauge railroad between Col-
fax and Nevada City, and at the expiration of
three years he was given charge of a freight
train, which he ran for seven years. On resigning
his position as conductor he spent two years in
Napa county and in 1899 came to Bear valley,
where since he has occupied and managed a farm
in this fertile region, giving his attention closely
to the details of the work and laboring with un-
wearied energy to maintain a profitable and sys-
tematic condition in the agricultural possibilities
of the place.

CHARLES EDWIN COLTON. Some
men's lives are passed quietly in the enjoy-
ments of their home and family, while others
are so rudely buffeted in the voyage through
life : are thrown into such strange company ;
meet with so many thrilling adventures : have
so many hairbreadth escapes ; and are engaged
in so many diversified occupations, that a true
account of their work and wanderings sounds
like a romance. Prominent among those whose
career in this world has been thus character-
ized is Charles E. Colton, a prominent and
highly esteemed citizen of Glendale. Leaving
home when a boy, he has since, by his own
efforts risen from a condition of comparative
poverty to one of influence and affluence. An
early pioneer of the state, he was actively
identified witln some of the important historical

events of the territory of California, and to
some extent assisted in establishing its claim
to statehood. A native of Michigan, he was
born, October 26, 1834, at Utica, Macomb
county, a son of Philander and Polly (Merrill)
Colton, both of whom were born and reared
in New York state. The first of the name to
settle in America was Quartermaster George
Colton, of England, in 1640 and from this pro-
genitor has descended the entire Colton race.

Between the ages of two and ten years
Charles E. Colton lived in Cook county. 111.,
and then, with his parents, went to Iowa. Two
years later, in 1846, he left home without
warning, going on foot to Fort Leavenworth,
Kans.. and from that time became self-sup-
porting. Entering the service of Lieut. George
Stoneman, who was afterward commissioned
general, and still later was governor o'f Cali-
fornia, he accompanied him as far as Santa
Fe, when he was assigned as servant to P. C.
Merrill, of the Mormon Battalion, under Col.
St. George P. Cook, with whom he went first
to Mexico, and from there came to California.
After a short stop in San Diego he spent six
weeks in San Luis Rey, and on April 12, 1847,
arrived in Los Angeles, where he remained
until honorably discharged from the service,
July 16, 1847. During the time, Mv. Colton,
then a beardless youth, assisted in raising the
first flag ever hoisted in the place, going on
June 8, 1847, with a detachment of thirty-one
soldiers to Mill creek to get poles for a flag
staff. Taking one six-mule and one four-mule
government team to carry the provisions and
the poles, they performed the journey success-
fully, securing two poles, which when spliced
and bound together with raw hide, gave a
staff a hundred feet in length. On the Fourth
of July, 1847, ^ ^^w daj^s after the return of the
detachment, the Mormon Battalion under com-
mand of Col. John Stevenson, raised the flag
on Fort Hill,' then called Fort Moore, the
people there assembled singing "The Star
Spangled Banner" during the raising, and
cheering lustily as its folds were unfurled to
the breezes.

After his discharge from the service, ^Ir.
Colton with twenty-two companions, guided
byCapt. Jeft'erson Himt, went north, first to
San Francisco, then to San Jose, from there
proceeding to Stockton, where the)' learned
from a party of INTormons that Samuel Bran-
flon had gone across the mountains to meet
Brigham Young and his followers. A few
days later the little band went in Fort Sutter,
where they fell in with two men who said
they had been lost from the Mormon party
that left Los Angeles for the interior of Cali-
fornia at the same time that Captain Hunt and

1292

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

iiis party started northward. Very soon after,
the Hunt company left Sutter Fort, crossed
the mountains, and while in camp on the spot
where the Donner party was afterwards massa-
cred, was joined by Samuel Brandon, who in-
formed the leader that Brigham Young was
located at Salt Lake City. The party, there--
fore, followed the old Indian trail along the
Humboldt river to Goose creek, thence across
Snake river to Fort Hall, which at that time
belonged to the Vancouver Fur Company, and
was under the charge of Captain Grant. Con-
tinuing along the trail, the party arrived at
Salt Lake City in October, 1847, and there
Mr. Colton spent the winter, living during the
time on thistle roots and wolf meat, having
generously given his allowance of flour, etc.,
to the pld people.

In the spring of 1848, Mr. Colton planted a
patch of corn, but the entire crop was eaten
up by crickets. Going to Fort Bridger in the
fall, he stayed with the American Fur Com-
pany, No. 42, until spring, when he returned
vo Salt Lake, where he again tried farming for
a year. In the spring of 1851 he guided a
party across the Rockies to Sacramento, Cal.,
arriving there with an ox-team train in July,
with four hundred head of cattle. Leaving
Sacramento in the fall, he began mining on
the present site of the Folsom Penitentiary,
and was thus engaged about a year, working
along the Yuba river to Marysville. Locating
in Sacramento in 1853, he spent a year in that
vicinity, during which time he carried the
mail from there to Salt Lake City. The jour-
ney was tedious and perilous, on several oc-
casions having encounters with the Indians,
who at one time stole his flour, for which he
had paid $1 a pound. In the spring of 1854
he married, and settled as a farmer in Provo,
remaining thus employed for about three years,
in the meantime taking part in the Indian
troubles. In 1857 he with twenty-five others
was called upon by Brigham Young to go to
the North Platte to bring up supplies, and the
little band met in Young's barn to make ar-
rangements for the trip. In 1859, through Mr.
Young's influence, he obtained a position as
guide, and in that capacity brought a company
of men and a band of cattle to San Bernardino,
Cal.

Remaining in that place, Mr. Colton had
charge for a short time of his father-in-law's
ranch of two hundred and forty acres, but not
liking that part of the state came to Los
Angeles in the spring of t86o, and resided there
two years, in the meantime filling a hay con-
tract under Gen. Winfield Flancock. Going
back to San Bernardino in the spring of 1862,
he was engaged in the freighting business in

that locality for twenty-two consecutive years,
working for the government, and carrying
goods to the various mining camps. During
the time he made twenty trips across the desert
to Salt Lake, (eiglit times being accompanied
by his wife) then up into JNIontana, while in
1868 he was a contractor on the Union Pacific
Railroad, his family making their home the
greater part of the time in -San Bernardino.
While thus employed, IMr. Colton became in-
terested in cattle raising, and when the estab-
lishment of railways encroached upon his busi-
ness he gave up freighting and devoted him-
self exclusively to stock raising on a ranch
in Colorado, where he purchased a squatter's
claim to one hundred and sixty acres. Dis-
posing of his interests in that state in 1884,
he moved with his family to Ogden, Utah,
that his younger children might have better
educational advantages.

In the spring of 1885, Mr. Colton, desirous
of locating his two older sons in business,
went with them first to Oregon, and then to
Raft River, Idaho, where he started them in
the stock business. In September, 1887, he
brought his family to California, settling at
Red Bluff at first, but soon after going to
Chico, arriving there on October 22. There
leaving his family, he proceeded to Sacramento,
where he made arrangements to buy mules to
ship to the Sandwich Islands. After buying
the mules in Utah he shipped them from San
Francisco, making considerable money in the
transaction. Joining his sons, then, at Raft
River, Idaho, he sold his ranch and cattle, and
the following summer lived at Chico. Going-
then to Santa Rosa, he rented a vineyard of
one hundred acres, but subsequently sold out
his lease, and went to Ogden, Utah, where,
in the spring of 1889, he purchased land, and
embarked in sheep raising, stocking his ranch
with a band of sheep which he owned, and at
the time was leasing out. He remained in
Ogden the greater part of the time for six
years, his family in the meantime coming to
Los Angeles, where he joined them in 1895.
In 1898 he made a trip to Inyo county, and
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land
which was stocked with cattle. In 1901 he
traded that ranch for property in Burbank.
He has crossed the desert many times, includ-
ing among others many trips to Arizona, and
upon two of these was accompanied by his wife.
He is now living retired from active pursuits in
Glendale, enjoying the fruits of his many years
of toil and labor. Pie owns valuable property
at the corner of Eighteenth street and Central
avenue, and also has a ranch of fifteen acres,
all cultivated, yielding abundant crops of fruits
and berries.

C^J^^^t^^^^

HISTORICAT. AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1295

In April, 1854, ^Ir. Colton married Alary
Ann Kelting-. and into their household eleven
children were born. Joseph P., of Burbank,
married Adelaide Rollins, by whom he had
four children, Mrs :Minnie Elizabeth Ropes,
Ella Minerva, E'.arl, (deceased), and Harry
Leslie; Charles Plenry. a freight conductor,
married Rosa Wollin, and they have two sons,
William Edwin and Jay ; George Frederick, of
Los Angeles, the discoverer of the Searchlight
mine, married first Matilda Firth, by whom
he has two children, Ella IMoore of Colton and
George ; his second marriage was with Melvina
Leatherberv ; Ella R., living in Fresno, is the
widow of the late T. B. Dowd and has f^ve
children, George, Clarabelle, Charles, James
and Mary: Ravmcnd is deceased; William, of
Searchlight. Nev., married Electa Weaks, and
they have four cliildren, Clara, Hazel, Edna
and Letha; Frank of Searchlight, married
Minnie Corber and they have one son. Glen-
wood ; by a former marriage he had one daugh-
ter, Pearl Ethel, who was reared by INIrs. Col-
ton; James is deceased; Mae, the wife of H.
Sellers, of Los Angeles, has one daughter,
Mildred lone; the two children who died m
infancy were Edwin and Mina. Politically
Mr. Colton is a Democrat.

MARX A. LESEM. In two points at least
the lives of Marx A. Lesem and Sebastian
Kneipp, the recognized father of the water cure,
were parallel, both being of German birth and
both becoming afflicted with what was thought to
be an incurable disease when they were at the
pinnacle of expectancy for success m their re-
spective life callings. The Kneipp method of treat-
ment as practiced by its founder m Germany
became world-renowned during his lifetime and
the little parish-town of Woerishofen has grown
from a mere hamlet to a prosperous, cosmopolitan
health resort. The records show that from 1891
to i8g4 over fifty thousand patients sought
Father Kneipp's help, and it was no uncommon
thing for four hundred afflicted persons to seek
relie'f in a single day. Many eminent physicians,
recognizing the merit of his system, came to him
for mstruction in his methods' of curing dis-
eases with the result that Kneipp institutions
were -established in all of the large cities of Eu-
rope. Thus, with the wide distribution of liter-
ature on the' subject, the knowledge of the meri-
ti^rious svstem spread to all parts of the world
Thus it was that Mr. Lesem, after he had tried
all other known remedies without any relief, be-
came an inmate of the famous institution, leav-
ing it eight months later entireh cured. In the
meantime he had become deeply interested m the
method of treatment and had made a pi'actical

studv of the system, the outcome of which was
the establishment of M. A. Lesem's Kneipp San-
itarium in San Diego, Cal., in 1896.

A native of Rheinpfalz, Bavaria, Germany,
born Alarch 4, 1844, Marx A. Lesem is a son of
Alexander and Caroline (Deutch) Lesem, both
natives of the Fatherland. In his native land
the father was an extensive dealer in grain, giv-
ing this up in 1859 to take up life in the new
world. He survived only a few months to enjoy
his new surroundings, tor his death occurred at
Quincv, 111., in October, 1859, when in his sixty-
fourth year. His wife survived him many years,
passing awa\- in New York City at the age of
ninety-four 'vears. Of the five sons and two
daughters who blessed their marriage three sons
and^one daughter onl> are living, Marx A. being
next to the voungest of the family. His child-
hood years were "spent in the place of his birth,
and among the pupils of the schools in that vi-
cinitx- none was more deeply devoted to his_
studies than :\Iarx A. Lesem. In fact, all of
his spare time out of school was spent in ac-
quiring knowledge. Although through his en-
tire life he has ""continued to be a student, his
school davs, strictly speaking, came to a close
in 1859, for it was in that year that his father
brought the family to America. Settling in
Ouincy, Adams county, III, three of his brothers
there opened a merchandise business on Fourth
street, in which he was interested as clerk until
he also became a partner in the business.

It was while associated with his brothers in
business that Mr. Lesem was taken ill.^ Local
physicians were unable to give him relief, and
after consulting the best-known practitioners of
Chicago and New York he was still in the same
condition. Disposing of his interest in the busi-
ness in 1879 he returned to Bavaria, Germany,
in the vague hope that in his native land he
might find relief from the disease which had fast-
ened itself upon him. He first tried Marien-
bad. one of the renowned health resorts, but this
treatment resulted like all previous ones, and it
was at this time that his attention was called to
the Kneipp water cure. As a patient in the san-
itarium at Bavaria he soon began to note an
improvement in his health, which not only greatly
encouraged him in the hope of complete recovery
but elicited his interest to such an extent in the
system emploved that during the eight months
which he spent there he had become a convert to
the belief that all diseases if taken in time could
be cured bv Nature's simple remedv. His re-
turn to his'home and friends in Illinois in i88i
was looked upon as a miracle, for when he left
nearly tw^o years before none expected to see him
come' back 'alive. Resuming business life, for
several years thereafter he was located in Chi-
cago occupied in looking after his interests there.

1296

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

The ill health of his wife made a change of
climate a necessity at this time, and thus it was
that his attention was drawn to the equable cli-
mate of Southern California. He came to San
Diego in 1887 and in 1888 established a merchan-
dise business, which he continued to carry on
for five years. During all of these years plans
had been maturing for the establishment of a
water-cure sanitarium, and in 1896 he opened the
Kneipp Sanitarium of which he is now the pro-
prietor in his residence at No. 2467 First street.
Basing his belief in his treatment on the cure
which was brought about in his own case he
takes for his motto "What man has done man
may do," and with this as his watchword he has
carried on his humanitarian work for the last
ten years with the greatest satisfaction to him-
self, for he has the assurance that he has saved
many lives and alleviated much suffering. No
matter what the disease may be or of how long
standing Mr. Lesem has absolute faith in his
ability to eft'ect a cure if the patient will be per-
sistent and determined in following the treat-
ment. Requests for admission into the sanitarium
far exceeded the ability to furnish accommoda-
tion, but with the erection and equipment of a
new building this difficulty has been obviated.
The long list of unsolicited testimonials which Mr.
Lesem has received during the past years shows
that his patients have not been confined to his
home city or county, but on the other hand they
have come from all over the United States and
even from the British Isles.

While a resident of Ouincy, III., Mr. Lesem
was united in marriage with Theresa Greene-
baum of Chicago, 111., who was born in that city,
where her family was well and favorably known.
Of the children born to them five are living, as
follows : Regina, now J\Irs. Apple and a resident
of Springfield, 111. ; Lillie, at home : Alexander
M., who is a merchant in Danville, 111. ; and James
G. and Henry F., both of whom are in business
in Chicago. Mr. Lesem was made a Mason in
Chicago and still holds membership in the lodge
there. His interest in the advancement and
progress of his adopted city has from the first
been one of his most noticeable characteristics,
and the Chamber of Commerce of San Diego has
no more interested member than he. In him also
the Republican party has a strong ally. Mr.
Lesem is a man who justly holds a high position
in the community where he lives and is honored
and esteemed for his recognized worth.

W. WALTER COULTAS. Ranking high
among the industrious, thrifty and well-to-do
agriculturists of Ventura county is W. W. Coul-
tas. who 15 engaged in his pleasant and profitable
vocation near Oxnard. A hard-working, per-

severing man, one who observes and thinks for
himself, he is meeting with genuine success in
his labors, and as a man of integrity and honesty
holds a good position among the leading citizens
of the town. A son of Benjamin Coultas, he
was born February 3, 1846, in Scott county, III.
and was there educated. His father emigrated
from England to Illinois, settling in Scott county,
where he was engaged in farming and stock-
raising until his death, at the age of fifty-five
years. On first coming to this country he was
identified with the W'higs, but was afterwards a
Republican in politics. In Illinois, in 1836, he
married Sarah Clark, who was born in England,
and died in \^entura county, Cal., at the ad-
vanced age of seventy-seven years. Both he and
his wife were members of the Qiurch of Eng-
land. Five children blessed their union, and of
these W. W., the subject of this sketch, is the
only survivor.

After completing his studies in the cominon
schools of his native town, W. W. Coultas as-
sisted his father on the home farm. At the age
of eighteen years he started in life for himself,
and in course of time became owner of a fine
farm of two hundred acres in Scott county, and
in addition to carrying on general farming was
a large stock-raiser and dealer. In 1884 he sold
out and removed to Sedgwick county, Kans.,
where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres
of land, on which he resided two and one-half
years. Disposing of that property, he came to
Ventura county in 1887, and the following six-
teen years had the management of the one thou-
sand-acre ranch belonging to his uncle, the late
Thomas Clark. The estate being divided after
the death of Mr. Clark, he has since purchased
three hundred and thirteen acres. In addition
to this he has other property in Ventura county,
a ranch containing one hundred and forty-six
acres of land lying near Oxnard, and has ten
acres of valuable land in Toluca, Los Angeles
county, in the center of the fruit belt. He de-
votes his land to the raising of barley. ' He has
some fine horses, keeping both driving and farm
horses, in all having about thirty head of val-
uable animals.

March 12, 1867, in Illinois, Mr. Coultas mar-
ried Ruth A. Wells, who was born in Illinois, in
1S40, and died in Ventura county, September 6,
i8g6. Of the union of Mr. and ]\Irs. Coultas
thirteen children were born, namely: Luella I\I..
wife of Samuel Chamberlain, of Toluca : Edith,
wife of William Wheeler, of Sawtelle; Jessie,
who died in infancy : Albert W., of this county,
who married Susie Chamberlain ; Grace A., who
(lied at the age of nineteen years; Theresa;
Thomas ; Alexander ; Percy, who died in in-
fancy : Bertha : A^entura : Frederick ; and Ruth
A. Politically ]Mr. Coultas is a stanch Repub-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1299

lican, and while in Kansas served as township
treasurer, and since the building of the Union
high school he has served as a member of the
board. Fraternally he is a member of Oxnard
Lodge No. 341, F. & A. M., and of Oxnard
Chapter No. 86, R. A. M. Religiously he be-
longs to the Christian Church, with which he
united in Illinois.

LUAL\X H. GASKILL. The name of L.
H. Gaskill belongs among those noble citizens
who braved the dangers of the pioneer days
and swept them successfully from his path
and gave the first impetus toward the great-
ness of California stateliood. He was born
in Steuben county, Ind., Juh' 17, 1843, a son
of Cortland Gaskill a pioneer throughout his
entire life. The elder man was born in New
Jersey, inheriting the sturdy traits of his
Scotch ancestors which induced him to face
fearlessly the trying conditions of frontier
life. In young manhood he located in the
state of New York and engaged in stage driv-
ing until 1835 v'hen he removed to Steuben
county, Ind., where he hewed a farm from the
wilderness lands in that state. He eventually
removed to Michigan whence in 1855 he came
to California via the Isthmus of Panama. He
engaged in the dairy business in Petaluma
and later followed a similar occupation on the
Russian river in Mendocino county. Finally
returning to Petaluma he made that place his
home until his removal to San Diego county,
where he resided in Campo, the scene of his
sons' activities, until his death which occurred
at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife,
formerly Theresa Brink, was born in Pennsyl-
vania, a daughter of Moses Brink of Holland
ancestry, and her death occurred in Sonoma
county. They were the parents of six chil-
dren, four of whom came to California, and
three still surviving.

The early boyhood days of Luman H. Gas-
kill were spent in his home in Michigan where
his parents had located in the vicinity of Bat-
tle Creek. He attended the public schools un-
til he reached the age of fourteen years, when
he accompanied his mother to California, the
father having preceded them two years. They
went to New York City and took passage on
the Star of the West to Aspinwall, there
crossing the isthmus and completing the voy-
age on the old John L. Stevens and arriving
in sSan Francisco in July, 1857. They were
met by his father who took them to the home
which' he had established in Petaluma. There
the youth engaged with his father in dairy
farming and remained so occupied until i86t
when he with countless others joined the Corn-

stock rush at Virginia City, Nevada. He en-
gaged in prospecting and mining and the de-
veloping of chi;ns, owning three mines, one
of which was the extension of the Warren
Wells. They struck a sheet of ore that as-
sayed $2,000 to the ton, but it was all worked
out in a month, yielding only sixteen tons.
Mr. Gaskill returned to California in 1866 and
spent the ensuing year on the Russian river
in Mendocino county. In 1867 he came south
to Santa Barbara county, during the trip hunt-
ing along the way, spending some time in
Ventura county, and finally locating in San
Bernardino where he engaged in gardening
with his brother, the two entering a tract of
one hundred and sixty acres at the mouth of
City creek. They built a ditch and irrigated
the land themselves and set out an orchard
and vineyard. They remained in that location
but one year when they removed to San Jacin-
to and purchased one thousand acres and en-
gaged in farming and bee culture. In the
spring of 1868 they came to San Diego coun-
ty, the two purchasing immense tracts of land
in the vicinity of the present town of Campo,
which place they established by building the
first store, blacksmith shop, grist mill and
other enterprises, and where for sixteen years
Mr. Gaskill served as postmaster, w^as justice
of the peace for twelve years and school trus-
tee for twenty years, he and his brother build-
ing the first schoolhouse at that place. They
engaged in the raising of stock, their range
extending into Mexico and Lower California,
and as superintendent of their cattle inter-
ests for six years ^Ir. Gaskill made his home
in Ensenada where he also conducted a meat
market. They were also extensively inter-
ested in bee culture, having four dift'erent
apiaries of about four hundred colonies which
produced many carloads of honey, one sum-
mer their crop being over thirty tons. They
v.^ere the second largest apiarists in the United
States, being exceeded in this enterprise by
only their honorable old friend, J. S. Harbison
of San Diego.

The cattle interests of the Gaskill Brothers
were finally removed to the Colorado river
where the sons of Luman H. Gaskill looked
after their interests. In igoi the cattle in-
terests were disposed of and in January, 1902,
the property in Campo was sold and partner-
ship dissolved between the two brothers, when
they both came to the city of San Diego and
established their homes. Luman H. Gaskill
purchased a residence on the corner of Third
and Elm streets where he enjoys the com-
forts and fruits of an industrious life and where
his friends are ever w^elcome to his hospital-
it\-. He has invested his means in property

1300

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in and about San Diego, among bis posses-
sions owning a fifty-five-acre rancb in Mis-
sion Valley wbicb he rents for garden pur-
poses. Mr. Gaskill's home is presided over
by his wife, formerly i\Iiss E. J- Benson, a
native of San Bernardino, and with whom he
was united in marriage in San Jacinto. They
are the parents of six children ; Walter, a
stockman in Lower California; Marion, de-
ceased, was a business man in the city of
I\Iexico ; Carrie, wife of H. A. Jenkins of Cal-
lexico; Erma, ,vife of P. W. Preston of Wash-
ington; and Ava and Leo at home. Politically
Air. Gaskill is a stanch adherent of the prin-
ciples in the platform of the Republican part3^
While the two brothers were engaged in
their business interests in ' Campo they had
manj' exciting experiences with Mexican des-
peradoes, as the town was located on the
iDorder. It was frequently necessary for them
to stand guard night and day. Both he and
his brother, Silas E. Gaskill, were excellent
marksman and owing to this the desperadoes
were very careful in their method of attack.
The most serious encounter which they ever
had was on December 4, 1875. After the death
of \'asquez, the leader of the desperadoes,
Cruiz Lopez became the leader in his stead
with his lieutenant, Chavez, who planned the
attack on the Gaskill Brothers. On the day
of the attack they left nine men standing on
the hill in ambush, wdiile six came to the store
armed. Two of them came into the store
where Luman Gaskill was showing merchan-
dise, Lopez waiting at the door to give the
signal to the three outside. Air. Gaskill hap-
pened to be looking ui:) and saw the signal of
Lopez and instnntly 'shouted to his brother,
who was on the outside of the store, and at
the same time crawled under the counter for
his gun. Before he could reach it the des-
perado had jumped over the counter and in
the struggle with Mr. Gaskill held him for
Lopez to shoot. Just as the latter touched the
trigger "Mr. Gaskill twisted his body and re-
ceived a ball in the lungs instead of the heart,
but became unconscious for a short period.
Lopez always prided himself on his marks-
manship and did not fire a second time. In
the mean time Silas Gaskill was having trou-
ble on the outside, having dodged a mortal
shot but received a wound in the side and arm,
as he rushed for his gun in the rear of the
shop. As the attack occurred, a Frenchman
rode up and was "wounded by a stray bullet
from the effects of which he afterward died.
He was not so disabled, at this time, however,
as to prevent his firing at the miscreants,
and raising his gam on the pommel of his sad-
dle he shot Lcpez, who died from the effects

of the wound a year later. Silas Gaskill hav-
ing secured a gun rushed back to the attack
and felled two men, one of whom was Theo
Vasquez, who a few minutes later was shot
and killed by Luman Gaskill from the inside
of the shop ; the other was Rafel Martinez
who was only wounded. While these stirring
events were taking place, Luman Gaskill re-
covered sufficiently to take in the surround-
ings and by an effort reached his gun and ob-
tained a position that enabled him to shoot
Jose Alvis. He then made his way around
and under the store and shot Jesus Alveto
just as he was mounting his horse to escape.
Alvis and Martinez were captured and im-
mediately hanged to a tree by the citizens
of the piace. Of the six desperadoes, Alonzo
Goto was the only one not wounded and who
also made his escape. He was never again
heard of in this vicinity, but some time after-
ward a man from Sonora passed through
Campo who had run across Goto, who want-
ed to know if the men were still alive that
he had once called upon, remarking that he
would not make a second visit. Erom him
was learned of the death of Lopez which oc-
curred about a year after the fight. When
the affray was over the citizens of Campo
telegraphed to San Diego for medical aid and
Dr. Millard and the sheriff started for Campo
immediately, making the seventy-five-mile
trip in twelve hours via Tia Juana and Tia
Carte Mexico v/ithout stopping to feed their
team. In thirty days Luman Gaskill was suf-
ficiently recovered to be out again, while Silas
Gaskill was not even confined to his bed from
the effects of his wound. The Frenchman,
who was shot and who was the cause of
Lopez's death, died in San Diego some time
later.

Among his curios Mr. Gaskill has a large
copper kettle made in 1710 from native cop-
per which was hammered out over a boulder,
the beating being done with a rock. It has
a capacity of fifty gallons. The copper car-
ries some gold and it is estimated there is
about $150 worth of gold in the kettle. He
has gathered about him many interesting souv-
enirs of his early life in California, his remin-
iscences making him an interesting and en-
tertaining companion. His natural character-
istics of courage and an indomitable will have
led him into many dangers but have also
brouglit him safely through. His life has tjeen
an exciting one, but while he has enjoyed in
experiences he has given his efforts toward
a personal success as well as interesting him-
self in the upbuilding and development of
whatever section he has made his home. He

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1301

is highly esteemed b>' all who know him and
held in regard as a representative of the earl}'
pioneer.

JACOB RUDEL. (Jne of the substantial
ranchers of Los Angeles county and a man who
has done much for the advancement of the wine
and grape industry in this section, j\Ir. Rudel
has with two associates, recently established a
winery at a cost of $20,000. He is thoroughly
in touch with the spirit of his work, and has
succeeded in acquiring a success which places
him among the substantial citizens of this local-
ity. Born in Frankfort-on-the-J\Iain, German)-.
July 27, 1853, he is a son of Henry and Mar}-
(Hartmann) Rudel, both natives of German)-,
where they spent their entire lives as agricul-
turists, the father passing away at the age of
eighty-nine years and the mother at seventy-
six. There were three children in the family,
Jacob Rudel being the only one who came to
America, a sister still surviving and making
her home in Germany.

Jacob Rudel received bis education in his
native country, after which, at the age of eighteen
years, he came to the United States, having
previously learned the trade of coppersmith in
Germany. While following his trade in New
York City he attended night school in a fur-
ther pursuit of education, which has proven of
benefit to him in later life. After three years in
the metropolis of the western world, he came to
California and in Sacramento followed his trade
for a railroad con-ipany in that city. He re-
mained in that location for five years, when he
came to .Southern California, arriving in Los
Angeles, where shortly afterward he established
a coppersmith business for himself. - The pro-
fits of two )ears enabled him to turn his atten-
tion to more desirable occupation, and he accord-
ingly invested his means in property in the
country, first purchasing forty acres of raw land,
to which lie added from time to time, until he
now has one hundred and thirty acres in one
bod)-, upon which he has set out a vineyard of
one' hundred acres. .\t the time of purchase
all of the land was devoid of improvements with
the exception of forty acres in vines, but with
the industry and perseverance inherited from his
forefathers he set himself to the task of bring-
ing it to rank witJ-i the most highly developed
ranches of this section. That he has succeeded
cannot be doubted when viewed in the light of
events. His initial venture as a manufacturer
of wine dates back to the year 1885, and formed
the nucleus of his present business. This was or-
ganized in 1905 with himself as president. About
one hundred thousand gallons of wine are turned
out per year, and sold at wholesale to the east-

ern trade. The output from Mr. Rudel's vine-
)-ard is not quite sufficient to supply the capacity
of the winery and he therefore buys grapes from
other producers in his section. He has put
up substantial improvements on his property,
a comfortable residence, barns and outbuildings,
and has made it one of the model ranches.

In 1885, in Los Angeles county, Mr, Rudel
was united in marriage with ]\Iiss Eliza \'ogel,
a native of Switzerland and a daughter of Jacob
A'ogel, a pioneer of Southern California now-
deceased, his wife still surviving and making
her home in Los Angeles. They have two chil-
dren, jNIillie, aged nineteen, and Atwood, aged
seventeen. Mr. Rudel is independent along poli-
tical lines, reserving his right to cast his ballot
for the man he considers best qualified for of-
ficial duties. He takes an active interest in the
growth and upbuilding of Los Angeles, and is
-Still a stockholder in the First National Bank
of that citv.

JACOB SECKINGER. A'entura county has
many well-to-do and successful farmers who
have accumulated what they have of this world's
goods through their own individual efforts.
Among this class Jacob Seckinger occupies a
position of note. Living near the village of Ox-
nard, he has a valuable ranch, and is industri-
ously engaged in the prosecution of his indepen-
dent calling, in which he is meeting with un-
questioned success, A son of Thomas Secking-
er, he was born. April 17, 1864, in Richland
county. 111., of thrifty German ancestry,

A native of Germany, Thomas Seckinger was
reared to agricultural pursuits. In i860 he im-
migrated with his family to the United States,
and finding in the rich prairie soil of Illinois an
excellent place for following his chosen occupa-
tion, he settled in Richland county, where he has
since been employed in general farming, being
now seventy-four years of age. In the Father-
land he married Catherine Deimel, who died on
the home farm in Illinois in 1894, at the age of
sixty-five years.

Acquiring a practical knowledge of the vari-
ous branches of study pursued in the coirunon
schools of his native county. Jacob Seckinger
was subsequently well drilled in the art and
science of agriculture by his father, remaining
at home until after becoming of age. Coming to
California in 1886, he was employed as a tiller
of the soil in Santa Barbara for three years.
Removing to the Santa Clara valley in 1889, he
purchased forty acres of land, and by dint of
earnest work improved a good ranch, which he
afterwards sold at an advantageous price. In
January, 1905, he purchased his present valua-
ble estate of one hundred and five acres, lying

1302

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

near Oxnard, and in its care and cultivation has
met with satisfactor}- results. He makes a spe-
cialty of raising lima beans, of which he has
ninety-five acres, while on the remainder of
his ranch he reaps excellent crops of alfalfa.

October 29, 1890, Mr. Seckinger married Laura
Reiman, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Schneider) Reiman, with whom she came to this
country from Germany when a girl. Immigrat-
ing to the United States with their family in
1881, Mr. and Mrs. Reiman came directly to
the Santa Clara valley, where he was engaged
in general ranching until his death. His wife,
an active woman of seventy-six years, now
makes her home with Mr.- and Mrs. Seckinger.
Of the union of ^Nlr. and ]Mrs. Seckinger, three
children have been born, INIary, Bertha and
Elizabeth. Politically Mr. Seckinger is identi-
fied with the Republican party, and religiously
both he and his wife are members of the Catho-
lic Church.

W. C. BIXNS. Standing high among the
younger generation of thriving agriculturists of
Ventura county is W. C. Binns, a well-known
rancher and fruit-grower of Moorpark. With
characteristic perseverance and diligent labor he
is carrying on mixed farming with unquestioned
ability and success, his property, with its many
valuable improvements, ranking among the most
attractive and desirable estates in this section of
the state. A son of Rufus H. Binns, he was bom.
May 28, 1871, in Mahaska county, Iowa, where
he grew to manhood.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Rufus H. Binns lived
there during his boyhood. In 1842 he went with
his parents to Iowa, and when ready to choose
a life occupation selected farming as the most
congenial employment. In the years that fol-
lowed he made a number of trips to California,
and in 1892 settled permanently in Ventura
county, where he owns property on which he is
now residing. He has always taken an active
interest in public affairs, in his earlier life be-
ing identified with the Democratic party, and
afterwards being a Populist. While in Iowa he
was elected supervisor on the independent ticket,
and served in that capacity three terms. In
Iowa he married Nancy Griffee, who was also
born and reared in Columbus, Ohio. She came to
Califomia with him, and died, at tlie age of
fiftv-one vears, in 1896, at the home of her onlv
child, W: C. Binns.

Educated in Mahaska county. Iowa, W. C.
Binns attended first the public schools, subse-
quently taking a course at the Oskaloosa Com-
mercial College. Returning then to the home
farm he remained beneath the parental roof-
tree until December, 1892, when he came to

Southern California. After living for a short
time in \'entura he purchased his present ranch,
of which he took possession in 1893, and has
since been profitably employed in its management.
He has two hundred and fifty-five acres, about
fifteen of which he devotes to the raising of apri-
cots, the remainder being sowed t o grain or
planted to beans. He makes a specialty of dr_\-
ing apricots, selling on an average eight or nine
tons of dried fruit a year. He deals to some
extent in stock, raising cattle for the market,
and in his agricultural and horticultural opera-
tions is very successful, raising profitable crops
and disposing of them advantageously.

In August, 1 90 1, Mr. Binns married Flor-
ence Lloyd, who was born in California, but as
a girl spent several years in Nebraska, return-
ing to this state when twelve years of age. Mr.
and Mrs. "Binns have two children, Alice and
Helen. Politically Mr. Binns is an independent
voter, casting his ballot in favor of the men and
measures he deems best, unhampered by party
restrictions, and socially he is a member of the
Fraternal Aid Association of Simi. Religiously
Mr. Binns belongs to the German Reformed
Church, and Mrs. Binns is a member of the
Presbvterian Church.

THOMAS BOYD. The Santa Maria valley
claims no more successful rancher than Thomas
Boyd, whose property is admirably located, ly-
ing six miles from the village of that name. Of
the four hundred acres comprising the ranch
twenty acres are in apricots, while the remainder
is in grain and beans, the latter commodity pro-
ducing nine sacks to the acre.

A native of Ireland, Thomas Boyd was born
in County Fermanagh June 25, 1850, being one
of nine children born to his parents, Edward
and Mary A. (Stephenson) Boyd, both also na-
tives of the Emerald Isle. Mrs. Mary A. Boyd
died at the early age of thirty years, and some
time afterward the father was again married,
this union resulting in the birth of six children.
He passed away in his native land when in his
sixty-fourth year, in the faith of the Established
church, of which he was a member, as was his
first wife also. Thomas Boyd has two brothers
who are residents of California, besides two
half-brothers. He himself was reared and edu-
cated in his native land until twenty years of
age, when he took upon himself the responsibili-
ties of his own maintenance. Crossing the At-
lantic in 1870, he arrived in New York City in
due time, and for about two years engaged as a
stone mason and stone setter in that metropolis.
Frugal in his habits, he laid by from his earnings
whatever remained over and above actual ex-
penses, and thus it was that he was enabled to

,^a/V-<^^ ^ j'L>LA^J<^e^T^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1305

come to the west in 1872 for the purpose of set-
tling here permanently. In order to familiarize
himself with the methods of farming in this
country and furthermore to enable him to look-
about for a choice location he worked out as a
ranch hand for about two and a half years, the
greater part of the time in the vicinity of San
Jose, Santa Clara county. Coming to the Santa
iNIaria valley in 1874 he lived on rented land
for a time, but later took up a quarter section.
Subsequently he sold half of the tract, but in
1880 purchased three hundred and twenty acres
adjoining the remainder, the whole combining
to form his present ranch of four hundred acres.
The land was in its primitive condition at the
time it came into his possession, so that all of
the improvements which have been necessary to
bring it up to its present state of development
are the work of his hands. All of the buildings
are of a substantial character, and are in keep-
ing with the family residence, which is one of
the most elegant and up-to-date houses in the
valley.

In 1884 Thomas Boyd was united in marriage
with Miss Emma Griffith, who is a native of the
state, having been born in San Jose. Six chil-
dren were born to them, but of these two died
in infancy, and those now living are : Edna, the
wife of J. F. Bradley ; Elmer and Ruth, both of
whom are attending school ; and Emma Bernice.
In his political views Mr. Boyd favors Republi-
can principles, and fraternally he is identified
with the Masonic order, belonging to Santa Maria
Lodge No. 340, F. & A. M. Mrs. Boyd is a
faithful member of the Presbyterian Church of
Santa Maria, toward the support of which i\Ir.
Boyd contributes freely, in fact no worthy ob-
ject fails to number him among its supporters,
for he is a lover of his fellow-man and adopted
home and appreciates to the fullest degree what
both have meant to him in his struggle for a
competency during the past thirty-two years.

DAVID A. KUGHEN. Holding a note-
worthy position among the active and enter-
prising men who settled in Los Angeles when
that thriving city was in its infancy is David
A. Kughen, now a well-known and highly es-
teemed resident of Burbank. For many years
he has been prominently connected with the
agricultural and horticultural interests of
Burbank and its vicinity, contributing his full
share towards the industrial prosperity of the
place. He is a man of great integrity and
worth, keenly alive to the need of encourag-
ing and supporting all beneficial projects, and
as a strong Prohibitionist is especially inter-
ested in advancing the temperance cause. A
nati^•e of Greene county. Pa., he was born,

August 9, 1839, in Wayne township, where he
was brought up and educated, living there
until se\ enteen years of age.

Going to Illinois in 1857, ^Ir. Kughen
worked on a farm in Bureau county for four
years, when he migrated to Warren county.
November 8. 1861, he enlisted in Company H,
Eleventh Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, under
command of the late Col. Robert G. Ingersoll,
and served as a private until discharged on
account of physical disability in 1862. Return-
ing to Warren county, he remained there un-
til 1866, when he came as far west as A Ion-
tana, residing there until 1883. During this
time he was actively and prosperously en-
gaged in ranching and mining until the spring
of 1881, when he embarked in mercantile pur-
suits. Coming to Southern California in 1883,
he opened a grocery store in Los Angeles,
which was then but little more than a village,
and for two years carried on quite a business,
when he sold out, turning his attention to real
estate, which was then booming. Moving to
San Bernardino county, in 1887, he purchased
one hundred acres of wild land and immedi-
ately began its improvement, setting out twen-
ty acre? to oranges and lemons. Selling his
ranch in 1891, he once again became a resi-
dent of Los Angeles, and for a time was there
engaged in the grocery business. Locating
in Burbank in February, 1894, he bought his
present ranch of thirty-five acres, situated
one-half mile west of the village, at the same
time purchasing his residence property in the
village, where he has since made his home.
On his ranch he has seven acres of walnuts,
and the remainder of the land is in alfalfa and
general farming. He is verv progressive, us-
ing the most approved modern methods em-
ployed by scientific agriculturists, and in 1898
installed on his ranch the first pumping plant
used for irrigating purposes in Burbank. He
now rents a part of his land for the growing
of small fruits and berries, and in the manage-
ment of the remainder is meeting with char-
acteristic success. In 1906 he disposed of ten
acres.

In February, 1882, in Missouri, Mr. Kug-
hen married Elizabeth Lovely, and of their
union six children were born, namely: Flora
Elizabeth, a student in Occidental College :
Cassie Pearl, deceased : David L., John Thom-
as \A'hitman, who died December 31, 1905;
Maude Hope: and Glenn Omar. From 1864.
when he cast his first presidential vote, until
1895 Mr. Kughen was an earnest supporter of
the principles of the Republican party, but
since that time he has been one of the lead-
ing Prohibitionists of Los Angeles countv and
an active worker in party ran1<s. Both him-

1306

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

self anu his wife are faitliful members of the
Christian Church, in which he is serving as
an elder, and toward the support of which he
is a liberal contriliutor.

FRANK GISLER. The experiments of re-
cent years have proved that much of the land
in ^'entura county is well adapted for the rais-
ing of beans and beets, and thus these two
crops now form the principal products in a
certain portion of the county. To an amateur
the raising of these two products presents many
formidable obstacles, and success only comes
after repeated failures and discouraging ex-
periences : yet in the end, to those who thor-
oughly learn the business, no occupation pre-
sents greater opportunities for the earning of
a neat income as the result of a year's applica-
tion and energetic devotion to the work. Per-
haps few men in the county have a more thor-
ough knowledge of the growing of beans and
beets than Mr. Gisler possesses and as a re-
sult of his sagacity and energetic application
he now owns one of the finest farms in the
vicinity of Oxnard.

A native of Canton Uri, Switzerland. Erank
Gisler was born January 17, 1872, being a son
of T^Iax Gisler and a brother of Joseph Gisler,
well-known among ^'entura county's agricult-
urists. When he was about seven years of
age he accompanied his mother to America,
joining his father in California, and here he
was sent to the public schools until he had
acquired a fair English education. When only
a small boy he began to assist his father and
in youth was the possessor of a thorough prac-
tical knowledge of agriculture. With his
brother, Joseph, in 1893 he began to farm on
the Tack Hill place, where more than four
hundred acres were placed under cultivation
to grain and beans. Later he was employed
at SpringA'ille for one year and in 1897 he and
his brother leased four hundred acres of the
Patterson ranch, where they made a specialty
of raising grain and beets. With the money
thus earned in 1900 they bought one hundred
and fifty-seven acres, known as the Clemens
ranch, lying just north of Oxnard, and here
they found themselves the owners of very fer-
tile land, well adapted for beet-raising. On
the division of the property in 1905 Frank re-
ceived about seventy-five acres of plow land,
and in addition he and his brother own fifty-
six acres of beet-land at El Rio. the income
from the two properties amounting to a grati-
fying sum.

The marriage of Frank Gisler was solemn-
ized at El Rio .'\pril 8, tgoi, by Rev. John
PVijol. and united him with ]\iiss Grace East-

wood, a sister of Ernest Eastwood, in whose
sketch the family histor}' appears. ]\Irs. Gis-
ler is a daughter of George J. Eastwood and
was born in Ventura, received an excellent
education in the county schools, and after
leaving school held office as deputy in the El
Rio postoffice, of which her mother was then
postmistress. Mr. and Mrs. Gisler are the
parents of one child, Raymond. The family
hold membership w^ith the Santa Clara Catho-
lic Church and contribute to its maintenance
and miss'onarj' enterprises, as well as to other
movements for the benefit of their community
and the uplifting of the human race. While
Mr. Gisler has not identified himself actively
with politics and has not displayed any par-
tisan spirit in his opinions, )'et he stanchly ad-
vocates Republican principles and bv his bal-
lot gives support to the party and its platform.

HERBERT ALFRED BURDICK:. As the
oldest business man in El Alonte Herbert A.
Burdick has witnessed and participated in the
development and upbuilding of the town and
community and is still actively interested in all
public aft'airs. He was bom in Cortland county,
N. v., February 18, 1855, the second in a fam-
ily of seven children, five sons and two daugh-
ters, of whom four sons are now in California.
The father, Amos, was also born in that place,
as was the grandfather, Joseph, who as a fron-
tiersman engaged as a hunter and trapper, and
in summers as a farmer. Amos Burdick fol-
lowed his early training and became a farmer,
in young manhood removing to Wisconsin, where
he enlisted in Company B, Thirteenth Regiment
W^isconsin Infantry, and served in the Civil war
for three years and nine months. Returning to
civic life he located in Milton, Rock county, and
pursued agricultural lines until his final removal
to California, where he located in Pomona, thence
returning east and dying in North Loop, Neb.
His wife was in maidenhood ]\Iartha Spencer,
who was born in Cortland county, N. Y., a
daughter of Oliver Spencer, who as a carpenter
passed his entire life in the state of New York.
Mrs. Burdick died in Modesto, Cal.

Herbert A. Burdick was reared in Wisconsin
and in North Loop. Neb., and was educated in
the public schools. Reared upon a farm, he con-
tinued this occupation when starting out fiir
himself. He later homesteaded property in
Greeley county, after which he went to Sheridan
county and entered land and improved a farm,
eventually owning two large and well improved
farms. Having learned the blacksmith's trade
in the meantime he built a shop in Rushville and
worked at his trade. In 1888 he came to Cali-
fornia and located in St. Helena. Napa county.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1307

remaining there for one year, and then came to
El Monte and leased the shop which he is now
conducting, two years later purchasing the same
and continuing in business to the present writing.
In 1896 he rebuilt the shop, installing an eight
horse power engine, and added to his equipment
until he now has the best equipped blacksmith
shop in El ]\Ionte. He has also built a residence
here.

In North Loop, Neb., INIr. Burdick was united
in marriage with Miss Sarah Elizabeth McDow-
ell, a native of Michigan, and they are the par-
ents of two children : Lester, engaged in the
plumbing business in El Monte, and Thisba.
Fraternally Mr. Burdick is a member of the In-
dependent Order of Foresters, the Ancient Or-
der of United \\^orkmen, INIodern Woodmen of
America and Fraternal Brotherhood. In religion
he is a member of the Seventh Day Adventists,
belonging to the Los Angeles church of this de-
nomination. Politically he is a Republican.

ALBERT HADLEY. In the financial cir-
cles of Whittier and the surrounding country no
name stands out in greater prominence than that
of Hadley, two of whose representatives. Wash-
ington and Albert (father and son), organized
the First National Bank of Whittier October
I, 1900, under national laws, and have since
held the positions of president and vice-presi-
dent respectively in the institution, the son be-
ing now the general manager of the entire bank-
ing business controlled by the company. In ad-
dition to his connection with this solid institu-
tion he acts as a director of the Whittier Sav-
ings Bank, wliich also is in a flouishing condi-
tion ; and furthermore he has been on the direc-
torate of the \\Tittier Home Telephone Com-
pany. During the existence of the Wliittier
Light and Fuel Company he was its president
and manager, holding that ofifice until the plant
was sold to the Edison Electric Companv.

A native of Annapolis, Ind., Albert Hadley is
a son of Washington and Naomi f Henley ) Had-
ley. and a grandson of Micajah Henley, a promi-
nent Quaker of Wayne county, Ind. ; also a
grandson of Jonathan and Ann (Long") Had-
ley, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and
Virginia. When the family lived in Parke
county, Ind., Albert Hadley had the advan-
tages offered by Bloomingdale academy, and in
early manhood he served as a clerk in the office
of the treasurer of Parke county for a year.
His first knowledge of the banking business was
acquired while acting as errand boy in the Parke
County Bank. During the four years nf his
employment by the bank he was promoted to be
bookkeeper and teller. On resigning the latter
position he removed to Kansas and in October,

1865, assisted in organizing the National Bank
of Lawrence, in which he first held the position
of bookkeeper and later was teller, assistant
cashier and cashier successively, being with the
same institution for twenty years. During the
period of his residence in the town he was for
two years associated with the Lawrence Sav-
ings Bank, but at the expiration of that time he
returned to the National Bank. Besides his
other connections he was identified with the
\\'estern Farm Mortgage Company, a local in-
stitution of Lawrence, in which he officiated as
a director. Though not a partisan he was a
stanch believer in Republican principles and
while in Lawrence consented to fill the office of
deputy city treasurer for one term, but with that
exception he refrained frorn any participation in
local politics.

On the removal to Denver, Colo., of the main
office of the \^'estern Farm Mortgage Company.
Mr. Hadley bore an active part in the work and
assisted in establishing the organization in its
new quarters. It was his intention to remain
with the company at Denver, but the altitude
proved injurious to his health and for that rea-
son he sought a more favorable climate in re-
moving to California in 1890 and settling at
\Miittier. Immediately after coming to his new
location he secured the position of paying teller
and assistant cashier of the National Bank of
California, in Los Angeles, in which later he
was promoted to the cashiership. After an ac-
tive association of eleven years with that insti-
tution he resigned on account of ill health and
for a year relinquished all activities, but on the
expiration of that time, having partiallv recov-
ered his former strength, he again assumed
business relations with a bank, this time begin-
ning his connection with the institution in which
he is now an officer.

The marriage of Mr. Hadley was solemnized
at Rockville, Ind., and united him with Mary
J. Brown, who was a member of an old New
York family and died at Los Angeles in 1900.
Three children survive her, namely: Freder-
ick W., who by gradual promotions worked his
way up to be paying teller in the National Bank
of California and is now assistant cashier of
the First National Bank of Whittier; Meda N..
who was educated in the Marlborough school,
Los Angeles, and died in Los Angeles Novem-
ber 3, 1903, at the age of twenty-two years ; and
Mildred M., a graduate from the IMarlborough
school, and now a student in Stanford Univer-
sity at Palo Alto. The family are identified
with the Whittier Congregational Church, in
the organization of which Mr. Hadley was an
active worker and to which he has been a gen-
erous contributor. In fraternal relations he is
connected with the Masons and Ancient Order

1308

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of United Workmen. A man of varied talents,
strong of mind, keen in analytical powers, quick
in decision, energetic in action and resourceful
in ideas, he has been a promoter of the per-
manent prosperity of Whittier and has accom-
plished much in behalf of its banking interests,
its religious upbuilding and its educational de-
velopment.

ALBERT G. BARTON. \\'orthy of repre-
sentation in a volume of this character is Albert
G. Barton, an esteemed and highly respected
resident of San Pedro, who has been active and
influential in the upbuilding of this section of
Los Angeles county, and has been somewhat
prominently identified with public affairs. A son
of James Harvey Barton, he was born, in 1838,
in Eaton township, Lorain county, Ohio.

A native of New York state, James Harvey
Barton was born and brought up there, but in
earl\- manhood settled as a wheelright in Lorain
county, Ohio. Following the march of civili-
zation, he went to Wisconsin in 1845, and taking
up a tract of land in Cottage Grove, Dane coun-
ty, improved a fine farm. Retiring from active
pursuits in his old age, he spent his last years in
Stearns county, Minn., at the home of his son
Albert, of whom we write. He married Eliza
Bassett, a native of New York, and a daughter
of Samuel Bassett, who subsequently settled as
a pioneer in Ohio. She died on the home farm
in Wisconsin. Of the live children born of their
union, five grew to years of maturity and three
are now living. Two of the sons served in the
Civil war, namely: Sylvester, who served in a
Wisconsin regiment during two terms of enlist-
ment, and Albert G.

About seven years of age when his parents re-
moved to Wisconsin, Albert G. Barton was
brought up on a farm, and educated in the dis-
trict schools of Dane county. Going to Minne-
sota in 1858, he worked in what is now Kandi-
yohi county for about four years. In the fall of
1862 he enlisted in Company D, Minnesota
lilounted Rangers, and until mustered out, a
year later, was employed in subduing the Sioux
Indians. Re-enlisting, in the spring of 1864, in
the Minnesota Independent Battalion V^olunteer
Cavalry, he was located on the frontier for two
years. Returning then to Stearns county, Minn.,
he was there extensively and prosperously em-
ployed in farming and stock-raising for a num-
ber of years. Deciding then to change his
place of residence and his occupation, he came
to San Pedro, Cal.. in 1883. and was here en-
gaged in contracting and building for six years.
Being appointed postmaster in 1889. he served
for some little time after the change of admin-
istration, in 1893. He subsequently carried on

general ranching at Altadena for a short time,
but not satisfied in that part of the county soon
returned to San Pedro, and having erected a good
residence at the corner of Center and Santa
Cruz streets has since made this his home.

In Melrose, Stearns county, Minn., Mr. Bar-
ton married Emeline J. Foote, who was born in
Ohio, and they are the parents of three chil-
dren, namely: Mrs. Cora Evelyn Mclntire, of
Pasadena; Mrs. Alberta Adeline Nichols, of
San Pedro; and A-Irs. Ina Ozella Fawcett, of
San Pedro. Politically Mr. Barton is an uncom-
promising Republican, sustaining the principles
of his party at every opportunity. Fraternallv
he is a Master Mason, and socially he is a mem-
ber of Harbor City Post No. 185, G. A. R., of
San Pedro. Religiously both Mr. and Mrs.
Barton are valued members of the Episcopal
Church.

GEORGE B. WEIDLER. Throughout Los
Angeles county are many young men of promise,
who are already important factors in developing
and promoting the industrial prosperity of South-
ern California, prominent among the number be-
ing George B. Weidler, a poultry raiser and deal-
er, living near Wiseburn. Endowed with a re-
markable degree of energy and push, he is rapid-
ly building up for himself a substantial business
and winning an excellent reputation for ability
and worth. A son of the late Samuel W. Weid-
ler. he was born, in 1880, in Cincinnati, Ohio,
where he grew to man's estate.

Born, reared and educated near Lancaster, Pa.,
Samuel W. Weidler resided in his native town
until 1875, when he moved to Ohio. Locating in
Cincinnati, he built the mill and warehouse that
still bear his name, and successfully operated both
until his death, in 1904. He married Mary A.
Beal, a native of Ottawa, Canada, and they be-
came the parents of three children, all boys, one
of whom died in infancy, the others being George
B., the special subject of this sketch; and Frank
K., who is in business in Los Angeles, being a
member of the Advance Buggy Company.

Inheriting considerable property from the par-
ental estate, which was sold after the death of the
father. George B. Weidler came to Los Angeles
county, and in April, 1905, invested in land, buy-
ing his present ranch, comprising thirteen acres,
near Wiseburn. He has since erected some fine,
up-to-date chicken houses, fenced off yards, and
has already established a good market business
as a raiser of full-blooded White Plymouth Rock
chickens, catering to the high-class hotel trade in
Los Angeles. His ranch is well improved, hav-
ing a substantial residence, and a good barn, and
all of the most approved modern conveniences for
successfully carrying on his chosen work.

,..^^^Cc.^i.A^ c/ ^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1311

CHARLES I. DORN. As postmaster and
general merchant of j\foorpark, Ventura coun-
ty, Charles I. Dorn is named among the repre-
sentative business men of this section. Like
many others of the men who are substantial
citizens of California, Mr. Dorn is a native of
the middle west, his birth having occurred ip
Ridgeway, Iowa, November lo, 1873. His pa-
rents, Anderson and Arvilla (Reimay) Dorn,
Avere also natives of Iowa, from which state
they emigrated to California in 1879 and in
Contra Costa county made their home for
about nine years. Removing to Ventura coun-
ty in July, 1888, they located in the Cuyama
valley, where the last days of the mother were
spent, her death occurring in 1898. at the age
of fifty-six years. Subsequently the father re-
moved to Bakersfield, where he died in 1902,
at the age of seventy-eight years.

About six years old when his parents
brought him to California, Charles T. Dorn re-
ceived his education in the public schools of
Contra Costa county, which remained his
home until his fifteenth year. After locating
in A'entura county he became interested in the
oil fields, engaging in this business in both this
county and Los Angeles county, and remain-
ing so occupied up to within four years ago,
.\t that time he took charge of the hotel which
he had previous!}' purchased at Fillmore and
witli a partner ran a livery business, conduct-
ing these combined interests for the period of
two years. Severing his connections with Fill-
more in 1904, he came to Moorpark and estab-
lished a general merchandise business, carry-
ing a very complete line of groceries, hard-
ware, furnishings, and a general dry goods
stock, and in addition buys and ships hay,
grain and beans, doing a general commission
business. He was appointed postmaster in
1904 and has since ably discharged the duties
devol\-ing upon him. He is a man of business
ability, combined with good judgment and en-
ergy, which have brought about his success in
whatever line of work he has taken up.

In Bardsdale, April 30, 1902, Mr. Dorn was
married to Miss Mattie Lemmon. a native of
Texas, and born of this union is one son, Law-
rence M. In his fraternal relations Mr. Dorn
is a member of the Alasonic lodge of Oxnard.
and also of the Fraternal Brotherhood. He is
a liberal and pr.blic spirited citizen and takes
an active interest in advancing the welfare of
the community, serving for some time as
school trustee.

Hautes-Alpes, August 20, 1866, a son of
Pierre, the representative of a family which
traces its ancestry back six hundred years,
Tlie elder man was a farmer and stockman in
the south of France, being so engaged
throughout his entire life in that location,
where his death eventualh^ occurred. He is
survived b}' his wife, formerly Leontine Mar-
chant, also representing an old family of
southern France, who makes her home on the
old farm. They became the parents of eight
children, of whom seven are living, the third
child being Emile, He was reared on the pa-
ternal farm in France, receiving his education
in the public schools and Gap College, At the
age of twenty-one years he enlisted in the Sec-
ond Battalion, Second Company, One Hun-
dred and Fifty-second Infantry, of the regular
army of France, and after serving for three
years was honorably discharged. In 1892 he
came to California and in Los Angeles entered
the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad,
remaining so occupied for a year, when he
bought out his uncle, Seraphin Rambaud, who
owned the pioneer store at Puente, since
which time he has continued the business
profitably. He conducts a general merchan-
dise establishment, carrying a full line of
goods generally found in such an enterprise.

In Los Angeles Mr, Rambaud was united
in marriage with Miss Marian Oxarart, a na-
tive of Los Angeles, and a member of one of
the old families of this section, and they are
the parents of two children, Emelianne and
Gaston. V.r. Rambaud is an active Republic-
an and is interested in all matters of public
import, having served one term as school trus-
tee.

EMILE RAMBALTD. The oldest mer-
chant in Puente, Los Angeles county, is Emile
Rambaud, who was born in France, near Gap,

HENRY HORACE WEBB, Among the
enterprising business men of Santa Monica who
have attained success in their work is Henry
Horace \\'ebb, well known as an extensive dealer
in ice and as a transfer agent. A man of ener-
getic temperament, honest and upright, he is well
worthy of the assured position which he holds in
the estimation of the people of the community.
.V native of Canada East, he was born September
II, 1851, at Roxton Falls. His fatlier, Henry
Webb, born in England, migrated as a young
man to Canada East, where he married Salinda
Hall, He followed the trade of brickmaker
during the greater part of" his active career,
first in Canada, then in Fillmore county, Alinn,
Coming to California as a pioneer of Santa
Monica, he was for a time employed in buying
and selling property, Init afterwards lived re-
tired.

Going with his parents to Minnesota, Henry

1312

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Horace Webb completed his early education in
the public schools of Fillmore county, remain-
ing at home until becoming of age. Going then
to Boone county, Iowa, he was there prosper-
ousl}' employed in the transfer business for five
years. In search of a broader field of action,
he came from there to California in 1878, locat-
ing in Los Angeles, where for eight years he
managed a large transfer business, having an
office at first at the corner of Los Angeles and
First streets, but subsequently removing it to
the new brick block which he built at No. 233
Los Angeles street. He was likewise actively
engaged in mercantile pursuits, running a gro-
cery, and in both lines of industry was very
successful, carrying on a fine business until after
the collapse of the great boom. Coming then
to Santa Monica, in partnership with F. W.
Vogel, he established an ice business and in addi-
tion has also established a larg'e and lucrative
business as a transfer agent, at the present time
keeping about twenty-four horses employed.

In Boone county, Iowa, Mr. W^ebb married
]\Iary W. Aliller, a daughter of Charles [Miller,
a pioneer settler of Iowa, and into their house-
hold three children have been born : Winnie B.,
Perry H. and Clarence E. Politically Air. Webb
is identified with the Republican party, support-
ing its principles by voice and vote. Fraternally
he is a member of the iMasons, Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks, and the Royal Arcanum.
He is a fine representative of the self-made men
of our county, by his own efforts having acquired
considerable wealth. He has a pleasant home at
the corner of Oregon and Eighth streets, and is
likewise interested in Santa ^Nlonica real estate.

AVIXFIELD SCOTT FLINT. An ac-
quaintance with the west begun during the
period of his service in the regular army first
attracted the attention of Mr. Flint to the ad-
vantages offered by the Pacific coast, and
upon receiving his honorable discharge from
the government ser\'ice he returned to the
coast country, where he has since made his
home. Of eastern birth and parentage, he was
born in Rensselaer county. N. Y., September
22, 1865, and is a son of Clement and Hester
( Gould) Flint, natives respectively of New
York and Florida. For many years the father
engaged in tlie practice of medicine and sur-
gery in Brooklyn . and New York City, but
while still in the prime of life he established
himself in Rensselaer county, and continued
professional work in that section of the state.
When advancing years brought a desire for a
release from the arduous life of a busy physi-
cian he relinquished his large practice and
sought the genial climate of California, set-

tling in 1883 in the Poway valley in San Di-
ego county, where- now, at the age of eighty-
three years, he is enjoying a merited rest from
professional and business activities. His wife,
who is fourteen years his junior, is also living
and possesses mental and physical faculties in
unimpaired strength.

Little occurred to individualize the youthful
years of W. S. Flint until his departure from
the old homestead to take up the active duties
of life for himself. In 1882 he enlisted in the
regular army as a member of Company F,
Twenty-first United States Infantry, and
shortly afterward was sent to Washington
with the regiment, being stationed at A^an-
couver Barracks, where he remained for six
months. Later he was stationed at Fort Sid-
ney, Neb., until his discharge from the army.
During his brief period of service in the west
he had been favorabh' impressed with the
coast region and determined to return thither
•with a view to making a permanent location.
During December of 1884 he arrived in San
Francisco and there began to learn the black-
smith's trade, of which he acquired a thorough
knowledge during the period of his appren-
ticeship.

On coming to San Diego county in 1885 Mr.
Flint settled at Santa Ysabel and .soon after
his arriA^l he took up a homestead from the
government. This he improved and made his
home, giving his attention to the raising of
stock and also of such varieties of grain as
suited the soil and climate. Until 1896 he gave
his attention unreservedly to agriculture, but
during the year named he bought a black-
smith's shop at Santa Ysabel and gained a po-
sition of prominence in his locality as an up-
right business man and expert horseshoer.
Near the village he owns one hundred and
seventy acres of ranch land and his residence
close to town gives him a modern, substantial
home with all of the advantages of country
life. Before her marriage Airs. Flint was Mil-
lie Paine, her marriage to Mr. Flint occurring
in this county January 24, 1889. She was born
in Maine and in 1869 was brought to Califor-
nia by her father, C. Paine, Avho established
the family home at Poway. Later Air. Paine
removed to Mesa Grande and since then has
remained in that localit}', engaging in the fruit
business and in general ranch pursuits. Airs.
Flint passed away November 20, 1906. She
was an earnest member of the Congregational
Church, a lady of gentle character and noble
traits, a wise mother to their three children.
Alargaret F.. John W. and Mary F.. and pop-
ular in the best social circles of the commun-
ity.

For si3me vears Air. Flint has held member-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1313

ship in Banner Cvourt No. 8522, A. O. F., at
Julian, and to its helpful work he has been a
regular contributor. Though not a partisan in
politics and at no time a seeker for office, he
nevertheless has stanch convictions concern-
ing tariff problems and national issues and
gives his allegiance to the Republican party.
He was appointed deputy sheriff under F. M.
Jennings and took up the duties of its position
in San Diego January i, 1907. Few men of
his community are more fond of reading than
he, and much of his leisure time is devoted to
a study of current events as depicted by the
daily press and leading magazines. As a con-
sequence of this study he has gained a famil-
iarity with current affairs, local, state and na-
tional history, and measures for the advance-
ment of the people, which gives him a place
among the best informed citizens of his local-
ity.

AARON E. KEENER. About one mile
west of Lemon, and not far from the Eair\-iew
school house, ma}^ be seen one of the fine
looking and productive ranches which abound
in Southern California. When Mr. Kepner
took possession of this property a little over
twenty years ago there was apparently little
to encourage one in undertaking to trans-
form a barley field (for such it was), but the
passing of years has noted marvelous changes.
Clearing away the barley stubble he set out
a vineyard and also some deciduous fruits, in
those "days watering his fields by means of a
barrel, but in spite of this laborious and unsat-
isfactor)' method of irrigation his horticultural
undertaking was a complete success and for
years he bore the distinction of having the
finest vineyard of ]\Iuscats in this vicinity.
His vineyard has since been replaced by wal-
nuts, having a grove of twentv acres, sixteen
acres in deciduous fruits, while the remaind-
er of his sixty-acre ranch is used for alfalfa
raising and. general farming.

Born in Nora, Jo Daviess countv. 111., De-
cember 5, 1849, Aaron E. Kepner is a son of
B. H. and Sarah (Bushey) Kepner, both na-
tives of Pennsylvania. They were married in
the east and three of their thirteen children
were born before their immigration to the
frontier of Illinois in 1847. Settling on a farm
in Jo Daviess countv the father carried on
agricultural pursuits throughout the remainder
of his active years and there reared his large
family of children. ^A'ith the wife of his
young manhood, who had uncomplainingly
shared the inconveniences and vicissitudes of
pioneer life, he was spared to enjoy a free-
dom from care in his later vcars. which were

passed in California, both dying in Lemon.
The eldest of tJie parental family born in Illi-
nois, Aaron E. was brought up in that state
until he was twenty years of age, in the mean
time attending the public schools of Nora.
With the knowledge of farming which he had
gleaned by assisting his father on the home
farm he set out to try his own luck along the
same line, settling on a farm near Montrose,
Henry count}-. Mo., in 1869. After remain-
ing there fifteen years, or until 1884, he dis-
posed of his interests in the Mississippi val-
ley to ccme to California. His wisdom in the
selection of another choice piece of property
was demonstrated when, during the same year,
he purchased his present sixty-acre ranch in
the . Fairview district, not far from Lemon.
From an unpromising barley field he evolved
first one of the finest vine^'ards in this part
of the state, and now on the same acreage has
one of the most productive walnut groves in
the vicinity. Besides the twenty acres in wal-
nuts he has sixteen acres in deciduous fruits
and twenty-four acres devoted to alfalfa and
general farming. All in all the Kepner ranch
is considered one of the best in this part of
Los Angeles county and its proprietor is rec-
ognized as one of the important factors in the
county's upbuilding.

In Lafayette county, Wis., September 29,
1872, Aaron E. Kepner was united in marriage
with JMiss Roxie Rowe, who was born in Penn
Yan, N. Y. Her father, Delevan Rowe, also
a native of the Empire state, carried on a hotel
and also a planing-mill and cabinet-making
business in the east, but after his removal to
Illinois settled upon a farm near the Kepner
family in Jo Daviess coimt}-. Subsequently
he removed to Iowa, and now resides on a
farm near Iowa Falls, in which locality he is
a power in the ranks of the Republican party.
Mrs. Rowe was before her marriage Sarah
Shaw, born in Orange coimty. N. Y., and who
counted among her kinsmen the well-known
Kernochan and jMcCartney families of that
state. The death of Mrs. Rowe occurred in
Illinois, at which time she left three chil-
dren, of whom her daughter Roxie, now Mrs.
Kepner, was the eldest. Six children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Kepner, but only three
of them are now living. The eldest, Etha,
who before her marriage was one of the most
talented music teachers in Pomona, is now the
wife of Dr. E. L. Johnson, of To])eka, Kans. ;
Ida died in Missouri when seven years of
age; Ross P., who graduated from Pomona
College in 1906 with the degree of B. S., is
now taking a post-graduate course in engi-
neering in the University of Michigan : Flor-
ence fknown bv her f;imilv and intimate

131-i

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

friends as Birdie) died in Pomona in 1899,
when seventeen years of age; Ernest died in
infancy ; and the youngest, Louis, is attend-
ing the Pomona high school. Both Mr. and
and Mrs. Kepner are members of the Baptist
Church of Pomona, exempHfying in their daily
living the principles of their professed religion.
Mr. Kepner is a member of the ^^'al^ut Fruit
Growers' Association.

j.VMES G. WARREN. The career of James
G. Warren has been diversified and full of inter-
esting events, his school days being interrupted
to answer the call of his country to arms in de-
fense of the Union ; the long, weary and heart-
rending service to 1865 being given uncomplain-
ingly ; his return to civic life ; and following, a
location in various states of the Union and under
all circumstances, from the most unfavorable to
the most propitious. He is now an honored cit-
izen of Southern California, successful in his
personal enterprises and prominent among the
residents of El Monte. He was born in East Au-
rora, Erie county, N. Y., April 21, 1842, a
grandson of Gen. William Warren in command
during the war of 1812 at Buffalo, N. Y., and
whose great-grandfather, William Warren, was
a cousin of the General Warren who fell at
Bunker Hill, the name having been established
in America by two brothers who crossed the
Atlantic in the Mayflower. Mr. Warren's
grandfather, an old-line Whig, died at the age of
ninety-four years.

When ten years old Mr. Warren's parents took
him to Geauga county, Ohio, where the next
five years of his life were passed. He attend-
ed the public schools up to the age of fifteen
years, when he left home and went to Buchanan
county, Iowa, where he engaged in working on
a farm. The inherited patriotism within him
stirred to life by the needs of 1862, he enlisted
for service in August of that year, in Company
C, Twenty-seventh Regiment Iowa Infantry,
was mustered in at Dubuque, Iowa, and at once
sent against the Sioux Indians in Minnesota.
After three months in the north his regiment
was transferred to the scene of activities in Ten-
nessee and Mississippi, where he participated in
the siege of Vicksburg, was with the Red River
expedition, Sabine Cross Roads, etc. ; then re-
turned to the relief of General Sturgis, checked
Forest's cavalry, and participated in the siege
of Nashville. Following this he was in the siege
of Mobile and the capture of that city, and Forts
Spanish and Blakely. He came safely through
the historic struggle and never received the
slightest wound. He was mustered out of ser-
vice in 1865, at Clinton. Iowa, and immediately
afterward returned to Manchester, same state.

! 'ntil iSfiS Mr. Warren engaged in farming
and teaming in Manchester, when he went to
Adams count}' and purchased land upon which
he remained four years, with the exception of
one year spent in Belleville, Kans. In 1875 he
went to Jewell county, Kans., and near Mankato
homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres, upon
which he engaged extensively in general farm-
ing. Later he took up the barber business in
Mankato, while his wife, conducted a milliners-
store. These combined interests were contin-
ued until 1894 when Mr. Warren disposed of
his business and came to California, making
his home for six months in Ontario, after which
hn went to Pasadena and engaged at his trade.
Selecting as a more desirable vocation that to
which he had early been trained, in 1896 he lo-
cated on the farm which he now owns, consist-
ing then of five acres of walnuts, to which after
three' years he gave all of his attention, having
in the meantime disposed of the barber shop
which he had established in El Monte. Later he
purchased ten acres of walnuts on the ^Monrovia
road, and also owns forty acres near Chino, San
Bernardino county, which he is farming at the
present writing. A part of his attention at pres-
ent is given to the raising of fine poultry, white
Plymouth Rocks and Buft' Orpingtons being his
principal fancy stock, the latter, in connection
with the massive pines on his place, giving the
nanie of Pines Orpington ranch.

Mr. Warren has been twice married, by the
first union, with Cordelia L. Beagle, having five
children, namely : Ernest, Fred, Lulu, Edith and
Vivian. His present wife was formerly Mrs.
J\lary A. (Kchler) Trump, a woman of rare qual-
ities, a member of the Presbyterian Qiurch, and
one who has many friends. Mr. Warren was a
charter member of Jim Lane Post G. A. R., at
JNIankato, and served as its conimander for two
years, and is now identified witli Pasadena Post.
Politically he is a stanch adherent of the prin-
ciples advocated in the platform of tlie Repub-
lican party, which ticket he has always voted. He
belongs to the ]\Iountain View Walnut Growers'
Association.

HENRY AUSTIN WARNOCK. Thor-
ough familiarity with the agricultural condi-
tions of San Diego county, acquired by a life-
long residence in this portion of California,
admirably qualifies Mr. W^arnock for the wise
and successful supervision of his large landed
interests in the vicinity of Ramona. The peo-
ple of his home neighborhood give him a high
position in their esteem and confidence, this
respect being accorded him as a result of their
acquaintance with his liberal views, high in-
telligence and niarked uprightness. A lifelong

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1317

resident of his present district, he was l^orn
at the old Warnock homestead on Santa Ter-
esa rancho, September 3, 1865, and is a son of
William and Ellen (Denig) Warnock and a
brother of W. J. Warnock, in whose sketch
appears the family history. During his boy-
hood years he was sent to tlie district schools
and later had the advantage of a course of
study in St. Vincent's College at Los Angeles,
after which he took a commercial course in
Heald's Business College at San Francisco.

Returning home on the completion of his
collegiate course Mr. Warnock took up inde-
pendent ranching. From the first he was in-
terested in stock-raising and kept on his ranch
about one hundred head of cattle and from fif-
teen to twenty head of horses. In the year
1900 he enlarged his responsibilities by the
purchase of a ranch adjoining the old home-
stead and here he now has twelve hundred
and twenty acres of land, of which three hun-
dred and fifty acres are under cultivation, and
about fifteen acres are planted in apple trees
now in bearing condition. Each year wit-
nesses some improvement made on the ranch,
for the owner is a man of progressive spirit
and is not satisfied with anything less than
the best. In his desire to advance the inter-
ests of the ranch he has the active co-opera-
tion of his wife, formerly Elizabeth E. Wolfe,
and a native of Tennessee, but reared in
Southern California, where their marriage
took place October 26, 1901. Born of their
imion are three children, William A.. Mabel
Elizabeth and Eugene Douglas. While Mr.
Warnock has always given his support to
Democratic principles he has never sought lo-
cal leadership in the party nor has he accepted
any political office except that of constable.
While filling the position of school trustee for
two terms he gave his district faithful service
in the interests of its educational progress and
proved himself to be capable, well informed
and progressive, aiming constantly to promote
the welfare of the schools.

ALBERT J. FREEMAN. During the years
immediately following the discovery of gold
in California the tide of emigration drifted
ronstantly from the east toward the shores of
the Pacific. Among the thousands of home-
seekers and Argonauts came William D. Free-
man, who crossed the plains in 1854 in com-
pany with a large party of emigrants making
the journe}'' with ox-teams and wagons. A
native of New York, he was born in Chautau-
qua county, September 27. 1827, and for many
vears he lived in Illinois, where he was a pio-
iieer nnd honored citizen of McHenry county.

. Upon coming to the west he engaged in min-
ing in Amador county, but later settled in
Marin county, where he and his wife still live
at their old homestead, the former now seven-
ty-nine years of age, and the latter seventy-
two. Both are earnest members of the Chris-
tian Church and for years have been identified
with its fellowship. The wife and mother bore
the maiden name of ^lary Halstead and was a
native of Canada, but came to the United
States in girlhood, and September 15, 1850, be-
came the wife of William D. Freeman. Born
of their union were twelve children, of whom
two daughters are now deceased. Ten are now
living, among them being H. D., a well-known
resident of Santa Barbara.

After the famih' had settled in Marin coun-
ty a son was born February 5, 1858, who was
named Albert J., and who. in common with his
brothers and sisters, received a public-school
education and grew up to a thorough knowl-
edge of ranching. From early manhood he has
been interested in the poultry business and
still makes a specialty of that work. Until
about 1898 he remained in Marin count}-, but
at that time he moved to Santa Barbara coun-
ty and settled on his present farm near Santa
Maria. Of his tract of eighty-three acres he
has forty acres sown in grain and twenty-five
acres planted in corn. In his poultry yards he
has three thousand young chickens and thir-
teen hundred hens. During the hatching sea-
son he uses five incubators with a capacity of
from five hundred and four to five hundred and
seventy-six each. These incubators he con-
structed without other aid, for he possesses
considerable ability as a mechanic and exe-
cutes work with skill. Other necessary ar-
rangements have been made on his well-
equipped chicken ranch, and. the neat appear-
ance of the place proves him to be a man of
energy- and wise judgment.

The marriage of Mr. Freeman was solemn-
ized February 20, 1901, and united him with
Miss Emma L. Hardisty, a native of Illinois,
and they are the parents of two children. Ivy
and Vina. Mrs. Freeman is a daughter of
Charles W. and Clarinda (Meadows) Hardis-
ty. the father born in Savannah, Mo., in 1844.
and the mother born in Abingdon, 111., in 1849.
In 1879 ]\Ir. Hardisty removed from Missouri
to Montana and during 1883 arrived in Cali-
fornia, settling in .Santa Rosa, Sonoma coun-
ty. A thoughtful study of present-day condi-
tions has made Mr. Freeman a convert to the
doctrines of socialism, which he upholds not
only theoretically, but also at the polls. His
wife holds membership in the Christian
Church and both contribute to its mainte-
nance. For sonip vears ^frs. Freeman was one

1318

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of the leading members of the Bloomtield
Lodge of Rebekahs m Sonoma count}- and
during the entire period of her passing through
the chairs therewith she did not miss one
meeting of the lodge. At different times she
filled all of its chairs and in recognition of her
able leadership and deep interest in the lodge
its members honored her with the past grand
jewel of her office.

HEXRY B. PRATT. The records that give
the genealogy of the Pratt family show that
its representatives of past generations, like
those. of the present, held positions of honor-
aljle prominence in the various localities of
their residence. The first of the name in this
country settled along the Atlantic coast in
New England, later generations following the
trend of emigration toward the west. Julius
D. Pratt, a native of Connecticut, became a
pioneer of Illinois in 1836 and took up a large
tract of raw laiid near Sterling, where he en-
gaged in farm pursuits and also for a time
taught school. When thirty-one years of age
he died in 1841 and his wife, Mary (Bowman)
Pratt, a native of Pennsylvania, died the year
following his demise. Their son, John B., was
born in Dixon, 111.. March 24, 1835, and re-
mained at home until the discover}- of gold in
Pike's Peak, when he went to the mines of Col-
orado. Two years later he procee_ded to Au-
burn, Ore., and during the next' five years he
engaged in freighting between that country
and Illinois and other points of the Mississippi
valley, after which he spent a year at his old
Illinois home. Going next to Iowa, he settled
on a raw tract of land in Mitchell county,
where he gave his attention to the develop-
ment of an improved farm. Though prospered
financially, he found the climate unpleasantly
rigorous and therefore removed to California
in" 1892, settling on a farm near Ramona. Ten
vears' later he rented the land and since then
has lived in retirement. In addition to his
tract of two hundred and forty-one acres in
this valley he owns one hundred and fifty-two
acres in the Sorrento valley. Politically he
has voted the Republican ticket ever since the
organization of the party.

While living in Mitchell county, Iowa, John
B. Pratt married Julia Agnes Holbrook, a na-
tive of Wisconsin. Three sons comprise their
family, namely : Henry B., living near Ra-
mona; Clarence L., who is interested in a
store at Pacific Beach. Cal. : and Arthur Earl
of Ramona. The eldest of the thr^e sons was
born in INIitchell county, Iowa, September 6.
1874, and in early boyhood was taken to How-
ard countv, Iowa, where he attended the pub-

lic schools. In J 892 lie accompanied the fam-
ily to California and soon afterward rented a
tract of farm land. During 1901 he bought his
present farm of thirty-six acres and in 1906
purchased eighty acres in the San Pasqual
valley, besides which he rents two hundred
acres which he has under cultivation to grain,
with a certain portion utilized for the pastur-
age of stock. Like his father, he is a thorough
believer in the principles of the Republican
party and alwaj-s votes that ticket. For some
years he has been actively identified with the
Modern Woodmen of America at Ramona.
His marriage was solemnized in the village of
Ramona and united him with Miss Katherine
M., daughter of John Sause, of Iowa. Mrs.
Pratt was born in Iowa, but from girlhood
has been a resident of Southern California,
and remained in her father's home until her
marriage, October 19, 1899, when the young
couple began housekeeping on a rented farm,
later moving to a farm of their own. The}' are
the parents of three children, Alice ^larie,
Agnes Flora and Charles Henry. The family
attend the Congregational Church and are
Identified with its membership, as well as lib-
eral contributors to its charities.

RICHARD L. ANDREWS. Numbered
among the representative agriculturists in the
vicinity of Hynes is Richard L. Andrews, a
prosperous tiller of the soil, who is devoting his
time and attention to general farming and dairy-
ing. He was born June 10, 1869, i" Canada,
which was likewise the place of birUi of his
father, Joshua Andrews.

Learning the trade of a blacksmith when
young, Joshua Andrews followed his chosen oc-
cupation in Canada for many years, being very
successful. Aligrating with his family to Cali-
fornia in i88r, he resided for two years in San
Francisco. Coming from there to Los Angeles
county, he followed blacksmithing a number of
years, first in Downey, and later at Norwalk.
Settling near Long Beach in 1895, he devoted
himself to the growing of lemons for a number
of seasons, but his fine lemon grove is now
in the process of being sub-divided, and from
the sale of lots he will realize a handsome in-
come. He married Elizabeth D. Moat, a native
of England, and of their four children three
survive. Politically he is a sound Democrat,
active in party ranks, and has served as road
overseer. Fraternally he belongs to the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and to the
Knights of Pythias. His wife is a member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Receiving a limited education in the common
schools of Canada, Richard L. Andrews came

^. l4i. ^^/-o^.

?I1ST0RICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

13l>l

with the family to CaUfornia in 1881, and in
1883 came with the others from San Francisco
to Los Angeles county. Beginning to learn the
trade of blacksmith in Downey, he worked with
his father until about twenty years old, when he
started in business on his own account in Nor-
walk. He subsequently spent a year in Port-
land, Ore., but on his return continued in busi-
ness for himself in Norwalk for a year or more.
Changing his occupation then, he rented a part
of the Bixby ranch, which he managed about five
years meeting with excellent results in his opera-
tions. Thus encouraged, he bought, in Novem-
ber, 1897, his present tine ranch of one hundred
acres, near Hynes, and as a general farmer has
since been exceedingly prosperous. He raises
good crops of corn and alfalfa and also carries
on a large and profitable dairy business, keep-
ing about thirty cows.

In October, 1895, Mr. Andrews married Maria
E. Harris, who was born in Texas, a daughter
of William Harris, a native of Missouri. Mr.
and Mrs. Andrews are the parents of four chil-
dren, namely : Mabel I., Gertrude L., Richard J.
and Susie E. In national politics ]\Ir. Andrews
is a straightforward Democrat, but in local af-
fairs he votes independent of party lines, consid-
ering the fitness of the man for the office for
which he is nominated.

CHARLES M. GIFFORD. Conspicuous
among the industries contributing to the material
development of San Diego may be mentioned
the olive oil factory and pickling and canning
factory established by Mr. Gilford in this city
upon a very small scale in 1900, the original
plant being- limited to an equipment for the
pickling of olives. In 1903 an olive canning
plant was added for the canning of the largest
olives grown in the state, known as GiiTord's
Best. At the present writing (1906) a factory
is under process of construction providing a
larger capacity than was previously possible. The
new brick structure is looxioo feet in dimensions
and two stories in height, provided with engines
of suitable power and with all the equipment
necessary for the proper management of the
business upon the extensive scale now estab-
lished. Competent judges claim that the factory,
when completed, will be the finest in the state
for the purposes desired, and alreadv the repu-
tation of the plant has become so widely known
that shipments are m^ade from points as far
distant as Stockton and the San Joaquin valley.

The Gif^'ords are an old eastern family. Hiram
Gifford was a contractor and builder in New
York and later in Pennsylvania and his son.
Frank, a native of the former state, learned
under him the carpenter"? trade, in all of its

details, afterward following the occupation at
Northeast, Erie county, Pa., but eventually re-
moving to Illinois to spend his last days. The
wife of Frank Gifford bore the maiden name
of Kate Linnian and was born in New York,
but now resides in Los Angeles. Through her
father, Peter, the lineage is traced back to John
Linnian, a native of Denmark. The genealogy
of the family shows a direct descent from Mar-
tin Luther. In the family of Frank Gififord
there were five children, only two of whom are
now living. During die Civil war the father
enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment and his four
brothers also fought for the defense of the
L'liion.

The next to the eldest among the five chil-
dren, Charles M. Gii?ord, was born at North-
east, Erie county. Pa., May 7, 1856, and re-
ceived common school advantages. At the age
of fourteen he removed from Pennsylvania to
Ohio and settled on a farm near Cleveland.
When twenty years of age he went to Cheboy-
gan, ]\Iich., from which point he and his
brother, D. F., ran the steam yacht Katie for
two years. On selling the yacht they built the
tug Gifford and for ten years carried on busi-
ness with the same, selling out in 1886. The
following year the Gififord was lost in the Straits
of Mackinaw. During 1886 Mr. Gifford made
his first trip to California and, being favorably
impressed with San Diego county, he removed
hither a year later, settling on a ranch eighteen
miles east of San Diego. On the land he planted
an orange grove and an olive orchard, securing
the necessary irrigation facilities from a spring.
Later he bought one hundred and one acres ad-
joining. Twenty acres of the property were
in an orchard, while the balance was devoted
to general farm pursuits. While engaged in
horticultural and farm pursuits Mr. Gifford's at-
tention was directed to the fact that the olive
business presented a new and profitable field
for investment, and accordingly he began to de-
vote himself to the same, with such success that
in the fall of 1895 he sold the ranch in order that
he might give his time exclusively to business
affairs.

The marriage of ]\Ir. Gififord took place in
Cheboygan,- Mich., and united him with Miss
Rachel \\'lieeIock, a native of that city. They
have three children, DeWitt, Ruth and'Orville.
the eldest of whom now assists his father in the
factorv. Mrs. Gifford is a member of the Christ-
ian Giurch and the family are contributors to
its work and missionary activities. Politically
Mr. Gifford votes with the Republican party,
but takes no sjjccial part in local politics and
has never been a candidate for office. The San
Diego Chamber of Commerce is one of the pro-
gressive bodies whose work he upholds bv his

1322

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

membership and influence. After coming to
San Diego he was initiated into Sunset Lodge,
I. O. O. F., of which he is past grand. Later
he became connected with the Encampment (of
which he is past chief patriarch) the Canton and
the Rebekahs, to which latter organization his
wife also belongs. In preparation for the Grand
Encampment of 1905, held in San Diego, he was
appointed a member of the executive committee
having in charge the plans for the gathering.
Those in attendance were enthusiastic in their
tributes to the excellent management and sa-
gacious ability displayed by those having the
work of preparation in charge, and the conven-
tion undoubtedly did much to direct the atten-
tion of visitors from other points to the superior
advantages offered by San Diego as a city of
homes and a center of refinement and culture.

WILLIAM ANDREW. Tliere is always a
peculiar interest attached to the history of any of
those residents of the L^nited States who have
come here from a foreign land, and more partic-
ularly of those who have settled in that part of
it with which we are most familiar. This is es-
peciallv true of William Andrew, of San Diego,
who has had a varied experience during his active
career, and has been associated with the actual
life of three continents. A son of John Andrew,
he was born October 24, 1858, in the highlands
of Scotland, his birth occurring in Wick, Caith-
ness county, where, among its rugged hills and
mountains, he grew to sturdy manhood. His
father, a farmer by occupation, spent his entire
life in Wick, and his mother, whose maiden name
was Elizabeth St. Clair, was also a life-long
resident of Scotland. They were the parents of
ten children, all of whom are living, William, the
subject of this sketch, and Daniel being the only
ones in California.

At the age of fifteen years, having obtained a
practical common school education. William An-
drew began learning the carpenter's trade in
Wick, and two years later went to Edinburgh,
where he completed it. In the meantime he at-
tended the night schools of that city, further
fitting himself for his chosen occupation by tak-
ing a course in drawing and architecture. In
1878, making a bold venture, he sailed from
Glasgow, Scotland, for New Zealand, going b\-
way of the Cape of Good Hope, and after a voy-
age of four months and five days arrived at
Dunedin. For two years he followed his trade in
that vicinity, after which he enlisted in Company
5, Seventh Regiment, New Zealand Field Force,
in which for three years he fought the Maoris.
On being mustered out of service he left that
country, going around Cape Horn to Rio Jan-
eiro, Brazil, where he was employed in carpen-

tering for three months. Not at all pleased with
that city he returned to Great Britain and after
working for a short time in England went to
Scotland, where he assisted in the construction
of the immense bridge across the Firth of Forth,
being foreman of a gang of men for fifteen
months. Immigrating to the United States in
1886, he followed his trade in Philadelphia for
two years, and from 1888 until 1901 was em-
ployed as a contractor and builder in Qiicago,
111. In 1901 he spent a short time in Louisville,
Ky., but not satisfied with his prospects returned
to Chicago. In October, 1902, he came to San
Diego, and has since been very successfully em-
ployed as a contractor and builder, he and his
brother Daniel, under the firm name of Andrew
Brothers, having had charge of the erection of
many of the finest residences in the city. The
development of his native mechanical skill and
artistic ability, combined with his practical ex-
perience, has given Mr. Andrew a complete mas-
tery of his trade, and he has obtained recognition
as one of the leading contractors and carpenters
of this part of the county.

In Glasgow, Scotland, jMr. Andrew married
Alexandria Henderson, a native of that city. She
died in San Diego, leaving four children, namely :
Jessie, George, Arthur and Esther. Mr. Andrew
is active in rhe business circles of San Diego,
belonging to the Qiamber of Commerce, and to
the Master Builders' Association. Politically he
is a steadfast Republican ; fraternally he is a
member of the Knights of Pythias, and religiously
he is a Presbvterian.

JOHN D. FARLEY. From the time of his
arrival in San Diego county when he was a lad in
his "teens" until the present time, when he ranks
among the energetic farmers and stock raisers in
the vicinity of Romona, Mr. Farley has borne his
share in the agricultural development of his dis-
trict and has maintained his position as an hon-
orable and high-minded citizen. The family of
w'hich he is a member belonged to the pioneer
citizenship of the Mississippi valley and his par-
ents. Andrew and Susan E. ( Finch ) Farley, were
natives of Jeft'erson county. 111., being residents
of Burlington, Iowa, for some years after their
marriage. While making that city their home
John D. Farley was born into their family circle
July 20. 1857. and he was a boy of eleven years
when the then long journey was made, to the
shores of the western sea. From 1868 until 1872
the family had their headquarters near Petal-
uma. .Sonoma county, where the father engaged
in raising stock and carrxing on a dairy business,
but in 1872 he brought the family to San Diego
county and bought a claim at Otay. Six months
later he removed to Tia Tuana, this count\', and

^-^'p^'n^i^ u^ ^^j-^UupC^..a-»^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1325

-,n i88f) lie made a final removal to Descanso,
where he died in March of the following year, at
the age of fifty-seven years. Since his demise
the wife and motlicr has removed to Ramona,
where she is now living at the age of seventy-
four years.

Accompanying his parents in their various re-
movals, John D. Farley assisted his father in farm
duties and proved an efficient helper in the de-
velopment of ranch land. Upon the death of his
father he took charge of the home place and con-
tinued to operate the same until 1901, when he
sold his interest in the property and removed to
a farm near Ramona belonging to his sister, the
widow of George M. Stone. Having never mar-
ried, he finds a pleasant home with his sister,
while she, in turn, has the advantage of his
intelligent supervision of the land. The farm
comprises about four hundred acres and was
purchased many years ago by George M. Stone,
a native of JNIichigan, but from early manhood a
resident of San Diego county, where he married
Miss Farley at Tia Juana. His death occurred
March 8, 1900, and there remained to mourn his
loss a large circle of warm friends, besides his
wife and their only child, Violet Pearl. The
daughter is now a student in the Ramona high
school. The farm is advantageously situated in
close proximity to Ramona and its value is en-
hanced by the fact that gem mining is being
conducted on it with excellent prospects of pay-
ing results. The mine is known as the Surprise
and has yielded white and blue topaz, pink
beryl, hyacinth and tourmaline. In political views
Mr'. Farley has sympathized from youth with the
principles of the Republican party and has always
given stanch support to its candidates. The only
fraternal organization with which he holds mem-
bership in Court Xo. 28, American Order of
Foresters, at San Diego.

JOHN BACON JUDSON. The founder
of the Judson family in the new world was
William Judson, who accompanied by three
sons came from England in 1634 and estab-
lished a home in the wilds of Connecticut.
Some of that name bore a part in the early
wars with the Indians, and they" were also
identified with the original settlement of
Woodbury. Conn., where at dififerent times
two hundred and seventy-six representatives
of the family made their home. From that
vicinity Lemon Jud.son removed to ^''ermont
about 1780 in early manhood and afterward
made his home in that state. During the war
of 1812 he enlisted in the service of his coun-
try and rose to the rank of major. Next in
line of descent was Lemon. Jr., a native of
Chittenden countv, Vt.. where he met and

married Philena Bacon, daughter of Lieut.
John liacon, an officer of cavalry in the war
"of 1812, and a granddaughter of Capt. John
Bacon, who was born in 1735 and had the
honor of establishing the first iron foundry
in the state of Vermont. When the Revolu-
tionary war began Captain Bacon was ap-
pointed to lead a company of Vermont sol-
diers and he remained in their command until
he fell on the battlefield ot Bennington.

After having engaged in the tannery, shoe
and harness business in Canada for eight
years. Lemon Judson, Jr., accompanied by his
family, removed to Indiana in 1840 and set-
tled upon a tract of raw land -which he devel-
oped into an improved farm. As early as
1856 he came to California and settled on a
farm in Sonoma county, but eventually re-
moved to the San Pasqual valley in San Diego
county; he died in 1891, at the age of eighty-
four years. His wife was born in Chitten-
den county. \'t., in iRog. and died some years
prior to his demise. Of their twelve chil-
dren five are now living, namely : Homer, who
makes his home near \\'liittier, Los .\ngelcs
county; ?*lrs. Sarah Wilcox, residing at Tus-
tin. Orange county ; Mrs. Lucy Campbell, of
San Francisco ; Frank, who is now at Gold-
field, Nev. ; and John Bacon, who w-as born in
Chittenden county, Vt.. November 23, 1829,
and now makes his home in San Diego, prac-
tically retired from lieaAy business cares.

When eleven }-ears of age John Bacon Jud-
son accompanied his parents from Canada to
Indiana, where he attended country schools.
Later he studied in the schools of Ypsilanti.
Mich., and then taught school in northern In-
diana until 1852. when he crossed the plains
with teams. For a time he worked in the
mines near the old town of Shasta and from
there went to Hangtown. where he remained
from January, 1853. until the 4th of July, 1854.
.\t the latter date he removed to Sonoma
county and bought land, where he engaged in
farming. About twent}" busy yeans were
passed in tliat county, at the expiration of
which time, in 1875, he sold out and removed
to San Diego county, settling upon a ranch
of one thousand acres in San Pasqual valley,
where, he erected buildings as needed and
made other improvements. The land has since
been given to his children, and he resides in
.San Diego, where he owns a spacious and
comfortable home. However, much of his
time is still spent on the ranch with his chil-
dren, for he is more deeply interested in their
success than in his own comfort. No one has
done more than he to advance farming in-
terests in .San Diego county. His efforts, con-
tinued through n long period of vears, were

1326

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

helpful to the cause of agriculture in this lo-
cality, proving what could be accomplished
by men of energ>% judgment and resource-
fulness. A man of high honor as well as busi-
ness ability, he is respected by acquaintances
and esteemed by associates.

The first marriage of Mr. Judson was sol-
emnized in Bloomfield, Sonoma county, Cal.,
in October, 1859, and united him with Rebec-
ca, daughter of James Pettit, originally of Elk-
hart county, Ind. ^Irs. Rebecca Judson died
in January, 1900, at the age of fifty-nine
years, and two years later Mr. Judson was
united with Mrs. Ida B. Latta. His children,
eight in number, Avere born of his first mar-
riage, and are named as follows: Charles and
Helen, both of whom died at two years of age ;
Elizabeth, who m.arried Frederick H. Rob-
erts, represented on another page ; Andrew, of
ihe San Pasqual valley, who married Mary
Boyle of Illinois and has three children ; Ered
E., who married Lillian Paris, a native of
Virginia, and has two children; Newton, who
married Harriet Frazier ; May, who died at
three years of age : and Herbert, who mar-
ried Dr. Sophia Johnson and has one child.

Politically a Republican, Mr. Judson al-
ways has sunk politics beneath his consider-
ation for the welfare of county, state and na-
tion. For some time he served as school
trustee and from 1891 to 1895 he represented
the fourth district of San Diego county as a
member of the county board of supervisors.
Since coming to San Diego county he has ren-
dered helpful service in the interests of the
stock business, having been among the first
to introduce thoroughbred registered Durham
cattle in the count}-. Later he brought in
some fine registered Jerseys. In addition, he
was the first man to use a cream separator.
He established the first creamery in San
Diego county and this he owned and operated
until IQ03. when he sold out, the plant being
taken by a co-operative company. The first
barb wire ever brought into San Pasqual val-
ley or San Diego county was ordered by him.
and he paid twenty-five cents a pound for it
in San Francisco, besides paying the freight
from there to his ranch. Another helpful con-
tribution to the agricultural interests of the
community was his sowing of alfalfa, and he
was the first farmer to sow this important
product anywhere in San Diego county. Since
then the raising of alfalfa has transformed
the dairy business and has become one of
the most 'important industries of the countv.
Hundreds of acres are now in alfalfa where
before the land lay unprofitable and unculti-
vated: and three hundred separators are now
in use in the countv. where he was the firsi

to purchase such a device, so that in . more
than one respect he has been most helpful to
the agricultural development of the county and
is deserving of a high place as a benefactor
of the agriculturists in this part of the state.

WILLIAM ALBERT EACHES. A fund
of energy, ability and resource was the capi-
tal with which William A. Eaches came to
California in 1891, at the age of twenty-five,
and undertook the upbuilding of his personal
fortunes, while at the same time he gave his
best efforts toward the material development
of the community in which he has made his
home for over fifteen years. During this
time his name has been associated with a num-
ber of enterprises, in Pomona, where he lo-
cated in that year, but it is perhaps as pro-
prietor of the Opera stables that he is best
known, having purchased the stock and equip-
ment of the former owner. F. H. Merrill, in
1905.

A native of Missouri, Mr. Eaches was born
in St. Louis, on the corner of Thirty-first and
Pine streets, August 30, 1866, and on both
sides of the family is directly descended from
good old Virginia stock. The grandfather on
the paternal side. Dr. A\'illiam Albert Eaches,
was an able and distinguished medical prac-
titioner in St. Louis. ;\[o., whither he located
after his graduation from the medical col-
lege in Washington, D. C. His entire profes-
sional life was spent in the former cit}-, and
his death removed from that community one
of its stalwart citizens. His son, D. A., was
born in old Virginia, but as he removed to
St. Louis while he was still quite young he
was practically reared there. For many years
lie filled the capacity of cit}- weigher of St.
Louis, in fact he held this position until he
retired from business altogether, spending his
last years in retirement. During young man-
hood he chose as his life companion Miss
Amanda Quisenberr}-, who like himself was
a native of old Virginia. Her father, Hon.
James Quisenberr}' of that commonwealth,
removed to the frontier of Missouri and be-
came a pioneer farmer in the vicinity of the
present city of St. Louis, where in later years
he became well known in legislative circles,
representing his district in the state legisla-
ture. His strong mental characteristics were
borne out in his physically strong make-up,
being extremely tall and capable of great
physical endurance. ]\Irs. Eaches is still liv-
ing, and makes her home in St. Louis, a spot
dear to her through the associations of many
years. both of her girlhood years and of her
later married life.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

132

\\'illiam A. E.aches was the youngest of the
two children born to his parents and was tlie
only son. As his parents were well able to
give him a good education he passed from
the public to the high school, acquitting him-
self creditably in each, and thereafter was
permitted to complete his education in a pri-
vate school. As has been previously intimat-
ed, he remained at home until reaching his
twenty-fifth year, when, in 1891, he left par-
ents and friends and started for the west to
make a start in the business world. Coming
direct to Pomona in that year he entered the
employ of A. I. Stewart, a general contractor
in the building of streets, and remained with
this employer for about five years. Subse-
quently he became interested in freighting be-
tween Pomona and Los Angeles, making two
trips per week with his eight-horse team and
trailers, an undertaking which was remuner-
ative until the building of the San Pedro, Los
Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. It was this
change in his plans that led him into the liv-
ery business, purchasing the Opera stables
from F. H. Merrill in 1905. He has since con-
tinued the business in the same quarters. No.
245 West Third street, which is a large, com-
modious brick structure, giving ample capac-
ity for his boarding and sales stables. Be-
sides the usual equipment of fine horses and
vehicles, he has a number of tally-ho coaches
used for pleasure trips to the mountains, one
of these coaches having a seating capacity for
fourteen passengers. He also runs a stage
between Pomona and Claremont, making three
trips a day.

^Ir. Eaches is a Democrat, and as an earn-
est and broad-minded citizen gives his sup-
port to all movements and enterprises best
calculated to advance the general welfare.
This characteristic is emphatically borne out
by his membership and valuable assistance in
two of the town's most active organizations,
t the Board of Trade and the Business Men's

Association.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FAl LOR. What
is known as Summit ranch, in the Garapatos
canyon, sixteen miles north of Santa Monica,
has been the home of Mr. Failor for the past
thiiteen years, he having located here in 1894
in the hope of recovering his health. Too
close application to the profession of law was
the beginning of his physical break-down, and
thereafter he followed teaching, mining and
contracting and building in the order named,
in the hope that he would not be compelled
to give lip work entirely, but in this he was
disappointed, and in the }-ear mentioned he

relinquished his business interests in Los An-
geles and removed to the higher altitude in
the Garapatos canyon. Here he not only en-
joys excellent health, but from a financial
point of view is meeting with splendid suc-
cess as an apairist, having about one hundred
stands of bees.

A native of Ohio, Mr. Failor was born in
Upper Sandusky September 24, 1853, ^"^ """
til he was twelve years of age was reared and
educated under the training of his father,
whose death in 1865 left him an orphan. He
was then taken into the home of his uncle,
Major B. M. Failor, who was also his guar-
dian, and who had recently served as a sur-
geon in the Civil war. Going to Jasper coun-
ty, Iowa, with his uncle, he there attended a
private academy for about six years, when, at
the age of eighteen, he was enrolled as a pupil
in Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio,
remaining there for three years. After one
year in a private school in Iowa he began the
study of law in the Iowa LTniversity, complet-
ing his legal training m a private law office
in Newton, Iowa. His admission to the bar
occurred in 1876, and the same year he be-
gan to practice in Newton, later going to Stew-
art, that state, and remaining there about two
3'ears. Relinquishing his practice in 1879 he
came west and for a time engaged in pros-
pecting and mining in Montana, Idaho and
British Columbia, interspersing this work with
teaching, for which he had a special liking and
aptitude. When he was sixteen years of age
he received a teacher's certificate and for
some time he had charge of a school in Iowa.
His identification with California dates from
the year 1884, at which time he located in San
Francisco and for about a year engaged in
contracting and building there. Transferring
his interests to Los Angeles at the end of that
time he there continued contracting until the
partial failure of his health in 1894 made it
necessary for him to discontinue the business.
Thereupon he came to the Garapatos canyon
in search of a desirable spot for a country
home, and the squatter's right which he then
bought formed the nucleus of his present
ranch of two hundred and seventy-six acres.

While the year 1884 is memorable as mark-
ing Mr. Failor's introduction to the Golden
state, it is even better remembered as the year
of his marriage, for on January 14 of that
}-ear he was united with Mary A. Carroll,
who though born in Sacramento was reared
in Washington. The only fraternal order to
which Mr. Failor belongs is the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, being a member of
Semi Tropic Lodge No. 371, of Los Angeles.
^^.'hilo in college he joined the Greek letter

1328

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

society known as Beta I'heta Pi, and has since
retained his interest in the order, though not
an active member. While nominally he might
be called a Democrat, he yet retains the privi-
lege to vote as he sees fit. JNIr. Failor is ap-
preciated for his many sterling qualities of
heart and mind, his unfailing good nature and
general interest in all things that tend to-
ward the betterment of his fellowmen.

ALLEN RUSSELL. No state of our great
Lnion alTords greater opportunities to the poor
man than California, as here an industrious,
frugal man has an excellent opportunity to ac-
cumulate wealth. It is true that many fail to
do so. but the best of our population lay by
some of their earnings, make wise investments,
and soon find themselves, through their own
strenuous efiforts, in the possession of a hand-
some property. Conspicuous among this num-
ber is Allen Russell, familiarly known as "Budd"
Russell, who has been in truth the architect of
his own fortunes, and is now one of the leading
agriculturists of Fallbrook, where he is well
known and very popular. A son of Joseph T.
Russell, he was born, October ii, 1854, in Bu-
chanan county. Mo.

A native of Tennessee, Joseph T. Russell was
a pioneer settler of Missouri, and while yet a
young man cleared and improved a farm from
the wilderness. In 1866, before the days of rail-
roads, he went to Dallas, Tex., where he pur-
chased cattle that he drove back to ]\Iissouri, and
was subsequently there employed in general
farming and stock-raising until his death, while
yet in manhood's prime. He was born Augtist
14, 1829, and died May 4, 1869, being in the
fortieth year of his age. December 5, 1850, in
Missouri, he married Mary E. Russell, who was
born in North Carolina, February 7, 1835, and
died at Clearwater, Kans., October 29, 1899.
He was the youngest of a family of nine chil-
dren, of whom but one,. Elijah Russell, of
Miami county, Kans., is living. The latter is
now a venerable man of over four score years. Of
the eighteen children born to Joseph T. and Mary
E. Russell fifteen are living, a large and note-
worthy family.

The earh' educational advantages of Allen Rus-
sell were limited to a brief attendance at a pri-
vate school, and at the age of sixteen years he
became a cowboy in Texas. After spending five
years in that occupation he returned to Missouri,
and for about a year and a half was employed
as a tiller of the soil in Buchanan county, the
ensuing two years being similarly engaged in
Holt county. ' Removing from there to Miami
county, Kans., he remained there until 1886,
when he came to Fallbrook, Cal, where he car-

ried on general farming about four years. Not
quite satisfied with the result of his labors, he
went back to Kansas, purchased land in Miami
county, and after farming there two years dis-
posed of his interests in that section and re-
moved with his family to Oklahoma county,
Okla., where he purchased a claim, on which he
resided two years.

June 9, 1895, Mr. Russell started for Cali-
fornia overland. Leaving Oklahoma City, he
came with a train composed of five wagons
drawn by horses, in the party being Mr. Russell,
wife and six children; his brother, Lee Russell,
and his wife ; and A. J. Russell, wife and four
children. Following the southern panhandle
route, the little band passed through Texas,
thence by way of White Oaks to F'ort Sumner,
where they camped a number of days. Contin-
uing along the trail to Fort Craig, the river at
that point being too high to cross, the party
had to go up stream one hundred and fifty miles
to get on the other side, and return to Fort
Craig. From there, by way of Mule Gap and
Hudson Hot Springs, they crossed the Colorado
at Yuma, thence by way of Palm Springs and
Banning they came to San Diego county, arriv-
ing in Fallbrook after a long but pleasant trip,
the California line having been crossed on Octo-
ber 27. At once taking up the independent oc-
cupation to which he was reared, Mr. Russell
has been very fortunate in all of his undertak-
ings, and has attained a noteworthy position
among the most prosperous and most intelligent
farmers of Southern California. Arriving here
without pecuniary resources of any kind, he has
labored perseveringly, conquering all obstacles,
in his square and just dealings with all men ob-
taining a fine reputation for honesty and worth,
his word being considered as good as his bond
at any time.

October 16, 1881, in Miami county, Kans.,
]\[r. Russell married Mary A. Chilson, and of
their union nine children have been born, name-
ly : Joseph Oliver, who is married and lives at
Pomona ; Hartwell Cook ; Myra, who is the wife
of Ernest Hiller, and lives on the home ranch ;
Dollie, attending the high school : i\Iary R., at-
tending the district school ; Esther E., also a
school girl: Candace Lee: Allen George: and
Alice Treat. Politically Mr. Russell is a stanch
Democrat; fraternally he belongs to Fallbrook
Lodge No. 317, F. & A. M., and to Fallbrook
Lodge No. 339, I. O. O. F. ; and is a supporter
of church work.

CHARI-ES JNIANVEG. The influences
which tended to mold the character of Charles
Manveg in early boyhood were such as clus-
tered around the province of Alsace-Lorraine,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RF.CORD.

1331

while it was still a French dependency. He was
born February 24, 1861, to the marriage of
Emil and Mary Manveg, who like their son
were natives of France. Both of the parents
are now deceased.

The public schools of his native locality sup-
plied all of the book learning which fell to the
lot of Mr. Manveg to enjoy and formed the sub-
stantial foundation for the later knowledge
gained by extensive travel. The restless spirit
of adventure and craving for life upon the high
seas, took possession of him when was litttle
more than a child in years, for he was only ten
years old when he boarded a vessel in France,
bound for New York City. Although he land-
ed in that metropolis with the ship's crew, the
voyage on the outgoing ship was awaited with
keen interest, and from 1871 until 1882 he was
on the water continuously, anchoring at many
of the largest seaports in the world. In the year
first mentioned he landed in the harbor of San
Pedro, Cal., but at that time was not sufficiently
attracted by its appearance to give up the sea
for the life of a landsman, although after eleven
years of sea-faring he again came to San Pedro,
in 1882, and until 1901 was engaged as seaman
on the wharves. In the mean time, from 1890
to 1892, he was interested in seal-fishing, an oc-
cupation which took him into Alaska and other
Arctic countries. From San Pedro he came to
Wilmington in 1901, carrying on a saloon here
for about four years, or until embarking in the
real-estate business April i, 1905. He has be-
come the owner of considerable property, both
improved and vacant, in the dis]X)sition of which
he is meeting with the success which his energy
deserves. He is also interested in mining prop-
erty near Mexecala, ^Mexico, Lower California.
in 1894, in San Pedro, Mr. Manveg was mar-
ried to Catherine Gangnear, who was also born
in France, and three children have come to
bless their home, Amele. May and Qiarles, Jr.
Fraternally Air. Alanveg belongs to the Ancient
Order of United Workmen, holding member-
ship in the lodge at Gardiner, Ore., and also be-
longs to the Eagles at San Pedro, being one of
the charter members of the latter order. Since
becoming of age Mr. IManveg has studied the
principles of the two great political Iwdies to
satisfy himself as to their respective merits, and
the fact that he now supports the Democratic
part\- shows the result of his investigation.

JOHN ROBERT JOHNSON. An enterpris-
ing, wide-aw^ake rancher of San Diego county,
near Wvnola, is John Robert Johnson, who is a
native son of the state, having been born in
Contra Costa county. The father, who also bore
the name of John R., was a native of England.

and from the time he was quite a small boy dis-
played a predilection for sea-faring, finally be-
coming a full-fledged sailor. This life brought
him in contact with people from all over the world
and enabled him to keep himself informed on all
current happenings. Probably none of the re-
ports which came to him from other countries
was as alluring as that resulting from the dis-
covery of gold in California. Suffice it to say
that the year 1849 found him in the state bus-
ily engaged in delving for the hidden treasure.
In addition to mining he later took up cabinet-
making, a calling which appealed to him more
strongly perhaps than mining, for he was of a
mechanical turn of mind. He died in San Luis
Obispo in 1894, at the age of sixty-six years.
His marriage was celebrated in California and
united him with Miss Antonia Troll. She was
born in Germany in March, 1834, and was christ-
ened in the Roman Catholic Church in Baden.
She has no personal recollection of her native
land, having been brought to this country when
only one year old. At the age of seventy-tliree
}-ears she is in the enjoyment of good health
and makes her home with her son, J. R., in San
Diego county. By her first union six children
were bom and by her second marriage, with the
late Robert Reed, four daughters were born.

Born in Contra Costa county. Cal., May 9,
1856, J. Robert Johnson can recall the removal ,
of the family to San Liiis Obispo county in 1861,
an event which the child of six years enjoyed to
the fullest extent. Going to Los Angeles county
six vears later he became a pupil in the common
school of Downey, and the period which he
spent in this temple of learning represented his
entire school life. Reading and observation in
later years, however, have given him a broad and
comprehensive knowledge, and all who know
him either in a business or social way unite in
praise of his breadth of mind, steadfast principles
of honor and uniform courtesy towards all. He
first came to San Diego county in 1873, and until
1874 had charge of the store at Warners ranch,
on the Julian road. In the latter year he became
interested in mining in Mesa Grande, and was
later similarly occupied at Julian, and although
the miner's life is more or less subject to danger,
he was fortunate in escaping any serious injury.
It was in 1902 that he settled down perma-
nentlv to the life of the agriculturist, purchasing
his present ranch of four hundred acres which
forms one of the representative enterprises in
this part of the state. The raising of stock and
growing of grain form his chief source of income,
although his orchard of ten acres also yields
abundantly, and what is raised over and above
that used for home consumption is readily dis-
posed of at good prices.

I^nlike his father, who was a Democrat in hi?

1332

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

political belief, ]\lr. Johnson is a Republican, and
in him his party has a stanch ally. His interest
in fraternal affairs is shown by his membership
in San Diego Lodge No. 153. I. O. O. F.. and
Court Julian Banner No. 8522, A. 0. F.. at
Julian. Mr. Johnson possesses in a large degree
those sterling and reliable traits which are bound
to win appreciation in any community, and his
success and enterprise are matters of no ordinary
pride with his many friends and associates.

EDMUND F. BO^^'EN. It is a fact of gen-
eral recognition among the people of the little
town of Ramona that Mr. Bowen has accom-
plished much in behalf of commercial, educa-
tional and civic progress and has given freely
of his time toward the development of move-
ments for the general welfare. While busily
engaged in the management of his meat mar-
ket, the supervision of his large stock ranch
and the charge of his slaughter-house, he finds
leisure to aid any measure helpful to the peo-
ple and has maintained an especial interest in
educational afifains. For six years he held of-
fice as trustee of the grammar school and at
this writing is one of the high school trustees,
in which capacity lie has proved efficient,
prompt, intelligent and resourceful. Another
movement which commands his time is that
of the public library and he is now acting as
a member of the library board of trustees, be-
sides which he is one of the town trustees.

A native of Wisconsin, Ijorn in Creen C(iun-
ty, on the 4th of July. 1850, Edmund F. Bow-
en is a son of Jared and Lucy Ann ( Fleek)
Bowen, natives respectively of Pennsylvania
and Virginia. As early as 1S44 his father be-
came a pioneer of the then wilderness of A\^is-
consin, where he was among the first settlers
-of Green countj^ and took up a tract of raw
land from the government. All of the arduous
labors of pioneer existence fell to his lot. but
gradually he brought the land under cultiva-
tion and was in a position to enjoy the labors
of a lifetime of agricultural activity. On the
old homestead he remained until his death,
which occurred in 1886, at the age of sixty-
four years. He is survived by his wife, who
makes her home at Broadhead, Green county,
and remains physically robust for one who has
reached the age of eighty-one y^ears.

The country schools of Green county af-
forded Edmund F. Bowen fair advantages and
he attended the same at such times as he
could be spared from farm work at home. On
starting out for himself he entered the occupa-
tion in which he had been reared and settled
near the old homestead in Green county, re-
maining in that localit}- until 1891, when he

removed to California and established himself
in San Diego county. Soon after his arrival
he took up a homestead near Mesa Grande
and later added to tlie tract by various pur-
chases, until no^v he is .the owner -of a stock
ranch of nine hundred acres. The land is suit-
able for pasturage and therefore meets the
needs of one desiring to keep constantly on
hand a supply of young and growing stock
for the later demands of the market.

.^ome years before leaving Wisconsin Mr.
Bowen established a home of his own through
his marriage to Jennie Stanton, a native "of
Indiana, who became his wife at Broadhead,
AVis., October 5, 1887. and has since minis-
tered to his comforts with housewifely skill.
Ever since girlhood she has been interested in
religious activities and has attended services
at the Congregational Church and contributed
to the work of that denomination. The family
consists of two children, namely : ]\Iax. who
was born December 15. 1888: and A'erne. who
was born }.lav 6. i8qo.

CHARLES L. HOLLIDAY. One of ihe
large land operators and ranchmen of the county
of San Diego is ^Ir. Holliday. whose identifica-
tion with this region began a number of years
ago and has continued prosperously up to the
present time. At his present home in the San
Pasqual valley he leased and occupies a ranch
comprising six hundred and fifty acres of land
adapted to the grazing of stock, besides which he
has a farm of one thousand acres near Lajolla.
Both farms are devoted to the raising of cattle,
horses and hogs, and on his home ranch he en-
gages in the dairy business, milking about thirty
cows and selling the product in the local markets.
While he is an exceedingly busv man. he yet
finds leisure to keep in touch with national is-
sues and county affairs, and few men in his
community are better ]iosted than he nor are
lliere many more fond of good literature as the
sine qua non of mental development.

During the residence at Rock Island, 111., of
J. L. and Anna (Baker) 'Holliday, natives of
Indiana, their son. Charles L.. was born Feb-
ruary 9, 1871, and he was a boy of seven years
when the family came to California, settling at
Byron, Contra Costa county. For many years
the father engaged in tlie stock business in that
portion of the state, but in 1895 he came to San
Diego county, where now he makes his home at
Lajolla. Supplementarv to a common school ed-
ucation Charles L. Holliday was sent to the
Normal Institute and Business College at Stock-
ton, and upon leaving school he took up agri-
cultural pursuits in Linn county. Ore., where
he remained for five years busily engaged in the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1333

\

routine work of farm life. At the expiration of
that time he removed to San Diego county and es-
tablished himself on a stock ranch at Lajolla,
where he still retains interests, although for some
years he has made his home in the San Pasqual
valley. The demands made upon him in the dis-
charge of his duties as a stock raiser and large
landed operator leave him little leisure for parti-
cipation in politics, in which, indeed, he takes no
part aside from voting the Democratic ticket.
His pleasant home is brightened by his two chil-
dren, Charles L., Jr., and Laura M., and blessed
by the presence of a devoted wife and mother.
Mrs. Holliday was formerly JNIarion M. Thresher
and was bom in Chicago, 111., but at an early age
came to California and at the time of her mar-
riage, in July of 1898, was making her home in
San Diego, where she has a large number of
warm personal friends.

I

THOMAS BELL. The Bell family has been
established in Los Angeles county since 1858,
when W. C. Bell crossed the plains to California
and on the 20th of October of that year arrived
in El Monte, where the name has since become
prominent in agricultural circles as well as in
the general upbuilding of the community. W. C.
Bell was born in Washington county, Pa.. Sep-
tember 17, 1S32, the second in a family of five
sons and two daughters, of whom five are now
surviving. His father, William Bell, was also a
native of Pennsylvania, who in 1850 removed to
Richland county, III, where he engaged as a
farmer and millwright. His wife was in maiden-
hood, Jane Caldwell, also a native of Pennsyl-
vania. W. C. Bell was reared in his native state
until he was fifteen years old, when he came as
far west as Ohio, where in Concord, he learned
the trade of shoemaker. It was in 1852 that he
first started to California, taking passage on the
old steamer Saluda, which blew up at Lexington,
whence he walked to Independence and thence
to St. Louis. He then went to Clinton, III, and
followed his trade, and subsequently was vari-
ously located until 1857, when he went to Texas,
thence the following year to California by the
southern route. He was a member of the train
commanded bv Captain Coffee. Upon his arrival
in El Monte he engaged in freighting to Arizona
by the Owens river, and continued this occupa-
tion for fifteen years, after which he located
permanently in the El Monte district and en-
gaged in farming. He is now retired from active
cares and makes his home in El Monte. He has
held various public positions, among tliem that
of road overseer under Martin two years, and
under Cook four years. He was married in El
Monte in the spring of 1839 to Mrs. Rebecca
Ann (Fears) Cundifif, a native of Clinton, 111.,

who came to California in 1858 across the plains
and died in El Monte in 1901. They became
the parents of the following children : Thomas,
of this review ; Charles AL, in Arizona ; John, in
Los Angeles; Susie, wife of George Wandling,
of Los Angeles, and Annie, Mrs. Baker, of Ocean
Park.

Thomas Bell was born in El Monte October
5, 1859, and in this place was reared to young
manhood, receiving his educational training in the
public schools of the place. Upon attaining ma-
turity he engaged in general farming for himself,
leasing the old Temple place, where he conducted
a dairy farm, having four hundred acres of pas-
ture land and from twenty-five to thirty head of
milch cows. He met with success and accumu-
lated sufficient means to enable him to purchase
his present property, which consists of twentv
acres located two and a half miles south of El
Monte, which he cleared from tules and willows,
and this peet land he now rents for gardening
purposes. He continued his dairy enterprises
until 1904, when he sold out and built a resi-
dence in El Monte, put out walnut trees and
otherwise improved his property. He is enter-
prising and progressive, seeking to upbuild the
general interests of the community, while he at
the same time carves out his own fortunes. Fra-
ternally he is identified with Lexington Lodge
No. 104, F. & A. M.. and politically is a stanch
adherent of Democratic principles.

HENRY C. BEASLEY. Fidelity to duty may
be attributed as the keynote to the success which
has always followed the efiforts of Mr. Beasley.
formerly as a stationary engineer, and latterly
as a rancher in ^'entura county. The six hun-
dred acres over which he has control forms a
part of what is known locally as the Las Posos
.grant, and in the cultivation of the same Mr.
Beasley is interested especially in the raising of
beets, beans and barley.

A native of the state in which he has made
his life-long home, Mr. Beasley was born in
Mendocino county, Cal., and is a son of David
T. and :\[artha Polly Bea.sley, natives of New
York and i\lassachusetts respectively. Both of
the parents settled in the Golden state during
the days of its early history, and before the dawn
of the present prosperous conditions which ex-
ist throughout the length and breadth of the
state, the father was called hence, his death oc-
curring at the age of seventy years. By trade he
was a blacksmith. He was a man who took con-
siderable interest in the aflfairs of life, a fact
which was demonostrated nowhere no more
strongly perhaps than in the ]\Iasonic Lodge of
which he was a member. His widow is still liv-
ing, at a .good old age, making her home in

i;!;j4

mSTURleWL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Texas. Throughout her life she has been an ac-
tive member of the jNIethodist Episcopal Church.

Born January 6, 1862, ]\Ir. Beasley was a lad
of ten years when, in 1872, he became associated
with affairs in Ventura county. An inborn love
for things of a mechanical nature became appar-
ent at an early age, and the first opportunity
which he found for giving vent to his ambition
in this direction was running the engine of a
threshing machine. He later had charge of an
engine in a starch factory, also ran engines which
propelled machinery used for boring wells, and
altogether his experience as a traction engineer
covered over seventeen years. About 1895 his
interest turned toward agriculture, and an ex-
perience in the employ of others for twelve years
gave him the knowledge and assurance necessary
for managing an undertaking on his own account,
which was followed by his assuming control of
his present property.

In 1892 H. C. Beasley was united in marriage
with Tennie Glenn, a daughter of Joseph and
jNIary (Crowns) Glenn, and who was born in
Kern county in 1864. Like his father Mr. Beas-
ley takes considerable interest in fraternal mat-
ters, belonging to Oxnard Lodge No. 361, F.
& A. M., and to Lodge No. iiooo, M. W. A.
at Somis. Politically he is interested in what-
ever affects the Republican party, and his vote
may always be depended upon to support its
candidates. Personally he is a broad-minded,
progressive citizen, thoroughly believing that
what is worth doing at all is worth doing well,
a belief which has had practical demonstration in
whatever he has attempted.

E. SMITH. Standing prominent among the
active, intelligent and progressive agriculturists
of San Diego county is E. Smith, a successful
rancher and fruit-grower of Lakeside. His
small but valuable ranch is pleasantly located,
and is well improved, everything about the prem-
ises indicating the thrift, industry and keen judg-
ment of its owner. A son of M. Smith, he was
born, March 30, 1870, in Mexico, where he re-
ceived an excellent education.

A Mexican born and reared, M. Smith was
engaged in agricultural pursuits in Mexico dur-
ing the earlier years of his life, and was quite
successful. Coming with his family to Califor-
nia in 1888, he lived for a year in San Diego,
and then settled on the famous Canado De Los
Cochis ranch, one of the noted Spanish ranchos,
which he managed for five years. Settling then
in this valley, he purchased his present ranch
of ten acres, and has since been extensively en-
gaged in the growing of raisins, in addition rais-
ing some grain. He has met with good re-

sults in his undertakings, becoming one of the
leading agriculturists and vineyardists of this
locality, and one of the most respected citizens,
being known far and wide for his generosity and
benevolence. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were married,
in Mexico, and are the parents of three children,
two sons and a daughter.

Coming with the family to Southern California
in 1888, E. Smith assisted his father in his agri-
cultural labors, while thus employed on the
Canado De Los Cochis ranch obtaining a
thorough knowledge of the leading branches of
agriculture and horticulture. In 1892 he bought
his present ranch of five acres, situated in Lake-
side, and in its improvement has taken much
pride and pleasure, by his industry and ju-
dicious labor bringing it to a high state of
cultivation.

i\Ir. Smith's first wife, to whom he was mar-
ried in 1892, died leaving five children, Marcel,
Lomez. Pas, Aurora and Edward. In 1905 he
married for his second wife Candelaria Martinez,
who was born and educated in California. Polit-
ically Mr. Smith is an Independent voter, and
religiously he is a member of the Catholic
Church.

ROBERT HOLMES MACLAY. Occupying
an assured position among the thriving agri-
culturists and highly esteemed citizens of
Fernando is Robert Holmes Maclay, who :s held
in high estimation throughout the community as
a man of undoubted integrity and sterling worth.
A native of California, he was born October 27,
1857, in Santa Clara county, a son of the late
Senator Charles Maclay, of whom a brief sketch
mav be found elsewhere in this volume.

Completing his early education in the public
schools of his native county, Robert H. Maclay
remained at home until 1874, when he came with
his parents to Fernando. At once embarking in
agricultural pursuits, he settled not far from
the village, where he now owns a well cultivated
ranch of fifty-seven acres, from which he derives
a good yearly income. He has likewise valuable
property in the village, his residence being one
of the most attractive on Hagar street. Enter-
prising and active, he has met with financial suc-
cess in his various business transactions, and is
in all respects one of the solid men of his com-
munity.

In Fernando, ^Ir. Maclay married Jennie
Beale. a native of Oregon, and thev have one
child, a daughter named Mary. Politically Mr.
Maclav is an earnest Republican, and religiously
both lie and his wife attend the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and are liberal contributors to-
wards its support.

fl^L^y-^^^-'-^^^ JtiAiX^,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHIC.\L RECORD.

1337

HIRAA'I KEYES. Numbered among the
veteran agriculturists of San Diego county who
have achieved success in their independent occu-
pation is Hiram Keyes of Ramona, who has made
farming his life work, and having acquired a
competency is now living free from business ac-
tivity and care. Intelligent and well-informed, the
possessor of excellent judgment and sound sense,
he is ably performing his duty as a faithful cit-
izen, and is everywhere respected. A native of
Ohio, he was born December 5, 1832, in Morgan
county, of good old New England stock. His
father, Phineas C. Keyes, a native of iNIaine,
learned the tanner's trade when young, and for
many years carried on a successful business in
Morgan county, Ohio. He was a man of strong-
individuality, a noted abolitionist, and a valued
member of the Presbyterian Church. He married
Mary Gould, who was born in Massachusetts,
and they became the parents of eig'ht children, six
of whom have passed to the life beyond, one
daughter, Mary G. Benedict, a resident of Kan-
sas, and Hiram, the subject of this sketch, being
the only survivors.

Brought up in Ohio, Hiram Keyes attended the
common schools of Morgan county, after which
he attended a high school in Washington county,
his early education being completed by an at-
tendance of one term at Oberlin College. Re-
turning home from the latter institution, he
taught school a few years, in the mean time
assisting his father in the tan yard whenever he
was at leisure. In 1855, while Kansas was yet
a territory, he there took up a pre-emption claim
of one hundred and sixty acres of land and en-
gaged in farming. In 1856 he took part in the
Border Ruffian war, serving under "Jim" Lane,
In 1861, when the Civil war broke out, he en-
listed in Company K, Eleventh Kansas Volun-
teer Infantry, and served under command of
General Blount for three years, when he re-
ceived his honorable discharge from the army.
Returning then to his Kansas home, he resumed
his labors as a tiller of the soil, remaining there
twenty or more years. Coming to California in
1886 he located first in San Diego, and was after-
wards engaged in ranching near Julian, after
which he lived at Banner one year. He subse-
quently located a homestead claim to one hun-
dred and sixty acres of land at Eagles Nest re-
sort, near Warner Hot Springs, where he resided
a number of years. About 1900 he purchased
a ten-acre ranch in Ramona, and having improved
it, is now living here retired, enjoying a well-
earned leisure.

In 1858 Mr. Keyes married Lucinda C.
Hovey, who was born in Washington county,
Ohio, July 23, 1838, a daughter of Harvey Qark
Hovey, the latter a son of William Hovey, an
officer in the Revolutionarv armv. Eleven child-

ren were born to Mr. and jNlrs. Keyes, namely:
Charles, who died in infancy ; George C, of
Pasadena ; Harvey Stanley and Phineas Stanton,
twins, who died in infancy ; Clara, a teacher in
Manila, Philippine Islands; Mattie, who died at
the age of twenty-three years ; Mrs. Charlotte
Janeway of Ramona : Edwin E., a lawyer in
Berkeley ; Lucile, wife of Henry A. Hanigan, first
lieutenant in a United States regiment in the
Philippine Islands ; Hiram, who died in childhood
and Minnie, who died in infanc}-. Politicallv Mr.
Keyes is a straightforward Republican, and
religiously he is a member of the Congregational
Church. He served as justice of the peace while
living near Warner, and while in San Diego was
a member of the Grand Army of the Republic
For his services during the Civil war he receives
a pension.

EDWARD C. COOMER. In her young men
is a country's hope, and when by honesty and in-
dustrious personal effort a man of but twenty-
six years becomes as prosperous and successful
as is E. C. Coomer, they are also her pride. Mr.
Coomer is of southern parentage, his father.
Thomas Coomer, having been born in Kentucky
and his mother belonging to a Virginia family.
Thomas Coomer served four years in the Union
army during the Civil war, having enlisted in
Company I, of the Twenty-seventh Illinois Vol-
unteer Infantry, and had the honor of serving on
General Sheridan's staff. His was not idle camp
service, but the forward firing line was his favor-
ite post an.d he carries the scars of four wounds
received in battle. He is now an honored mem-
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic in the
Carpinteria Post, for both he and his wife are
now living in the Carpinteria valley, they having
moved here with their son in igoi. Fraternally
he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows lodge.

Edward C. Coomer was born in Edgar county,
111., February 15, 1880. His parents moved to
Canada when he was quite small, then went back
to Michigan when he was five years old. After
remaining there for five years they next made
their home in Tennessee, where Mr. Coomer re-
ceived a common-school education. This he sup-
plemented with a commercial course, specializing
on shorthand, and for two years after his gradua-
tion he did stenographic reporting. Later he ac-
cepted a position near Covington, Ky., where he
had charcre of coke ovens and also acted as in-
spector. This work did not agree with him, how-
ever, and his health requiring a change of climate
he came with his parents to California. After lo-
cating in the state he purchased eighteen acres of
land in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo county,
but has since disposed of it and now has a fine

];;;j8

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ranch of twenty acres near Carpinteria which he
has improved, thirteen acres being planted to wal-
nut trees.

In 1903 Mr. Coomer was united in marriage
with !Miss ^lay B. Fowler, a native daughter of
California. Politically he is a stanch Republican
and is prominent in all matters of interest in the
upbuilding of the community in which he resides.
He enjoys the good will and esteem of a host of
friends and acquaintances, who value him as one
of their leading citizens.

CHARLES WALTER SAMERS. Among
the industrious, far-sighted and prosperous farm-
ers of Oxnard, C. W. Savie'rs is worthy of spe-
cial mention. Starting in life with no other
endowments than strong hands, a willing heart,
and the elements of character essential to noble
manhood, a brief review- of his life affords a
good illustration of the exercise of perseverance
and resolution under the pressure of financial
disaster as well as amid the sunshine of pros-
perity. He has labored with untiring energy
and zeal to establish a home for himself and
family, and is now the owner of a ranch which,
with its appurtenances, is one of the best and
most attractive in his neighborhood, bearing visi-
ble evidence of the intelligence and ability of
the owner. A son of the late J. Y. Saviers. he
was born, November 11, 1866, in Yuba City,
Sutter county, Cal.. but has spent the larger
part of his life in Ventura county.

A native of Ohio, J. Y. Saviers was a tiller
of the soil from early life until his death. In
1850 he came to California, following the trail
of the gold seekers, but was not fortunate enough
as a miner to accumulate any amount of the
glittering mineral. Returning therefore, by way
of the Isthmus, to Ohio, he remained there for
a number of years, working as a farmer. In
i860, however, he concluded to again try his
luck in the extreme west, and as captain of a
train came with ox-teams across the plains. He
had no special trouble on the trip, but after
his arrival in California was wounded in a
scrimmage with the Indians. Locating in Ven-
tura county, he resumed his agricultural labors,
continuing as a rancher until his death, which
occurred in Oxnard. in February, 1904, at the
advanced age of eighty-one vears. He married
Elizabeth Jones, who was born in Ohio, and
died, in 1867, in California, leaving four chil-
dren, three sons, all of whom reside in this state,
and a daughter, who is now living in Bell coun-
ty. Tex.

Left motherless in infancy, Charles W. Saviers
was brought to ^^entura county when but eigh-
teen months old. and was here brought up
and educated. As early as practicable, he was

initiated by his father into the mysteries of farm-
ing, and proved a most faithful worker, remain-
ing on the home farm until twenty-one years of
age. Starting then for himself, he worked for
wages for awhile in Ventura county, after which
he spent four years in Taylor county, Tex.,
where he had a brief and rather disastrous ca-
reer as a general farmer. Returning to this
county, he was again a wage earner for three
years. Accumulating some capital, he again be-
gan life for himself on rented land, and in its
management was quite successful. In 1902 he
purchased his present ranch of one hundred and
sixty acres, and has since carried on an exten-
sive and lucrative business as a grower of beets
and beans, two of the staple crops of this sec-
tion of the state. In addition to this he leases
seven hundred and fifty acres of land, which he
devotes almost entirely to the raising of barley,
harvesting on an average from fifteen to twenty
sacks, of eighty-two and one-half pounds each,
to the acre. As a general farmer, he has been
fortunate, and as a stock raiser, on a moderate
scale, is meeting with success.

Mr. Saviers' marriage united him with Lot-
tie M. Eggleston, who was born in Iowa, of New
England stock, her Grandfather Eggleston hav-
ing been a native of Massachusetts. Her par-
ents were married in San Francisco, but after-
wards removed to Iowa. ]\Ir. and ]\Irs. Saviers
are the parents of three children. Walter J., Roy
A. and Annie. Mr. Saviers is a stanch Repub-
lican in politics, and is now serving as school
trustee.

ELI_ MILTON HADDOX. Liberal and en-
terprising, throughout his residence in the vicin-
ity of El Mcnte Mr. Haddox has won a place
among the representative citizens who may al-
w-ays be counted upon to uphold public interest
and public honor. He is a native of Hancock
count)', Ohio, and was born in the vicinity of
Findlay, February 14, 1853. His grandfather
William Haddox, was a pioneer of Ohio, having
immigrated from Virginia with his family at an
early date in the history of the middle west. Hi^
father, Eli Haddox was born in Virginia and
reared in Ohio, where the family located in 1802.
By trade he was a wagon maker, but in man-
hood he followed farming, remaining a resident
of Ohio until his death. He married Elizabeth
Oliver, a native of Virginia, who settled in Ohio
with her parents. They had ten children, four
of whom are living, the youngest being Eli Mil-
ton Haddox.

Reared in Ohio, Eli M. Haddox received his
education in the public schools, remaining at home
until twenty years old, when he became depend-
ent upon his own resources. He engaged in farm-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1339

ing for a livelihood, renting land at first and
finally purchasing forty acres, upon which he
continued his work. In 1882 he removed to Ne-
braska and at Fort Kearney bought three hun-
dred and twenty acres of railroad land, which he
improved and cultivated for four years. Remov-
ing to Stirling (now Buffalo county) he home-
steaded one hundred and sixty acres of land and
improved this property also. In 1900 he disposed
of these interests and came to California and in
El Monte engaged in farming, having in the
meantime (1896) purchased forty acres from the
Bassett property which was immediately set out
in walnuts, a pumping plant installed in 1899
with a ten-horse power engine, with a capacity
of one hundred inches, this being the first pump-
ing plant on the east side of the San Gabriel
river. Twenty acres of his property has since
been given over to the raising of apples, while
the remainder is in walnuts and alfalfa. He car-
ries on general farming on leased land in the
neighborhood and is uniformly successful in his
enterprises. He has improved his own property
by the erection of a residence, barns and out-
buildings, good fences, and every convenience
that bespeaks the thrifty and successful farmer.
In Putnam county, Ohio, October 3, 1875, Mr.
Haddox married Miss Caroline Riter, a native of
Findlay, that state, and the daughter of John
M. Riter, an old settler of that section of Ohio.
They are the parents of the following children :
Eliza, Mrs. Gunnels, of Oxnard : Benjamin, in
Los Angeles ; Jefiferson, of Oxnard ; James and
Milton, of Los Angeles ; and the others at home,
Peter, Cora, Wallace, Emmet, Goldie and Ar-
nold. Mr. Haddox is a Republican on all na-
tional issues, although locally he can always be
counted upon to support the man best qualified
for ofificial duties. Fraternally he is identified
with the Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of
United Workmen.

CHARLES RICHARDSON. A pioneer of
California, and the son of a pioneer, Charles
Richardson, living near Simi, \"entura county,
has had a varied experience in life, meeting with
fortunes and with misfortunes, but in the end
overcoming all obstacles. When he came to this
state the country was largely in its original wild-
ness, game being abundant, and the Indians num-
erous. There being no railways, transportation
was with ox-teams chiefly, and the trading points
were few and far between. Possessing a vast
fund of historical information in regard to pio-
neer days, and being an intelligent and interest-
ing talker, with a good memor}-, Mr. Richard-
son is a most entertaining conversationalist, and
one whom it is a pleasure to meet He was born,
August 27, 1836, in Warren county. Mo., be-

ing one of the thirteen children of the late John
Richardson, all of whom with the exception of
two that died in Wisconsin came to California to
reside.

A native of New York state, John Richardson
migrated to Missouri at an early day, and after
spending some years in that state went to Wis-
consin. From there lie came in i860 to the Pa-
cific coast, crossing the plains with ox-teams,
starting from Missouri in a train composed of
eighteen families. While on the journey his old-
est child suddenly disappeared, and it was three
days before he was found, that incident being
the only one to seriously mar the pleasure of the
trip. He was a man of strong convictions, a
Democrat in politics, and an old-school Baptist
in religion. In Missouri he married Lucy
Wright, who was born in Kentucky, and died
at an advanced age in Ventura county, near Ox-
nard, while his death occurred in Sutter county.
He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and during
his entire life was a loyal and faithful citizen,
and instilled into the minds of his children the
spirit of true patriotism.

Accompanying his parents to Wisconsin in
April, 1847, Charles Richardson was there edu-
cated in the common schools of Grant county.
Thirteen years later he came with the family to
California, having a four months' trip across the
plains in the train commanded by Captain Mc-
Farland, and arriving in Shasta county April
9, i860. He subsequently spent several months
in Sacramento, from there going to the San Joa-
quin valley, where he bought land and was en-
gaged in ranching for two years, being in part-
nership with his father and brother. Disposing
of his interest in the land he continued his agri-
cultural' operations alone, being first located in
Sacramento, and then in Sutter county, where
he resided eleven years. Selling out, he went to
Santa Barbara in 1874, and was there for four-
teen years, busily employed in tilling the soil.
Again disposing of his land he moved to San
Diego, bought land, and embarked in general
farming, remaining there eleven years, when he
had the misfortune to lose title to his ranch.
Locating in Ventura county in 1900 he carried on
farming on an extensive scale for three years
on rented land, in his ventures succeeding well.
In 1903 he purchased his present ranch, near
Simi, and now has a highly improved farm of
forty acres, which he devotes principally to the
raising of fruit, having a large orchard of apri-
cots and prunes, also making a specialty to some
extent of raising chickens.

In Wisconsin, in 1859, Mr. Richardson married
Candace Burton, who was born in Warren county,
Mo., being one of the ten children of Alsop and
Lucy (Graves) Burton. Her father was born
in ^^irginia, and died in Wisconsin, at the age

1340

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of fifty-seven years, and his wife, who was born
in Kentucky, died in Missouri, aged sixty-seven
years. Thirteen children blessed the union of
Mr. and Mrs. Richardson : Lionel W., of Ven-
tura county, married ]\Jary Rystrum, by whom
he has seven children; Laura died in infancy;
Letitia S., wife of Fay Colby, of Sonoma coun-
ty, has five daughters ; Sarah M., wife of J.
W. Lewis, of Camarillo, has five children;
Charles W., of Sawtelle, married Florence Wil-
son, and they have four children ; Ida C, wife of
Lorenzo Jackson, of Sonoma county, has two
children ; Lucy A. died at the age of nineteen
years; Viola D., wife of Harry Wilson, of Saw-
telle, has three children ; Lizzie, who married
John Houston, died at the age of thirty years,
leaving three children; Vesta B. is the wife of
Robert Beardsley; and Thomas H., Roxie, qind
Samuel C. are living at home. In his political
relations Mr. Richardson is a strong- Democrat,
and has served many terms as school trustee and
as road overseer. Fraternally he is a member
of Ventura Lodge No. 120, K. of P.

JOHN R. DOIG, M. D. During his resi-
dence in San Diego county, J. R. Doig, M. D.,
has become known as one of its able and skilful
physicians and surgeons, and by his genial man-
ners and kindly courtesy endears himself to all
classes of people. Cultured and talented, his
long-continued studies and his wide experience
as a general practitioner have given him a thor-
ough knowledge of the many branches of his
profession and gained for him a place of promi-
nence in medical circles. While devoted to his
life work, the doctor takes great interest in the
progressive movements of the day and his sym-
pathies are as broad as humanity. The son of
Prof. James R. Doig, he was born, March 8,. 1845,
in Wa)'ne county, Ohio.

A native of New York state, James R. Doig
received excellent educational advantages, in
early manhood being graduated from Union Col-
lege'. Fitted for a professional career, he moved
to Ohio after his marriage, and for several years
held a chair in Franklin College, at New Athens,
Harrison county. Going from there to Wash-
ington. Washington county, Iowa. Professor Doig
served as president of the college there until its
destruction by a tornado in 1864. Removing then
to Monmouth, III, he was for ten years professor
of languages in Monmouth College, resigning the
position on account of his advanced age. He
subsequently lived retired at Vinton. Iowa, un-
til his death, in 1885, at the age of seventy-three
vears. He was a stanch Republican in politics,
at all times being active in advancing the inter-
ests of his party, and was a faithful member of
the United Presbvterian Church. Professor

Doig was twice married, first to Hannah Rankin,
a native of Washington count}', Pa. She died
at the age of twenty-seven years in 1850, leav-
ing four children, one of whom is J. R. Doig,
M. D., of this review. He married for his second
wife Agnes Rankin, who was born in Pennsyl-
vania, and of this union nine children, five sons
and four daughters, were born.

Removing with his parents to Iowa when a
boy, J. R. Doig attended the college which his
father established in Washington, there complet-
ing his early education. During the progress of
the Civil war, enthused by patriotic ardor, he en-
listed in 1862 in the Nineteenth Iowa \'olunteer
Infantry, from which he was later transferred to
the medical department and in the fall of 1863
he was discharged. Subsequently he re-enlisted
in Company L, Second Iowa Cavalry, in which
he served until the close of the war, being under
General Hearn at first, and later under command
of Gen. Edward Hatch. With his comrades he
took an active part in many of the noted engage-
ments of the period, including among others the
battles at Vicksburg, Miss., and at Nashville.
Tenn. After receiving his honorable discharge
from the army he began the study of medicine,
and in 1869 was graduated from the University
of Iowa. Beginning the practice of his profes-
sion, he met with success from the first. In 1884,
desirous of further advancing his professional
knowledge, he took a post-graduate course at
the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Chi-
cago, 111., while there making a special study of
the diseases of women and children under the
eminent specialist. Dr. J. Reeves Jackson. Re-
turning then to Kansas, his former field of labor,
he practiced in that state for two years, acquir-
ing a fine reputation for skill and ability. In
1886, on account of ill health, he was forced to
seek a milder climate, and therefore came to San
Diego, Cal.. where he remained for twelve years,
building up a large practice in both medicine and
surgery. Returning then to Kansas, he was for
six years traveling surgeon for the LTnion Pacific
Railroad Company, a good position which he had
to resign on account of failing health, his old
enemy, asthma, again attacking him. Coming
to Ramona in 1905, Dr. Doig has here found re-
lief from his physical troubles, and is so much
improved in health that he has purchased prop-
erty and intends to make this his future home. As
a physician and surgeon he has built up a large
and remunerative practice, and has gained to an
eminent degree the confidence and good will of
the community, his professional skill and ability
being recognized and appreciated.

In 1880 Dr. Doig married Nellie E. Seiver.
a native of Muskegon, Mich., and they have one
child. Ruth P.. a pupil in the San Diego Normal
school. The doctor is a Republican in his polit-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1343

ical affiliations, and for a number of years served
as pension examiner for the United States gov-
ernment. Fraternally he is a member of Ells-
worth (Kans.) Lodge No. 146, A. F. & A. M. ;
of Ellsworth Chapter, R. A. j\[.; demitted from
Ellsworth Commander)-, K. T. ; and is a mem-
ber of Isis Temple (Salina, Kans.j, A. A. O. N.
M. S. ; and of Ancient Order of United Work-
men. He is also a member of the Grand Army
of the Republic.

PROF. JOHN HARVEY STRINE. Rank-
ing as one of the foremost educators of Cali-
fornia, Prof. John Harvey Strine has, during
the twenty years of his active work in this
field, given much valuable service both in the
schoolroom and in an official position, for he
served a term as superintendent of the Los
Angeles county schools, during which time he
greatly impro\ed the school system. Genera-
tions ago the ancestors of Professor Strine
immigrated to America and showed the value
of the inheritance of the best blood of Eng-
land, Holland and France by becoming active
participants and leaders in the development of
the new country. On both paternal and ma-
ternal sides Professor Strine's grandparents
were natives of Pennsylvania, the former hav-
ing spent their entire lives in Franklin coun-
ty and the latter in Lancaster county. Tlie
family made a commendable reputation for
patriotism during the Civil war. Peter Strine,
a great-uncle, fought in the arm}' of the Po-
tomac during the entire conflict ; Samuel G.
Strine, an uncle, in the Eighty-third Illinois
Regiment of the Army of the West, served
throughout the war; Jacob Strine, another
uncle, in 1861 enlisted for a term of nine
months and at the expiration of that time re-
enlisted for three years, and was killed at
Petersburg just two days before the surren-
der of Lee ; the third uncle. Jonathan G. Strine,
who had also enlisted for three years, was
shot in the head at Petersburg, the same bat-
tle in which his brother's life was lost, and in
spite of his wound is yet living, his home be-
ing in the vicinity of Greencastle, Pa.

On October 26, 1858, occurred the birth of
John Harvey Strine, in Newbridge, Franklin
county. Pa., he being a son of John and ^laria
Catharine (Long) .Strine. tlie father having
been born Februarv 28. 1829, in Franklin coun-
ty. Pa., and the mother December 25, 1832. in
Lancaster county, of the same state. The
father died February 13, 1906, and those of the
family now living besides John Harvey are
his mother, his sister, A. ]\r. Strine, and his
brother, D. L. Strine, all residents of Downey,
Cal.. and A. T. Strine. of Los Angeles.

John H. Strine's school days began at the
early age of five years in Roxbury, Pa., and a
}ear later, his father removing to ^lartins-
burg, W. Va., where he conducted a brick-
yard, he attended the common schools, and
when he was twelve years of age he com-
menced to work for his father during vaca-
tions. The father also purchased a farm near
Martinsburg, and when business was espe-
cially brisk in the brickyard he left the man-
agement of the farm to his sons. In 1877 the
family removed to Missouri, after which John
Harvey Strine, whose educational privileges
until that time had been confined to the com-
mon schools, entered the state university of
Missouri. In 1882 he graduated from the
teacher's course, having earned his expenses
by teaching a part of the time. At the time
of his graduation he also passed an examina-
tion which entitled him to a life diploma as
a teacher in JMissouri, and after his arrival in
California he was given a similar certificate as
a high-school instructor. He taught for a
time in the district schools of Missouri, but
soon arose to the position of principal of the
Rolla public schools, and after filling it for
two years, resigned in order to remove to Cali-
fornia, he having been offered a position at
the head of the Downe)^ schools.

Professor Strine's arrival in Downey dates
from July 30, 1887, at which time he assumed
his duties in the schools, his first work being
the grading of the pupils. His amljition was
to have his school produce as high class work
as any in the state, and within a short time
the results of his efforts began to show, in a
short time pupils from Downey being accepted
in other higher schools without examination.
During his residence in Downej^ Professor
Strine has been a leader in many lines, his su-
perior education, talents and position natural-
ly giving him a prominent place in the com-
munity. In Jul}', 1891, upon the re-organiza-
tion of the Downev P>ank, he w^as unanimously
elected a director by the stockholders and was
immediately placed upon the auditing com-
mittee. In i8qo he was appointed a member
of the board of education of Los Angeles coun-
ty, and in 1892 was made president of that
body, being re-elected the following year.

In Julv. 1893, Professor Strine was elected to
the principalship of the IMonrovia Grammar and
High schools, and continued in that position
until 1899, when he resigned in order to en-
ter upon his duties as superintendent of the
county schools. In recognition of his efficient
work in the interests of the schools of the
county he was at the time of its organization,
in T895. elected to the presidency of the Los
Angeles Pedagogical Society and continued to

i;j44

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

till that position, also, until his election as
county superintendent. He was one of the
most earnest and zealous incumbents of that
office that the county has ever had, and the
influence of his work and methods are still
felt in the schools throughout the county. This
was followed by two years of faithful service
as -secretary of the California state text-book
committee.' While it would be natural to ex-
pect Professor Strine to find his greatest in-
terest in matters educational, he has not con-
fined his talents to those lines, but has been a
moving influence in other matters of progres-
sive interest to the community in which he
lives. He is the possessor of considerable
musical talent and was repeatedly made presi-
dent of the Apollo Club of JNIonrovia, and also
assisted materially in the organization of th''
INIonrovia Opera House Company, the chief
purpose of Avhich was to provide a suitable
hall for public assemblages, and the enterprise
as carried out has been of untold benefit to the
citv. During the past two years he has been
organizing syndicates, which have been among
the most successful in the state in quickly han-
dling large tracts of valuable lands. He is a
prominent Mason and is past master of Mon-
rovia Lodge No. 308, F. & A. M. He always
stands ready to aid any measure for the bene-
fit of the people, whether from a religious,
moral or educational point of view, and does
not neglect any of the duties of an intelligent
citizen.

contains three hundred and eleven acres of land,
most of which is tillable. The farm is well im-
proved, having a fine residence and a good
orchard, at one time selling for $75,000. Mr.
Reed has now excellent prospects of becoming
a mine owner and discovering on his estate gems
or tourmaline, as on the ridge which passes
through it mines have been opened, and bid fair
to yield valuable minerals.

in 1903 Mr. Reed married Dorothy Mufifley,
who was born. in Grant county, Wis., and the
home over which she so graciously presides is
pleasant and attractive. Politically Mr. Reed is
a stanch Republican, and fraternally he is a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and of the Independent Order of Foresters.

FRANK H. REED. Wide-awake, ambitious
and enterprising, Frank H. Reed, of \'ista, is
numbered among the younger generation of suc-
cessful and prosperous agriculturists of San
Diego county, and as a man of upright charac-
ter and good principles is fast winning for him-
self an enviable reputation in both the business
and social affairs of his adopted home. A son
of Dr. J. H. and Ella (Halbert) Reed, of Wis-
consm, he was born, February 2, 1880, in Ne-
braska, but was brought up in Grant county,
Wis., where his parents settled when he was a
small child.

Immediately after his graduation from the
high scliool, Frank H. Reed was obliged to leave
home on account of ill health, the climate of
Wisconsin being too severe for him. Coming to
Southern California to recuperate, he spent three
years at Redlands and Long Beach, inhaling the
iife-giving air, each day feeling the beneficial in-
fluences of the invigorating breezes from the Pa-
cific. Turning his attention to agricultural pur-
suits, he located in San Diego county in 1905,
and at once assumed possession of his present
property, known as the Edge Hill ranch, which

CLAUDIUS OTIS DEMSEY. Early in the
colonization of America the Demsey famih- came
from Scotland to aid in the development of the
new country. John M. Demsey, M. D., a son
of the immigrant, was born in .Ohio, and there
practiced his profession, later becoming a promi-
nent physician of Decatur, 111., and serving as a
surgeon in the Blackhawk and Mexican wars.
The lady whom he married, !Miss Alary Duncan,
M. D., was a graduate of a medical college in
Edinburgh, Scotland, and possessed unusual en-
dowments of mind and character. Under their
influence it was natural that their son, C. F., a
native of Akron, Ohio, should take up the study
of materia medica, for which indeed he seemed
to possess inherited talents. After having ac-
companied the California Hundred to the west
in 1858 and having gained further knowledge of
the country and mankind through his service as
a non-commissioned officer in the Second Massa-
chusetts Cavalry during the Civil war, at the
close of that historic struggle he entered Rush
Medical College, took the complete course and
subsequent to graduation practiced in Missouri
and Decatur, 111. The year 1886 found him
again in California, viewing with gratification
the many improvements wrought by the passing
years. For a time he practiced in San Fran-
cisco and then removed to Mojave as surgeon
of the Southern Pacific Railroad for that dis-
trict, and since then he has remained in that
town, engaged in the practice of medicine and
in the oversight of his mining interests. The
Republican party receives his support in all elec-
tions, and fraternally he affiliates with the Grand
Army of the Republic and the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellows. During early life he met
and married Clarinda Gates, who was born in
Ohio and died at Pasadena, Cal., in 1901 ; her
father and two of her brothers served in the
Union army during the Civil war. Her mother
was a member of the Barrett familv.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1347

The older among two children and the only
son in the family, Claudius Otis Demsey was
born in Dayton, Cass county. Mo., JMarch i,
1870. At an early age he displayed energy ot
character and force of will. When ten he began
to learn telegraphy and at the age of thirteen he
was appointed night operator on the Pleoria,
Decatur & Evansville Railroad at Warrensburg,
111. The year 1886 found him in California,
employed in the electrical department of the
Southern Pacific Railroad at San Francisco.
The example of his father, grandfather and
grandmother led him to take up the study of
medicine in 1888 in Rush INIedical College, but
a course of lectures covering two years was suf-
ficient to convince him that his talents did not
lie in the direction of therapeutics, and he re-
turned to the employ of the Southern Pacific
Railroad Conipan_\- in San Francisco and Oak-
land. In 1897 he married Miss lunma Solari.
who was born and reared in \'entura, her father,
Augustine Solari, a native of Zoagli, Italy, hav-
ing been a representative of one of the oldest and
most honored families of that county.

After his marriage Mr. Demsey resigned from
railroad work and went to the City of Mexico
in the employ of Wells-Fargo Company, his
work being the changing of rates at the adop-
tion of the metric system. For such a responsi-
bility his knowledge of the Spanish language
admirably qualified him. At the expiration of
six months he became an operator at Mojave
and later was made train dispatcher at Bakers-
field. At the latter town, with three others, he
located three hundred and fifty acres of oil lands,
which he later sold at a fair profit. In 1902 he
came to Los Angeles as train dispatcher for the
Coast Line at River station, but a year later re-
signed the position, and in August, 1904. came
to Redondo, where he and a partner purchased
the grocery stock of Spradling & Lyon. Sep-
tember II, 1905, he sold his interest to J. M.
Qirisman, and in January, 1906, opened a
grocery and bakery in the Bank building. Here
he has the latest type of oven, with a capacity
greater than that of any similar plant in the
town. The entire equipment is modem and in-
cludes a refrigerator and ice machine. Besides
his other interests he owns stock in the People's
Savings Bank and the First National Bank.
With his wife and two sons. Raymond and Clem-
ent, he occupies a comfortable home in Redondo
and has manv friends in the town. Since com-
ing to this place he has been a leading member
of the Board of Trade and a local worker in the
Republican party. Though he no longef- follows
telegraphy, he is still an active member of the
Order of Railway Telegraphers, and also affili-
ates with Lodge No. 99. Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks at Los Angeles, and is worthy

past president of the Order of Eagles at
Redondo.

WILLIAM M. THOMAS. Among the
active, progressive and substantial citizens of
Long Beach, William M. Thomas occupies an
assured position. As a street grader and con-
tractor he has carried on an extensive busi-
ness for a number of years, and to his skilful
and S}-stematic work is the city largely in-
debted for the excellent condition of its prin-
cipal public thoroughfares. A son of J. E.
Thomas, he was born, April 13, 1871, in Brown
county, Kans. A native of Virginia, J. E.
Thomas was reared to agricultural pursuits,
and when a young man followed the march
of civilization v.'estward, settling as a pioneer
farmer in Brown county. Kans., where he was
engaged in general farming for many years.
Coming to California in 1892, he was first en-
gaged in ranching in Santa Ana, but is now
retired from active pursuits, having a pleas-
ant home on Atlantic avenue. Long Beach.
He married Lizzie Ramey, who was born in
Virginia, and they became the parents of eight
sons and two daughters, William M. being
the eldest child.

Brought up in Kansas, William M. Thomas
left school when fifteen years of age, and from
that time was self-supporting, working at any
honorable employment. In February, 1890,
before attaining his majority, he came to Cali-
fornia, settling at Santa .\na. where he rent-
ed an alfalfa ranch, which he managed suc-
cessfully for about six years. In 1897 he lo-
cated at Long Beach, and with the two teams
that he brought with him established the Pio-
neer Truck Company. Engaging at once in
heavy hauling, street grading and contract-
ing, he has built up a large and remunerative
business, keeping now ten teams of his own
constantly at work, besides having many
more. When he located here there was but
one street graded, and under his supervision
almost all of the other streets and public high-
ways have been constructed and graded. He
has acquired some city property, and at the
corner of Seventh street and Linden avenue
has an attracti^'e residence, in which his ofifice
is located.

Mr. Thomas was first married in Whittier.
Cal.. to Minnie Shank, who was born in Texas,
and died at Long Beach. He married for his
second wife, in Los Angeles. Cal.. Neva Crav-
en, a native of Nebraska, and they have one
son. William M., Jr. In his political affilia-
tions AFr. Thomas is a strict Bepublican, ever
Inyal 10 the interests of his party.

13tt8

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

A. R. ROB BINS. In promoting- the devel-
opment, growth and material prosperity of
Ocean Park A. R. Robbins stands second to
none, his influence being apparent in industrial,
business and social lines, and to him belongs
the distinction of having the original name of
the town, South Santa Monica, changed to the
name by which it is now known. A son of Chand-
ler Robbins, he was born, October 30, 1859, in
Aladison, Ind., of substantial Puritan ancestry.
His grandfather, Chandler Robbins, Sr., was
born and reared in Connecticut, and in early
manhood went with Gen. Rufus Putnam to Ohio,
settling on the Western Reserve with the New-
England colony of brave pioneers.

Chandler Robbins was born in Marietta, Ohio,
March i, 1818, and died in Topeka, Kans., May
I, 1885. A talented musician, he was in his
earlier life a professor of music in some of the
best known colleges of the east, and was after-
wards for many years connected with W, W.
Kimball & Co., music publishers in Chicago, 111.
Subsequently reiuoving to southern Illinois, he
was in business for himself in Cairo until 1877,
when he went to Kansas, where he spent his re-
maining years.

But a }ear old when his parents located in
Chicago, A. R. Robbins lived there until fifteen
years old, receiving his elementary education in
its public schools, and completing his studies in
Cairo, 111., and in Kansas. Beginning life for
himself as a merchant he was first located in In-
dependence, Kans., and afterwards in Topeka.
Retiring from mercantile pursuits after a brief
experience, he entered the service of the Santa
Fe Railroad Company, from 1885 until 1888 be-
ing employed in the treasury department at To-
peka, His health failing, he then went to Las
Vegas, N. Mex., to recuperate, and was there
claim clerk for the same company for two years.
Being then appointed by President Harrison post-
master of the city, he served for four years, be-
ing well liked and prominent in the community.
In the spring of 1894 he came to Los Angeles
county and for three years, as agent of the Santa
Fe Railroad Company, had charge of the upbuild-
ing of South Santa i\Ionica, now called Ocean
Park, Continuing with his em]3loyers, he was
afterwards made oil inspector of the Fullerton
oil wells, a position that he retained for some
time. Going then into business on his own ac-
count, he was engaged principally in promoting
oil properties in the Puente district and in Ven-
tura county, continuing until the boom abated.
Returning to Ocean Park, he embarked in the
real-estate business, helping to organize the
Southern California Realty Company. Subse-
quently selling his interests in that firm, he
started the Robbins Realty Company (Inc.), of
which he has since been elected president. This

company is carrying on an extensive and sub-
stantial business, its main office being located at
No. 144 Pier avenue. Ocean Park, with branch
offices at Santa Monca, \'enice, and at Shakes-
peare Beach, all of these being places which
have been largely developed through ^Ir, Rob-
bins' forethought and good judgment of prop-
erty values.

In July, 1883, Mr, Robbins married Laura N.
Rowe, and into their home five children have
been born, namely: Gardner, Earl, Gilbert, Ber-
tha and Vivian. Politically JNIr. Robbins is a
Republican, and is now serving as Republican
precinct committeeman and as notary public in
Ocean Park.

HENRY ALLGEYER, a rancher located a
mile and a quarter from El Monte, Los An-
geles county, was born in Rhineland, Mont-
gomery county, Mo., March 25, 1875. The fam-
ily is of German origin, and thfe grandfather,
who was seven feet in height, served as body-
guard to Kaiser '\\'ilhelm. The father, John B.
Allgeyer, was born in Baden, Germany, where
until 1868 he engaged in viticulture. In that
year he immigrated to the United States and
located in Missouri, there following a similar
occupation in addition to general farming.
Coming to California in 1881 he spent four
months in Napa, after which he returned to
Missouri and settled down to his old occupa-
tion. Subsequently he again came to the state
and located in Anaheim, Orange county, en-
gaging as a vinej-ardist. A year later he Avent
to Norwalk, Cal., and after spending another
year in the state returned to his old home in
Missouri. Two months later he concluded to
locate permanently in California, and accord-
ingly sold his property and in the fall of 1885
brought his fam.ily to Norwalk. He remained
in that location for three years engaged as a
vineyardist, when, in 1888, he located in El
Monte and purchased sixteen acres of new
land, which he set out in walnuts and other-
wise improved and cultivated until his retire-
ment. His death occurred in this location No-
vember 5, 1906. Ever since his location in the
United States he had been deeply interested in
its public afifairs and was a stanch Republican.
His wife, Martina Mair, was also born in Ba-
den, Germajiy : she survives her husband and
still resides in this section, being now seventy-
two years old. They were the parents of four-
teen children, of whom seven grew to 3'ears of
maturit)' and five are now living.

The youngest of the children born to his
jDarents. Henry Allgeyer was reared in Mis-
souri until attaining the age of ten years, when
lie was brought to California by his parents

-^m^AxA.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1351

and here completed his education in the public
schools. He remained at home and engaged in
farming until 1900, when he purchased the
home farm and continued its improvement and
culti\'ation. He also purchased adjoining prop-
erty until he now owns twenty-eight acres on
the San Bernardino road, all in walnuts and
ten acres of peet land, which he is engaged in
farming. He has been successful in his work
and at the same time takes a deep interest in
all movements calculated to advance the gen-
eral welfare, like his father supporting the Re-
publican party and advancing its principles. He
is one of the charter members of the Mountain
View \\'alnut Growers' Association. In Ana-
heim Mr. .Mlgeyer married j\liss Emily Martin,
a native of Germany, and daughter of Ludwig
Martin, who died in Anaheim. They have three
children. Pearl, Albert and an infant daughter
unnamed.

WILLIAM H. NEHER. Though still a
young man in the prime of life, Mr. Xeher
has attained a success for which many give a
lifetime of arduous effort. Eor some j^ears he
has made his home on a ranch one mile south
of Inglewood. Upon coming to this property
in 1896 he bought five acres on the install-
ment plan. Erom time to time he added to
the original tract until he finally acquired
ninety acres, but afterward he sold seventy-
acres of the ranch at a gratifying advance on
the first cost. Twenty acres are left in his pos-
session, bearing modern improvements, in-
cluding a neat residence. In the cultivation of
the land Mr. Neher found the raising of pop-
corn and Indian corn especially profitable and
these he made his specialties. In the midst
of his ranching operations he found leisure to
invent and construct a corn harvester which is
unique in that it will not only cut the corn, but
also husk and shell the ears. At this writing he
is devoting his attention to a number of impor-
tant inventions and, in order to concentrate
his thought upon their perfection, he has rent-
ed his ranch and devotes himself exclusively
to his patents.

Near Salem, in the count}- of ^Marion. III.,
]Mr. Xeher was born October 21, 1872, being
a son of John and Margaret (Beydler) Neher,
natives of Indiana, and a grandson of Daniel
Neher, who was a pioneer of Indiana, going
there from Pennsylvania. Upon attaining
man's estate John Neher left Indiana and set-
tled in Illinois, where he improved a tract of
land near Salem arid remained for a number of
years. When Kansas was attracting settlers
to its rich farm lands, he took his family to
that state, and in 1889 came to California, set-

tling at Lordsburg. Five xears later he re-
moved to Texas, but e\entually settled in
Oklahoma, and now, at sixty-three years of
age, is making his home in that territory.
During the residence of the family in Kansas
his wife died at forty years of age. She was
a daughter of an American family of German
extraction and her parents were natives of
Pennsylvania, removing from there to Indiana
and securing government land in an early day.

The children of pioneer families have few
advantages for acquiring educations, and the
early life of William H. Neher proved no ex-
ception to this rule. It early became neces-
sary for him to earn his own livelihood. Being
ambitious by nature, he did not allow obsta-
cles to discourage him, but at the age of six-
teen years began to be self-supporting and
worked his way through the college at Mc-
Pherson, Kans. In 1890 he entered school at
Lordsburg, Cal., where, as before, he paid his
own way, earning a neat sum by teaching
singing classes. Later he secured a teacher's
grammar-grade certificate and for two years
taught a country school in Riverside county,
but in 1896 gave up that work and came to
Inglewood, Los Angeles county, where he has
since resided, engaging in ranch pursuits and
in the perfection of various inventions.

Mr. Neher has met with success with his
inventions and has just perfected and put on
the market a crude oil generator for use on
any gasoline engine, the use of which reduces
the cost of operation fifty to seventv-five per
cent. The generator will be manufactured by
Fairbanks-Morse of Los Angeles. During
T906 he perfected a water system for irrigat-
ing five hundred acres of land in his vicinity,
by sinking two wells to a depth of two hun-
dred and thirty and four hundred and eighteen
feet, giving a flow of two iiundred inches, and
by using his crude oil generator he lifts the
w'ater one hundred feet at a cost of only thir-
ty cents per hour, which is one-half of the for-
mer cost.

As the development of adecpiate water su]")-
ply is made possible and the ability to distrib-
ute the same at small cost becomes known
ihere is reason to suppose that a demand for
the Neher generator will grow as soon as the
public at large are convinced of its merits.

In politics Mr. Neher has been an ardent
Republican ever since casting his first ballot
and has been interested in the success of his
party. Always active in school affairs, he
has served efficiently as a school director and
has maintained a warm interest in the educa-
tion of the young. In 1895 he was united in
marriage with TiTiss Lottie E. Elory, who was
born in Grcclev. Colo., and has made Califor-

1352

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

nia her home since girlhood. Four children
were born of their union, namel)' : May E.
and Maude E. (twins), Minerva Josephine
and Virgil William. It is Mr. Neher's ambi-
lion to give to his children the opportunities
and advantages which he was denied, and the
success he has achieved is especially gratify-
ing to him, because it enables him to surround
his family with every comfort and give his
children the encouraging aid so helpful to
their moral and educational development.

GEORGE S. RAYCRAFT. Among the suc-
cessful business men of Compton is George S.
Raycr'aft, who has for many years been actively
identified with the manufacturing interests of
this locality as a harness-maker. A man of reso-
lution and ambition, enterprising and self-re-
liant, he has made his own way in the world, and
in every sense implied by the term is a self-
made man. He was born September 20, 1852,
in Cleveland, Ohio, and at the age of eighteen
months, his mother dying, he was placed in the
]\Irs. Benjamin Ross Orphans' Home, in that
city. He is of English ancestry, his father, Tim-
othy Raycraft, having been born in Yorkshire,
while his mother, a descendant of the House of
Stuart, was born and reared in Lancashire. The
father, a well-educated man, was a skilled me-
chanic, a cabinet, maker by trade, and after com-
ing to the United States was foreman for the
Brooks Importing Company, in Cleveland, Ohio.
At the age of twenty-one years he married, his
bride being a girl of sixteen. After her death
he went to the Black River mining regions.

.\t the age of nine years George S. Raycraft
made his escape from the home in which he had
been placed, and from that time paddled his own
canoe. He worked as opportunity offered, at-
tended the common schools, subsequently, in
Chicago, 111., earning enough money to pay his
tuition for a year in Allen's Academy. Leav-
ing Chicago, he went to Sterling, III, where he
served an apprenticeship of three years at the
harness-maker's trade, in the mean time making
his home with Rev. Jerome T. Mason, a Bap-
tist minister. Becoming familiar with his trade,
he had charge of his employer's shop for some
time. . Resigning his position in 1885, he made
his way to California, and for a short time re-
sided in Los Angeles. Coming from there to
Compton. he was for eight months in the em-
ploy of Charles Lyman, receiving a salary of $t8
a week. In 1886 he started in business on his
own account, and with the exception of a short
time has since resided here. In his operations
he has met with success, having built up a large
and lucrative patronage, his reputation for hon-

est, reliable work Ijeing known throughout this
part of the county.

In Los Angeles, Cal., December 25, 1887,
Mr. Raycraft married for his first wife lanthea
Rae, assistant principal in one of the public
schools, the marriage ceremony being performed
in the Methodist Episcopal parsonage by Rev.
R. E. Moore. She was a daughter of Thomas
Rae, who was born and reared in Maine, and
is now a resident of Sonoma county, Cal. Eigh-
teen months after their marriage, which was an
especially happy one, Mrs. Raycraft died, leav-
ing a babe of six months. This child, i^Iyron
Leslie Raycraft, now a young man of eighteen
years, is living with his maternal grandparents
in Sonoma county. Mr. Raycraft married for
his second wife, December 25, 1890, Bertha
Voight, a daughter of David Voight, who was
born in Berlin, Germany, and immigrated to
America with his family, settling in Lake county,
Cal, where he has since resided. From this
wife ^Ir. Raycraft was divorced, and their only
child, ^Marvel Addie, fourteen years old, lives
with her mother in Lake county. In politics
Mt. Raycraft casts his vote for the best men and
measures, regardless of party restrictions. In
1872, while living in Illinois, he joined the Odd
Fellows, passed through all the chairs of his
lodge, and three times served as state represen-
tative. In 1895 he was made a member of
Anchor Lodge No. 273, F. & A. M., of Comp-
ton, of which he is now past master.

JOHN M. WESTLUND. From Sweden have
come some of the most loyal subjects of the
United States, and wherever they may be located
we find them among the most highly respected
and successful citizens and business men. John
M. Westlund, of Santa Paula, was born in
Sweden April ig, 1870, and when only nine years
old he was left motherless. There were six
children in the parental family, only one of
whom, the subject of this sketch, lives in Cali-
fornia. The father immigrated to America and
settled in Kansas, where he finally died, at the
good old age of eighty-two years. John M.
Westlund received his education in the common
schools of Sweden and was fifteen years old
when he came to the new world and joined his
father in Kansas, where they engaged in farm-
ing, and also worked on the ^lissouri Pacific
Railroad.

After three years' residence in Kansas, in 1888
John M. Westlund, removed to A'entura county,
Cal., and worked on the wharf at \^entura for
three years. He was anxious to resume ranch-
ing, however, and upon a ranch near Saticoy, he
remained about thirteen years, after which he
moved onto the place where he now resides. He

HISTORTXAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1353

carries on operations on a large scale, and be-
sides cultivating the thirty-three acre ranch of
walnuts which he owns, he rents a tract con-
taining a hundred acres on which he has thirty
acres of walnuts and seventy acres of beans. On
another ranch of one hundred and forty acres
he has twenty acres in walnuts and one hundred
and twenty acres in beans. He has lived in his
present home for eight years.

In 1902 Mr. Westlund was united in marriage
to Sarah Wilson, a native of Nebraska, and to
them three children have been born: Francis,
Mary and Carl. Both Mr. Westlund, who is a
member of the Lutheran Church, and his wife,
who belongs to the JNIethodist Episcopal Church,
are deeply interested in religious matters and
contribute liberally to the support of both de-
nominations represented by their membership.
Fraternally Mr. Westlund affiliates with the
Foresters Lodge of Saticoy, and politically be-
longs to the Republican party.

JOSEPH EUGENE SHREWSBURY. The
present efficiency of the fire department of Long
Beach is in large measure due to the efforts of
Chief Joseph E. Shrewsbury, with which de-
partment of the city's activity he has been con-
nected since May 27, 1902. At the same time he
has built up for himself a position of prominence
among the business men of this city, being as-
sociated with the firm of W. W. Lowe & Co.,
real-estate dealers. Mr. Shrewsbury is a native
of the middle west, his birth having occurred in
Stillwater, i\Iinn., August 19, 1867, although
California has been his home since he was three
years of age. His father, W. P. Shrewsbury,
located in Minnesota from his native state, Ohio,
having served in the Sixty-third Regiment Ohio
Infantry during the Civil war, a member of the
Signal Corps. After his removal to Minnesota
he engaged in the livery business in Stillwater,
where he remained until 1870; in that year he
located in Point Arena, Mendocino county. Cal.,
and engaged in ranching for a time. In Clover-
dale, Somona county, he followed the livery busi-
ness until his removal to Skagit county. Wash.,
where he now resides. His wife, formerly Nora
Kerns, died in Seattle. Wash.

One of three children born to his parents. Jo-
seph Eugene Shrewsbury received his education
in the public school of California, which he at-
tended up to the age of fifteen years, when he
became dependent upon his own resources. For
several years he was employed in the lumber
milling business in Mendocino county, after
which he was engaged in Seattle as a stationary
engineer, later going to Butte. Mont., and fol-
lowing the same occupation, .\fter seven months
in tilt last i.amcd pb.co he went to Strum, ^^'^s.,

and remained in that locality until 1896. Com-
ing then to Southern California he located in
Long Beach and with a friend, JNIr. Lollich, con-
ducted the Long Beach Steam Laundry, the first
enterprise of its kind here. Later he sold his
interest to James Clewett, after which he operat-
ed a stationary engine and engaged as a ma-
chinist for the Mineral Hill Mining Company.
Returning to Long Beach in 1902 he purchased
an interest in the real-estate business of W. W.
Lowe & Co., and has continued an active mem-
ber of the firm ever since. He was actively in-
terested in the laying out of the Atlantic avenue
subdivision. Overlook Park tract. Mew Acre
tract, Summer Villa tract, Fry Walnut tract.
Palm Vista tract. Van Orman tract and others.

In Seattle, Wash., Mr. Shrewsbury married
Miss Maggie Baldridge, a native of Wisconsin,
and born of this union are two children, Elenora
and Ruby. INIrs. Shrewsbury is a woman of
culture and refinement, prominent in social cir-
cles and gives her religious support to the Con-
gregational Church, of which she is a member.
Mr. Shrewsbury from the first has taken a promi-
nent part in public affairs, one of the first of his
official positions being city plumbing inspector,
he being the first incumbent of this position.
r^Iay 27, 1902, he became connected with the
Long Beach fire department, having previously
had experience in Anacortes, Wash., as captain
of a truck company. Three months after he be-
came associated with the fire department of
Long Beach he was elected chief and assumed the
duties in the volunteer department. In Janu-
ary, 1 906. upon the organization of a new de-
partment, he was again elected chief by the mem-
bers of the department. The central house is lo-
cated on Third street and Pacific avenue, with
branches at Second and Lime, Tenth and Lime
and at Terminal ; many improvements have been
made in the methods and management of the de-
partment, its equipment, which is thoroughly
modern and up-to-date, consisting of a steamer
and combined chemical engine and hose wagon ;
also two ordinary hose wagons ; and hook and
ladder, while there has been installed a machine
shop where they manufacture their own fire
hydrants, the invention of this department. The
fire alarm system is one of unusual merit, and
unlike most systems an adequate protection for
the city. Mr. Shrewsbury is keenlv alive to the
success of the department and is enthusiastic in
his work. He is a member of the Pacific Coast
Fire Chiefs' Association and the National Fire-
man's Association. Fraternally he is associated
with the Knights of Pvthias, of which he is past
chancellor commander : Uniformed Rank,
Knights of Pythias, of which he is ex-lieutenant ;
and of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
He is likewise a member of Sons of ^''eterans,

1354

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

being associated with Lawton Camp Xo. 2 and
is one of the state councillors. He is a member
of the Chamber of Commerce, the Good Roads
Societ_y and the Cosmopolitan Club. Politically
he is a stanch adherent of the principles advo-
cated in the platform of the Republican party.
Mr. Shrewsbury merits the high position which
he holds in the esteem of all who have been as-
sociated with him throughout his residence in
Southern California, appreciated alike for his re-
markable qualities along business lines and the
characteristics of the man and citizen.

WILLIAM H. CARPENTER. In the de-
velopment and advancement of the material and
industrial prosperity of Compton no one per-
son was more active and influential than the late
William H. Carpenter, who during the quarter
of a centurv that he resided here was identified
with the establishment of every beneficial enter-
prise of importance. Industrious, thrifty and
capable, he accumulated wealth and distinction
through his own strenuous efforts, became prom-
iment in business circles, and as a man and a
citizen was held in the highest regard through-
out the community, his many sterling traits of
character and upright moral principles winning
the respect of all witli whom he was brought in
contact. A native of New York state, he was
born. July 20, 1855, in the city of Utica, where
he lived until nine years old.

Reared in the Empire state, Mr. Carpenter at-
tended the public schools as a boy and youth,
completing his early education at the Clinton
Liberal Institute, in Clinton, N. Y. At the age
of twenty-one years he came to California, join-
ing his father, who had three months previously
settled in Rakersfield, Kern county. A few
months later, in October, 1877, Mr. Carpenter
located in Compton as a pioneer of this section
of Los Angeles county. Purchasing land, he
engaged extensively in agricultural pursuits, and
in his independent occupation met with eminent
success. He farmed on a large scale, at one
time having four thousand acres of grain to care
for, at the same time running a threshing out-
fit. Continuing his operations, he was each sea-
son well repaid by the bountiful harvests pro-
duced in his fertile, well-tilled fields and or-
chards, which readily responded to his care and
management. December 3, 1901, while yet in
manhood's prime, he was called to the life be-
yond, his death being a sad loss to the commun-
ity as well as to his immediately family and
friends. Politically he was a stanch Republican,
active in party ranks, many times serving as
delegate to county and state conventions. Fra-
ternalh' he was a prominent Mason and Odd

Fellow, holding all of the important offices m
the lodges of both organizations.

December 18, 1881, in Compton. I\Ir. Car-
penter married Mary, daughter of William and
Lucy (Heath) Malott, natives of Virginia, who
came to California about 1875, purchased a part
of a Spanish grant near Compton, and there spent
tlieir remaining years. Of the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Carpenter six children were born, two
daughters and four sons. The daughters, Mabel
C. and Helen L., died in childhood, and the
sons are living, as follows : William O. and
Arthur L., attending the Los Angeles Military
Academy; and Lawrence E. and Raymond, liv-
ing with their mother.

January 22, 1903, Mrs. Carpenter married Lee
O. Funk, of Compton, a prosperous agriculturist,
engaged in general farming and dairying, his
ranch of two hundred and sixty-four acres ly-
ing two miles east of the village. Mr. and Mrs.
Funk, however, live in Compton, having a fine
home in the pleasantest part of the town. They
have one daughter, Lucille Funk, who was born
January 26, 1906.

CHARLES Y. FORD. The position of post-
master at Wynola, which he has filled for a
period of about ten years, occupies the attention
of J\Ir. Ford to some extent, but the duties are
not sufficiently heavy to deter him from engaging
in other activities. Accordingly he devotes con-
siderable attention to the care of his farm in the
Wynola district, where he and his sister. Miss
Mary E. Ford, have established a comfortable
home and invested their savings in the .land and
its improvement. The tract comprises one hun-
dred and twenty acres, the larger portion of
which is under cultivation to farm crops or in
pasturage, but twenty-five acres have been set
aside for a fruit orchard and apple and cherry
trees have been planted that now produce bounti-
ful crops of their special varieties.

On a farm near Pinckneyville, Perry county,
111., Charles Y. Ford was born October 20, 1865.
his parents being John P. and Louisa H.
(Youngblood) Ford, natives respectively of Ken-
tucky and Illinois. His father was but a small
boy when the family removed from Kentucky to
the then frontier of Illinois, and hence much of
his active life was passed in the developing en-
vironment of a new community. In time he be-
came one. of the well-known farmers and stock-
raisers in the vicinity of Pinckneyville, and he
continued in the same locality until 1885, when
he came to California and settled on a ranch near
Santa Ana. On that homestead his death oc-
curred December 27, 1904, when he was four-
score years of age, and his wife passed away in
1897, ''t the age of seventy.

<Lyi^y^hz>£,$?icz^'-^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1357

Un removing to California Charles Y. Ford
was a young man about t\vent\' j'ears of age,
ready for the active responsibilities of earning a
livelihood and ambitious to work his own way in
the world. Shortly after his arrival in the state
he purchased the land which he still owns and in
which his sister also is interested. In addition to
managing the home property he rents land which
he sows in grain. Recently he has erected a com-
fortable farm residence that adds greatly to the
appearance and value of the farm. In 1897 he
was appointed postmaster and has held the office
under a Republican administration, although he
is stanchly Democratic in his opinions. His sister
liolds membership with the Baptist Church and
he is a contributor to religious measures, al-
though not identified with any denomination.
Fraternally he has his membership with Court
Julian Banner No. 8522, A. O. F., at Julian.
During the long period of his residence in the
locality he has gained the confidence of acquaint-
ances and has won an assured position in the es-
teem of those with whom business or social rela-
tions have brought him into contact.

NILES NELSON. One among the oldest
settlers of San Diego county and the oldest
resident of Poway, Niles Nelson was born
near Kongsberg, Norway, July 15th, 1832. He
was the son of Ole and Anneken (Stabeck)
Nelson, who were among the most substantial
and honored old families of the Northland. In
1842 they sold their farm and made the long
journey of that day to the New World, bring-
mg their family. The father died while cross-
ing Lake Michigan. At Milwaukee they were
met by Mrs. Nelson's brother, Clement Sta-
beck, who had settled in Illinois in 1839 ^"'^
by teams they proceeded to Rock Run, Step-
henson county, Illinois. Mrs. Nelson still had
sufficient funds to purchase a good farm near
what is now the town of Davis, and there she
resided until her death in 1883 at the -age of
eighty-three years. She was a woman of
strong character, high ideals, and great moral
worth, her amiable disposition and strong re-
ligious convictions endeared her greatly to her
large circle of friends. Her teachings left their
deep imprint on Mr. Nelson, who grew to re-
spect, honor and regard them as his guilding
star tlirough life.

Mr. Nelson is now the only survivor of the
family. He grew to manhood on the farm and
attended the common schools, but they were
limited in those days and most of his educa-
tion was obtained by self-study at night after
a hard day's work and by experience when in
contact with the problems of the business
world. When nineteen years of age he and

jiis half-brother, Thurston Kiuidson, joined a
company starting for the gold fields of Cali-
fornia. Outfitting with ox-teams and wagons
ihey left April 25, 1852, crossing the Alissouri
river at Council Bluffs and on up the Platte
river, then a wilderness with herds of buffalo
and roving bands of Indians. They crossed
the summit of the Rockies at South Pass and
followed the old Oregon trail to Bear river,
vvhere they crossed to the Humboldt, which
they followed until arriving at the Upper
Humboldt Meadows, vv-hen they came by the
Lassen route to Shasta count}', California, aft-
er a six months" trip. There they engaged in
placer mining lor about lour years on Clear
Creek, meeting v.dth considerable success,
and as they made money they sent it to Illi-
nois and purcliased land. Concluding to return
east they left San Francisco on the steamer
Cortez, April, 1836, to go via the Nicaragua
'oute, but on account of the Walker insurrec-
tion the steamer went on to Panama, landing
them just before the Panama riots of April 15,
1856, and history gives credit to the valor and
courage of the passengers of the Cortez (re-
turning California miners) for saving the day
for the Americans against the greasers. Dur-
ing the rict ]\Ir. Nelson was robbed of gold
dust to the amount of $1,500, but under the
circumstances was fortunate to escape with his
life which had also been attempted. From
Aspinwall they took a mail boat to Havana,
Ihenceito Ne^v York City, and returned to Il-
linois. There he engaged in farming until 1861,
when he again returned to California via Pana-
ma. He followed mining at the Orofino mines,
next in Josephine county. Ore., where he re-
mained until 1862, when he made his way to the
Caribou mine on Williams Creek, B. C, where
he mined until fall : tlien he went to the Boise
mines, in Idaho, via San Francisco. The fall
found him in Astoria, Ore., where he remained
until the spring of 1865, when he returned to
Illinois via the Panama route. He located on
his farm adjoining Davis and engaged in the
pursuit of agriculture for eight years. But the
Pacific coast had such attractions for him that
he could not content himself. During his min-
ing experience he had met and formed the
friendship of A. E. Hortcn, the founder of San
Diego, and in May, 1873, he sold his farm and
removed to the southland. He embarked in
business in San Diego with the prospect that
Thomas Scott Avould build the I'exas Pacific
R. R.. but when the financial crash came Scott
failed in business and San Diego suffered ac-
cordingly. He then located on a homestead
in Pow-ay and there began improving a farm
and building a liouse in what was then prac-
tically a wilderness. He has met with sue-

1358

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

cess as a farmer and horticulturist and now
owns four hundred and tliirty acres of land
devoted to raising grain and cattle ; has a
vineyard of thirty-five acres raising both table
and raisen grapes and also an orchard of eight
acres. He has also installed a pumping plant
for irrigating a small aiea.

At Davis, III, jNIr. Nelson was married Oc-
tober 25, 1865, to Miss Helene Joranleid, who
was born near Christiania, Norway, the daugh-
ter of Hans and Ingeborg (Bratlien) Joran-
leid, who were very substantial and extensive
farmers. Mrs. Nelson came to America in
1856 and has been truly a helpmate to her
husband. She is a woman of much native
ability and is greatly appreciated by her many
friends, who esteem her for her excellent quali-
ties. They are the parents of four children,
three of wdiom are living, namely: Henry Os-
car, a farmer and horticulturist in Poway, Gal. ;
Albert I., assists his father in the management
of the home ranch ; Ida Glarisse, wife of Will-
iam L. Stone, proprietor of the Jersey Dairy
in San Diego ; and Nels who died in his teens.

Mr. and Mrs. Nelson adhere to the teachings
of the Lutheran Church and are strong advo-
cates of temperance. Mr. Nelson is a very
public-spirited and enterprising man and has
ever been active in the upbuilding of his com-
munity. The schools have always received
his hearty support and co-operation. For
many years he was a member of the byard of
school trustees, a part of the time acting as
clerk. Other enterprises that have been start-
ed from time to time have always received
his liberal support and aid.

H. P. SGHOFIELD. Several successive
generations of the Schofield family have made
their homes in the LTnited States, the first of
the name in this countr}^ having been Arthur
-Schofield, a native of Schofield, England, and
by occupation a manufacturer of broadcloth.
On coming to America he embarked in busi-
ness at Pittsfield, I\Tass., where he made the
first yard of broadcloth e\'er manufactured in
the United States. At the time of his death
he had rounded out a full centun,' of useful-
ness and activity. Next in line of descent was
Arthur, Jr., Avho learned the trade of carriage-
making and followed the occupation with con-
siderable success in South Egremont, Mass.,
remaining a resident and business man of that
city until his death at sixty-eight years.

Although his early years were passed in
Massachusetts, famed for the high character
of its literary institutions and the wide scope
of its educational opportunities, it was not pos-
sible for H. P. Schofield to attend school ow-

ing to conditions over which he had no control.
Horn in Sheffield, Mass., the son of Arthur,
Jr., he was only eight years of age when he
ran away from home and from that time on-
ward he was self-supporting. The success
which he later achieved was not the result of
educational privileges or the help of others, but
came as the result of his unaided exertions in
the field of business enterprise. The world
was his school-room and experience his teach-
er, and who shall say that he failed to learn
his lessons under the rigid discipline of his
stern instructor? After having served a full
apprenticeship to the trade of carriage-maker
in Massachusetts, at the age of eighteen he en-
listed in the Union army for service during the
Civil war. As a member of Company K, Four-
teenth New York Infantry, enlisting at Hud-
son, N. Y., he accompanied his regiment to
the front, where he remained for two years.
He was then summoned to Washington, D. C,
where he served nearh^ one }-ear in the quar-
termaster's department.

At the expiration of the Civil war in 1865
Mr. Schofield went to Rochester, N. Y., and
opened a carriage-manufacturing plant, which
proved a success from the inauguration of the
enterprise. After ten profitable years in the
same location he went into the oil regions as
an operator and contractor and builder, be-
sides which he operated at Elmira, N. Y. The
next industry which engaged his attention
was in Chicago, where he manufactured ma-
•chinery under special patents. The plant on
Canal street gave employment to one hundred
and fifty workmen and produced machinery.'
for the filing of every variety of saw! from the
smallest hand saw to the largest circular kind.
By this process the work of filing, previously
done by hand, was entirely revolutionized and
simplified. From a small beginning the bus-
iness grew, vvithout the aid of any traveling
men whatever, until orders were received
from every part of the United States and
eventually from every portion of the civilized
world.

After a remarkably successful business ca-
reer as a manufacturer of his inventions and
patents l\Tr. Schofield eventually disposed of
his interest in the factory to his partner, L. L.
Filstrup. Being thtis released from business
cares, he was able to seek the delights of a
genial climate and thereupon came to Southern
California, where he built his beautiful home,
Walholla, at Ocean Park. Though his busi-
ness life was one of great responsibilities and
his labors often kept him at his desk from dawn
until midnight, yet he retains to a large degree
the robustness of youth. In a large measure
this is due to his temperament and fine poise

HTSTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1359

of mind. Business cares were left behind when
the office door was closed. Anxious moments
he had, as do all who control great enterprises,
yet he never allowed himself to be worried or
irritated by his anxieties, and thus has re-
tained his physical and mental strength and
alertness. In fraternal matters he affiliated
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and Benevolent Protective Order of Elks while
living in Chicago. While living in Rochester,
N. Y., just after the close of the Civil war. he
married Mary A. Darling-, who died in New
York, and later he married Margaret Buttrey,
who was born in London, Canada, and was
making her home at Galesburg, this state, at
the time of their union.

FRANCIS PERRY SAPPINGTON, M. D.
The family with which Dr. Sappington, of El
Monte, is connected is one of the oldest and most
prominent of St. Louis, Mo., the town of Sap-
pington, in St. Louis county, being his birth-
place. His father, T. J., was born there, while
his grandfather, John, belonged to an old family
of Kentucky and in 1803 settled in St. Louis,
which was then a part of the Louisiana territory.
He inherited the patriotic spirit which induced
him to serve in the war of 1812, an ancestor,
John Sappington, of Maryland, having served
throughout the Revolutionary war, after which
he removed to Kentucky and became a planter,
serving in the state legislature and becoming rec-
ognized as one of the strong upbuilding factors
of the section. He had seventeen children, all
of whom he sent to Missouri to buy land nine
miles from St. Louis and agreed to come himself
as soon as Jefferson purchased the territory. John
Sappington, Jr., became the owner of three
thousand acres of land and received a medal
from the Missouri legislature for having the
model farm of the state. In the war of 18 12 he
was the first man to plunge into the Mississippi
river and swim across to join Governor Edwards,
of Illinois, for service. T. J. Sappington became
a farmer in Missouri, where his death occurred
at an advanced age. He was a friend of Gen-
eral Grant and helped him build his loghouse at
what was known as Hardscrabble. He married
Julia Leffingwell, a native of Beloit, Wis., and
daughter of William Leffingwell, of Salem,
Mass., and a descendant of Alayflower ancestry
and Revolutionary sires. He himself served
with Perry in the war of 1812 as a musician.
The mother still survives and makes her home in
Sappington, Mo.

The oldest in a family of four children, all of
whom are living, Francis Perry Sappington was
born in the town of Sappington, September 8,
1871. He was brought up on his father's farm

and educated primarily in the public schools and
Kirkwood Military Academy under Professor
Haight. He then entered the medical depart-
ment of Washington University, from which in-
stitution he was graduated in 1893 ^^''^h the de-
gree of M. D. Locating in Sappington, he prac-
ticed medicine there for nine years. In No-
vember, 1902, he came to California and in Whit-
tier engaged in the lumber business in partner-
ship with A. G. Oabaugh, the firm name being
Clabaugli & Sappington. Six months later he
sold out his interest in this enterprise and re-
turned to Missouri, where he settled up his busi-
ness and in January, 1904, once more located in
the Pacific state. In El Monte he purchased a
fifteen-acre ranch on Tyler street, erected a
handsome residence, and at the same time es-
tablished a lumber business and the first lumber
yard in the town. He now owns an acre on the
railroad, where he has put up sheds, etc., and is
carrying on an extensive and constantly increas-
ing business.

In St. Louis, i\Io., Dr. Sappington married
I\Iiss Fannie Walls, a native of that city and a
daughter of William C. Walls, a broker. They
have three children, Thomas Jeiiferson, and twin
daughters, Mildred Halpain and Joyce Harbison.
Fraternally the doctor was made a Mason in
Whittier Lodge No. 323 and now belongs to Lex-
ington Lodge No. 104, of El IMonte. He is also
identified with the Independent Order of For-
esters and Modern Woodmen of America. In
religion he is a member of the Episcopal Church,
and politically is a Democrat.

GEORGE ELLIOT. An instance of a man
who has gone out to meet opportunity, who has
had the alertness to grasp it and the ability to
develop it, is found in George Elliot, a rancher
engaged in strenuously promoting the grain and
bean industry in the neighborhood of Santa
Maria. Mr. Elliott possesses the steadfastness
of purpose and perseverance of the Scotchman,
and that determination which minimizes obstacles
and rises upon defeat. He was born near Edin-
burg, Scotland, October 11. 1850, the son of
Francis and Jane (Douglas) Elliot, who, in
1862, brought their family to America and set-
tled on a farm in Delaware county, N. Y. The
elder Elliot was an experienced dairyman, and
he continued to follow this occupation until a
few years before his death, at the age of eighty
years. His wife died in 1877, at the age of forty-
four. She was the mother of eight children, of
whom one daughter died at the age of thirty-
seven years, and of whom three sons live in Cal-
ifornia.

George Elliot was twelve years old when his
youthful activities were shifted from Scotland to

VMO

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Delaware county, N. Y. There he learned all
about dairying from his father, and at irregular
intervals attended the public schools. In 1873 he
came to California to seek the rewards of an in-
dependent life, settling in San Jose, where he
found employment for a couple of years. In 1875
he came to the Santa i\Iaria valle_v, rented a
ranch for two years, and then engaged in the
stock business in the mountains for four years.
For the following two jears he was emplo_\-ed on
a ranch in the valley, and in 1886 purchased the
farm of two hundred acres which formed the
nucleus of his present large property. From
general farming and stock-raising he eventually
changed to grain and beans, and these crops
proved so profitable that in 1903 he added two
hundred acres to his farm, the majority of it un-
der these two products. Excellent improvements
have resulted from his occupation of this large
estate, and all are of a practical and enduring na-
ture. The owner has studied well the economic
side of agriculture, and is quick to adopt the new
order of things.

The family of ]\Ir. Elliot consists of his wife,
formerly Ellen Bradley, a native of California,
and whom he married in 1886, and a son, Fran-
cis. His political affiliations are with the Repub-
lican party, and as its chosen representative he
has served as a member of the board of educa-
tion. Fraternally he is connected with the Santa
Alaria Lodge No. 340, F. & A. M., and the
Knights of Pythias. He finds a religious home
in the Presbyterian Church. The life and labor
of Mr. Elliot, as an expression of earnest and
praiseworthy resolve, is entitled to enrollment
among those adopted sons of the state who are
adding to its material, intellectual and moral
wealth.

SAMUEL H. FLINT is one of the highly re-
spected pioneers of Ventura county who has been
very successful in his ranching projects. He was
born January 22, 1834, in Clinton county, N. Y.,
being a member of a family of ten children, nine
of whom grew to maturity, but only two are now
living: Samuel H. and John, the latter living in
Iowa. The father, Samuel Flint, was born in
New Hampshire, and the mother, who was Ann
Dominy before her marriage, was a native of
Long island, N. Y., and was married in Clinton
county. In 1835 the father went to Ohio with
his family and there he remained until his death,
at the age of fifty-five years. He was a Demo-
crat in politics and belonged to the Masonic fra-
ternity. The mother also died in Ohio, when
forty-five years old.

Samuel H. Flint was less than two years old
when his parents took him to Ohio and in that
state he received a part of his education in the ear-

ly subscription schools. From Ohio he went to La-
Salle county. 111., with an older brother and there
finished his schooling, after which he engaged in
farming. He later was the owner of a fine farm,
but he finally sold it and came to California in
1875. He went to Santa Barbara county, living
near what is now Montecito, where he remained
one year. He then came to the Santa Clara val-
ley of Southern California and bought his pres-
ent ranch, upon which he has resided ever since.
Besides the fifty-two acre ranch near Santa Paula
he also owns fifty-five acres near Saticoy, which
is devoted to farming purposes. The home ranch
is planted to corn and barley, and the fact that
Mr. Flint has always given his attention to farm-
ing and not divided it with other pursuits may be
one reason why he has met with the success that
has been his. Practically all the improvements on
his ranch are of his own making.

In 1857 Mr. Flint married Miss Eliza J. Sin-
clair, a native of Kentucky. Six children were
born to them, three of whom died in infancy, and
the three living are Henrj' A., Lizzie and Clara.
Politically Mr. Flint affiliates with the Demo-
cratic party on national issues, being a Cleveland
Democrat.

JACKSON FREER, son of William H. Freer,
who is represented elsewhere in this work, was
born April 6, 1870, in San Jose, Santa Clara
county, Cal. In 1875 he was brought to South-
ern California by his parents and was reared to
young manhood on the parental ranch, receiv-
ing his preliminar}' education in the public
schools and completing it in St. Vincent's Col-
lege. He remained at home with his father un-
til he was twenty-three years old. assisting in
the cultivation of the ranch, when, in 1893, he
located on his present property, of forty-six
acres, which he had purchased upon attaining
his majority. This he began to improve and
cultivate, installing a pumping plant, building
a house and barn, and setting the land to walnuts,
the grove nov.- being pronounced one of the finest
in this district.

In El Monte Mr. Freer married Miss Eliza
Jane Schmidt, a native of El Monte, whose
father, Henry Schmidt, was born in Lorraine,
France. October 15, 1842. Her grandfather,
Henry Schmidt, was born in Bordeaux. France,
and was superintendent of the Count of Ham-
burg's dominion in Lorraine until his death in
1866. His wife, ^Margaret, also died in that
location. They were the parents of sixteen chil-
dren, of whom fifteen attained maturity. Henry
Schmidt was the ninth in order of birth ; in
boyhood he was apprenticed in Luxemburg to
learn the trade of blacksmith. After completing
his apprenticeship he traveled throughout France,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1363

Belgium and Holland, and finally went to Poland,
returning thence to Paris in 1863 and making
that city his home for three years. In 1866 he
came to California via the Nicaragua route, and
from San Francisco went to San Jose, where
he worked at his trade for a time. He was next
located in Marysville, then \"irginia City, Nev. ;
then to Winnemucca, same state ; thence went
to Silver City and Boise City, Idaho; and from
the last-named place overland to Alaska. Forced
back by the snow he returned south and located
for a time in Salt Lake City, thence went to
Wliite Pine, then Lincoln county, Nev., and in
1869 came to El Monte, Cal., where he estab-
lished a blacksmith shop and has ever since
followed his trade. He married in El Monte
Eliza Slack, a native of Cole Creek, Utah, and
a daughter of William Slack, mentioned at
length in the sketch of his son, George Slack,
found elsewhere in this volume. They had the
following children : Eliza Jane, wife of Jackson
Freer ; Victoria, wife of Thomas Freer ; Frank.
a butcher located in Arizona ; Maggie, wife of
William Chambers, D. D. S., of Los Angeles;
and Camilla, who became the wife of Herman
Piatt, and whose death occurred in Los Angeles.
Mr. and Mrs. Freer had three children, only
one surviving, Delma. ATr. Freer is a member
of the Ancient Oder of United Workmen, while
politically he is a stanch Democrat. He is a
charter member of the Mountain A'iew Walnut
Growers' Association.

JOHN CROSBY OLMSTED is remem-
bered in Southern California as one of the
noblest pioneers whose aims and purposes
were always for the upbuilding of his adopted
state, the development of its resources, the
promotion of great public enterprises, rather
than for personal gain, while his hand was
ever held out to assist those less fortunate
than himself, his death in 1891 removing from
the community a man. citizen and friend whose
place could never be filled. His sterling traits
of character were an inheritance from an old
New York family, members of which had been
prominent in public affairs for generations.
His father, John Olmsted, was president of the
First National Bank of Yonkers, to which
place he had removed from New York City,
where John Crosby Olmsted was born, the
oldest son of his parents. He was reared in
Yonkers, receiving his preliminary education
in its public schools, after which he graduated
from Williams College, then he went south and
engaged as a tutor for a short time. The west
held out great attractions to a young man of
energy and ambition and accordingly in 1864
he turned his face toward California, making

the journey to San Franicsco via the Isthmus
of Panama and upon his arrival engaging with
A. Rowan, the most extensive book and sta-
tionery dealer in that city. His education and
scholarly tendencies made of Mr. Olmsted a
very successful man in this line, and it was
not much later that he became a partner in a
similar business with a Mr. Cohn, the firm
name being known as Olmsted & Cohn, lo-
cated on Kearney street. In 1877 he disposed
of his business interests in San Francisco and
cam« to Los Angeles, where under the firm
name of Olmsted & W^ales he conducted a
book and stationery business on First street
between Main and Spring streets, and later
was located on South Main street. Some time
after this his partnership was dissolved and
alone he established a similar enterprise on
South Spring street, where he remained oc-
cupied until his death, which occurred Jan-
uary 6. 1891. He had been active in religious
work ever since his location in Los Angeles,
being a member of the Third Presbyterian
Church in which he officiated as elder many
years. Politically he was an ardent Republi-
can and gave his support to the advancement
of these principles, although locally no man
could be counted upon more to further public
welfare, regardless of party affiliations.

Mr. Olmsted was married in San Francisco
June 17, 1868, to Miss Millicent Marshall
Hickcox. a native of Cleveland. Ohio. She
boasts an ancestry which has given to her
some of the best blood of the eastern states,
^Massachusetts and Connecticut being the home
of the name originally, her paternal grand-
father. Benjamin, born in Durham county,
Conn., in 17,^6, having married Miss Hannah
Clark, of Norwich, Mass., whose direct ances-
tor was mate on the Mayflower in its memor-
able voyage. Benjamin Hickcox became a
pioneer of Oneida county, N. Y., and was
postmaster at Clinton, and there Edward Y.
Hickcox, the father of Mrs. Olmsted, was
born. He was a merchant in Bufifalo for many
years, later was located in Cleveland, Ohio,
in the management of a furniture business un-
der the firm name of Chas. & D. A. Shepard.
In 1863 he came to California via the Isthmus
of Panama in search of the health which the
state has since given to countless numbers of
the world's seekers. He lived but three years,
dying in !^an Jose in 1866. He was survived
by his wife, formerly Sophia L. Scott, who
was born in Mayville, Chautauqua county, N.
Y., her mother being a member of the Holmes
family. Orsamus Flolmes, a great-uncle of
Mrs. Olmsted, was a soldier under Washing-
ton in the Revolutionary war. She afterward
made her home with her daughter in Los An-

i;^64

HISTORICAL AXl) BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

geles, where her death occurred in 1893, at
the age of eighty-five years. She was the
mother of the following children : Sophia, w-ife
oi Judge James Gary, who came to California
in 1852. She died in San Francisco;
Edward, who came to California in 1853,
and engaged in mining, his death oc-
curring in Idaho in 1863; John S., of Wash-
ington, D. C, who served as superintendent of
the Senate folding room for over twenty years ;
Harriet, who died at the age of nine years;
Benjamin, who died in infancy; Seth H., of El
Monte; and Millicent M., Mrs. Olmsted, who
was horn January 18, 1844, in Cleveland, Ohio.
She was educated in the Cleveland semi-
nary and in 1863 accompanied her parents to
California, where in San Franicsco she was
married to Mr. Olmsted. In 1877 she came to
Los Angeles and after the death of her hus-
band she continued to make that city her home
for about ten years, when she came to El
3.Tonte and about a mile and a half north of
the town purchased the property where she
now resides. This consists of forty acres de-
voted to walnuts. She is also interested in
real estate in Los Angeles, with her brother
owning a building which was erected at Xo.
452-454 South Main street, also JLos Angeles
street property, as well as residence prop-
erty throughout the city. Mrs. Olmsted is a
member of the Central Presbyterian Church,
of Los Angeles. She is a woman of rare
worth of character, eager to give of the best
of her life to others, rather than to keep for
herself, glad of her ability to lessen some of
the trials and troubles of the world. Her
chief aim and ambition is the founding of a
hospital, and for this purpose she placdl in
the hands of Dr. Hugh Walker the power
to select a board of trustees for the erection
of such a building, but this has later devel-
oped into a Presbyterian Hospital. This is to
be conducted on humanitarian principles, and
will be the foundation of a substantial l^uild-
ing to be conducted as a Presbyterian Hos-
pital, constructed and suoported by dona-
tion and endowments of those who desire to
assist such a worthy enterprise. One of the
main objects which ]\Irs. Olmsted has in mind
is that this enterprise be not wdiolh- for physi-
cal needs, but will prove of untold benefit
spiritually, in her donation requesting that it
be conducted on spiritual grounds and that all
the nurses be Christian womeiv. This will at
its consummation be one of the noblest and
far-reaching influences in the upbuilding of
l^hysical and moral betterment, and will for-
ever perpetuate the name of its donor — rich in
the Higher things, broad in the truest con-

ception of Christianity, and gladly holding out
her influence to extend beyond "life's little
dav."

E. W. SELBACH is a successful business
man of El IMonte, Los Angeles county, where
he is conducting a fine meat market, modern
in all its appointments, a refrigerator of con-
siderable capacity, a three-horse power gaso-
line engine, all appurtenances for the manu-
facture of sausage, lard, etc., and since his es-
tablishment of this enterprise he has built up
a wide custom. Mr. Selbach is a native Cali-
fornian, born in Pleasanton February 7, 1871 ;
his father, A. Selbach, was born near Ham-
burg, Germany, became a butcher b}' trade,
and in the early "50s came around the Horn
to California, arriving in San Francisco and
starting a butcher business, owning two stalls
in the old California market for many years.
He established his home in Pleasanton. Lat-
er in life he went on the stock exchange and
lost the greater part of his accumulated fort-
une. He then returned to the butcher business
and worked for wages, first in San Felipe, then
in Lemoore, Kings county, in the latter place
establishing a market which he conducted for
fifteen years. His death occurred in that loca-
tion. Fraternally he was an Odd Fellow, and
politically cast his ballot for the Republican
party. His wife was formerly Pauline Bots-
ford, a native of ^Michigan and daughter of a
pioneer of California ; her death also occurred
in Lemoore.

From the age of six years E. W. Selbach
was reared in Lemoore and in that 'place re-
ceived his education through the medium of
the public schools. His business education
was obtained in the Chestnutwood Business
College, of Santa Cruz, through which he
worked his own way. He continued with his
father until attaining his majority, when in
1892 he came to Los Angeles and engaged in
the butclier business, which he had learned
from early boyhood. He was employed by
Vickrey & Hines until they went out of bus-
iness, when lie went to \\"ilmin,gton and con-
tinued for George Hines, and in time became
manager of the Wilmington department. LTp-
on the death of his father he resigned this
position to look after the interests of the es-
tate, which was finally sold and settled up,
when he returned to Los Angeles. He was
then identified Avith the business of John Brin-
er, of Pasadena, with whom he remained but
a short time, however, when he purchased a
ranch in the peet lands, consisting of forty
acres, which he improved for two years. Dis-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RI-XORlJ.

1.1(55

posing of this property at a good figure, he
then went to jNIonrovia, Cal., and engaged at
Iiis trade until 1900, when he located in EI
Alonte. He here established a meat market,
which has since grown to lucrative propor-
tions, a wide trade growing up throughout
the country, and an equipment modern and
up to date in every way following in order to
respond to the large demands made upon the
business.

Air. Selbacli lias built two residences here,
and has also improved a lot with a store build-
ing, which he still owns. He was married in
Los Angeles to Miss Mariette Teague, who
was born in Uniontown. Kans. He is one of
the original stockholders of the First National
Bank of El JMonte, and in other ways has tak-
en every interest in the upbuilding of the town.
Fraternally he is a member of the Modern
^^'oodmen of America, Ancient ( )rder of Ignit-
ed AVorkmen, and a charter member of the
Lemoore Parlor, X. S. G. \\\ Politically he is
a Republican.

CHARLES M. STONE. Not a few of the
men now prominent in commercial and financial
circles in Pomona are those whose initial train-
ing in these lines was obtained in the east. Such
is the record of Charles M. Stone, cashier of the
First National Bank of Pomona, the oldest and
most influential financial institution in the Po-
mona valley. Under its original charter, granted
in Alay, 1886, a flourishing, though conserva-
tive, business was carried on for twenty years,
when, in May. iyo6. a new charter was granted.
The bank is capitalized for $100,000, with sur-
plus and profits amounting to the same figure,
and has a record for reliability and conservatism
unequaled by any similar institution in Southern
California. The First National occupies its own
building, known as the First National Bank
block, and is the only bank in the city able to
make this boast. Besides doing a general bank-
ing business the bank has a fine equipment of
steel vaults, of the most modern construction,
where valuables of all kinds may be stored with
perfect safety.

The Stone family was represented in New
England by at least three generations, and the
grandfather, Micah Stone, founded a settlement
in Vermont which in his honor was named
Stoneville ; it is now a part of the town of Enos-
burg. There he reared his family and carried
on a manufacturing Inisiness throughout his
active years. Among his children was Micah
H., who was born and reared in Eno.sburg, Vt.
In his young manhood he was assistant postmas-
ter of the cit\- of Burlington, Vt.. and later es-
tablished himself there, in the scneral merchan-

dise business, making that his home throughout
the remainder of his life, although his death oc-
curred in Pomona, while visiting his son. His
marriage united him with Alary Converse Gil-
mour, who like himself was born in Vermont,
and was a daughter of Duncan Gilmour, who
was born in Scotland and became well known in
mercantile circles in Burlington. The mother
])assed away in Burlington in March, 1906, hav-
ing become the mother of six children, of whom
Charles AI. is next to the oldest and the only one
in California.

Born in Burlington, Vt., August 4, 1863,
Charles M. Stone was given good school advan-
tages and was a diligent student in the public
and high schools of his native city. A desire to
put his education to practical use, and at the
same time establish himself in the business
world, led him to accept the position of book-
keeper with a lumber firm. Later he secured a
position with the Alerchants National Bank of
Burlington, but after remaining with them for
a few months as assistant bookkeeper he re-
signed his position and came west, reaching Po-
mona in December, 1887. For two years there-
after he was with the Pomona Land and Water
Company as cashier, giving this up, however, to
accept the position of assistant cashier of the
People's Bank, an institution which was found-
ed as a state bank in 1887. l^pon the death of
J. H. Dole, the cashier. Air. Stone was elected
to that position, in T898, filling the same credit-
ablv until the People's Bank was consolidated
with the National Bank of Pomona in 1901. His
connection with the latter bank as cashier con-
tinued uninterruptedly until January of 1904.
when he resigned to accept the cashiership of the
First National Bank of Pomona, a position
which he still holds. His broad knowledge along
financial lines makes him a valuable assistant in
the management of the bank, to which is added
a charm of personality which makes friends with
all who are broue^ht in contact with him. .\s a
member of the Board of Trade of Pomona he
is actively interested in all measures that come
before that body which will enhance the welfare
of the community, in fact his support is gfiven
freely and unstintedly to all helpful and uplifting
undertakings. Besides holdiuD- the position of
cashier in the First National Bank he is treas-
urer of the Del Alonte Irrigating Company, and
has interests in other business enterprises in his
home city and surrounding country.

In Pomona, June i, 1895, Air. Stone was mar-
ried to Afiss Alabel Wilcox Ruffington, who was
born in Onawa, Towa, and three children have
been Ixirn to them. Edmund, George and Alarian.
The familv are communicants of the Pilo-rim
Congregational Church of Pomona, of which
Mr. Stone is treasurer. Fraternally he was

];!(iG

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

made a Mason in Pomona Lodge No. 246, F. &
A. AL, and at this writing" is filling the position
of treasurer of his lodge, likewise holding the
same position in the chapter and commandery,
in both of which he is a valued member. He is
also identified with Al Alalaikah Temple, A. A.
O. N. M. S., and with the Woodmen of the
World. Coming to Pomona at a time when it
was little more than a village Mr. Stone has seen
it rise and take rank as one of the prominent
cities of the Pacific coast, and in its transforma-
tion he has taken more than a passing interest,
for many helpful measures have originated and
been carried to completion through his personal
efforts.

AVILLIAM J. BUTLER. One of the old-
est settlers in San Diego county is William J.
Butler, who first crossed the plains to Califor-
nia in 1856, but did not become a permanent
resident of the state until 1876, some years
later settling in San Diego county and from
that time until the present identifying himself
with the upbuilding of this section. The But-
ler family is of English and Welsh descent,
and the early members who came to this coun-
try were pioneers in Virginia. The grand-
father, Joel Butler, was born in South Caro-
lina, early settled on a farm in Tennessee and
later removed to Kentucky, where he died.
The father, B. F. Butler, was a native of Lin-
coln, Tenn., and in 1840 removed to Spring-
field, Mo., where he conducted a carriage and
wagon shop. In 1856 he came to California
with his family, making the trip with ox
teams, and bringing a herd of cattle to the
new country, the journey from Springfield,
Mo., to Marysville, Cal.. requiring exactly five
months. In 1857 he located in Napa county,
where he purchased and improved a ranch
upon which he raised grain and stock. It was
later decided that this land belonged to one of
the Mexican grants and Mr. Butler was
obliged to vacate it. He then went to Salinas
and made that city his home until his death,
when sixty-two years of age. His wife, who
was before her marriage Harriet Shipp, was a
member of an old Virginia family and a native
of Lincoln, Tenn. She survived her husband
many years, and passed away January g, 1902,
having' attained the advanced age of eighty-
four years.

William J. Butler was a member of a family
of five children and is the only one now living.
His bii-th occurred Novemljer 18, 1842, in
Springfield, Mo., and on the trip across the
plains in 1856 he rode a mule and drove the
cattle. Four years later he resolved to return
to the east and in t8C>o left Napa, came down

through Southern California, taking the old
Butterfield stage route via Sherman to Spring-
field, Mo. After arriving there he entered
Carrollton College. In 1861, at 'the outbreak
of the Civil war, he enlisted in Campbell's
Battalion of Missouri State Guards, subse-
quently joined Cornell's Regiment, which lat-
er consolidated with the Second Regiment of
Alissouri Cavalr}' under Price, and served un-
til the close of the war. Going to New Or-
leans at the close of his military service he
was employed by a commission merchant for
a time, and afterwards carried on farming
near \A^arrensburg until 1876, when he re-
turned to California. Locating at Salinas he
entered the employ of Vanderhurst, Sanborn
& Co., a ■ hardware firm, as a boy having
learned the wheelwright's trade. He contin-
ued here until 1887, in which year he came to
San Diego and engaged in the real estate busi-
ness. Later he purchased ten acres of raw
land at La Mesa, which he improved and upon
which he engaged in raising berries. In addi-
tion to carr^'ing on this industry he also took
building contracts in San Diego county and
citv. In July, 1905, he sold the ranch and re-
moved to No. 3742 Third street. San Diego,
and is now devotmg his entire time to con-
tracting and building.

By his marriage in Johnson county. Mo.,
Air. Butler was united with Miss Lavinia Ir-
win, a native of that state, and of this union
six children were born, and all of those living
make their home in San Diego. Named in or-
der of their births the children are as follows:
Julia, now Mrs. A. P. Johnson, Jr. ; Hattie,
:\Irs. O. C. Crane; Alary, Mrs. Burt Watkins ;
Alartha, who died in San Diego; Thomas I., a
draughtsman; and Belle, deceased. Air. Butler
is a member of the Alethodist Episcopal
Church South, which he supports liberally
with both his means and personal service, be-
ing at the present time a member of the board
oftrustees. As a citizen he is active and pro-
gressive and is held in the highest esteem by
all who know him.

DAVID POWELL. For more than ten
years David Powell, now a successful real-
estate dealer of Long Beach, has been actively
identified with the "business interests of this
thriving city and aided in its upbuilding and
development. He was born Alay 27. 1861,
in Alichigan City. Ind., the son of William
and Jane (Crandall) Powell, the former a
native of Ontario, Canada, and the latter born
in Illinois, of an old New England family.
Her fath'T. David, was a farmer and trapper
of the tvpical pioneer frontier type, and his

^- ^'^^.^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1369

death occurred in Missouri. William Powell,
who was left an orphan when young, located
Avith his foster-parents in Michigan City,
where he cleared a farm for himself and lived
the remainder of his life. His wife still lives
in the old home.

The only son of a family of four children
David Powell spent his boyhood days on his
father's farm, was educated in the grammar
and high schools of ^Michigan City, and after
his graduation from the latter was occupied
for a time as a farmer and dairyman. Later
he conducted a men's furnishing establishment,
disposing of it, however, to deal in real estate,
a business which he followed until 1893. when
he came to Los Angeles as a merchant. One
year later, in 1894, he took up his residence
in Long Beach and conducted a grocery on
Pine street near Ocean avenue for over three
years. He then sold out and returned to In-
diana, where he still owned a farm of eighty
acres within the limits of Michigan City and
]5roceeded to plat it, forming two additions,
which he named Powell's and Powell's Gardena
additions. It took three years to finish the
work and dispose of the lots and after its
completion he returned to Long Beach. He
bought a berry ranch at .Signal Hill and for
three and one-half years engaged in horticult-
ural pursuits. In IQ06 he sold the ranch
and established himself in the real-estate busi-
ness again, buying and selling property for
himself and transacting a general business.

Mr. Powell was married in Michigan City
to Miss Grace Boothroyd, a native of that
city, and five children have been born to bless
the union ; Lee is paying teller in the Long
Beach National Bank : Ralph is a special officer
of Long Beach ; Harry is a barber here ; Guy
is employed in the Long Beach National Bank ;
and Mildred lives at home. Mr. Powell is a
stanch advocate of the principles embraced in
the platform of the Republican party, and both
for his personal worth and superior qualities
as a progressive and public-spirited citizen is
highlv esteemed and respected.

EXUPERE SENTOUS. A very ' success-
ful business man and one who enjoyed a
wide esteem throughout Southern California,
was Exupere Sentous. a member of one of the
families of this section whose best interests
have always been parallel with the upbuild-
ing and development of the general welfare.
He was a resident of this section just twenty-
five years, having emigrated from his native
land at the age of twenty-two years and made
this place his home until his death at the age

of fort}-seven. He was born in Haute-
Garonne, France, March 22 1859, ^ son of
Francisco and Marie (Fadeuill) Sentous, life-
long residents of that section, where the father
engaged as a prosperous farmer and stockman.
There were eight children born to his father
(who was married twice), and all are located
in California. The first to emigrate was John
Sentous in 1852; tlien Louis in 1855: \^incente
in 1S74, and finally, in 1881, Exupere Sentous
left his native land and coming to Los An-
Sfeles made this place his home the remainder
of his life.

In the common schools of France Exupere
.'^entous received his education, after which he
engaged with his father in stock-raising, in
which he learned much that proved of benefit
to him in .Southern California. Following his
brothers to the western world in 1881 he en-
tered into partnership with his two brothers.
Louis and Vincente, and for fifteen years the
firm of Sentous Brothers carried on business
on San Fernando street. At the ex-
piration of that period Louis Sentous retired
from the enterprise, and the two left removed
their business to the corner of Los Angeles
and Aliso streets and continued in partnership
for nine years.

Desiring at that time to give more of his
personal attention to his ranch at Lemon,
Exupere Sentous disposed of his business in-
terests and removed to the country in the fall
of 1903. He owned eighteen hundred ' acres
of land, of which nine hundred acres were
devoted to grain and the balance was a stock
range. Lie raised sheep, cattle and horses
and was one of the prominent farmers of
Southern California. Politically he was a Re-
publican and although never desirous of per-
sonal recognition gave his efforts toward the
advancement of the principles he endorsed.
In religion he was a member of the Catholic
Church. His death occurred June 10. 1906,
through a stroke of apoplexy.

December 4. 1894. in Los Angeles, Mr.
-Sentous was unitei! in marriage with Miss
Anna Goaillardeu, born in the Pyrenees,
France, a daughter of Francois and Marian
(Higetie) Goaillardeu, her father a farmer and
builder of that section, where they both died.
Thev had six children, two daughters and four
sons, of whom four are in America. Mrs.
Sentous was next to the oldest in the family
nnd came to California in 1891. She is the
mother of four children, namely: Zoe,
Alphonse. Francois and .Antoinette. She is a
member of the Catholic Church. Since her
husband's death she has removed to Los .An-
geles and now makes her home on Berendo
street.

137U

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ISAAC D. STOCKTOX. Among the active.
progressive and substantia! ranchers of Wmtura
county is Isaac D. Stockton, of ^Nloorpark, who
is carrying on general farming, including the
raising of beans and fruit, with excellent pe-
cuniary results. He possesses strong individual-
ity, a hearty and genial disposition, is patriotic
and public-spirited, and has an enviable reputa-
tion as a straightforward and upright man and
a loyal citizen. A son of Dr. I. D. Stockton, he
was born March ii, 1859, in Sonoma county,
coming from distinguished ancestr\-, teing a
cousin twice removed of General Stockton,
prominent in the early history of California,
while on the paternal side he also had eleven
great-great-uncles in the Revolutionary war.

Dr. I. D. Stockton was born, reared and ed-
ucated in Illinois, and there married Louisa M,
Spiller, a native of Tennessee. He subsequent-
ly removed to Kansas, where he was engaged in
the practice of medicine until 1856. Coming then
to Sonoma county, Cal., he continued his pro-
fessional labors, and was also engaged to some
extent in horticultural pursuits and in raising
grapes. Moving from there to Kern county in
1872, he took up a homestead claim of one hun-
dred and sixty acres, and there continued as a
physician and a farmer, building up a litcrative
professional practice and improving a good
property, which he called Lakeside ranch. He
was an able and successful ph}'sician, during his
fift}- years of active practice being well patron-
ized and traveling many miles through valleys
and over mountains. He attained the venerable
age of eighty-three years, dying in 1900. His
wife died in Los Angeles, Cal.. when fifty-six
years old, having borne him nineteen children,
fifteen reaching maturity and fourteen of whom
are still living. While in Illinois he served in
the Pdack Hawk war in 1832. He was a mem-
ber of the Christian Church, and was a member
of Santa Rosa Lodge, F. & A. ]\[., which he
served as worshipful master, and was an active
member of the Republican party.

Acquiring his education in Kern county,
where his father settled in 1872, Isaac D. Stock-
ton remained at home until about seventeen years
old, when he began life for himself. Going to
Montana, he was for a while employed in
freighting and blacksmithing. and then, after
living for a year in Los Angeles, he traveled on
horseback through Arizona, Idaho and Montana,
becoming thoroughlv familiar with that part of
the country. Locating in Ventura county in
1888, he farmed for two years in El Rio, and
then, in 1890, purchased one hundred acres of
his present home ranch. It now contains two
hundred and eiglity-three acres of rich and fer-
tile land, and in addition to its management he
has also leased one hundred and fift\' acres. He

makes a specialty of raising beans, having two
hundred acres, which yield on an average ten
sacks to the acre, besides which he raises consid-
erable hay. He also has a valuable apricot or-
chard of twenty acres.

April 17, 1886, Mr. Stockton married Ida B.
Duncan, a native of Kansas, and a daughter of
William Duncan, who removed from that state
to California, locating in ]\Iariposa county with
his family. He died there in 1903, when seven-
ty-three years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Stockton
became the parents of ten children, namely :
Nellie E., Isaac Denton, Jr,, Robert Ivan. Louis
M., William Allen, Mary Belle, and an infant,
N. Duncan : the others dying in early childhood.
Politically Mr. Stockton supports the principles
of the Republican part}', antl fraternally he be-
lons:s to \'entura Lodsre No. 201, I. O. O. F.

HAR\^EY E\'ANS. A pioneer settler of
\'entura county, Harvey Evans, of Oxnard, has
for many vears been actively identified with its
industrial interests, and is recognized as one of
its most intelligent and thorough-going farmers,
being the owner of as comfortable a homestead
as can be found in this locality. During his long
and busy career he has pursued the even tenor
of his way as an honest man and a good citizen,
advancing the interests of his community as he
has had opportunity, and is now reaping the re-
ward of his persistent toil and enjoying the con-
fidence and respect of his neighbors and friends.
A son of the late Thomas J. Evans, he ^vas
born ^larch 29, 1847. in Platte county, Mo.

Thomas J. Evans was a Kentuckian by birth
and breeding. After his marriage to Catherine
King, a Virginian, he went with his wife to Mis-
souri, migrating to that state at the time of
the Platte purchase, and there began the im-
provement of a farm from the forest-covered
land. In 1852 he crossed the plains with ox-
teams, taking his family to Linn county. Ore.,
where he took up six hundred and forty acres
of wild land and embarked in general farming.
Removing in 1858 to Jackson county. Ore., he
spent a Vear in that localitv, and the ensuing
ten vears was a resident of Sonoma coimty, Cal.
Coming to Ventura county in 1869, he located at
Saticoy, and was there engaged in tilling the
soil until his death, in 1887, at the age of four
score years. His good wife preceded him to
the better land, dying in 1886, at the age of sev-
enty-eight years.

Spending the days of his Ijoyhood and youth
in Oregon and in Sonoma countv, Cal.. Harvey
Evans completed his earlv education at the Santa
Rosa Academy. In 1867 he located in i\Ion-
terey, Cal.. where he followed farming for two
years. In 1869 he came with the family to \'en-

^ t^ dia^a^^

HISTORICAL .VXD BIOCiRAPHICAL RFX'ORD.

(3

tura county, and for a year assisted his father in
the management of the home farm at Saticoy.
Purchasing then the farm which he now owns
and occupies, he labored energetically, and in
his struggle with nature has been successful,
his eighty acres of land being well improved an(l
finely cultivated, yielding abundant crops of
beets, beans and loarle}-.

March 9, 1873, in Napa county, Cal., Mr.
Evans married Nancy Eliza Montgomery, a na-
tive of Oregon, and into their home three chil-
dren were born, namely : Frances Josephine,
wife of Archie Hart, of \'entura county ; Mrs.
Lillian V. Mitchell, of Los Angeles ; and Clar-
ence Harvey, who died, at the age of seven
weeks, in 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have also
an adopted son, Albert W., whom they love and
cherish as their own. Mrs. Evans is a member
of the Christian Oiurch, in which she is a faith-
ful worker. Mr. Evans has never cared for pub-
lic office, but has served as trustee of the Spring-
ville schools.

ALVIN B. HANCOCK. The name of Alvin
B. Hancock, deceased, is inseparably connected
with every detail of the development and up-
building of the community surrounding San
Bernardino, in which section he spent his life
from the age of four years. He was the son of
Joseph Hancock, who was born near Cleveland,
Ohio, in 1822, the latter's parents being Solomon
and Alta (Adams) Hancock, born in Massachu-
setts in 1793 and Vermont in 1795 respectively,
both being of English descent. The great-
grandfather was one of the signers of the De-
claration of Independence, and the great-
grandmother was a daughter of General Ward
of Revolutionar)' fame. Thomas Hancock, the
grandfather of Joseph, enlisted in the Revolu-
tionary army when but fourteen vears of age
and fought valiantly for the freedom of his
country.

When Joseph Hancock was ten years old his
father removed to Clay county. Mo., where he
lived three years and experienced many hard-
ships. Some of his neighbors were less fortu-
nate than he, however, and upon one occasion
the son gave his shoes to another boy who had
none. Four years later the family went to
Adams county, 111., and remained there for three
years, after which they resided a like period
in Hancock county, that state. In 1846 they
left Illinois and from that time until 1851 made
their home in Council Bluffs, Iowa. That year
they pushed on further west and became early
settlers of L^tah. The trip on this occasion was
fraught with many dangers and ]>rivations, and
in crossing the Missouri river they barely escancd
drowning. After stopping a short time in Salt

Lake City they finally resumed their journey
to California. During the early part of the
journey Mr. Hancock was very sick with chills
and fever, and while crossing the desert between
Salt Lake and Bitter Springs nearly perished
for want of water, the entire train being
almost without that precious commodity. Al-
though burning with a raging fever Mr. Han-
cock refused to drink, insisting upon saving the
scant supply for the children. A Mr. Thorn,
who with his family was a member of the train,
ran entirely out of water about this time, and
athough Airs. Hancock had but a scant pint left
she divided it with his children, who were crv-
ing pitifully from thirst. It is needless to say
diat the train was devoutly thankful when Bitter
Springs was reached. On this part of the trip
Mrs. Hancock had walked and driven the team.

The first piece of land which Mr. Hancock
purchased upon his arrival in San Bernardino
consisted of five acres, and he later added to this
holding fifty-six acres, upon which he built a
new house, thereafter the family homestead.
He had many interesting stories to tell bearing
on his life's exciting experiences, and possessed
numerous interesting relics of- bygone davs,
among them being a board which was used as
their table when crossing the plains, and a pow-
der horn used in the war of 1812 bv an ances-
tor who took part in that conflict.' The first
marriage of :\Ir. Hancock occurred in Hancock
county, III, and united him widi Miss Harriet
Brook, a daughter of Samuel Brook, of Pennsyl-
vania. Her death occurred in Council Bluffs,
Iowa. In 1848 he wedded Miss Nancy Bemis,
and of this union seven children were born :
Alvin B., who married Elizabeth Nish and is
now deceased ; Solomon, who married Eudora
Hammock; Elenora, the wife of George Miller:
Jerusha, wife of Charles Tyler: Lucina, wife
of George Lord, Jr. : Foster, who married Kate
Mapstead : and Joseph.

The birth of Alvin B. Hancock occurred Jan-
uary 13, 1850, near Council Bluff's, Iowa, and in
1854 he was brought by his parents to San Ber-
nardino county, where he received a common
school education. After the completion of his
studies [le ranched with his father on the home
place until he attained his majority, when he
began his independent business career. In 1882
he was married to Miss Elizabeth Nish, who was
born in San Bernardino. Her parents, William
and Isabelle (Henderson) Nish, were both na-
tives of Scotland and immigrated to this coun-
try when very young, living with their parents
in Iowa and Alissouri before their marriage,
which occurred in the former state. Airs. Han-
cock's father received a good education in Scot-
land, where he was engaged as a contract miner,
and her mother attended the public schools of

1374

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the United States. The)' came to San Bernardino
county in 1856 and hved there the remainder of
their lives, the father dying in 1872, at the age
of forty-two years, and the mother in 1890, at
fifty-five years. Mrs. Hancock became the moth-
er of seven children, namely; Robert, who
married Eula Hamilton, has one child and lives
in San Bernardino ; William, Lester, James,
Beauford, Earl and Clyde. Mrs. Hancock is the
owner of a fine ranch of sixty-acres, upon which
is grown grain and hay, which yield her a very
comfortable income. Mr. Hancock was a stanch
advocate of the principles of the Republican
party during his lifetime and fraternally was a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows at San Bernardino.

THOMAS H. SIMONTON. Among the
highly respected and esteemed citizens of Santa
jMonica is Thomas H. Simonton, who by his in-
dustry, thrift and business ability, has acquired
enough of this world's goods to enable him to
live retired from active life. A son of Hamil-
ton Simonton. he was born October 2, 1827, in
Frankstown, Pa. A native of Perry county, Pa.,
Hamilton Simonton spent the earlier part of his
life in that vicinity. Subsequently removing
with his family to Indiana, he carried on a large
business as a canal contractor until 1837, when
the state, from whom all contracts were let, sus-
pended payment, and he stopped work. The en-
suing three years he was employed as a miller.
The state then settling for fifty-five cents on a
dollar, he purchased five hundred and sixty
acres of land in Miami county. Embarking in
agricultural pursuits, he met with marked suc-
cess, continuing thus employed until his death,
in 1852. He was a member and an elder of the
Presbyterian Church, and a man of sterling char-
acter. His wife, whose maiden name was
Keziah Woodburn, was born in Perry county,
Pa., and died in 1895, aged eighty-two years.

The oldest of a family of eight children, Thom-
as H. Simonton attended first the public schools,
completing his early education at a private
school in Peru. Ind., and at the Gambia school
in Ohio. While in the latter institution, in 1850,
he had an attack of the California fever, and
after a short visit at home started for the gold
fields. Going to St. Joseph, Mo., he paid $200
to Jerome. Hanson & Smith, who conducted a
train of twenty- eight wagons across the plains.
The. train broke up at Salt Lake City, where Mr.
Simonton remained nineteen days. Continuing
then his journey, he and his comrades had a
fight with the Indians, but none of the party were
seriously injured. Arriving in Hangtown, now
Placerville, he mined successfully until stricken
with the cholera, with which he was sick the en-

tire winter. He was then engaged for some time
in mining along the Feather river, after which,
with three companions, he located twelve miles
west of Marysville, where he put up hay, haul-
ing it to the Marysville market. Subsequently
purchasing mule teams, he was engaged in
freighting to the mines northeast from Sacra-
mento, from 1851 until 1854, when he re-
turned east. For a short time thereafter he re-
mained on the old homestead, and then went to
Peru, Ind., where he speculated in grain, hogs
and produce for two years, carrying on a prof-
itable business. In 1859 he outfitted, and went
to Denver, Colo., and later to Redclifif, Eagle
county, where he engaged in farming, stock-
raising and mercantile pursuits, having two stores
in that place. In each of these vocations he met
with success, staying there until 1900. Coming
from there to California for the sake of his wife's
liealth as well as his own, they took up their
residence in Santa Monica, and are now respect-
ed citizens of this community-.

In Indiana, Mr. Simonton married Frances
M. Reed, a native of that state, and they became
the parents of five children, namely : Clara, at
home; George and Frank, merchants in Victor,
Colo. ; Jennie, wife of Newton Riley, of Victor,
Colo. ; and Fannie E., who died aged twenty-one
years. Politically Mr. Simonton is a steadfast
supporter of the Republican party.

OSCAR D. STEWART. Not far from Cama-
rillo, A'entura county, lies the ranch of ninety-
eight acres which has been the home of Mr.
Stewart for nearly forty years. Born at Battle
Creek, Calhoun county, JNIich., August 20, 1845,
he is a son of Enoch and Nancy A. (Oscar)
Stewart, both of whom claimed the Empire state
as their birthplace. Following the life to which
he had been reared the father immigrated to
Michigan at an early day in the history of that
commonwealth, and upon the farm which he es-
tablished there made his home for many years.
His later life, however, was spent under the
sunny skies of California, his death, February
I, 1896, closing a career of seventy-nine years
of usefulness. After the birth of their three
children the wife and mother was taken from
them. Oscar D. at the time being a verv small
child.

Calhoun county, Mich., was the scene of the
early life of Oscar D. Stewart, in fact he was
about twenty years old when he severed connec-
tions with his surroundings in that state and
struck out boldly for the west in 1864. After
remaining in California for one year a strong
desire to see his old home and kinsmen once
more caused him to return to Michigan, but
the following ^•ear found him readv to return to

7jr^%cr4\A^

^i^i^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1377

the west permanently. For about two years he
was located in the vicinity of Sacramento, but
in 1868 he came to Ventura county, and with
the exception of two years spent in Oregon he
has made his home in this county continuously.
For a few months he worked as a farm hand on
ranches in the county, but in the fall of the same
year located on the ranch which he now occu-
pies, which fell as an inheritance to his wife.
The greater part of the ranch is in beans, which
form his principal crop, and yield from twelve
to fifteen sacks to the acre.

A marriage ceremony performed on his ranch
in 1869 united the destinies of Oscar D. Stew-
art and Fredericka Lucy Sip, the latter a native
of Iowa. The home of Mr. and }ilrs. Stewart
was blessed and brightened by the birth of five
children, all of whom are now grown and es-
tablished in homes of their own with the excep-
tion of the youngest, who although married still
remains with his parents. George, born June
II, 1870, married Lilie Shields and resides in
Camarillo; Edward J., who was born Septem-
ber 24, 1871, chose for his wife Lucy Russell,
and he too lives in this vicinity ; Walter O., born
July 16, 1873, married Anna Sebastian, their
home being near Oxnard ; Clara A., born Feb-
ruary ig, 1875, is the wife of George Hughes;
and Arthur Clyde, born October 30, 1883, and
who married Catherine Schmitz, still makes his
home on the old homestead. During the long
period of his residence in this county Mr. Stew-
art has won and retained the respect of associ-
ates and has a large circle of friends among
the pioneers of this part of the state. His polit-
ical views coincide with the principles laid down
in the platform of the Democratic party, and its
candidates rarelv fail to receive his vote.

CAPT. WILLIAM EDWIN HOFMAN.
California is a favorite location for retired army
officers who seek a place of rest and comfort for
their declining years after a life of nomadism and
active campaigning. Capt. William Edwin Hot-
man, who spent more tlian twenty-five years of
his life in military service, has been living in
Elsinore since 1897 and has a nicely improved
home in this city. He was born on Christmas
Day, 1836, in Mansfield, Ohio, the son of Jacob
and Jane W. (Caruthers) Hofman, the father
being a native of the Shenandoah valley, Va..
and the mother of Mansfield, Ohio. On his
father's side Captain Hofman is descended from
German ancestors and from his mother he re-
ceived Scotch-Irish blood. The elder Hofman
was an early settler in Ohio and was occupied
as a jeweler in Mansfield until 1840, when he
removed to I\It. Carmel, 111., and from there to
Olney, where for twelve years he filled the office

of clerk of Richland county, after which he re-
tired. Both parents died in Olney. There were
six children in the family, three of whom are
now living. One son, John, who was a rail-
road man, was killed by accident in Kansas
City, while Rudolph, who served in the Civil
war in the same company and regiment as his
brother. Captain Hofman, was wounded at Big
Shanty, Ga., and died from the effects nine days
later.

The education of Captain Hofman was re-
ceived in the public schools of Illinois and when
a young man the congressman from their dis-
trict offered him a cadetship. His mother ob-
jected to his accepting it, however, and it was
then given to Wesley Merritt of Salem, 111., who
afterwards became major-general. He then
served a four-years' apprenticeship to the man-
ufacture of tin, copper and sheet iron, and in
1859 left Olney for Pike's Peak, traveling by
team from Leavenworth, Kans. Locating at
Central City he mined in Russell and California
gulches until 1861 when he returned to his home
in Illinois. In 1862, after the breakmg out of the
war, he assisted in raising Company B, Ninety-
eighth Illinois A-^olunteer Infantry, was mustered
in at Centralia on September 3, and was com-
missioned by Governor Yates as first lieutenant
of his company. After the battle of Stone river
the regiment was mounted the same as the
mounted cavalry and took part in the engagement
at Hoover's Gap and in the Tullahoma cam-
paign, which ended with the battle of Chicka-
mauga. Following this he took part in the
Georgia campaign until the capture of Atlanta.
He was in Girard's cavalry which was dismount-
ed in order to turn the horses over to Kilpat-
rick for use in Sherman's march to the sea, and
was then sent to Louisville, Ky., for new mounts
and outfits, when the regiment was sent in pur-
suit of Morgan. They did not meet him, how-
ever, and were ordered back to Georgia, Mississ-
ippi and Alabama. From then until the close
of the war he served under General Wilson, took
]">art in \\'ilson's raid and the capture of several
cities in the south, while a portion of his reg-
iment assisted in the taking of Jefferson Davis.
He had in the meantime been promoted and
commissioned as captain, and when mustered out
at Nashville, in August, 1865, he was the senior
captain of the regiment.

Returning home Captain Hofman began to
look about for a business opening. Following the
suggestion of his cousin. Col. Mc. E. Dye. he
decided instead to enter the regular service. Six
months after making his application he was com-
missioned as a first lieutenant. June 12. 1867,
and was later assigned to Company K, Thirty-
first Lnited States Infantry. Going to Ft. Tot-
ten. N. Dak., he was a participant in the Tur-

1378

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tie Mountain Indian troubles until iSCjiy, when
he was sent to Ft. Sully, S. Dak. About this
time the army was reduced in numbers but he
was retained and assigned by General Han-
cock to the Xinth Infantry as first lieutenant of
Company H, and sent to Ft. Russell, Wyom.
Later he went to Ft. Saunders and in 1873 escort-
ed the surveying part\- which ran the prelimi-
nary line for what is now the Northern Pacific
Railroad from the Missouri river to Yellowstone.
From there he was stationed at Ft. Omaha, Xeb.,
and subsequently sent to various points, includ-
ing Ft. McKinney, Wyom., Ft. Russell, and Ft.
Bridger, then was promoted to a captaincy and
returned to Ft. Russell to accompany an expe-
dition to Crisfield. Kans.. in 1885. In 1886 he
was sent to Ft. ^^'ing■ate. X'. !Mex., and was in
command of three companies from his regiment
in the Geronimo campaign until that warrior was
captured. L'pon his return to Ft. \\'ingate he
applied for sick leave in order to come to the
western coast, but when his application reached
General Howard he ordered Captain Hofman"s
company from Ft. Wingate to San Diego, Cal.
This was in 1887. and after remaining there for
six months Captain Hofman was retired in 1888
for disability. He remained in San Diego for
a time, then removed to Alurrietta, and in 1897
came to Elsinore.

Captain Hofman was married in Clay county,
III. to Miss Sarah Hance, and they became the
parents of one daughter. Alice, who is now the
wife of E. Michener of Elsinore. Captain Hof-
man is a member of the T. B. Stevens Post. G.
A. R., at Elsinore, of which he is past com-
mander, and politically affiliates with the Repub-
lican party. He served his city one year on the
board of trustees and in every way has proven
himself a valuable citizen, interested in every
cause tending toward the upbuilding of the coni-
munitv in which he resides.

GIDEOX ED\\"ARDS THURMOXD. A
fine type of the southern gentleman of that school
which is rapidly passing away is G. E. Thm--
mond, one of the best known and most highlv re-
spected citizens of Santa Barbara county. Both
his father, Thomas J- Thurmond, and his mother,
who was Sarah Franklin before her marriage,
were born in North Carolina. There were seven
children in the familv and two of the sons were
killed during the Civil war while doing active
military service in the Confederate cause. The
father died before the commencement of the war.
at the age of forty-five years, and his wife sur-
vived him but a short time, she also dying at the
same age. Thomas J- Thurmond was a memlier
of the ]\Iasonic fraternitv and during bis lifetime
occupied a prominent place as a leading and

highly respected citizen of his home community.

G. E. Thurmond was born in Hardeman coun-
t)-. Tenn., Xovember 27, 1843. His preliminary
education was received in the common schools,
after which college preparatory work was done
at Wilson Hall in Mississippi for entrance into
the University of North Carolina. When war
was declared between the north and south Mr.
Thurmond enlisted in Company B, Seventeenth
Regiment of Mississippi Infantry, and became a
member of the Featherstone Brigade. His gal-
lantry, bravery and worth as a soldier were rec-
ognized in his appointment to the position of
first lieutenant of Company B during the first two
years of his service, and during the last two years
of the war he filled the higher office of captain of
the same compan\-. With his regiment he took
part in the battles of Bull Run, Balls Bluff. Seven
Pines, and the seven days" engagements before
Richmond, and later in the Fredericksburg cam-
paign, and other minor engagements. At the close
of the war he returned to Tennessee and taught
school near Bolivar for two years, and after that
he removed to Texas and engaged in the mer-
chandising business for a like period. In ]\Iay,
1868, he decided to follow the then popular road
to the west, and reached San Jose, Cal.. as his
first stopping point. He remained there for a
short time only, however, before removing to the
Carpinteria valley, which has ever since been his
honie. l*"or a number of years he owned and
managed a store in Carpinteria, finallv disposing
of it to devote his time to the duties of the office
of county superintendent of schools of Santa Bar-
bara county, which office he held for nearly a
quarter of a century. At the time of assuming
the duties of this position in 1874 there were
eleven districts and fifteen teachers, and at the
end of twenty-five years there were fiftv-six dis-
tricts and one hundred and forty teachers. Mr.
Thurmond held the office longer than any other
incumbent of the same office in Southern Califor-
nia. WHien it is remembered that Santa Barbara
county is a strong Republican district and Mr.
Thurmond is an equally strong Democrat, the
long period during which the people continued
him in office is a flattering tribute to the personal
popularity and official efficiencv of the man. Aft-
er this long term of office holding j\Ir. Thurmond
retired to private life, feeling that he had given a
just share of his years of active work for the
good of the schools in his section — and no work
is of more importance and far-reaching influence.
He now resides on his ranch, which consists of
about thirty acres of land, a third of it being
planted to walnuts. He takes a deep interest in
matters of public import, and throughout the
county claims the admiration and respect of all
who appreciate what he has accomplished.

Fraternalh' ^Tr. Thurmond affiliates with sev-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1379

eral lodges, among them the Knights of i'ythias,
the Maccabees and Fraternal Brotherhood. He
is an adherent of the Episcopal faith and his wife
is a Presb\-terian. a liberal support being given
to all religious benevolences and charitable
causes in Carpinteria. The marriage of Mr.
Thurmond to Miss Ellen Dickinson of Glade
.Sjjring. \a., occurred November 23, 1870, and
four children have blessed the union : Hunter,
who has charge of the commercial department in
the O'xnard high school ; Gwyn, who married
Edith Shepard and has two children ; Mary, who
married lien llailard and is the mother of five
children: and Miklred, a student in Pomona col-
lege.

MILETUS HENRY SNOW. The prosperity
of any community depends upon its business
activity, and the enterprise manifest in commer-
cial circles is the foundation upon which is biiild-
ed the material welfare of town, state and nation.
The most important factors in public life at the
present day are therefore the men who are in
control of successful business interests, and such
a one is Mr. Snow, well known as the manager
of the Pomona Lumber Company, which has
one of the largest lumber yards in the Pomona
valley, and is located at No. 491 East Second
street.

A native of Kansas, Air. Snow was born in
Winfield, Cowlev county, the eldest of five sons
born to his parents, A. 15. and Marietta (Brown)
Snow, the former a native of Illinois. Before
leaving his native state the father had become
interested in the lumber business and upon his
removal to Kansas during his young manhood
he established himself in that Inisiness in Cow-
ley county. After continuing there for several
years he transferred his business to the adjoining
territory of Oklahoma, and still later removed
further south into Indian territory. The locality
in which he located was almost a wilderness as
compared with present activity, and" among those
who were instrumental in organizing the settle-
ment now known as Chickasha, none was more
active than A. B. Snow, for it was he who put
up the first building, it being portable and hauled
in with cattle : he also put in the first stock of
lumber. With his wife he is now living in
Long Beach, among whose citizens he is classed
as one of her active business men, for he is
still engaged in the lumber business.

Born in Winfield, Kans., October 9, 1877,
Miletus H. Snow attended school first in his na-
tive state and later in Oklahoma and Indian ter-
ritory. As far back as his memory can carry
him he recalls associations connected with hi.s
father's lumber yard, and in fact when he was
fourteen vears old he entered his father's em-

ploy. So thoroughly did he learn the details
of the business that he became an invaluable
assistant, the two working harmoniously to-
gether for a number of years in Chickasha, I. T.
In March, 1904, Mr. Snow came to California
and the following June located in Pomona. In
1904 his father and brother organized the Pomo-
na Lumber Company, Inc., of which A. B, Snow
is president, and Miletus H. Snow is manager.
Besides lumber of all kinds usual to an establish-
ment of this kind they carry a full line of shin-
gles, sash, doors, lath, lime and cement, and
under the capable management of the son a
flourishing business has grown up which dis-
tinguishes it as one of the thriving institutions of
tl-.e Pomona valley.

In Qiickasha, I. T., Miletus H. Snow was
married to Miss Nellie Ellis, a native of Texas,
and two children have come to add brightness
to their home life. Pearl and Gladys. Mr. and
Mrs. Snow are consistent members of the First
Presbyterian Church of Pomona and are active
in the various departments of benevolent work
carried on by the local church. While in Indian
territory Mr. Snow became identified with the
Odd Fellows organization, being initiated into
Chickasha Lodge, and since coming to Califor-
nia has transferred his membership to Pomona,
and he also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of
America. Politically he gives his support to
Republican principles, and is a member of the
Board of Trade.

EARLE CARR. The magnificent section of
countrv in Southern California has been devel-
oped and improved by some of the most stirring
and enterprising men of this day and age, no
part of the globe having been more quickly
transformed from its original wild condition into
a beautiful garden spot, rich with bloom and
harvests, than that portion of \'entura county
Iving in and around the town of Oxnard. One
of the leading spirits in this wonderful trans-
formation is Earle Carr, an active and progres-
sive agriculturist, and one of Oxnard's most in-
fluential citizens, occupying a position of promi-
nence in industrial, business and social circles.
A son of P. S. Carr, he was born December 24,
1878, in Kalamazoo county, Mich.

A native of Michigan, P. S. Carr was brought
up on a farm, and for many years was engaged
in agricultural pursuits in that, state. In 1888
with a view to bettering his financial condition,
he came to California, settling in \'entnra coun-
tv. where he has since been prosperously em-
ploved in his chosen calling. He is a man of
strict integrity, and is very prominent in Ma-
sonic circles, being a Scottish Rite and a York
Rite Mason, and belonging to ^'entura Com-

1380

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mandery, K. T. He married Mary Ann Earle,
who was born in England, and they became the
parents of three children, all of whom are liv-
ing.

Coming with his parents to Southern Cali-
fornia when ten years of age, Earle Carr was
educated principally in \'entura county, attend-
ing first the common schools, and afterwards the
Ventura Business College, ^^'hile Remaining at
home he assisted his father in the management
of his ranch, acquiring in the mean time valuable
agricultural knowledge. In 1896 he began the
battle of life for himself as a ranchman, and by
dint of perseverance, thrift and wise judgment
has succeeded almost beyond his most sanguine
expectations. In 1901 he took possession of his
present ranch of three hundred acres, and has
since placed all of the land under a high state
of cultivation, devoting twenty-five acres of it
to beets, and two hundred and seventy-five acres
to beans. Both are profitable crops to raise, the
latter yielding on an average nineteen sacks to
the acre. In the care of his farm, Mr. Carr
takes genuine pride and pleasure, sparing neither
time nor expense in his efforts to improve it,
his ranch in its appointments being one of the
best in the neighborhood.

In 1896 Mr. Carr married Winnifred Fair-
banks, who was born in Hueneme, Cal., a daugh-
ter of E. B. Fairbanks, for twenty-five years
foreman of the wharf. Three children have
blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Carr, namely :
Philetus Sprague, Robert and Earle Edward.
Politically Mr. Carr upholds the principles of
the Republican party by voice and vote. Fra-
ternallv he is a member of Oxnard Lodge No.
341, F. & A. M.; of Oxnard Chapter No. 86.
R. A. M.; of A'entura Commanderv No. 18, K.
T.; and of Al :\Ialaikah Temple, A." A. O. N. M.
S., of Los Angeles. He is highly esteemed in
Masonic circles, and is now serving as worship-
ful master of Oxnard Lodge.

NOAH R. SMITH, D. D. S. Prominent
among the leading professional members of the
industrial community of Santa Monica is Noah
R. Smith, D. D. S., who has a large and re-
munerative patronage, his natural talents and in-
dustry placing him among the most noted and
successful dentists of this part of the county. A
native of Missouri, he was bom in Pike county,
February 11, 1874.

Having completed his preliminary education
in the common schools of his native state, Noah
R. Smith was graduated from La Grange Col-
lege, in La Grange, Lewis county. Mo. He aft-
erwards went to Kansas City, Mo., there en-
tering the Western Dental College, from which
he was graduated with the class of 1896. Im-

mediately opening an ofiice in Howard county,
Mo., Dr. Smith remained there five years, being
successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen
profession. Desiring a complete change of clim-
ate, he came to Los Angeles county in 1901, lo-
cating as a dentist in Santa Monica, where he
has built up a splendid practice, his professional
knowledge and skill having won for him the con-
fidence and esteem of his numerous patrons.

In Howard county, Mo., Dr. Smith married
Roberta M. Todd, a native of that county, as
was her father, H. M. Todd. She came of pio-
neer ancestry, her grandfather, Joshua Todd,
having been a pioneer of Howard county, and
also being distinguished as having been the first
settler of Omaha, Neb., getting his grant from
the old Council Bluffs Ferry Company. The
doctor and Mrs. Smith have three children,
namely : Nelson R., John Robert, and an infant
unnamed. The doctor is domestic in his tastes
and practices, his home being far more to him
than any club, and is a valued member of the
Baptist Church.

THOMAS IMcCORMICK. One of the in-
dustrious and thoroughgoing ranchers of Ven-
tura county is Thomas [NlcCormick, whose well-
appointed and productive ranch is pleasantly and
conveniently located two miles from Camarillo.
Becoming a tiller of the soil from choice at an
early age, he has followed that vocation ever
since, and since locating on his present ranch
has made a specialty of raising beans and barley.

Of foreign birth and antecedents, Thomas Mc-
Cormick was born in County Longford, Ireland,
Julv 9, 1867, and is a son of James 'and Cath-
erine (McCormick) McCormick, both of whom
were also natives of the Emerald Isle. ]Mr. Mc-
Cormick has no personal recollections of his
father, for the latter died when he was an in-
fant. His mother, however, endeavored to sup-
ply the loss to her family by giving them the
care and protection of both parents, with the re-
sult that the children were trained to lives of use-
fulness and high ideals. The death of the mother
occurred in 1904, when she was about fifty-six
years of age. Prior to coming to the United
States in 1888 Thomas McCormick had taken
advantage of every opportunity offered in his
native countv for obtaining an education, and the
foundation there laid has been greatly added to
in the later years by intelligent reading and care-
ful observation. Landing in New York City, he
soon made his way across the continent, coming
at once to what is now Oxnard, Ventura county,
where for seven years he worked in the employ
of others, an experience which was of great ad-
vantage to' him, in that it gave him an excellent
opportunity to learn the methods of farming in

1

i

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1383

this country. Before becoming a land owner,
however, he tested his ability as a rancher by
starting out for himself on rented land, operating-
leased land from 1895 ""'^il 1902, in which latter
year he came to his present location. Besides
owning a tract of one hundred and twelve acres,
he leases one hundred acres of land adjoining, the
entire acreage under his control being devoted
to the raising of beans and barley exclusively.
The raising of beans constitutes his chief indus-
try, and in harvesting twenty-three sacks to the
acre he is exceeding by far the average yield for
that commodity.

October 27, 1901, Thomas McCormick and
Elizabeth McGrath were united in marriage, the
ceremony taking place in El Rio. The three
children born of their marriage are, Mary Jose-
phine Dolores, Thomas Hubert and James
Dominick. The family are adherents of the
Roman Catholic faith, and worship in the church
of that denomination at Oxnard. Politically Mr.
McCormick is a Republican, and the only fra-
ternal order with which he is connected is the
Knights of Columbus. Few citizens of the coun-
tv enjoy to a greater extent than does Mr. Mc-
Cormick the confidence and esteem of his fellow-
townsmen, nor are any more in touch with the
needs, aspirations and successes of the commun-
ity.

FORREST :^,1AKLEY ERSKINF. The suc-
cess which has accompanied the efforts of Air.
Erskine since his location in California has
been such as to place him among the repre-
sentative citizens of the vicinity of Bryn
Mawr, win him a competency, and establish
his fortunes on a firm basis. A native of
Stoughton, Mass., Forrest Manley Erskine was
born" February 4, 1850. a son of Robert, of
.\bingdon, that state, a shoemaker by trade,
and who lived to the age of eighty-one years.
His mother, in maidenhood Joan Whitmash,
was born in Abingdon, Mass., where she also
passed away at the age of seventy-two years.
They were' the parents of eight children, of
whom seven are now living, a son, Frank, hav-
ing served in the Civil war in a Massachu-
setts regiment.

The fourth in his father's family, Forrest
Manley Erskine was reared in his native state
and educated in its public schools, after which
he learned the trade of shoemaker, engaging
first as heeler and then as heel trimmer on
the machine with various companies in
Stoughton and Brockton. He was employed
bv the Stacy Adams Company and made $100
per month as heel trimmer. He came to Cali-
fornia in October, tSqt, with $1,500, the en-
tire amount that he had been able to accumu-

late in the passing years, and secured a posi-
tion with Isam Mitchell, acting as foreman
on his ranch for ten years. Duripg this time
he had become interested in horticultural pur-
suits and had purchased ten acres of land and
set it out in navel oranges; three years later
he bought ten acres adjoining, and later bought
twenty acres of raw land, now owning twenty
acres in full bearing. He made all the im-
provements on the property and about five
years ago began to devote his entire time and
attention to his groves and now has one of the
finest properties of this section.

In Stoughton. Alass., Mr. Erskine was unit-
ed in marriage with Miss Alice Eldora Mad-
an, a native of that place, and they have one
child, Gladdys Wayne, now Mrs. \'. G. Klien-
berger, of Los .\ngeles. She was educated in
private schools. Politically Mr. Erskine is a
true blue Republican.

STEPHEN LEXTON. A central figure in
commercial and agricultural affairs in Long
Beach was the late Stephen Lenton, whose death
in 1905 removed from the community an enter-
prising and able citizen. He was a native of Eng-
land, his birth having occurred in the vicinity of
Birmingham in 1847. He there grew to man-
hood and after serving an apprenticeship in land-
scape gardening engaged in that business for
some rears. Deciding to locate in the LTnited
States 'he brought his wife, formerly Mary Fluck,
also a native of England, and their two children
across the Atlantic in the year 1873. and after lo-
cating in the state of Mississippi followed farm-
ing for a livelihood. Later he went to New Jer-
sey, where he engaged as a florist for seven years,
meeting with success in his efforts. His next
move found him a resident of Elgin, 111., where
the same business offered him opportunities for
advancement, and in that section he remained un-
til his final location in California. He first set-
tled in Piru, Ventura county, where he engaged
for a time on a ranch, in the nursery department,
after which he embarked in the nursery business,
following the same for the period of eight years.
During this time his wife died at the age of fiftv-
five years. Coming to Los Angeles in 1896. he
established a floral store and also raised many
varities of flowers and plants. In .\pril, 1899, ^i^
came to Long Beach and on the corner of Fourth
and Alamitos avenues conducted a nursery and
floral establishment. At the time of his death
there were four and a half acres in the home
place, which has since been subdivided.

In 1899 Mr. Lenton was united in marriage
with ]\Trs. Jennie (Braly) Hargrave. the widow
of Judge J." P. Hargrave. of Prescntt. Ariz., and
she now makes her home in Long Beach. By his

1384

HISTORICAL AXI) B10GRAPHIC.\L RECORD.

first marriage he had tlie following children :
Rose, widow of E. \'. Lawson, of Long Beach ;
Albert, also of Long Beach ; Ada, wife of A.
, Alartin of \'entura, Cal. ; Lavinia, a teacher ; and
Alice, a trained nurse.

Albert Lenton, the only son, was born in Eng-
land, May 6, 1872, and was brought to America
when only one year old. In the schools of New
Jersey and Illinois he received his scholastic
training, graduating in the Elgin schools. He
learned the trade of landscape gardener and
florist under the instruction of his father, with
whom he worked a considerable portion of his
time, remaining in Fullerton, Orange county,
Cal., where his father had located after leaving
Los Angeles, prior to his settlement in Long
Beach. Following his father to this city he en-
gaged as foreman in the ornamental department
of the Orange County Nursery in Fullerton,
during which time he was offered the position of
foreman of the University grounds in Berkeley,
Cal. After thirteen months in that location he
returned to Long Beach on account of his fath-
er's failing health, and here took up the duties
of his father's business. For about two years
he held the Fourth street nursery independently,
but since his father's" death he has removed to
Fullerton in the employ of the Orange County
Nurserv.

ARTHUR PINCKNEY NELSON, super-
visor of the Fifth Supervisoral district, is a well
known horticulturist and is superintendent of
the Whittier ranch at Redlands Junction, in
which work he has met with great success. Of
southern lineage, he was born in ^^'hite countw
Tenn., July 22, 1848, and was thus a lad of
nearly thirteen years at the time of the breaking-
out of the Civil war. His father. Jesse T.. was
born in A'irgiiiia and reared in North Carolina,
when he removed to Tennessee and engaged at
his trade of wagon and carriage maker, and also
was occupied in farming. At the breaking out
of the war the family was located in Spencer,
^'an Buren county, where Mr. Nelson was
prominent in public affairs, serving as justice of
the peace and in other positions of i'mportance,
his livelihood at that time being obtained as a
miller. Because of his avowed Union sympathies
he was constantly threatened by the Secession-
ists, and finally in 1863 he started his family for
Illinois by team, and with his son (who was then
reaching an age when he would be forced into
the Confederate army) traveled at night to Ken-
tucky, and thence to Illinois. Up to this time
they had acted in the interests of the famous
underground railway, Arthur P. Nelson assist-
ing as conductor in aiding the Union men to es-

cape from Tennessee to the Federal lines in
Kentucky, piloting them by night from his fath-
er's house over the mountains to their next place
of refuge. In Olney, Richland county, III, the
father located his family, and there engaged in
farming until his death, which occurred in 1866.
His wife, formerly Sarah liarckley. was born in
North Carolina and died in Illinois, leaving a
family of seven children.

The eldest in his father's family, Arthur
I'inckney Xel^nn, rccei\e(l his preliminary edu-
cation in the district schools of Tennessee and
also attended Llurrett College at Spencer one
term, when the war interrupted educational pur-
suits. In February, 1865, after his escape from
his native state, he enlisted in Company E, One
Hundred and Fifty-fifth Illinois Volunteer In-
fantry, was mustered in at Springfield and
served in Tennessee within sixty miles of his old
home. He was honorably discharged in August
of the same year and soon after his return home
his father died,' leaving him the head of the fam-
il}' at the age of seventeen years. He engaged
in the management of the home farm and until
1875 cared for his mother, brothers and sisters,
and then, having previously learned the trade
of carpenter, worked at this jjursuit for two
years. He then accejited a i"isition in the de-
]5artment of bridges. lniiMinL:s and water sup-
ply for the Ohio & AlisMssijipi Railroad, now
the Baltimore & ( )hio, and retained his connec-
tion with the road uiitil 1887. Coming to Cali-
fornia in this year he looked about in Riverside
and San Bernardino, and finally accepted em-
ployment as a carpenter on the Mound City
buildings. The bench at that time was covered
with sage-brush, where he shot jack rabbits and
quail. He worked in Southern California until
February of 1889, when hc'deciiled to go to San
Francisco, and from there continued to Portland,
where he followed the building business until
fall. He then returned to California and worked
at his trade in Berkeley until April, i8go, and
then came again to San Bernardino county, as
he had previously become interested in the nurs-
ery business in ^'lound City and felt it necessary
to return to attend to his interests. After locat-
ing here in 1890 he took charge of the work him-
self and in the fall of the year bought property
and continued the work, improving first four
acres and later adding fifteen acres, the latter
property still being in his possession and now
devoted' to oranges. In 1894 Mr. Whittier called
upon him to accept the management of his ranch
of one hundred and seventy acres, of which one
hundred and sixty-five acres are in oranges and
grape fruit, being set out by Mr. Nelson and
thoroughly improved by him, irrigated, etc., the
residence, barns, outbuildings, wells, pumping
plant, all being his own work. He has made a

HISTORICAL AXD BIOCIRAPHIC.VL RECORD.

13S5

success of his work and is one of the most suc-
cessful horticulturists of this section.

Mr. Nelson has been twice married, the first
ceremony being performed in Richland county,
111., and uniting him with Miss ^larv L. Bowen,
who was born in Ohio and died in Illinois. In
San Bernardino county he married Miss Lou
Perkins, a native of Michigan. Mr. Xelson was
made a ^lason in Olney, 111., and now belongs to
Redlands Lodge No. 300, F. & A. M. Political-
ly he is a stanch Republican, and in 1904 was
elected supervisor of the Fifth Supervisoral
district, and is now discharging the duties of that
position. For years he has served as a member
of the Republican Count\ Central Committee.
As a member of the Redlands Board of Trade he
is active in advancing the business interests of
this section.

JOSEPH E. WILSHIRE. The name which
heads this review is one well known in Southern
California and held in the highest esteem by
those whose pioneer efforts toward the devlop-
ment of the state left nothing to be desired in
the present generation but the same self-sacri-
ficing devotion to the cause of their forefathers.
Joseph E. Wilshire is a native of California. His
father, George T., was born in England and emi-
grated to America in }oung manhood. After
spending some time in Boston, Mass., he located
in the middle west, married in St. Louis, Mo.,
and from thence in 1855 he crossed the plains
to Salt Lake, where he followed farming for the
period of two years. In 1857 he came to San
Bernardino county by means of ox-teams, and
purchasing a farm on \\'orm creek, he there be-
gan its cultivation and impr(ivement. He re-
mained in that location for seventeen years, when
he went to the vicinity of what is now River-
side and engaged in the raising of alfalfa and
became a horticulturist. Locating at Oak Glen
in 1882, he bought a farm on the upper Yucaipe
and followed general farming and stock raising
for the period of two years, thence to Cuca-
monga, where he engaged as a horticultnrist,
finally retiring from active business and making
his home with his son for about twelve years, his
death occurring in Colton in September. 1905,
at the age of eighty-two years. His wife was
formerly Susan Edes, a native of Boston, whose
death occurred in Colton at the age of eighty
years. They were the parents of seven children,
of whom two are livine. the fourth in order of
birth being Joseph E. Wilshire.

Born in what is now Colton, .\])ril 12, 1858.
Joseph E. Wilshire was reared in San Bernardino
county and educated in its public schools, after
which, in line with his early training, he fol-
lowed farming with his father. His first inde-

pemlent venture was made at the age of eighteen
years when he went to Los .\ngeles coiuitv and
engaged in the stock business in Laguna canon
just below Newport, remaining in that location
for one year, when he went to Lake Elsinore and
there on unsurveyed land engaged in the cattle
business. One year later he retumcl to Jumpa,
the home of his parents, sold his cattle and went
to school for a time. His next employment was
with Judge Arthur Parks on his farm, after
which, in 1877, he located at Oak Glen and
bought a claim and engaged again in general
farming and stock-raising. He with others built
a ditch from the little San Gorgonia creek, from
which they obtained their water supply for irri-
gation ; he set out an apple orchard of thirty-five
acres, and seven acres of cherries, pears and
peaches, and devoted the remainder of the land
to the raising of cattle. He has si.x hundred
acres of land at an altitude of forty-five hundred
feet, with two and a half miles of stone and con-
crete flume to his orchard, where he raises the
finest apples in Southern California.

In the fall of 1906 he located in Redlands and
purchased a comfortable residence at No. 103
.Sonora street. Air. Wilshire has been twice mar-
ried, the first ceremony being performed in Yu-
caipe, when he was united with Miss Rosalia
Webster, a native of San Bernardino. She died
in Yucaipe leaving three children, namelv : AIar\-.
wife of George Parks, of Riverside : Eva, wife
of A. E. Carter, of Lodono Beach : and Earl, of
the United States army, serving in the Philip-
pines. His second marriage occurring in San
Bernardino, united him with Miss iMelissa Week,
a native of Missouri, and they are the parents of
the following named children : Ida. Clarenn',
Alice, Ruth, Emma. George and Susie. Mr.
Wilshire has taken a keen interest in all matters
nf public import and is especiallv active in edu-
cational affairs, having served as a member of
the school board of the Yucaipe district for the
period of ten vears. and officiated as clerk for the
greater part of that time. Fraternally he is iden-
tified with the Benevolent Protective Order nf
Elks : politicallx- he adheres to the ]5rinciples ad-
A'ocated in the platform of the Democratic part\'.

F. C. Rl'SaiNI. The successful manage-
n.ent of a dairy, stock and grain ranch nf twcn-
tv-four hundred acres demonstrates the posses-
sion of liroad agricultural knowledge, combined
with business and executive ability of a high or-
der. That these requirements are realized in
F. C. Rusconi, for the past three vears in charge
of the M. D. Tognazzini ranch, admits of no
doubt in the minds of tho.se familiar with ranch-
ing conditions in Santa Barbara county. Mr.
Rusconi augments the colony of capable -Swiss-

1386

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Americans who have brought to this state their
invakiable lessons in dairying, and who, more
than the representatives of any other immigrat-
ing nation, have behind them the example of gen-
erations of forefathers similarly employed.

Frank and Liberata (Prescom) Rusconi, par-
ents of the Santa Barbara county rancher, still
occupy the old home in Switzerland, where their
son was born February 20, 1870. The latter
left his mountain home at the age of twelve
years, a fact not surprising, since there were
fourteen children dependent upon the resources of
a comparatively small farm. Arriving at his in-
tended destination in California, the youth at
once entered upon his dairying career, finding
employment with a ranch owner near Napa,
Napa count}-, with whom he lived for several
years. His labor thenceforth was along dairy-
ing lines, and his experiences amply qualified
him for the responsible position he has held the
past three years. Of the seven hundred head
of cattle on the Tognozzini ranch, three hun-
dred and fifty are milch cows, and the chief
product is cream, although formerly the dairy
produced large quantities of butter. Thirteen
men are required the year round and additional
recruits during the harvesting of the twelve hun-
dred acres of grain. A new creamery has just
been completed, which, for completeness, sur-
passes anything of the kind hitherto found in the
county. All of the buildings of the ranch are
kept in excellent repair, and many of them are
of recent and costly construction. It is a prop-
erty which fulfills expectations, no matter how
ambitious, of those most interested in the growth
and reputation of the county, and that this is
so is in large measure due to the energ}-, re-
source and intelligence of its present manager.

In May, 1905, Mr. Rusconi married Josie
Tognazzini, who is distantly related to M. D.
Tognazzini, and who was born in Sidney, Aus-
tralia. I\Ir. Rusconi is a Republican in political
affiliation, and fraternally is connected with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Solano
county, and the Druids of Guadaloupe. He is
a man of strong character, fine education, and
pronounced views upon subjects which engage
popular attention. He is personally popular, and
has the faculty of infusing his subordinates with
that earnestness and enthusiasm which spells suc-
cess in all lines of human endeavor.

ERNEST RONSSE. Conspicuous among
the substantial citizens of San Diego county who
selected agriculture as their vocation in life, and
who, judging from all appearances, have realized
their most sanguine anticipations, is Ernest
Ronsse, a general farmer and stockman, residing
near Bonsall. His large, highly cultivated ranch

is well improved, the fine set of buildings which
he has erected being made more attractive by the
artistic arrangement of flowers around and near
them, while the practical work is greatly facili-
tated by the use of the most approved patterns of
modern machinery, the estate, with its appur-
tenances, being one of the most noteworthy in the
neighborhood. A son of Leonard Ronsse, he
was born, April 9, 1858, in France, not far from
the beautiful city of Paris.

Born and reared in Belgium, Leonard Ronsse
settled as a farmer in France when a young man,
and was thus engaged until 1871. Immigrating
to the United States that year, he taught for
three years in the agricultural college at Roches-
ter, N. Y. In 1889 he came to California, and
is now a resident of Watsonville. He is a man
of great worth, a stanch Democrat in politics,
and a member of the Catholic Church. His
marriage united him with Mary \'ackman, also
a native of Belgium, and of the four children
that blessed their union all are living.

After his graduation from the high school
Ernest Ronsse worked first in a factory in
France, and was subsequently for a short time
employed as a traveling salesman. In 1880 he
came to the United States, and after a brief stay
in Philadelphia joined his parents in Kansas,
settling near Topeka, where for five years he as-
sisted his father in farming. Embarking then in
agricultural pursuits on his own account, he car-
ried on general farming in Kansas until 1888,
when he came to the Pacific coast in search of a
favorable location. After visiting San Diego
and San Francisco, he returned to Kansas, but
not quite satisfied with his financial prospects
there, removed to Flagstafif, Ariz., where he was
engaged in the lumber business for eight years.
In the mean time, about 1892, he made a trig
to 'Southern California, and while in San Diego
county purchased his present ranch, lying near
Bonsall, and began its improvement by setting
out many trees. Taking up his residence on this
ranch in 1896, he has since managed it most suc-
cessfully, carrying on general farming and stock-
raising with profitable results. He has three
hundred and sixty-five acres of rich and fertile
land, and in its improvement takes genuine pride
and pleasure.

In 1884, in Kansas, Mr. Ronsse married Helen
A'erschalden, who was born in Belgium, and into
the pleasant household thus established eight
children have been born, namely : August : Hen-
ry ; Julius : Charles and Joseph, twins ; Mary and
Martha, twins : and Helen. In politics Mr.
Ronsse is an independent voter, reserving the
right to support the man whom he considers the
best qualified to serve the interests of the people,
and in religion both he and his wife are mem-
bers of the Mission Catholic Church.

fy^, l(f> , ic> ^Jo^^A^^K.

HISTORICAL AND BIOCiRAPHICAL RECORD.

1389

HENRY C. CARSON. Prominent among
the prosperous agriculturists and substantial
business men of Compton was tlie late Henry
C. Carson, whose success in life was largely
self-acquired. For many years he had been
actively identified with the industrial inter-
ests of this part of Los Angeles county, and
had taken an intelligent interest in all mat-
ters that concerned the welfare of the com-
munity at large. A son of John Carson, he
was born December 8, 1S35, in Jordan, N. Y.,
where he grew to man's estate. His father
was born in Salem, N. Y., and spent his life
in his native state. He married Sophia Cady,
and of the six children that blessed their
union all are deceased excepting Mrs. J. M.
Smith, of Santa Maria. Cal. On the maternal
side Mr. "Carson came from a family noted for
its longevity, his Grandmother Cady having
attained the remarkable age of one hundred
and three years.

After leaving the district school, Henry C.
Carson learned the harness-maker's trade,
serving an apprenticeship of five years. Start-
ing for himself in 1854, he migrated to Illi-
nois, locating in Freeport, where he was for
a time engaged in railroading. Going thence
to Savanna, III., he established himself in the
harness business, which he carried on success-
fully for six years. The following nine years
he was similarly employed in Winona, Minn.,
from there going to Alissouri and becoming a
resident of Hannibal. Not content with his
financial prospects in that region, he came to
California, arri^-ing in Compton July 26, 1872,
I'oining his brother George, with whom he was
for awhile engaged in general ranching, mak-
ing a specialty of raising sheep. Turning his
attention then to mercantile pursuits, he es-
tablished himself here as a butcher, and for
thirty years carried on a large and lucrative
meat business, running wagons all through
this section of country. About 1900 he re-
tired from this business, and until his death,
April 8, 1906, cievoted his attention and en-
ergies to the cart of his home ranch of twenty
acres. He was an extensive stock raiser, keep-
ing horses and cattle, and in his agricultural
operations was successful. A man of much
ability and practical judgment, he was ex-
ceedingly prosperous, and invested considera-
ble money in real estate, owning five ranches,
aggregating in all ninety-five acres of rich
and valuable land.

In Savanna, 111., in 1856, Mr. Carson mar-
ried Leonora E. Pien^e. a daughter of Aaron
Pierce, a pioneer of illinois, and one of the
original settlers of Savanna. Two children
blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Carson,
namelv: Harriet, who .vas born in Savanna,

111., and died in \Vinona, Minn.; and Frank
Henry, born in Winona, Mmn. ; during boy-
hood he came with his parents to Compton,
married Mae Palmer, and died here at the
early age of twenty-six years. Politically Air.
Carson was a straightforward Democrat.

HON. FRANK PIERCE JNIESERVE. The
advantages of foreign travel have been added to
education and culture received at home, which
have made of the Hon. Frank Pierce Meserve a
personality both pleasing and entertaining, and
his close observation and retentive memory have
combined to give him the best that could be ob-
tained through such intercourse with the world's
geography. He is now located in Redlands, one
of the most beautiful cities of Southern Califor-
nia, and here he has contributed of all of his gifts
to add to the growth and prosperity of the com-
munity, no movement calculated to advance the
general welfare lacking his support. Mr. Me-
serve comes of an old New England family whose
ancestry can be traced to the Isle of Jersey,
whence emigrating ancestors located the name on
American soil. Here they have been prominent
in public affairs, many serving as eminent jurists
of their day. In New Hampshire his paternal
grandfather served as colonel in the war of 1812 ;
in that state his father, Samuel, was born, reared
and educated, and there engaged as a brick and
stone mason until his death. By marriage he al-
lied his fortunes with those of another old New
Hampshire family, his wife being before marriage
Alary A. Hanson, a native of that state and
daughter of John Hanson. They were the par-
ents of six children, all of whom are now living.
Two sons served in Company A, First Regiment
New Hampshire Infantry, and one in the Con-
federate army.

The >-oungest in the family of his parents,
Frank Pierce Meserve was born in Rochester, N.
H., November 30, 1852, and there received his
preliminary education through the medium of the
public and private schools. He later became a
student in Lebanon Academy, in Maine, which he
attended to the age of nineteen years, and was
then apprenticed to learn the trade of tailor.* A
year later he purchased the business where he
was an apprentice, this being in Newport, and he
there continued his eft'orts for the period of thir-
teen years. In 1888 he disposed of this business
and in the same year brought a carload of mer-
chandise to California and in Redlands opened a
clothing business on Monday morning after his
arrival here Saturday. Ever since that date he
has conducted this enterprise here and has been
very successful in the work. In 1900 he incor-
porated the Meserve Gothing House, of which he
is acting as president, and they are now located at

1390

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

No. IO-I2 East State street, where they carry one
of the best Hnes in Redlands, and also conduct a
branch store at Beaumont. Mr. Meserve has tak-
en a prominent part in pubhc afifairs of Redlands
and is a prominent factor in many enterprises of
merit. He is now serving as treasin-er of the
Home Gas & Electric Company and for many
years was a director in the Redlands National
Bank. He was instnur.ental in the organization
of the Home Realty Company, in which corpora-
tion he is now serving as president, they owning
many valuable orange groves throughout this
section. He was one of the organizers of the Red-
lands Library Association, when it was a private
library and served for the period of three years as
a trustee. Three different times he has been a
member of the city council, and was a member
of the school board for three years ; he is now a
member of the Board of Trade and is director
and vice-president, and chairman of the member-
ship committee. It will thus be seen how active
has been his championship of matters of public
import. This impression of his loyalty and the
strength and power of his citizenship became so
generally a matter of public sentiment that in
1898 he was elected on the independent ticket to
the state legislature, serving his constituents in
the session of 1899, and again in the special ses-
sion of 1900. He has never disappointed those
who have put their trust in him, both as to his
fidelity and ability, and as such no man is held in
higher esteem in the city of Redlands than is he.
Mr. Meserve has been twice married, the first
union occurring in 1878 in New Hampshire, when
he married Minnie A. Harvey, who was born in
New Hampshire and died in Sacramento in
March, 1899, when her husband was attending the
legislature as a member. In Los Angeles on De-
cember 25. 1904, he married Helen Grossman, a
native of Pennsylvania and born of this union are
two children, Frank P. Jr., and Harold Arthur.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Meserve is promi-
nent, having been made a Mason in Mt. Vernon
Lodge No. 15, and was its youngest master; here
he assisted in the organization of Redlands
Lodge No. 300, and was its first master under the
dispensation ; having been raised to the degree of
Royal Arch in New Hampshire he assisted in the
organization of the Redlands Cbapter, of which
he was the first high priest ; he is also a member
of St. Bernard Commandery No. 23, K. T., of
San Bernardino ; Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O.
N. M. S., of Los Angeles; and also belongs to
the Scottish Rite bodies in Los Angeles. He is
also identified with the Order of Eastern Star, of
which he is past worthy patron and an honorary
member of the Daughters of Isis. He was like-
wise active in the Odd Fellows, having been made
a member of this organization in New Hampshire
and there officiated as past grand and is associated

with the Encampment, Canton and Rebekahs, in
all of which he is past officer, and is a director in
the Odd Fellows Hall Association, which he
helped to organize. He is a charter member of
the lodge of the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks in Redlands, and was its first exalted ruler,
and has been to four Grand Lodge sessions. He
is also identified with the Knights of Pythias, of
which he is past chancellor ; the Uniformed
Rank of the K. of P., of which he is past captain ;
the Rathbone Sisters; the D. O. K. K., of Los
Angeles ; and the Woodmen of the World, of
which he is a charter member here and its first
C. C. He belongs to the Royal Court and the
Fraternal Union. In religion he belongs to the
Unitarian Cburch, and officiates as a member of
its board of trustees.

The travels of Mr. Meserve have taken him
practically into every corner of the world, in
1904 taking a trip around the world which lasted
eighteen months, spending six weeks in India,
traveling seven hundred miles up the Nile, visit-
ing every country and famous city of Europe,
and in fact, leaving nothing unseen that he had
set out to see on his magnificent tour. Previous
to this he had visited in every state and territory
in the Union, had made several trips to Alaska
and to Honolulu, and is thus familiar with the
manners and customs of every civilized country
in the world. He is endowed with mental gifts
which have made his advantages of vast impor-
tance in his life; he retains a vivid impression of
countries he has visited, can give in detail their
manner of living, their habits and customs, and as
an entertaining companion has no superior in
Southern California or indeed in the state. He
has been broadened by his contact with the world
and brought into closer understanding and sym-
pathy with its problems; He is always liberal
and enterprising, holding out his hands to uphold
the efforts of those who seek to advance the ma-
terial prosperity of the place. He is justly named
among the representative citizens of Redlands.

REMIF CALLENS. Although a young man
who has been engaged in business for himself
but a few years Remie Callens has already at-
tained a success which gives him a position
among the most prominent ranchmen of Ven-
tura county. He was born in Menin, Belgium,
October 25, 1881, the son of August and Leona
(Martens) Callens. both of whom were born in
Belgium, the former in Mynde and the latter
at Besseghem. The elder Callens was engaged
as a farmer in his native land and when he im-
migrated to this country in 1888, settling in
Ventura county. Gal., near Hueneme, he spent
the two years preceding his death in the same
pursuits. Tbey were the parents of six chil-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1391

dren, two of the five sons now residing in
France and the remainder of the family Hving
in California.

Shortly after her husband's death Mrs. Cal-
lens purchased one hundred and sixty acres of
land in the Ocean View district and on this
ranch the son, Remie, was reared, and now lives.
His education was received for the most part
in the public schools of Ocean View and when
he came to choose a life work he naturally de-
cided upon that in which his father engaged and
in which he had received his training. He
helped his mother until reaching his majority,
when in 1902, he rented the place from her and
conducted it as an independent venture. This
proved very successful and in 1905 he took in
his brother, Rene, as a partner and they con-
tinued business as Callens Brothers, cultivating
in addition to the acreage in the home ranch a
tract of one hundred and sixty acres of rented
land. The lines which they follow are stock-
raising and the cultivation of grain crops, beans
and beets.

Remie Callens was married in Oxnard to Miss
Mary Callens, a native of Belgium, and they
are the parents of one child, Henry. He is a
member of the Knights of CoIumlDUs of Ox-
nard, and is a loyal adherent of the Democratic
party in politics. He is energetic and ambitious
and there is no doubt but that the future holds
still greater success for him than has the past.

WILLIAM THOMAS MORRIS. Remem-
bered throughout San Bernardino county as one
of its early and successful pioneer settlers, Will-
iam Thomas Morris was liorn in Lewis County,
Mo., March 8, 1838. His father, Robert Morris,
was born near Louisville, Ky., the descendant
of a prominent family of that state, and in young
manhood located in Lewis county. Mo., where
he engaged as a farmer and stockman' until his
death at the age of fifty-two years. His wife,
formerly Eliza Price, was born in Kentucky, a
member of the same family to which Gen.
Sterling Price belonged. She also died in Mis-
souri, leaving nine children, of whom four
daughters are now living. William T. Morris
received his education in the public school and
the Academy at St. Erancisville, Mo., after which
he engaged in teaching for a time, and finally
embarked in the mercantile business. He was
located in Monticello, Mo., where he attended
school for a time and from which point in 1859
he started to Pike's Peak, and thence returned
to Missouri. Of southern tendencies he served
for a time in a Missouri regiment in the Con-
federate amiy, participating in several important
engagements, among them the battle of Wilson's
creek. In 1863 he came to California, a member

of the same train in which his future wife travel-
ed with her parents. He engaged in mining in
Arizona, and later engaged in the raising of
grain and hay until 1866, after which he came
to California and in San Bernardino was married
August 14, and following this began horticult-
ural pursuits with his father-in-law on a tract
of two hundred and twenty acres, devoted to a
vineyard, orchard and the raising of alfalfa. In
1871 he disposed of his California interests and
returned to Lewis county. Mo., and there farmed
for a time and then engaged as a merchant in
the grocery and hardware business, being located
in Williamstown. Because of asthma Mr. Morris
returned to California in 1884 and purchased
the property owned by his widow, fifteen acres
located at the foot of the Terracina bluff, and
improved the place until his death, which oc-
curred in 1899, at the age of sixty-four years.
He was a member of the Christian Church and
an earnest and upright citizen. Fraternally he
was identified with the Masonic organization,
and politically was a Democrat.

The wife of Mr. Morris was in maidenhood
Miss Lucynthia McCoy, who was born in Osage,
now Maries county, Mo. Her father, David
McCoy, was born in North Carolina, where the
paternal grandfather, Hugh, located upon his
emigration from Scotland, having come to
America as a member of the British army and
was wounded in the engagement which was the
scene of Burgoyne's defeat. He was taken from
the battlefield to the house of John Franklin, and
was nursed by the family, a daughter, Jemima,
falling in love with him and marrying him. They
settled in Burke county, N. C, where Mr.
McCoy engaged as a farmer. Later he returned
to Scotland for some property and was lost at
sea. His wife and family eventually removed
to Kentucky, where David McCoy married, and
from that state went to Indiana and improved
a farm. Locating in Osage county, Mo., he
spent eighteen months, thence going to Iowa for
a time, and then returning to Missouri farmed
in Lewis county until 1863. In the last named
year he brought his family to California across
the plains with mule and horse teams, the jour-
ney made in less than four months to Marys-
ville. Yuba county. They remained in northern
California for three years, when they came to
San Bernardino and in Crafton Mr. AlcCoy pur-
chased a farm in conjimction with his son-in-law,
Mr. Morris, and together the two engaged in
its cultivation until 1871, when they both took
their families back to Missouri. After thirteen
years Mr. McCoy returned to California and
made his home with his daughter until his death
in 1895 at the remarkable age of one hundred
and four years and eleven months. He served in
the war of 1812 under General Harrison and was

1392

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

present at the battle of the Thames when
Tecumseh was killed. He was a Democrat
politically. He was a man of strong integrity
of character, of personal worth, and was justly
named among the respected and helpful citizens
of whatever community he made his home. His
wife was formerly Lucynthia Davis, a native of
Casey county, Ky., and a daughter of Robert
Davis, who died in that state. j\lrs. McCoy
died in Missouri at the age of eighty years. She
was the motlier of seven children, of whom six
attained maturity. Mrs. Morris was the young-
est and was educated in the public schools of
]\Iissouri, and three years after going to Califor-
nia was married and located at Crafton. Since
her husband's death she has sold a part of the
property, retaining nine acres, of which six are
in oranges. She has two children, Emma B.,
wife of Stephen Bedford, of Fort Worth, Tex.,
and Lucy M., wife of W. H. Bedford, of Los
Angeles. Mrs. Morris is a member of the
Qiristian Church.

JOHN J. STRATTON. Although Mr.
Stratton has been a resident of Pomona only
since June of 1905 his skill as a contractor
and builder in Los Angeles had given him a
wide reputation and paved the way to success
for him in his new location. In connection
with his building interests he also owns a five
acre orange grove on East Second street, which
is in fine bearing condition.

On both sides of the family yir. Stratton
comes of southern antecedents, his parents,
John and Sarah (Lansdowne) Stratton, both
claiming Kentucky as their birthplace. After
the close of the war, in 1865, the parents re-
moved to Muscatine county, Iowa, and it was
during the five years spent on a farm in that
locality that our subject was born. From
Iowa they removed to Jefiferson county, Kans.,
in 1870. and after about sixteen years of farm
life in that state the father sold out his hold-
ings and came to California. Here as in the
middle west he continued to follow agricultural
pursuits for a time near Los Angeles, but is
now living in Bonsall, San Diego county, own-
ing an interest in the Mount Fairview hotel.
Mrs. Stratton died in San Diego county in
1898.

Of the eight children born into the parental
family seven are living, John J. being next
to the youngest of the family. He was born
in Muscatine county. Iowa, December 23, 1866,
but as he was only about four years old at the
time his parents transferred their home into
the adjoining state of Kansas his earliest
recollections are of the latter state. His boy-
hood and youth were spent on the parental

farm in the vicinity of Williamstown, Jeffer-
son county, Kans., conning his lessons in the
schools of the latter city. When he was eight-
een years old he determined to carrj' out his
plans for future business life, having in the
mean time decided upon the carpenter's trade
as the most congenial, hence the most promis-
ing financially. Two of his older brothers,
W. A. and S. M. Stratton, had been established
in the west as builders and contractors for
some time, and hither he came in 1884 and
placed himself under them as a carpenter's
apprentice. Both of the brothers are now
well known in building circles in Los Angeles,
and for a time after completing his apprentice-
ship John J. also worked at his trade in that
metropoHs. In 1889 he located in Seattle,
Wash., and during the time he spent there
working at his trade the city was visited by
a destructive fire. Locating once more in Los
Angeles in 1S91, he resumed work at his trade
and continued to follow carpentering exclu-
sively for about six years, when, in 1897, he
branched out as a contractor and builder.
]\Iany of the finest residences, flat buildings
and blocks in that metropolis stand as an
evidence of his skill and ability, and among
the number we mention the Hinman, the Dono-
hue flats and the Fremont Avenue school. It
was with a record as a finished and successful
master of his calling that he came to Pomona
in June of 1905, and as his reputation had pre-
ceded him he found opportunities awaiting him
of which he had little dreamed.

The family residence on East Second and
Reservoir streets is the embodiment of Mr.
Stratton's artistic skill and practical workman-
ship, and is one of the most modern residences
in Pomona. The home is presided over by
his wife, who before her marriage was Miss
Kate Thomas and was born in Texas. Three
children have added sunshine and happiness to
their marriage and are receiving every ad-
vantage which it is in the power of their par-
ents to bestow. Named in order of birth they
are as follows; John J. Jr., Wesley Lincoln and
Leonard Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Stratton are
members of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church of Pomona, both being stanch sup-
porters of its various benevolent departments.
Mr. Stratton is an active worker in the Sunday-
school, being assistant superintendent, and he
is also a stanch Prohibitionist.

Jl^LES HUGUES. Since locating in Pomona
in igoi Mr. Hugues has made a specialty of
raising wine grapes, which he manufactures into
wine, his plant being located on South Garey
street between Crow avenue and Phillips road.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1395

Bom in Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France, April 20,
1875, he is a son of Van Zant Hugues, the latter
carrying on a farm in that country during his
entire life, both parents now being deceased. Of
the four children born to them one is deceased
and two are residents of California. As his
father was a farmer it was natural that Jules
should become familiar with the duties of the
home farm, and when his school days were
over to follow in his father's footsteps in the
choice of an occupation. This he did for a
number of years in his own country, and upon
coming to the new world in 1899 he also sought
a similar occupation. His first location was at
Cucamonga, San Bernardino, county, there en-
tering the employ of J. B. Lafercate, a large
manufacturer of wine, and during the eighteen
months of their association Mr. Hugues thor-
oughly learned the process of wine manufacture.
In 1901 he removed to the Tisnerat ranch, which
he ran as a winery for three years, when, in 1903,
he bought his present vineyard of fifteen acres
on South Garey street, between Crow avenue and
Phillips road. All of the improvements now
seen on the place are the result of Mr. Hugues'
own efforts, he having built the house, large
barn, and also the distillery, which is 52x82 feet,
with an excellent storage cellar. Taken all in
all the plant is one of the finest in Southern
California and in the light of his past accomplish-
ments, with youth and health at his command,
failure is impossible.

In Los Angeles Mr. Hugues was married to
Miss Elizabeth Gambot, who like himself is a
native of France. Three children have come
to add brightness to their home — Grace, Jean
Baptiste and Jean. Politically Mr. Hugues is
a Republican. Much credit is due him for what
he has accomplished since coming to Pomona,
and as a business man and citizen he is highly
esteemed.

IRA FRANK REYNOLDS. Frank Rey-
nolds, one of the substantial ranchers of the
Puente district, is a man who has made his
own way in the world and by his own per-
sonal eflforts has acquired a competence, while
at the same time he has won the distinction
among his fellow citizens of being a business
man of ability, keen judgment, and an integ-
rity in his dealings with others which places
him prominently in the citizenship of this sec-
tion of Los Angeles county. Mr. Reynolds is
a native of Illinois, his birth having occurred
in East St. Louis, June 21, 1862; his father,
Ira J., a native of New York and his mother,
Mary (Davis) Reynolds, a native of Ohio,
were married in East St. Louis. The father
was a railroad man, working as conductor on

the Alton & Terre Flaute line, but he gave
this up to cross the plains to California in 1849,
driving an ox-team, and upon his safe arrival
in the state he engaged in the mines at Feath-
er river, in Yuba county. His mining claims
he sold out to his two brothers who had ac-
companied him., and in 1850 he returned east
via Cape Horn, and after two years in his East-
ern home, once more crossed the plains, driving
a herd of cattle. While in California the sec-
ond time he was with Kit Carson in his In-
dian expeditions. Finally returning to his
home he remained until 1875, in which year he
brought his family to California over the Union
Pacific Railroad, and both father and mother
still survive, he at the age of eighty-five and
she seventy-six. Mr. Reynolds is a Democrat
in politics and both himself and wife are
members of the Baptist Church. They be-
came the parents of twelve children, of whom
tight are now living.

Reared to" the age of thirteen years in his
native place, I. Frank Reynolds received his
education in its schools, and also the schools
of San Luis Obispo, where his parents located
after spending the first winter in Woodland,
Yolo county. When his schooldays were over
he came to Southern California and locating in
the vicinity of El iMonte began raising grain
and hogs. In 1889 he bought ten acres of
land and to this purchase he added forty acres
in 1900, the first property being in eighteen
year old walnut trees in full bearing, and
which he recently sold for $9,000 cash. The
forty-acre piece he sold for $15,000. In 1892
he came to his present property, and since
that time has given his best eflforts toward its
•mprovem.ent and developm.ent. He general-
ly carries on grain farming with his horticult-
ural interests, leasing from six to eight hun-
dred acres, upon which he raises wheat, bar-
ley and oats.

In 1887 Mr. Rej'nolds was united in mar-
riage with Miss Rosa Alexander, a native of
California, and a daughter of John Alexander,
now deceased, her mother still surviving and
making her home in El :Monte. Mr. and Mrs.
Revnolds are the parents of the following
children, two, Frank and Francis dying in
childhood : George A.. Edith, Cora, Foster and
Delia. Politically Mr. Reynolds is a stanch
adherent of the principles embraced in the plat-
form of the Republican party, and although
never desirous of personal recognition by his
party has still given every effort toward the
advancement of the principles he endorses.
He has serv'cd as school trustee for several
terms. In addition to his farming interests
he also conducts a meat market in Puente,
and runs a wagon through the country. His

1396

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

business sagacity and judgment, combined
with his straightforward, honorable methods
in the conduct of his enterprises, have won for
him a large circle of friends and patrons, who
are glad to witness his unusual success. In
1907 he was appointed by the board of super-
visors as road overseer of the Rowland dis-
trict.

HERVEY EBENEZER SHA^¥. For twen-
ty years Hervey Ebenezer Shaw, city engineer
of Long Beach, has been a resident of this
section of Southern California and has been
actively identified with its development. He
is a thoroughly experienced practical worker
and fulfills the duties of his office with
credit to himself and satisfaction to the public.
That branch of the Shaw family of which he
is a member is of Scotch extraction, his great-
great-grandfather. Tames, having been born in
Aberdeen, Scotland. He came to America in
1743, settling first in New Jersey and later re-
moving to Virginia, where he became a large
plantei". Both he and his son, John, who was
born in Virginia, were loyal patriots and served
in the Revolutionary war. His grandson, Eb-
enezer, was born in Westmoreland county. Pa.,
but in 1802 removed to Ohio, which territory
at that time belonged to Virginia, and settled
first in that section now embraced in Stark
county, later removing to Savannah, Ashland
county, where he engaged in farming and lived
the remainder of his life. His son, Dr. Will-
iam S., became the father of Hervey Ebenezer.
l-fe was a graduate of the Western Reserve
College, from which he received his medical
degree, and Avas engaged as an active practi-
tioner in Ashland county, Ohio, during his en-
tire lifetime. Politically he was an ardent ad-
vocate of Republican principles and was a
member of the original Whig party. His wife,
Elizabeth Hanna in maidenhood, was the
daughter of Rev. Archibald Hanna, a pioneer
Presbyterian minister of Ohio, in which state
the daugliter was born and also died.
. The only child of his parents, Hervey E.
Shaw was born in his father's native home near
Canton, Stark county, Ohio, April 24, 1849,
and was reared in Savannah, Ashland county,
where he received a preliminary education in
the public schools and later entered Savannah
Academy, taking a college preparatory course.
After finishing his studies he learned the car-
penter's trade, although he followed that occu-
pation but a short time, later engaging in the
drug business at Ashland. Subsequently re-
moving to Virginia he then took up survey-
ing and civil engineering for a time, and on
his later removal to ]\Iansfield, Ohio, became

a contractor and builder. It was while resid-
ing in that city that he lived as next-door
neighbor to Senator John Sherman, of whom
he can tell man}^ interesting anecdotes.

In 1886 Mr. Shaw came to California, his
first home being in Altadena, where he entered
the employ of Woodbury Brothers as general
overseer in the construction of improvements
of the Woodbury ranch, and at the same time
was engaged in contracting and building in
Altadena. It was during this time that his
employers built the road from Pasadena to
Altadena now owned by the Salt Lake, and he
rode on the first train that passed over the
new line in 1887. In that year he also made a
survey of a road to Mt. Lowe, the line which
he marked going by way of Millard Canon,
across to the present line, and on to Mt. AVil-
son. In 1889 he located in Pasadena and was
occupied as a contractor until 1896, when he
continued the business in Long Beach, which
city has since been his home. After two years
he again took up surveying and did consider-
able work in San Bernardino county. Enter-
ing the Long Beach city engineer's office in
1901 as assistant he continued in that capaci-
ty until 1906, v.'hen, upon the resignation of
W. A. Foster, he was appointed by the city
council as city engineer, his long experience in
the office having given him the confidence of
the people who look for efficient service from
its officials.

The marriage of Mr. Shaw occurred in Chase
City, Va., uniting him with Miss Mary E.
Ramsey, a native of Pennsylvania, and to them
have been born three children. The daughter
is now the wife of Dr. Austin, of Long Beach ;
Ray is a surveyor in Long Beach ; and Clark
is assistant city surve^'or. Fraternally Mr.
Shaw is a member of Long Beach Lodge No.
327, F. & A. M., and religiously is an active
member of the Presbyterian Church. He is an
advocate of the principles embraced in the
platform of the Republican party, and in the
development and upbuilding of the city is one
of the most enthusiastic workers.

CHARLES EDWARD BECK. The family
to which Charles Edward Beck belongs was one
of the earliest to locate in Southern California,
Thomas, a native of Coventry, England, coming
hither in 1853 and about 1858 locating in San
Bernardino county. He had been brought to
America by his father, also Thomas Beck, the
elder man coming to New York City with his
two sons, Thomas and Joseph. In that city
Thomas Beck, Jr., learned the trade of baker,
after which he went to sea and followed this
life for about four years, his last voyage being

q/, S, ^^?i^^^^?^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1399

around Cape Horn to San Francisco, where in
1850 he left the vessel. Three years later he
came to Southern California and in San Bernar-
dino county was employed as a ranch hand. In
that location also he married Caroline Single-
ton, she too being a native of England. Her
father, Robert Singleton, brought his family
from England to Philadelphia, then across the
plains over the old trail, via Salt Lake City and
San Bernardino. In her girlhood Mrs. Beck was
educated in the public schools of this section.
In 1S60 Mr. Beck came to Los Angeles county
and remained for a time in the vicinity of El
Monte, but finally returned to San Bernardino
county, where he purchased a place and made his
home until his death. Three children were born
to Mr. and Mrs. Beck :■ Charles E., of this re-
view ; Thomas and George, both of whom died
in childhood. Mrs. Beck subsequently became
the wife of Tames Cleminson, and died in El
Mont? in 1880.

Reared in San Bernardino county, where he
was born January 8, 1862, Qiarles E. Beck was
fourteen years old when he was brought by his
parents to El Monte, and here he completed his
education in the public schools. He remained
at home until he was eighteen years old, when
he returned to San Bernardino and entered the
employ of an uncle, E. P. Clyde, again in 1886 lo-
cating in El Monte, where he farmed the old
Qeminson place. He was married in El Monte, in
1887, to Miss Lulu ]\IcGarvin, a native of Mis-
souri. He continued farming in this section, pur-
chasing and improving farms in the vicinity, and
then selling and at the present writing is engaged
in the dairy business on the old W. L. Hinman
place, where he has twenty-eight Jerseys, and
twenty-six acres in alfalfa. Mr. and Mrs. Beck
have four children, Harold E., James Ivor, Hazel
M. and Clyde E. Mr. Beck served for a time
as school trustee in the Eassett district and is
otherwise interested in the general welfare of
the community. Fraternally he is identified with
the Independent Order of Foresters of El Monte,
of which he is past chief ranger, and also the
Modern Woodmen of America, being a mem-
ber of its board of directors. Politically he is a
stanch Republican.

SILAS E. KENNEDY. The name of Silas
E. Kennedy is familiar to most of the resi-
dents in the southern part of Los Angeles
county, and carries with it an impression of
influence, large luidertakings and unques-
tioned integrity. His identification with Wil-
mington dates back to the year 1876. at which
time he and a brother left their home in the
east and came directly to this town, with
whose activities and industries the life of Silas

E. has since been closely connected. As pro-
prietor of a meat market here he enjoys a suc-
cess far above the average, but not more than
is his just due, for years of training in the
butcher business have made him a connois-
seur in the selection and curing of meats, and
this, taken in connection with tactfulness and
fair dealing, is the secret of his high stand-
ing in the community.

Born in Centerbridge, Bucks county, Pa.,
October 31, 1861, Mr. Kennedy is a son of
WiUiam and Sarah (McCourt) Kennedy, both
of whom came from Ireland and settled in
Pennsylvania during the early days in the
history of that commonwealth. The father is
still living, making his home in the same lo-
cality in which he first settled with his wife
upon coming to this countrj^ The wife and
mother passed away in 1906. As their cir-
cumstances were exceedingly limited it was
not possible for the children to consume much
time in acquiring an education, and it was on
this account that Silas E. began to earn his
own living when a lad of nine years. Until
fifteen years old he worked as a farm hand
in return for his board and clothes, but the
work was hard and not altogether satisfac-
tory, so when the opportunity was offered him
to come to California and work for an uncle
he was not long in making up his mind to
take the journey. For about four years he
and his brother, who had accompanied him
across the plains,' were in the employ of their
uncle, George Hinds, who was the proprietor
of a butcher shop in Wilmington. Going to
Los Angeles in 1880 Silas E. continued work
in this line for two years, when he once more
located in Wilmington, working in a meat
market until 1893. It was during this year
that he gave up work at his trade to devote
his time to the ranch near Redondo in which
he had an interest. This did not prove to be
a wise move, however, for three dry years
which prevailed from then until 1896 made
the ranching business unprofitable. This turn
in his affairs led him to return to Wilming-
ton and establish the meat market of which
he is now the proprietor, and thus what seemed
a hardship had proved a blessing in disguise.
}lesides his commodious home, which is sur-
rounded by spacious grounds, he also owns
several fine lots in Long Beach and a small
ranch in the vicinity of Redondo, which is a
part of the Meadow Park tract.

Mr. Kennedy was mnrried October 27, 1887,
to Carrie Venable, a daughter of J. W. Ven-
able. who is well known throughout Los An-
geles county for the prominent part he has
taken in political matters. He is a Virginian
bv birth and came to California during the

1400

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

early da3"s of its settlement. Mr. and I\Irs.
Kennedy are the parents of three children,
Mary, George and Silas E., Jr. In fraternal
relations ]Mr. Kennedy holds membershio in
Wilmington Lodge No. 198, F. & A. M.;
Long Beach Chapter No. 84, R. A. M. ; and
also belongs to the Eastern Star Chapter No.
173. of that place. Perhaps in no respect has
he rendered his city more signal service than
through his work as a member of the school
board, of which he has been clerk for the past
six years. He is also treasurer of the Masonic
Hall Building Association. In his political
sympathies he is a stanch Democrat, is chair-
man of the board of trustees of Wilmington,
and religiousl_v he is a member of the Pres-
byterian Church. He is one of the solid, re-
liable men of the community, and as such
merits the many friendships and blessings
Avhich have come to him.

LEANDER LODGE. In the part of Redlands
district known as Greenspot, Leander Lodge is
engaged in horticultural pursuits on one of the
fine ranches of this section, highly improved and
cultivated, although he makes his home in Long
Beach for the greater part of the year. He was
bom in West Greenville, Pa., December 21, 1840,
a son of Samuel, a native of Westmoreland coun-
ty, and grandson of Benjamin, born in the vicin-
ity of Philadelphia. The grandfather served in
the Revolutionary war as a civil engineer with
the rank of lieutenant under the direct command
of General Greene. Upon the close of hostilities
he settled in Westmoreland county. Pa., surveyed
and laid out the town of Greenville, Mercer coun-
ty, making his home in Westmoreland county,
where he came to his death by drowning. He
came of an old English family of Quaker ances-
try, and early settlers of Philadelphia. Samuel
Lodge was a tanner and currier by trade, he and
his brother having operated a tannery in Green-
ville for some years. In 1852 he removed to
Henry county. 111., and located at Geneseo where
he was killed in a runaway. His wife, formerly
Jane McCord, was born in Mercer county. Pa.,
a daughter of James McCord, of Scotch ancestry,
a patriot in the Mexican war. j\Irs. Lodge died
in Iowa ; of her eleven children five are now liv-
ing, of whom three sons served in the Civil war,
Oscar and Albert in an Iowa regiment, and
George in an Indiana regiment.

Leander Lodge was reared for the first twelve
years of his life in his native county, after which,
in 1852, he accompanied his parents to Henry
county. III. He was there reared on the home
farm and educated in the common schools, from
boyhood working on the farm and acquiring a
practical experience in life. In 1863 he taught

school in Illinois. Removing to Iowa in 1867, he
located near Wilton, Cedar county, and engaged
in the dual interests of teaching and farming. He
was married in Cedar county in 1869 and two
years later removed to Pottawattamie county,
same state, and there purchased a farm and be-
gan its improvement and cultivation. Eight
months later he opened a general merchandise
store in Walnut, erecting a building in which he
continued operations for the period of twelve
years. For the greater part of this time he held
the postmastership of the place, and was one of
the principal upbuilders of its interests. In 1884
he located in Neola, same county, and engaged in
the banking business, the institution being known
as the Bank of Neola. He remained at the head
of this enterprise for five years, when he sold his
interests and spent three years in Nebraska and
Boston for rest and the better education of his
children. Deciding to locate in the remote west
he came to Seattle, Wash., and there engaged in
the brokerage business for the period of two and
a half years, in December, 1892, locating in
Greenspot, San Bernardino county, Cal. Here
he purchased forty acres of land, cleared it and
set it out in oranges, became connected with the
Mentone \\^ater Company and brought the water
to the place. During the dry years when they
could not get water he dug a well eighty-five feet
deep, after a depth of forty-five feet being com-
pelled to put in a gasoline engine to sink the re-
mainder of the well. He now has a centrifugal
pump with a capacity of thirty inches, operated
with a Weber gasoline engine. Mr. Lodge now
has twenty-five acres in oranges, composing as
fine an orchard as is to be found in Southern Cal-
ifornia.

Mr. Lodge built a residence on East Ocean
avenue. Long Beach, and spends his summers in
that city. His wife was formerly ]Miss Sarah M.
Woodhouse, a native of New Hampshire, who
was engaged in educational work. They became
the parents of the following children : Leta A., a
graduate of the Boston LTniversity and now prin-
cipal of a school in Los Angeles ; Helen H., who
took a course in the Boston Conservatory of
Music, and wife of Leland Lyons, of Grafton;
Elizabeth L., graduate of Stanford University ;
and Freda M., a student in the Marlborough
School, of Los Angeles. With his family Mr.
Lodge is a member of the First Presbyterian
Church, of Redlands, and is active in its work.
Politically he is a stanch Republican.

WILLIAM HENRY LYON. A pioneer of
California and an upbuilder of the state, William
H. Lyon came to Redlands in 1888, where his
brother, Isaac L., had already begun the develop-
ment of what is now known as the Lvon orange

^& ^^^-^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1403

grove, and ultimately he improved a two hundred
acre orange grove, which was one of the finest
properties in Southern California. He was born
in Ugdensburg, N. Y., September 27, 1818, the
eldest of three children born to his parents,
Stephen S., a native of New Jersey and a lumber
manufacturer of New York, where he died, and
Eliza (Wheeler) Lyon, who was born in Con-
necticut and died in New York. He was reared
in his native city and educated in the Ogdens-
burg Academy, and at the age of seventeen years
went to Buffalo, N. Y., and with a letter to the
city surveyor obtained a position in his office.
When the Illinois Central Railroad was built Mr.
Lyon worked on the first survey in its location,
and also on the construction had charge of a sub-
division of ten miles. He was next on the sur-
vey of the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, in
Vermont, and was also resident engineer during
its construction. In 1850 he came to California
via the Isthmus of Panama and with five others
engaged in mining in Placer county. He was
very successful and with his accumulated earn-
ings established a brewery in San Francisco
which later grew to extensive proportions on
Jessie street in the rear of the Palace hotel. The
firm was known as Lyon & Co. Because of a
severe illness in 1877 1^^ closed out his business
and in 1880 returned east again (having made
the trip several times after the transcontinental
railway was completed) and deciding this time
to make the journey by way of the Isthmus of
Panama. He finally concluded to locate in Paris,
France, and accordingly he spent eight years and
three months in Europe, after which he returned
to America and with his brother, Isaac L. Lyon,
he came to Redlands and has ever since made
this place his home. His brother died in Decem-
ber, 1901, when Eldridge M. Lyon, his brother's
son, assumed charge of the vast interests.

In San Francisco Mr. Lyon was made a Mason
in California Lodge No. i, F. & A. M., of which
he is still a member, and also belongs to Califor-
nia Chapter No. 5, R. A. M., California Com-
mandery No. i, K. T., and San Francisco Con-
sistory. He was made an Odd Fellow in New
York and also holds membership with this organ-
ization at the present writing. He is numbered
among the California pioneers of San Francisco.
Politically he is a stanch Republican.

JOB EDWARD APSEY. When a man
spends nearly a half century in active labor it
is but just that the rewards of his industry
represented by the accumulation of property
should enable him to live in rest and retire-
ment in his later years. J. E. Apsey, a leading
citizen of Arroyo Grande, is thus situated and
enjoys great popularity and the possession of a

host of friends who congratulate him on his
success in life. He is of English parentage,
both his father, Isaac Apsey, and his mother,
who was Jane Long before her marriage, hav-
ing been born in England. They emigrated to
America in 1836 and made a home in Iowa
when it was far out on the frontier, living
there until 1853, when they continued their
journey across the continent and became pio-
neers of the state of California, where four
years later the father died, at the age of sixty-
lour years- The mother lived ten years longer
and was the same age as her husband at the
time of her demise. Mr. Apsey was a minister
of the ^.lethodist Episcopal denomination and
a man of strong principles and integrity of
character. Of the five children in the family
one son now lives in Nevada and a daughter
near Red Bluff, Cal.

J. E. Apsey was born in Jones county, Iowa,
July g, 1847, and came to California with his
parents in 1853, Tehama being the point at
which they settled. In this location Air. Ap-
sey attended the common schools, after which
he acquired a practical business education and
in young manhood engaged in cattle raising
in Tehama county. Following this occupation
until 1867, he then came to San Luis Obispo
county with cattle ; however, he soon engaged
in the livery business, which he conducted for
a time and then had charge of the San Simeon
wharf for two years. After retiring from this
position he began his career as a hotel keeper,
having charge of the Cambria house for several
years. Disposing of his interest in that place
he came to San Luis Obispo, where he en-
gaged in business and in 1891 settled in .Ar-
royo Grande and conducted the Ryan house for
the ensuing nine years. After that he had
charge of a threshing outfit for three years, and
at the end of this time gave up active business.

In 1871 Mr. Apsey was married in Cambria
to Airs. Mary Gross, a native of Ohio, and a
vv^idow with three children. Fraternallv he is
a member of the Cambria Lodge and Hesper-
ian Lodge No. 181, I. O. O. F., which he joined
in 1876. In politics he has always taken a deep
interest and is a firm believer in the tenets ad-
vocated in the platform of the Republican par-
ty. He has repeatedly ser\-ed in official ca-
pacities and among other offices has held that
of constable several times and has also been a
deputy sheriff. He was recently honored with
the appointment by the governor to the office
of supervisor of the Fourth District of San
Luis Obispo count3^ to fill the vacancy caused
by the death of Patrick Moore. No man in the
comniunitv is held in greater esteem, being ap-
preciated especially for his demonstrated in-
tegrity nnd abilitv.

140-t

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

DANIEL SMITH JORDAN. The section
about the city of Redlands is particularly adapted
to dairy products, which are of such quality and
quantity as to have won a distinction throughout
Southern California, and among the many citi-
zens thus occupied mention may be made of Dan-
iel S. Jordan, whose proprietorship of the Glen
Dairy has resulted in its upbuilding and financial
prosperity. Air. Jordan came to California in
January, 1891, and was variously occupied for
some years before venturing upon his present en-
terprise, when he did, however, bringing to bear
in his work such intelligence and perseverance
that he quickly systematized his plans and soon
accomplished satisfactory results.

Born in Bourbon, Ind., August 9, 1857, Mr.
Jordan was a son of David K. Jordan, a native
of Virginia and a farmer in Indiana, where his
death eventually occurred. The mother was in
maidenhood Nancy Wood^ a native of Lexington,
Stark county, Ohio, and her death also occurred
in Indiana. They became the parents of ten
children, of whom three are living, two sons, Will-
iam Henry and Jesse, Jr., having served in the
Fifteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry
in the Civil war and the latter was killed at At-
lanta. Daniel S. Jordan was reared on the pa-
ternal farm in Indiana and when fourteen years
old went to St. John, Putnam county. Mo., where
he attended the public school in pursuit of an
education. When twenty-one he spent two terms
in the Wasioja Seminary in the town of that name
in Minnesota. Following this he went to Red-
field, So. Dak., and there honiesteaded a claim
and also took up a tree claim, improving in all
a farm of two hundred and forty acres. He fin-
ally returned to ^Minnesota and in Nobles county
engaged in a mercantile enterprise in the town of
Rushmore, and there remained until 1891. In
the last named year he came to California and in
Rialto engaged in a nursery business and horti-
culture, setting out a ten-acre orange grove. In
March, 1895, he sold out and coming to Red-
lands located in San Timoteo cafion, where he
farmed until 1896, purchasing in that year a part
of his present property, forty acres of which he
later set out in peaches and apricots and finally
grubbed out to make room for alfalfa : he added
to his purchase until he now owns two hundred
and forty acres located three miles from Red-
lands, given over to the raising of grain, hay,
alfalfa and stock, and the management of the
Glen Dairy. This last is supplied by a herd of
twenty-five cows of high grade stock, the product
being retailed in the city of Redlands. Mr. Jor-
dan is interested in the Lower Yucaipe Water
Company, and also has a pumping plant on his
own property, which supplies a part of his irriga-
tion.

In Minnesota Mr. Jordan was united in mar-

riage with i\Iiss Ermina Bedford, a native of Sul-
livan county, Pa., and born of this union are the
following children : Winifred Alice, a student in
the Los Angeles Normal School ; Ernest W. ;
Ramona; Ruth; Willard ; and Helen. Mrs. Jor-
dan is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. ]\Ir. Jordan is associated fraternally
with the Odd Fellows of Redlands and with his
wife belongs to the Rebekahs. He takes an active
interest in educational affairs and for six years
has served as a member of the board of trustees
of the railroad district. Politically he votes the
Republican ticket.

HARRY LEE MARTIN. The first repre-
sentative of the Martin family in America became
a pioneer of Maryland, but later generations es-
tablished themselves in North Carolina and
Georgia, from which states they scattered through
the south and west. Robert Martin, a native of
North Carolina and a soldier of the Revolution,
was the father of James, who was born and reared
in South Carolina and settled upon a farm near
Cuthbert, Randolph county, Ga. By his marriage
to Hester Bogan he had seven sons, all but one
of whom became ministers in the Baptist denom-
ination. Among the six preachers was Rev. Isaac
Alartin, a native of South Carolina and for som.e
years a farmer in Georgia, where he earned a
livelihood by farming and donated his services
to the church. Eventually he removed to Texas
and settled at Rusk, Cherokee county, where his
death occurred. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Mary Pruitt, was born in Wilkes county.
Ga., of an old family in that state, and her death
also took place at their Texas home. ■

In the family of Rev. Isaac and Mary ?\Iartin
there were eleven children, all but one of whom
attained maturity and four are now living. Two
came to California, these being Isaac T. and Will-
iam Purnell, who engaged in the furniture busi-
ness in Waco, Tex., and also were together after
coming to the Pacific coast. Isaac T. died Sep-
tember 19, 1904, at the age of fifty-five years.
Fraternally he was identified with the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows, while in religion he
was of the Baptist faith. William Purnell, who
received his name from the Purnell family of
Maryland (relatives of the Martin family), was
born near Cuthbert, Ga., jNIarch 8, 1839, and
passed the years of bo^'hood on a Georgia farm,
during the winter months attending a subscription
school in the home neighborhood. At the age of
twenty years he left the old associations and
started out in the .world for himself, his first lo-
cation being in Columbia county. Ark. When the
Civil war began he was among the first in the lo-
cality to offer his services as a soldier and was
accepted as a private in Company E, Eleventh

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD,

1405

Arkansas Infantry, in which he remained until
the close of the war, meantime receiving a com-
mission as first lieutenant. After the first year of
service the regiment was mounted and served as
cavalry during the balance of the struggle.

Upon the close of the war William i'urnell
Martin joined his father in Texas and soon after-
ward secured employment with an uncle, Col.
James Diamond, proprietor of the Houston
Journal. Next he went to Waco and found em-
ployment in the furniture store of William An-
derson. Meanwhile he sent for his brother, Isaac
T., whom he sent to school and when his educa-
tion had been completed, the brothers embarked
in business under the title of W. P. ]\Iartin &
Bro., continuing together in the furniture trade
for twenty years. During 1887 they disposed of
their store and in 1888 removed to California,
settling in Los Angeles, where in a short time
they opened a furniture store on Third street
near Hill, later removing their establishment to
Spring street. In a short time they had estab-
lished - growing trade in the line of their spe-
cialties. During 1893 W. P. Martin disposed of
his interest to his brother and turned his atten-
tion to the dairy business, establishing a dairy
on the west side of the city and continuing the
business for about six years. On selling out the
dairy he became city salesman for the Standard
Oil Company and later for six months acted as
superintendent of the Inglewood Water Com-
pany's ranch. Upon the death of his brother he
became administrator of the estate and conducted
the furniture business until February, 1905, when
it was sold to the Gem Furniture Company.

The marriage of W. P. Martin was solemnized
at Gainesville, Tex., and united him with Mildred
Washington Walker, who was bom in South Car-
olina and is a woman of exceptional education and
culture. They are the parents of three children
now living, namelv : Harry Lee, whose name in-
troduces this article and who is secretary of the
Inglewood Water Company; Mary Nina, princi-
pal of the Inglewood high school; and Mildred
Purnell, now a student in the Los Angeles high
school. While living in Texas, Mr. Martin was
initiated into the JNIasonic order. In religion he
believes in Baptist doctrines. He is a Jeffersonian
Democrat and a member of the Los Angeles
Home League. Of late years he has acquired
various property interests in Los Angeles,
which the general rise in real estate values
has made quite valuable. Loyalty to his
country is one of his predominant traits, and it
comes to him by inheritance from patriotic
ancestors. On both sides he had five great-
grandfathers in the Revolutionary war. His
wife's mother was a Miss Dean, descended from
Major Thomas Farrow, a Revolutionary officer.
His father-in-law, William Walker, was proprie-

tor of the Pacolet iron mills near Spartanburg,
S. C, now one of the largest iron mills in the
south.

The eldest of three children now living, Harry
Lee Martin was born in Waco, Tex., January 24,
1875, and received his primary education in his
native towri. After coming to the Pacific coast
he attended the Baptist College in Los Angeles
and for a )-ear was a student in the academic de-
partment of the University of Southern Califor-
nia, after which he entered the classical depart-
ment of the institution, from which he was grad-
uated in 1896 with the degree of A. B., and with
the first honors of his class and the appointment
of valedictorian. After completing his education
he spent two years in the employ of his uncle.
I. T. Martin, and then bought what was left of
the Union iron works on First street, where he
began to work up a business in the manufacture
of foundry supplies. A year later he sold the
plant to D. P. N. Little, the present owner. Short-
ly afterward he joined with others in organizing
the Guarantors Investment Company, Incor-
porated, of which he was the first president and
still holds that office, although since the spring
of 1904 he has given the management of the or-
ganisation into other hands.

The Inglewood Water Company, of which H.
L. Martin was one of the incorporators, bought
the holdings of A. C. Freeman at Inglewood,
comprising seventeen hundred acres of land and
the water supply for Inglewood. In January,
1903, ]\Ir. Martin began the management of the
company's property, since which time the water
capacity has been doubled by means' of an in-
creased supply of wells. The Orpington tract,
the Inglewood Poultry Colony, and three other
subdivisions comprising in all some one hundred
and twenty-five acres, have been laid out by the
company and the ground is sold to home-seekers.
Mr. iMartin aided in the organization and is a
director of the First State Bank of Inglewood. be-
sides being secretary of the James Cook corpora-
tion, owners of a wool-pulling factory in Los An-
geles.

The residence erected in Inglewood by Mr.
Martin in 1904 is presided over by Mrs. Martin,
formerly Miss Daisie E. Cook of Los Angeles,
daughter of James Cook, and a native of Marys-
ville, Cal. There are two daughters of the union,
named Virginia Lee and Winifred Louise.
Though not a partisan in his opinions Mr. Mar-
tin has the courage of his convictions and never
loses an opportunity to cast his ballot for the
candidates and principles of the Republican par-
tv. At one time he was honored with the presi-
dency of the Alumni Association of the LTnivers-
ity of Southei'n California and also he has been
actively associated with the work of the Sigma
Chi fraternity. Among the people of his county,

Ii06

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

where so much of his active life has been passed,
he has a host of friends who possess every confi-
dence in his abihty and his prospects for increas-
ing success.

MRS. KATE C. McCORMICK. One of the
show places of Los Angeles county is the famous
grape vine at San Gabriel, the largest in the
world, covering nearly five thousand square feet,
and over five feet in circumference, its roots ex-
tending more than two hundred feet in every di-
rection. It is composed of one root and three
branches and in the early days was known as "El
Paron de la Trinidad" (Trinity vine — three in
one). It never receives irrigation or cultivation
and owing to this and its dense foliage the grapes
are small but a large crop is secured each year.
The grapes make excellent medicinal wine, and
also jelly; the leaves, some of which measure
twelve inches across, are used by the natives for
fevers and headaches. This vine, which grows
in the "patio" of the San Gabriel adobe hotel, one
block from the mission church, is said to have been
a full grown plant as early as 1750, it being an
impossibility to estimate its age with any degree
of accuracy.

This property is owned by Mrs. Kate McCor-
mick, a most estimable lady, whose residence in
this section has been prolific of much practical
help and sympathy to those who needed friends,
for that she is to all who call upon her. She was
born in Keenansville, Canada, near Toronto, and
when three years old was taken to the United
States by her parents. Her father, John Pon-
sonby Bayly, located his family in Wisconsin,
from which state with a son, Robert Bayly, he
joined the famous Van Veet party and came over-
land to California in 1852, and after their arrival
in Downieville engaged in the mines in the north-
ern part of the state. He remained on the Pa-
cific coast for five years, when in 1857 he re-
turned to Wisconsin. Some time later, with a
government surveying party, he again started
westward, and neither he nor the party were ever
heard from afterward. It was thought that they
had been destroyed by the Indians, although noth-
ing definite was ever learned. Mr. Bayly had al-
ways been a great traveler, visiting many points
of interest in Africa and South America. His
wife was Mary Keenan, a native of County Ty-
rone, Ireland, and born of this union were six
children, four of whom are now surviving: Mrs.
Elizabeth Hannon, of Chicago; Mrs. Margaret
McClave, of Benton Harbor, Mich. ; William T.,
of Duluth, Minn. ; and Mrs. Kate C. McCormick,
of this review. By a previous marriage Mr.
Bayly had two children, Robert and Frances.
Robert Bayly, who came west with his father in
1852, drifted to the southern portion of the state

and here pre-empted a government claim, which
in 1869 he sold to a Mr. Hastings, the property
known today as the Hastings ranch. He then
purchased the grapevine property in San Gabriel,
where he made his home until 1884, when he re-
turned to Chicago, then the home of the family,
and on account of his impaired health he brought
back to California his sister, Kate C. The brother
dying in 1895 the sister became the owner of this '
well known property, which she now owns.

On the 24th of December, 1870, Kate C. Bayly
became the wife of Joseph T. McCormick; he
was born in La Fargeville, N. Y., and received
his education in the public schools of Watertown,
same state. In 1869 he left his native state and
going to Chicago became associated with a job
printing firm. After the Chicago fire he became
a partner in the Illinois Staats Zeitung Job
Printing Company, and after several years, he
with Franz Gindele withdrew, establishing The
Gindele & McCormick Job Printing Company. In
1879 on account of failing health he went to Col-
orado and the following year his death occurred
in that location. He was taken back to Chicago
for interment. Mrs. McCormick has three sons,
Cyrene, William T. and Edgar Bayly. Besides
the property in San Gabriel, Mrs. McCormick is
also interested in real estate in Glendora, Mon-
rovia, Santa Monica and Chicago. She is a mem-
ber of the Catholic Church at San Gabriel, and
gives of her means and time freely to all its char-
ities and upbuilding enterprises. She is a woman
of rare worth, intelligent and educated, and qual-
ities of heart equal to those of mind. She is a
friend to all who are in need and nothing gives
her more happiness than to minister to those in
distress. To know her is to hold her in highest
esteem.

JOHN LEMBERGER. Among the prom-
inent citizens of Redlands mention belongs to
John Lemberger, who is now engaged as a horti-
culturist in the vicinity of this place. He is a
native of Wurtemberg, Germany, his birth having
occurred near Schoendorf February 17, 1821 ; his
father, John G. Lemberger, was a civil engineer
who brought his family to .\merica in 1832 and
in the vicinity of Philadelphia followed farming.
Later he was similarly engaged in Darke county,
Ohio, where his death eventually occurred. His
wife was formerly Elizabeth Magdalene Hott-
man, a native of Germany also, her death occur-
ring later in Iowa. They were the parents of
five sons and one daughter, of whom John Lem-
berger is the fourth in order of birth and the only
one now living.

About ten years old when brought to America,
John Lemberger received his education in the
public schools of Pennsylvania. At the age of

^(yhit- ^-^/U^dJiH/S,

(71^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1409

eleven years, however, he was apprenticed to
learn the trade of a tobacconist and completed
the work in four years, after which he worked
as a journeyman until 1847. He then engaged
for himself in Cambridge, Ind., remaining in that
location for about nine years, when in 1856 he
became a farmer in Boone county, same state.
Two }-ears later he removed to Beardstown, 111.,
and there worked at his trade of tobacconist un-
til 1878. In the last named year he went to
Pana, 111., and followed a similar enterprise, then
disposing of his interests in 1893 he came to Cal-
ifornia and purchased a ten-acre ranch which had
just been set to navel oranges, and since that
time has been actively identified with the horti-
cultural interests of this section. He is interested
in the Crafton Water Company, from which he
receives water for the irrigation of his property.
In Cambridge City, Ind., Mr. Lemberger was
united in marriage with Miss Caroline Chartel,
a native of Pennsylvania, and they became the
parents of the following children: Susan, Mrs.
Rucher, of Crafton ; Nina, wife of a merchant of
Poplar Bluff, Mo. ; Frank, of Reno, Nev. ; Lillie,
who died in Redlands : Katie, at home ; Annie,
Mrs. Glasgow, of Pana, 111. ; Ella, Mrs. Wheeler,
of Ladd, III; and Charles, of Pana, 111. Mr.
Lemberger is identified fraternally with the Odd
Fellows, of Beardstown, 111., and politically in-
clines to the principles of the Republican party,
although he reserves the right to cast his ballot
for the man he considers best qualified for official
position.

JOHN CLEAIINSON. The Cleminson
family are prominent citizens of Los Angeles
county, where the pioneer, John Cleminson,
established the name at an early date in the
history of California, two succeeding genera-
tions serving to keep alive the records and
deeds of their ancestor, who proved himself
worthy to cope with the trials and hardships
of a new land. The pioneer, John Cleminson,
Sr., was a native of England, who, in 1812,
came with his father to St. John's, New Bruns-
wick, whence they made their way to the
United States, and finally located in Louis-
ville, Ky. Later, in Lexington, Lafayette
county. Mo., he engaged in teaching school,
then worked as a cabinet-maker and carpenter.
Removing to Galena, 111., he made his home in
that section until 1852, when he came to Cali-
fornin. and engaged with his older son, James,
in farming, first in San Bernardino county,
then in El Monte, his death occurring in the
latter place in 1879, at the age of eighty years.
His wife, formerly Lydia Lightner, was born
in Lancaster, Pa., and went to IMis.souri with
her parents. Fler death occurred in 1873, at

the age of seventy-three years. She left a
family of four daughters and two sons, of
whom two daughters and the two sons are still
surviving.

John Cleminson, Jr., was born in Hancock
county. 111.. December 8, 1842, the youngest
in the family of his parents, and was but ten
years of age when he accompanied the family
across the plains. Leaving Illinois in the fall
of 1851, they went to Missouri, where they
wintered, and in the early spring the company
collected their belongings and outfitted for
the tedious journej^ Their route lay through
the Indian Territory, Socorro, N. Alex., and
Arizona. Just before they reached the latter
place the Apaches stampeded their cattle,
leaving but half enough to draw their wagons,
and three days later one of the number was
murdered while gathering fuel. They re-
mained a few days at Santa Cruz to rest up,
then moved on to San Xavier Del Sac Mission
and on to Tucson, one of the largest towns
they passed through. This was a post for
Spanish soldiers, who kept on the watch for
the Indians. Here was witnessed the crude
method of grinding corn with stones. The
only money in circulation was a copper cent
about the size of a twenty-five cent piece.
They remained in Tucson several months,
then came on by the Pemos Indian Village,
Maricopa Wells and crossed the Gila river
about the point where it empties into the Col-
orado. Here they had to give nearly every-
thing they possessed to be ferried across and
waited on the opposite bank until a govern-
ment train came along, when they were taken
to San Diego. Thence they made their way
to San Bernardino county, where they were
established on a farm for "five j-ears.

Mr. Cleminson received but one year of
schooling in that place, his services being re-
quired in the improvement and cultivation of
the home farm. He accompanied his father to
El Monte in 1857 and there took up farming.
Finally becoming dependent upon his own re-
sources he engaged in general farming and
dairying on the property which he now oc-
cupies, consisting of thirty-six acres, all of
which is tillable land and devoted to alfalfa
and corn. Like his father and brother, James,
he is one of the leading citizens in the up-
building of the country, seeking every avenue
for the development of the section, giving
time, money and personal effort to promote
the general progress of the community. He
gave the right of way to the Pacific Electric
Railway, which will give to this section its
greatest impetus toward development. Mr.
Cleminson is a Republican, his first vote hav-
ing been cast for Lincoln. The highest esteem

1410

HISTORICAL Ax\D BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of the community is given to this gentleman
for his citizenship, as well as his personal
character, which is such as to have won the
friendship of those with whom he has had
business or social intercourse throughout the
long years of his residence in this section.

JOSEPH DeWOLF king. The horticult-
ural interests of San Bernardino are well rep-
resented by Mr. King, of Craftonville, where
he is rounding out the years of a well spent
life among the pleasant surroundings of a Cali-
fornia home. He is the representative of one of
the old eastern families of Irish descent, his
birth occurring in Ravenna, Portage county,
Ohio, j\Iarch 21, 1836; his great-grandfather,
Dr. Robert King, came from Ireland to Massa-
chusetts and there practiced his profession, mar-
ried and reared a family. His son, William,
removed with liis family to Ravenna, Ohio,
and engaged as a farmer and a hotel keeper
until his death. John B. King, the father of
Joseph D. King, was born in JNIassachusetts
and accompanied his parents to Ohio, where
he followed farming and also acted as pro-
prietor of King's Tavern. Later he was a
member of the banking firm of Robinson-King
& Co., and also organized the Second National
Bank, of Ravenna, and served as an officer
until his death. He married 2^Iiss Caroline
]^Iars' Selby, who was born in Canandaigua,
N. Y., a daughter of Ira Selby, of English de-
scent, and who removed to Ohio and became
a judge in Portage county. ]\Irs. King died
in Ohio, leaving a family of six children, one
son, Ira S., serving in the Civil war as hospital
steward, surviving the struggle, and making
his home in Michigan until his death, which
occurred in 1903.

Joseph DeWolf King was reared in Ra^'en^a
and educated in its public schools and the
Mount Union Seminary, from which institu-
tion he was graduated, and then took up the
study of law under John L. and H. C. Ranny,
continuing so occupied until he had exhausted
his supply of funds. He then taught school
for one year, and at the end of that time (1858)
went. to Texas because of ill health, and in
Galveston engaged in the cotton commission
business. .Six months later lie sold out and in
Navasota, Tex., engaged with a commercial
house until he was driven out by the yellow
fever, when he returned north and after his
marriage in Vassalboro. Me., in i860 he en-
gaged in farming near Ravenpa. His work
was interrupted by the call to arms in 1861,
and he immediately set to work to raise a
battery, known as the Twelfth Ohio Battery,
he being in command, and this was later

consolidated with the First Ohio Artillery,
Battery I, and he then became first lieutenant.
He was taken prisoner in Virginia on the
upper Potomac in 1862, and for two and a
half months he was imprisoned in Lynchburg,
Salisbury and Libby. He was then paroled
and was stationed at Camp Lew Wallace,
at Columbus, Ohio, in command of paroled
artillerj', and after remaining there for several
months became impatient for his exchange, and
then resigned his commission.

Returning to Ravenna he followed farming
until 1888, when he went to the Sandwich
Islands via California, and there accepted a
position as principal in a government school
on Kauai Island and continued thus occupied
for the period of three years. Resigning in
1891 he returned to the United States and lo-
cating in Redlands, Cal., purchased the prop-
erty he now owns, consisting of twenty acres
devoted to Valencia oranges. He has built a
residence here, barns, etc, and also owns ten
acres at Grafton Station. His home is in
Craftonville, on King street, between High-
land and Fifth avenues. His wife was former-
I}' Miss Lucy L. Homans, a native of Vassal-
boro, 'Sle., and a daughter of Benjamin Ho-
mans, a native of that state also. The paternal
grandfather, Stephen Gray Otis Homans, was
born in England, and after coming to America
located in Boston, where the family owned
the long wharf. Later he removed to Maine
and engaged as a merchant in Vassalboro,
which business Benjamin Homans also fol-
lowed. The younger man married Elizabeth
Bunker Weeks, a native of Nantucket, and
daughter of Capt. Reuben Weeks, commander
of a whaler as were his sons, Edward and
Daniel. He died in Iowa at the advanced age
of eight-five years. Of their three sons and
one daughter, three are now living, Mrs. King
ha\ing received her education in the Coney
Female Academy, and later the Tappan Female
Seminary of Ravenna, where she completed
the course.

Mr. and Mrs. King are the parents of two
children, Stephen Gray Otis, a graduate of
the ^^^estern Reserve College, of Ohio, and
now manager of an oil refinery in Oakland,
Cal. : and Fred Bunker, a jeweler in Redlands.
Fi-aternaily Mr. King is identified with the
Knights of Pythias and belongs to Bear Valley
Post No. 126, Grand Army of the Republic, of
Redlands. He is a Universalist in his religious
beliefs, and politically he is a Republican. He
is a member of the Board of Trade of Red-
lands, the Redlands Fruit Exchange, and a
director in the Southern California Fruit Ex-
change. He is a member and one of the
organizers of the Californi.q Stale Audubon So-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1411

ciety, and is on the membership committee.
He is one of the esteemed and able citizens of
this section and is justly named among the
representative men who have brought this por-
tion of Southern California to rank with the
most highly developed and improved of the
state.

I

CLARE-XCE E\ERETT IVESON. Born
at Addison, Lenawee county, Mich., December
27, 1868, Clarence Everett Iveson is the son of
Benjamin and Jane (Abbott) Iveson, both na-
tives of New York state. The father was a
contractor and builder and died a middle-aged
man, while the mother is residing in Redlands
and is now Mrs. Cleveland. Of their ten chil-
dren Mr. Iveson is the youngest and lived in
Addison until nine years of age, when the fam-
ily removed to a farm in Wheatland, Hills-
dale county, Mich., where he had the advantages
of the public and high schools. In November,
1887, he came to Redlands, Cal, where for
some time he followed carpentering and later
began the pursuit of horticulture and was for
seven years superintendent of the E. C. Stir-
Img ranch. In 1902 he was appointed superin-
tendent of streets of Redlands and held the office
for twenty months. His next appointment to
the same position was in April, 1906, since which
time he gives it all his attention and best ef-
forts and is filling the position with credit and
satisfaction.

In Redlands June 12, 1894, JMr. Iveson was
married to Miss Lucie Underwood, a native of
Palmyra. Mich., and by this union there are
three children, namely: Alethea, Charles and
Ellen. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights
of Pythias, Woodmen of the World, Modern
Woodmen of America and Independent Order
of Foresters. He is a member of the Redlands
Board of Trade and politically is a Republican.
Mr. Iveson is a young man who has worked his
own way, is a self made man in the best sense
implied by the term, and is well and favorably
known in the community where he has passed
so manv vears of his life.

HON. WILLIS E. PUTNAM. Now re-
tired from the active cares of business life,
Hon. Willis E. Putnam is making his home
in Redlands and participating in the develop-
ment and advancement of the city's interests.
He was born in Germantown, Juneau county,
■VVis., September 6, 1857, the second in a family
of seven children, of whom six are now living.
His father, T. W. Putnam, was born in Cen-
tralia, N. Y., where the paternal grandfather,
Gilbert (a grand-nephew of Israel Putnam),

engaged as a larmer. T. \V. Putnam removed
tu Wisconsin in an early-day and engaged as
a farmer; later locating in \Vabasha county,
Minn., he follov.-ed a similar occupation. In
Missouri he engaged as a merchant and in
Iowa as a builder, and finally removing to
Dodge county, Neb., he improved a homestead.
He is now retired and makes his home in Red-
lands. His wife, formeidy Lucretia Towne, a
native of New York, is also living. She is a
devout member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and active in its charities.

Willis E. Putnam was thirteen years old
when taken by his parents to Nebraska, and
he there completed his education in the public
schools. He was twenty years old when he
left home to become dependent upon his own
resources, in April, 1878, going to the Black
Hills, where he followed mining and prospect-
ing for about nine years. A part of this time
he was located in Idaho, in the Coeur d'Alene
mines. Returning to Dakota he entered one
hundred and sixty acres of land, homesteaded
a similar acreage, and took up a tree claim
also of one hundred and sixty acres. This
was in Lawrence county (now Meade), and
there he improved his property, erecting a
residence, barns, outbuildings, etc., and en-
gaged in general farming and the raising of
cattle. Returning to Nebraska in 1892, he pur-
chased a farm of two hundred acres in the Elk
Horn valley and engaged in the raising of corn
and cattle for a number of years, when he once
more located in Dakota and rented land. Dis-
posing of his farming interests in the fall of
1906 he came to Southern California and has
since made Redlands his home, having pre-
viously come here in 1902 and purchased the
property which he now owns at No. 120 Still-
man avenue.

While a resident of Dakota Mr. Putnam
was elected to the state legislature from Meade
county, on the Republican ticket, being a mem-
ber of the second assembly ; the close of the
term found him in Nebraska. In January-,
1906, he was appointed a member of the board
of trustees of Redlands to fill a vacancy. In
the same- year he became a candidate on the
good government ticket and was elected to
the position, which he is now fiilling. He is
a member of the Board of Trade and active
in his interests to advance the general welfare
of the community. He has always voted the
straight Republican ticket and is thoroughly
imbued with its principles, although he is too
loyal a citizen to let politics interfere with his
ideas of good government.

In South Dakota, February 18, 1888, Mr.
Putnam was united in marriage with Miss
Grace Lewis, a native of Springfield, Mass.,

1412

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and a daughter of Samuel A. Lewis, born in
Montpelier, Vt. The paternal grandfather was
a native of \^ermont and a pioneer settler of
Minnesota ; later in life he returned to New
England and located in Massachusetts. Samuel
A. Lewis was in a Minnesota regiment during
the Civil war and served against the Sioux
Indians, and after the close of this strife he
returned to Massachusetts and engaged in a
mercantile enterprise. Later he followed the
stock business in South Dakota, and finally re-
turned to Massachusetts, and is nov^r living
retired in Athol. His wife, formerly Cynthia
Childs, a native of Vermont, died in South
Dakota. They had two children, of whom
Mrs. Putnam was the elder. She is the mother
of the following children : Harold, Meryl,
Clyde, Ross, Edgar and Majorie. Mrs. Putnam
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Mr. Putnam was made a Mason in
Scribner Lodge No. 132, in Nebraska, and both
himself and wife are members of the Order of
Eastern Star in Redlands. He is also identi-
fied with the Modern Woodmen of America.

RICHARD P. McINTOSH. A pioneer of
Mentone and one of its upbuilding factors is
Richard P. Mcintosh, who came to California in
1887 and entered the ranch of one hundred and
sixty acres which he now owns and operates.
He is a native of Ontario, Canada, where he
was born August 11, 1856; his father, Peter
Mcintosh, was born in the same place as was
also his grandfather, Donald, the descendant of
Scotch ancestry. Peter Mcintosh was a bailiff
or deputy sheriff for thirty years and also en-
gaged as a small farmer during that period, his
death occurring some time after his retirement
from this work. He was a member of the Pres-
byterian Church and one of its stanch supporters.
His wife, formerly Annie McBain, was born in
Ontario, where she died late in life. They were
the parents of nine children, six sons and three
daughters, of whom six children are still living.

Richard Peter Mcintosh was the youngest
son in his father's family. He was reared in
Ontario and educated in its public schools, and
in young manhood he followed his early train-
ing and engaged as a farmer near Cornwall,
Ontario. Later he purchased a fifty-acre farm
there which he gave to his sister in 1875, when
he left his native land and came to Nevada
and in the vicinity of Carson City engaged in
lumbering with the Sierra Nevada Wood & Lum-
ber Company. During the summers he flumed
lumber and wood to Virginia City and Gold Hill,
and in the winters superintended the water sup-
ply for the Virginia City and Gold Hill Water
Company. He remained in that state until 1887

when he came to Redlands and entered the ranch
which he now owns, consisting of one hundred
and sixty acres, and being joined by his wife
the following year he began its improvement
and cultivation. Later he sold off all but ten
acres on Mentoije avenue, devoted to navel
oranges, and where he has a pumping plant with
a capacity of twenty inches. He also purchased
five acres in the Greenspot district, all of which
is in navel oranges.

In Carson City, Nev., Mr. Mcintosh was
united in marriage with Miss Sarah Thompson,
of Ontario, the ceremony being performed
December 3, 1876. She was a daughter of
Robert John Thompson, a native of Ontario
and a farmer and merchant there, where he still
resides. Her mother, formerly Mary Ann Bend-
er, a daughter of Richard Bender, died in On-
tario. She is the youngest living of the four
children born to her parents, of whom three are
surviving. To Mr. and Mrs. Mcintosh were
born nine children, of whom six are still liv-
ing, namely : John, farming in Grafton ; George ;
Alice ; Leland ; Kate ; and Edith. Eraternally
Mr. Mcintosh is a member of the Woodmen
of the World, his wife being affiliated with the
Women of Woodcraft; she is also a member of
the Grafton Club, and both are identified with
the First Presbyterian Church, of Redlands,
which receives an active support from them.
Politically Mr. Mcintosh is a Republican, and
through the influence of this party he has served
for the past six years as road overseer of the
Fifth supervisoral district, and has also acted as
school trustee of the Greenleaf district for sever-

OLO J. CHAMBERLAIN. A successful
rancher is named in the person of Olo J. Qiam-
berlain, who is located in the vicinity of Norwalk,
Los Angeles county, and engaged in the man-
agement of a forty-acre ranch and a large tract
of leased land, and although he has been in this
section a comparatively brief time he has already
established his position among the representa-
tive citizens. Born in Lincoln, Neb., October 12,
1880, he is a son of Joseph and Ella (Stone)
Chamberlain, natives of England. They located
in Nebraska and made that state their home un-
til 1882, when they immigrated to California
and in Santa Barbara engaged in farming and
the cultivation of a fine orchard. The mother
was accidentally killed in that county, where the
father is still living and engaged in his work.
During the Civil war Mr. Chamberlain served
his adopted country in an Ohio regiment, and in
memory of that time is now affiliated with the
Grand Army of the Republic. He is an inde-
pendent voter, but a patriotic and conservative

J^ £m.c^

PIISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1415

citizen. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal
Church. The six children comprising the pa-
rental famil)- are as follows : Glenn S., who mar-
ried Edith Dotty; Clarence Z., of Bakersfield,
Cal. ; Roy W., who married Hattie Marritt and
lives in this vicinity ; Qlo J., of this review ;
Mary E., with her father ; and Ella L., a resident
of Tehachapi, Cal.

Qlo J. Chamberlain was only two years old
when brought to California by his parents, and
in this state he received his education, attending
the common schools of Santa Barbara county,
first in Cathedral Oaks and later in Goleta, where
he completed the course. His education was
supplemented by a commercial training in the
Santa Barbara Business College, under E. B.
Hoover. He then learned the blacksmith«s trade,
following this in Goleta for several years, when,
in 1903, he came to Los Angeles county and near
Norwalk purchased a ranch of twenty acres.
This he finally disposed of and purchased the
one he now owns, consisting of forty acres de-
voted to grain and corn and general products,
while he also leases from W. D. Woolwine, one
hundred and forty-three acres, of which one
hundred and twenty acres are in grain and twen-
ty in alfalfa. Mr. Chamberlain has a comforta-
ble residence on his property and also improved
it with other necessary buildings and equipment.
In his fraternal relations he is identified with
the Fraternal Brotherhood of Norwalk, Enter-
prise Lodge No. 19, K. P., of Santa Barbara,
and Castle Rock No. 151, also of Santa Barbara.
Politically he follows the example of his father
and reserves the right to cast his ballot for the
man he considers best qualified for official posi-
tion.

DAVID CAWELTI. Numbered among
the industrious, practical and successful agri-
culturists of \"entura county is David Cawcl-
ti, who is carrying on general farming near
Somis, his ranch being under an excellent
state of cultivation. He has made substantial
improvements on the place, his buildings be-
ing comfortable and convenient, and well
adapted for his purpose, while his stock and
machinery are of first-class description, every-
thing about the premises being indicative of
the thrift, skill and good management of the
owner. Of excellent German ancest^3^ he was
born, June 27, 1853, in Cincinnati, Ohio, a son
of John and Catherine ^M. (Wagner) Cawelti.

John Cawelti was born in Germany; and
when fifteen years of age came to the United
States. Learning the trade of a butcher, he
worked at the same in Cincinnati, Ohio, for
eleven years. Removing then to Iowa, he
was for two years employed in farming, after

which he was a butcher in Clayton county,
that state, for a number of years. In 1864 he
made another westward move, coming to So-
noma county, Cal., where he carried on gen-
eral farming about four years. In November,
1868, he located in Ventura county, and hav-
ing purchased twelve hundred and fifty acres
of grazing land was here engaged in farming
and stock-raising until his death, in 1893, at
the age of sixty-eight years. He was held
in high respect as a man of integrity, and was
an active member of the Democratic party.
His wife survived him, passing away in 1905.
Their children consisted of five sons and four
daughters, all of whom are living.

Beginning his studies in the common schools
of Iowa, where he lived until eleven years old,
David Cawelti completed his early education
at Healdsburg, Sonoma county, where the fam-
ily settled in 1864, after their long and tedious
journey across the plains. He subsequently
came with the family to Ventura county,
where, with the exception of six years spent
in San Bernardino county, he has since re-
sided. When ready to establish himself as a
householder, he purchased land near South
Camarillo, and by dint of. sturdy and judicious
labor has improved a valuable estate, his ranch
of two hundred and fifty acres being under
good cultivation and very productive.

In 1879 Mr. Cawelti married Alary E. Fay,
who was born in California, and of the nine
children born of their union, one died in in-
fancy, and eight are living, namely: Norman
D. ; Sadie E. T Chester L. ; Edith L. and Effie
L., twins; John C. and Lucy C, twins; and
Ernest E. In his political affiliations Mr.
Cawelti is a steadfast Democrat, and relig-
iously he and his wife attend the Presbyterian
Church.

RUFUS THOMAS CLYDE. One of the en-
terprising and progressive native sons of San
Bernardino county is Rufus Thomas Clyde, who
owns a ten-acre ranch and residence in Highland,
besides a ranch in the Yucaipe valley. He was
born in San Bernardino May 20, 1864. a son of
Edward Prentis Qvde, the latter a native of New
York ; he removed 'to Salt Lake City in the early
'40s and thence in 1852 crossed the plains to
California and in San Bernardino county pur-
chased a farm on the Base Line, where he now
resides. The mother was Mary Singleton in
maidenhood, who came from England to Salt
Lake City, thence to San Bernardino, where she
was married. They are the parents of two other
sons, William R., farming on the Base Line, and
George E., who resides on the Base Line.

Rufus Thomas Clyde was reared on the pa-

1416

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ternal farm and at the same time that he attended
the pubHc schools in pursuit of an education he
received a practical training along agricultural
lines, which has proven of benefit to him in more
mature years. He remained at home until at-
taining his majority, when he entered into part-
nership with his father in general farming, re-
maining so occupied until 1889, when he came to
the Yucaipe valley and still with his father and
brothers carried on farming. Later he pur-
chased an interest with his brothers in
the tract of six hundred and forty acres
of land, where they farmed for some years,
finally dissolving partnership. Mr. Clyde now
owns one hundred acres of bench land where he
has built a residence and necessary outbuildings,
while he leases two hundred acres adjoining and
carries on the raising of grain and hay. He also
owns ten acres two and a half miles southwest
of Highland, where he has a residence which is
the home of the family during the school year.
He was married in San Bernardino to Miss
Geneva V. Hawse, a native of San Bernardino
county, and they have one son, Robert S. For
five years Mr. Clyde served as trustee for the
Pass school district and was clerk for three years
of that time. Fraternally he is a member of San
Bernardino Lodge No. 290, I. O. O. F.

FREDERICK H. ROBERTS. The four
hundred acre tract forming the homestead of
Mr. Roberts comprises land as fine as any that
tlie San Pasqual valley boasts and has been im-
proved with a substantial residence of thirteen
rooms equipped with hot and cold water, bath
and other modern conveniences. The larger part
of the estate is under cultivation to grain, but
there is also considerable pasture land for the
grazing of milch cows and the other stock kept
on the farm. A noticeable feature of the ranch
is the creamery, in which Mr. Roberts is one
of the principal owners. With the exception of
the years from 1893 to 1898, when he was en-
gaged in tlie hardware business in Escondido, he
has followed agricultural pursuits throughout
his active life, and without any one to aid him
in getting a start he has reached a position of
independence and prestige.

The birthplace of Mr. Roberts was in the
town of Nauvoo, 111., once the stronghold of
the Mormons and the headquarters of Joseph
Smith. One of the elders of the Mormon Church
at Nauvoo was Calvin A. Beebe, who witnessed
many of the exciting scenes connected with the
history of the church in Hancock county. After
the killing of Smith and the expulsion of the
Mormons from Illinois, Mr. Beebe started west-
ward with Brigham Young, intending to follow
the Mormons to their new home. However, he

became disgusted with some of Young's methods
and accordingly returned to Illinois, where he
and his wife remained until death. Among their
children was a daughter, Harriet, who was born
in Sandusky, Ohio, and in young womanhood
became the wife of Nathaniel R. Roberts, a na-
tive of Maine, but about 1862 an emigrant to
Hancock county. 111., where he followed the
stonemason's trade. While living there his son,
Frederick H., was born January 27, 1865. In
1874 the family came to California and made a
brief sojourn near Bakersfield, but in the spring
of 1875 came by team to San Diego county, pass-
ing through Los Angeles, then merely a hamlet
of insignificant proportions. After his arrival
in the San Pasqual valley the father bought a
claim and embarked in ranch pursuits, remain-
ing on the farm until his death, September 4,
1902, at the age of seventy-two years. The
mother did not long survive him, her death oc-
curring in February, 1904, at the age of sixty-
nine years.

When the family came to California Frederick
H. Roberts was a lad of nine years, and after-
ward he attended the schools of San Diego coun-
ty, also took a course of study in Healdsburg
College. At the age of twenty-one years he
bought one hundred acres in the Escondido val-
ley and subsequently he there located the gold
mines, which in the spring of 1900 he sold, to-
gether with the land, to the Orofino Mining
Company. Immediately afterward he bought
four hundred acres near Escondido and erected
the elegant country house now occupied by his
family. The ranch possesses especial interest
because it is the site of the San Pasqual battle.
Formerly Mr. Roberts acted as a director of the
Escondido irrigation district and at this writing
he fills the office of school director. Though a
Democrat in national aflfairs. locally he votes for
those whom he considers best qualified to pro-
mote the welfare of the people. His marriagt
was solemnized in San Diego November i, 1892.
and united him with Mrs. Elizabeth Judson
Hardy, who was reared in California and has
many friends in San Diego county. In religion
she is identified with the Advent Church, and
her children, Charles Henry, George Beebe and
Helen, are being trained in Christian doctrines
and kindly deeds. The sketch of her father, J.
B. Judson. gives the family history and appears
elsewhere in this volume.

LORENZO DOW TWEEDY. The Tweedy
family, represented in California by several pio-
neers, among whom is Lorenzo Dow Tweedy, is
of English extraction, the immigrating ancestor
having located in Alabama in the early part of
the nineteenth century. Later members removed

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1417

to Missouri, where occurred the birth of Robert
Tweedy, who became in _voung manhood a farmer
and merchant. He married Mary Holyfield, a
native of South Carohna, the two later establish-
ing their home in Arkansas. Attracted to the
west by the glowing reports of the California gold
fields, Mr. Tweedy oufitted with ox-teams and
necessary provisions and equipment, and in 1852
with his wife and children began the perilous
journey across the plains. Several months later
they reached California in safety and located at
the Twenty-six J\Iile House, near Stockton,
where they spent the ensuing year. In 1853
they came to Los Angeles county and engaged
in farming and stock-raising for a time, when
Mr. Tweedy established a store in San Ber-
nardino and conducted the same successfully un-
til 1857; Returning to Los Angeles county he
purchased a large tract of land, known as the
Tweedy ranch and for many years engaged in
its cultivation and improvement. Some years
prior to his death (whieh,. occurred upon the
ranch) he leased the land for farming and stock-
raising purposes. He is survived by his wife,
who is now in her eighty-seventh year. She
makes her home upon the ranch with her daugh-
ter. She is the mother of seven sons and one
daughter, the fourth in order of birth being
Lorenzo Dow Tweedy, whose birth occurred in
Conway, Ark., October 2, 1850.

But two years old when he was brought to
California by his parents, practically the entire
life of L. Dow Tweedy has been passed in this
state. His education was received in the com-
mon schools of Los Angeles county, and at the
same time he received a practical training along-
agricultural lines. In young manhood he took
up the work in which he had been so thoroughly
trained, devoting his time principally to the cul-
tivation of fruit in the country adjacent to Rivera
and Downey. He has met with success 'in his
work and acquired considerable property, now
owning three hundred acres of land near Down-
ey; twenty acres of this is devoted to English
walnuts, while the balance is largely given over
to the cultivation of alfalfa and garden vege-
tables. For several years the familv made their
home in, Long Beach, where Mr. Tweedy was
prominent in public affairs, but they are now liv-
ing in their new home on the ranch near Downey.
Mr. Tweedv is a member of the First Baptist
Church of Long Beach, and is a liberal contrib-
utor to all its charities. Politicallv he is a stanch
adherent of the principles advocated in the plat-
form of the Democratic party.

In Downey, in 1874, Mr. Tweedy was united
in marriage with Emily Stanley, a native of Ar-
kansas, and born of this union are four sons and
three daughters, as follows : Eugene E.. Louis
L., Angic E., H. Burtis, L. Dow, Jr.. \'ieva Y.

and Alma L. The Tweedy family are known
throughout Southern California and held in the
highest esteem for their qualities of citizenship;
they have built up positions of financial inde-
pendence for themselves and at the same time
have become citizens of prominence and worth.
Personally L. Dow Tweedy is a man of broad
character, is liberal minded and enterprising, and
can always be counted upon to further any move-
ment advanced for the benefit of the general com-
munitv. ■

HON. FRANK WILES BARNES. The
collector of customs for the port of San Diego
is a descendant of ancestors who came from
Holland to America during the colonial epoch of
our national history and settled on Long Island
near the present site of Flushing. After becom-
ing identified with American colonization the
original family name of Barness was changed to
its present form by the dropping of the final "s."
The genealogical records show that from Long
Island certain members of the family drifted to
Dutchess county, N. Y., while that region was
still a forest primeval. During the Revolution-
ary war William Barnes laid aside his plow and
shouldered a rifle, with which he went to the
front and served in the patriotic army. A son
of this Revolutionary soldier, Josuah, of Dutchess
county, was the father of Capt. Henry M. Barnes,
who was a supervisor of Dutchess county, a
farmer near Poughkeepsie and a member of the
state militia. It was he who established the fam-
ily in the further west, when he settled on a
bleak prairie farm in Madison county. Neb., and
took up the task of transforming a raw tract into
a fertile farm. At the time of his arrival the
county had not been organized and little attempt
had been made to build up towns or develop
farms, but in the years that elapsed between his
arrival and his death he witnessed the gradual
improvement of that section of country and him-
self contributed thereto.

While still living in the east Captain Barnes
married Sallie Ann Lockwood, who was born
and reared in Dutchess county, the daughter of
an eastern farmer and the granddaughter of a
Revolutionary soldier. Spared to a venerable
age, she passed away at eighty-nine years in New
York. Of her five children four are living, of
whom F. W., the youngest, is the only one to
settle in California. Born on the home farm in
Dutchess county, N. Y., September 10, 1850, he
was a youth of sixteen years when the' family re-
moved to Nebraska, and there he took a high
school course. After having studied civil engi-
neering under a preceptor he became deputy
United States land surveyor, later served for one
term as countv surveyor and one term as countv

1418

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

judge. In 1870 he entered the land and laid out
the village of Madison, which became the county
seat of 2\Iadison county, Neb., and in 1874 Ke
organized the Madison County Savings Bank, tlie
first institution of its kind in the county. By a
re-organization in 1885 he established the First
National Bank of Madison, of which he acted
as vice-president and with which he is still iden-
tified. The city which he had platted and found-
ed always commanded his aid and influence.
Movements for its permanent upbuilding; received
his stanch support. For many years he served
as its mayor, in which position he used his in-
fluence for the development of local enterprises.
At the time of the building of the branch rail-
road from Columbus to Madison he donated ten
acres as site for a depot and grounds. In 1883
he aided in the establishment of the Northern
Nebraska Normal at Madison and was chosen
chairman of its board of trustees, a responsible
position in which he displayed tact, energy and
keen sagacity, besides all of his other interests he
owned land near town and engaged in the stock
business.

An arduous and long-continued devotion to
the demands of his business interests undermined
the health of Mr. Barnes, who was therefore
obliged to seek a more genial climate and an oc-
cupation permitting of considerable outdoor ex-
ercise. These reasons constrained him to remove
to California, and in 1886 he settled at the pres-
ent site of Pacific Beach, where he planted a
lemon orchard and carried on a packing house.
By the gradual purchase of adjoining tracts he
acquired seventy acres, but in time all of this land
was laid out as Pacific Beach. In the fall of
1890 he came to San Diego, where later he was
one of the organizers of the Security Savings
Bank and the San Diego Title and Abstract Com-
pany. Both in San Diego and Lajolla he has
acquired property holdings of considerable value.
For two terms Mr. Barnes was president of
the city council. In 1900, on the Republican
ticket, he was elected to represent the Seventy-
ninth legislative district in the lower house of
the state legislature, his majority being more
than one thousand. During that term he served
as chairman of the committee on banks and bank-
ing and a member of the committees on irrigation
and public buildings and grounds. At the ex-
piration of his first term he was again elected to
the legislature, and during the session following
he served as chairman of the committee on pub-
lic buildings and grounds, also as a member of
the committees on public printing and banks and
banking. Elected for a third term in 1904. he
was honored with the chairmanship of the com-
mittee on public buildings and grounds, and
served on three committees as a member, viz. :
banks and banking, revenue and taxation, and

commerce and navigation. After a long and hon-
orable service as the people's representative in
the halls of legislature, he resigned February i,
1906, in order to accept the appointment as col-
lector of customs for the port of San Diego, ten-
dered him by President Roosevelt. When first
nominated for the legislature it was on a plat-
form favoring an appropriation to complete the
state normal school building. Such a bill was
passed in 1901 but vetoed, but was again passed
in 1903, duly signed, and the building completed,
and in 1905 an additional appropriation was
granted for the improving of the grounds. In
1903 he gave his support to United States Sen-
ator Perkins and in 1905 voted for United States
Senator Flint. In addition to "his many other help-
ful sendees to his party he has been frequently
a delegate to local and state conventions, and
there, as in every other circumstance and sur-
rounding, he has given his voice and vote toward
measures of undoubted value to his county and
state.

The marriage of ^Ir. Barnes took place at
Madison, Neb., and united him with jNIiss
Phoebe, daughter of ^lichael Bauch, who in 1870
established his home among the pioneers of j\lad-
ison county. Neb., having previously made his
home in Kankakee county. 111. (her native local-
ity). Three children comprise the family of Mr.
and Mrs. Barnes. The older son, Edward Y., is
a graduate of the Northern Nebraska Normal
School at Madison and is now junior member of
the Doyle-Barnes Company. The second son.
Theodore L., graduated as a mining engineer
from the University of California and is now
superintendent of mines in Lower California.
The only daughter. Mary Ruth, is a graduate of
Leland Standford l^niversitv. The family hold
membership in the Presbyterian Church and Mr.
Barnes officiates as an elder of his congregation.
The San Diego Chamber of Commerce has long
numbered him among its leading members and
active workers. Since coming to "his present
home town he has become identified with INIas-
onrv through membership in San Diego Lod2:e
No.' 35, F."& A. M., and is further allied with
the chapter and commanderv at San Diego and
Al Mqlaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S..'of Los
Angeles.

JOSEPH A. COLE. The name of Cole is
svnonymous with progress and development in
the vicinity of Downey, for it was in this section
of Southern California that the immigrating
pioneer first located at a time when there was no
promise of future productiveness to induce set-
tlement here. This ancestor was George W.
Cole, the father of Joseph A., whose name ap-
pears at the head of this article. For more com-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1421

plete details concerning his life refer to his bi-
ography, which appears on another page of this
volume.

The seventh child in order of birth in tlie fam-
ily of his parents Joseph A. Cole was born De-
cember lo, 1865, near Downey, Los Angeles
count}', Cal., on his father's farm, and in that vi-
cinity attended the public schools until he was
ten years old, when his parents located on a
ranch near Whittier. He became a student in
the Los Nietos schools and completed the course,
after which he prepared to enter upon the work
for which he had been so thoroughly trained.
Prosperity followed his efforts and he soon be-
came known throughout this part of the county
as an enterprising and progressive rancher, fully
in touch with all modern methods and improve-
ments, and intent upon advancing the best in-
terests of the business he follows. He owns con-
siderable property, forty acres of the old Cole
homestead now belonging to him and being fully
improved with all modern buildings (among
them a beautiful residence in which he makes
his home), and substantial barns adequate for
the protection of stock and machinery. He also
owns a walnut orchard of twenty acres near his
home, and twenty acres in the frostless belt of
La Habra valley, which is very productive for
the raising of vegetables throughout the entire
vear. Mr. Cole belongs to the Los Nietos and
Ranchito Walnut Growers' Association, one of
the oldest associations of its kind in the world,
and is serving as a director in the same.

Mr. Cole was married to Nola L. Landreth,
one of the prominent ladies of Whittier, who was
educated in Whittier College. Their union has
been blessed by the birth of two sons, Roy Ken-
neth and Cawthern Chester. In his political af-
filiations Mr. Cole is a Democrat.

HERMAN KOHLER. From Germany the
United States receives some of her best and
most enterprising citizens. Herman Kohler,
one of the most highly respected ranchmen
in Ventura county, was born October 6, 1853,
at Brailingen, Bu'rgdorf, Germany, the son of
Henry and Mary (Gerke) Kohler, both na-
tives ' of Germany, where they died several
vears ago. They were the parents of ten chil-
dren, nine of whom are living and two of
whom have homes in California.

Herman Kohler received his education in
the public schools of his native country, and
was also married there at .Shernbustel, in 1875,
bis wife being Marv, a daughter of Henry and
Sophia Boedeker. The parents of both Mr.
and Mrs. Kohler were farmers and so it was
but natural that the vcunger generation should
follov; the same calling. They remained in

the old country until 1883, when, attracted
by the opportunities offered to ambitious
young people in this new country, they im-
migrated to America, coming to Ventura coun-
ty, Cal., where Mr. Kohler located on a ranch
and engaged in farming and stock-raising. As
he had only $50 when he arrived it was nec-
essary for him to work by the month for a
short time and he was in the employ of Anton
iMaulhardt until the opportunity presented it-
self to rent a farm. By careful management
and the employment of good business meth-
ods he was soon able to buy a place of his own
and now owns two hundred acres of land lo-
cated two and a half miles from Hueneme on
the Conejo road. He has seventy acres
planted to beets, the remainder being devoted
to beans and hay. The property is very fine-
ly improved with modern buildings and all
necessary appliances and Mr. Kohler may well
be proud of the success he has achieved.

Politically Mr. Kohler affiliates with the
Democratic party. There are three children
in his family, Otto, Albert and Louis, and both
parents are members of the Lutheran Church
at Oxnard. In 1904 ]\Ir. and Mrs. Kohler at-
tended the World's Fair at St. Louis and alsO'
returned to Europe for a visit at the old home
and other points of interest in Germany. They
were absent three months and enjoyed their
well-earned outing.

FRANK L. TROXEL. A wide-awake, keen-
sighted, enterprising business man, Frank L.
Troxel, of Fernando, is prominently identified
with one of the leading industries of Southern
California, and as manager for the Stewart Fruit
Company of Los Angeles is carrying on a flour-
ishing business. He is an expert horticulturist
and fruit grower, and owns and occupies a finely
improved ranch, situated a mile and a half west
of Fernando. He was born February 5, 1864. in
Seneca county, Ohio, but was reared and edu-
cated in St. Joseph, Mo., whither his parents re-
moved when he was but a year old.

Brought up on a farm, Mr. Troxel became fa-
miliarly acquainted with the various branches of
agriculture while young, and until after attain-
ing his majority was engaged in farming in Mis-
souri. Migrating then to the Pacific coast, he
settled in Elmira, Solano county, Cal., where he
was for two years engaged in the culture of
fruit. Going then to Placer county, he was in
business at Auburn for two years, and from that
time until 1901 was associated with the develop-
ment of the fruit industry, residing during the
summer seasons in Sacramento, and making Lo>
Angeles his headquarters winters. Purchasing
ten acres of land in Fernando in iqoi he at once

1422

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

erected a fine residence, and has made other im-
provements of an excellent character, his home
estate being one of the best in its appointments
of any in the neighborhood. In 1906 he added
seven acres of adjoining land to his ranch. Ten
acres of the estate is in walnuts and the balance
in oranges. In addition to caring for his own
ranch Mr. Troxel is now manager for the
Stewart Fruit Company of Los Angeles, having
control of the Fernando district, and in this ca-
pacity is meeting with undisputed success. This
company owns four hundred acres of land, the
greater part of which is devoted to the raising
of oranges, although lemons are raised to some-
extent.

In Missouri Mr. Troxel married Louie Cooper,
who died in Auburn, Cal., leaving one childj Clay-
ton C. Troxel. Mr. Troxel married for his sec-
ond wife Ella Eslick, a native-born Californian.
Politically he is an earnest supporter of the prin-
ciples of the Republican party, and fraternally
he is a member and the treasurer of Fernando
Lodge No. 343, F. & A. M., is a Scottish Rite
Thirty-second Degree Mason, belonging to Al
Malaikan Temple, A. A. O. U. M. S., and a
member and past officer of Fernando Lodge No.
365, I. O. O. F. Both Mr. and Mrs. Troxel at-
tend the Presbyterian Church, and are willing
contributors towards its support.

JOHN HUGH BARCLAY. One of the in-
fluential and successful business men of Fernando
is John Hugh Barclay, a real estate dealer and
insurance agent, who, as justice of the peace, is
actively associated with the administration of
public affairs. He is well known throughout
this section of the county, and is held in respect
as a man of integrity, faithful and trustworthy
in every relation of life. The earliest recollections
of Mr. Barclay are of a modest home in the town
of London, province of Ontario, Canada, where
his birth occurred November 20, 1844, and where
he spent his early life.

After graduating from the London high school,
John H. Barclay learned the carpenter's trade,
which he followed in his native province for
about ten years. His health failing, he came to
California in 1869, hoping in this land of sun-
shine to recover his natural physical vigor. After
spending a year in San Luis Obispo county, and
about one-half that length of time in Marysville,
he located in Los Angeles county, and for a num-
ber of seasons was engaged in the hotel business.
first at Wilmington, and then in Los Angeles.
Coming then to Fernando, he subsequently en-
tered the employ of the Southern Pacific Rail-
road Company, which he served as a bridge and
tunnel carpenter from 1886 until 1896. Resign-
ing his position in the latter-named year he has

since carried on a prosperous business as a fire
and life insurance agent and a dealer in real
estate, and has become the owner of valuable
property in town and county. He has been prom-
inent in local matters, and since 1894 has served
most acceptably to all as justice of the peace, his
decisions being invariably fair and just.

In 1878, in Los Angeles, Cal., Mr. Barclay
married Ellen Collins, a native of Canada, and
they have two children, namely: Richard J., of
Los Angeles ; and Margaret J., living at home.
Politically Mr. Barclay is a zealous supporter of
the principles of the Republican party, and fra-
ternally he is a member of Fernando Lodge No.
343, F. & A. M., and a member and past officer
of Fernando Lodge No. 365, I. O. O. F.

JACOB HARPS. One of the active, prom-
inent and enterprising residents of Fernando is
Jacob Harps, who has ably performed his full
share in promoting and advancing the upbuilding
and growth of the village in which he lives, his
contributions in this line being fully recognized
and appreciated by his fellow-citizens. A man
of excellent judgment and fine business capacity,
he has labored earnestly and wisely, and his for-
tune has grown with the town and county. A
native of Pennsylvania, he was born, April 24,
1849, in Mercer county, where he received his
education, remaining there until twenty years of
age.

Learning the trade of bridge building when
young, Mr. Harps worked for wages for a few
years, after which he started in business for him-
self, taking contracts for building railroad and
county bridges. He was subsequently for four
years road superintendent for the Smith Bridge
Company of Toledo, Ohio. Leaving that city
in 1872, he located in San Francisco, and the en-
suing two years was superintendent for the Pa-
cific Bridge Company. From 1874 until 1876
he was engaged as a contractor in Saft Francis-
co. Giving up that business then, he came to
Los Angeles county, settling about three miles
east of Fernando. Buying a tract of wild land,
he cleared and improved a ranch, and for twelve
years was there successfully employed in raising
small fruits and bees. Moving then into the vil-
lage, he opened the first lumber yard in the com-
munity, and for ten years carried on a substan-
tial business as a lumber manufacturer and
dealer. Disposing of his interests in that line,
he spent the next two years in Klondike, making
two trips to that region. Since that time he has
lived practically retired for active pursuits, al-
though he devotes some time to the raising of
poultry, supplying to some extent the local mar-
kets with eggs and chickens, having a well-ap-
pointed and finely equipped poultry yard. He

^^ O^Ccr^

cyT^^T-z^c^t^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL -RECORD.

1425

erected a handsome residence in the village, and-
also built a substantial block, known as Harps'
hall, in which are office rooms, a store and a good
auditorium.

In California, in 1876, Mr. Harps married
Lillian Nickerson, who was born in this state,
and they are the parents of three children, name-
ly : Beulah, wife of J. O. Jenifer, whose sketch
appears elsewhere in this work ; Clarence, who is
employed in the signal service department of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company; and Harry,
who is employed in the surveying department of
the Santa Fe Railroad Company. Politically Mr.
Harps is a sound Democrat, but has never been
an aspirant for public honors, having held no
office excepting that of school director. Frater-
nally he is a member of Fernando Lodge No. 343,
F. & A. M. He belongs to no religious organiza-
tion, but contributes towards the support of the
Presbyterian Giurch, of which Mrs. Harps is a
consistent member.

JASPER XEWTOX CONNER. One of
the many worth}- citizens and capable and in-
dustrious agriculturists of Los Angeles coun-
ty, Jasper Newton Conner is prosperously en-
gaged in his ^independent occupation at Fer-
nando. He has had a varied and busy career,
during which he has pursued the even tenor
of his Avay as an honest, hard-working man,
ever advancing the interests of his community
as opportunity cfl'ered, and wherever he has
resided has enjoyed the respect and esteem of
his neighbors and friends. A son of Richard
Conner, he Avas born, January i, 1854, at
Mount Vernon, Ohio. His grandfather, Rob-
ert Conner, a native of West Virginia, moved
from there to Ohio with the early pioneers,
cleared and improved a farm, and afterwards
settled in Knoxville, 111., where he was en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits until his death.

Born and reared in Ohio, Richard Conner
was first engaged in farming in his native
state, and was subsequently similarly employed
in Knox county. III, having a farm near Knox-
ville. He moved from there to Missouri, and
spent the closing years of his life in Kansas
City. He married Cynthia Furgeson, who was
born of Scotch ancestors in Ohio, and is now
residing in Fernando, with her son Jasper. She
is a most estimable woman, and a faithful
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
She bore her husband nine children, seven
of whom are living, Jasper N. being the fourth
in order of birth.

But a child when the family removed to Illi-
nois, Jasper N. Conner was brought up on a
farm, obtaining a practical education in the
district schools and remaining at home until

becoming of age. Starting life for himself in
1875, he went to the Black Hills, where he was
engaged for about a 3'ear in mining, when, on
account of the frequent raids of the Indians on
lone miners, he left that region, going to Butte
City, Mont. After mining in that locality for a
short time he purchased horses aild wagons
and engaged in freighting on a large scale,
running ten four-horse wagons, keeping forty
of his forty-six horses working ever}' day. He
carried freight from the Anaconda and Gar-
rison mines, hauling ten thousand pounds to a
team, averaging four loads a day, and many
days, receiving $1 a ton for freighting, made
S200 a day. In addition to this work, he was
also engaged to some extent in mining and
prospecting, discovering two good mines, the
Bluebird and the Black Rock, both of which
he sold. The railway companies laying tracks
to the mines in 1893, ]\Ir. Conner sold his
freighting outfit and located at Great Falls,
Mont., where he purchased six hundred and
eighty acres of land, on which he was engaged
in farming and stock raising for two years.

In 1895, on account of the ill health of his
wife and children, Mr. Conner sold his Mon-
tana farm and came to California, locating in
Fernando, where he continued as a tiller of the
soil for two years. In February, 1898, he went
to Alaska on a prospecting trip, going up Cop-
per river, and up to the divide. He found some
of the largest copper deposits known, but
would not locate claims on account of the dan-
gers incurred in getting to them, the fording
of deep rivers and rough rides over precipices
and chasms being exceedingly risky, so much
so that he wondered that he got out alive. In'
1900 he returned to Fernando, glad enough to
be back in "God's own country." He has since
resided in this place, owning his home, but is
engaged in farming just outside the city, rent-
ing land, which he is carrying on successfully.

In Lacygne, Kans., ]\Ir. Conner married
^lary Kendall, who was born in Kansas, a
daughter of David Kendall, a soldier in the
Civil war. She had a frail, delicate constitu-
tion, and it was hoped that the genial climate
of California might prove of great benefit to
her health, but the family were doomed to dis-
appointment, her death occurring in Fernando
in November, 1896. Four children were born
to them, and these, too, have passed to the
higher life, Daphine and Dallas dying in this
city. Pearl passing away in Montana, and
Walter dying at Colorado Springs. Although
■Mr. Conner devoted himself to the care of his
family, sparing neither time nor expense in
trying to alleviate their sufferings, that dread
disease, consumption, proved fatal to his wife
and children. For a second wife he married

1426

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in February, 1904, in Fernando, Helen Wis-
ner, a native of Iowa, but a resident of Cali-
fornia since 1902; by this marriage one child,
Daphine, has been born. In national affairs
Mr. Conner invariably supports the principles
of the Democratic party, but in local matters
he supports the best men and measures. He is
a man of sterling character, honest and up-
right in his dealings, and is a consistent mem-
ber of the ]\Iethodist Episcopal Church.

HON. CHARLES MaCLAY. Conspicuous
among the pioneer jNIethodist preachers of Cal-
ifornia was the late Hon. Charles Maclay, who
came to the Pacific coast in 1851, and for many
years thereafter was actively engaged in religious
work, proclaiming glad tidings of great joy to
anultitudes of people. A man of strong person-
ality and much force of character, he toiled with
faithful zeal in his Master's vineyard, his con-
scientious lalsors being legitimately rewarded by
the establishment of numerous churches and the
conversion of many souls to the true Christian
faith. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born,
November 9, 1822, in Concord, Franklin county,
where he was brought up and educated. Of a
deeply religious nature, he early determined to
devote hin-fself to the special work of spreading
the gospel, and in 1844 joined the Baltimore Con-
ference. Soon afterward when Bishop Bowman
founded the Dickinson Seminary at William-
sport, Pa., he was appointed its agent and was
also licensed to preach.

Coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama to
Cahfornia in 1851, Mr. Maclay began his labors
as a preacher in that city, and was subsequently
very active in denominational circles, presiding
at the first Methodist Episcopal Conference held
in the state, and being influential in the founding
of the California Christian Advocate. Subse-
quently removing to Santa Clara, he built the
first Protestant church erected in that city and
was practically one of the founders of the town.
He was very popular with the general public,
being elected as one of the trustees of the first
college established on the Pacific coast, and as a
loyal and patriotic citizen he rendered appre-
ciated service as a member of the vigilance com-
mittee. In local aflfairs he took a prominent
place, and it was largely through his eflforts that
the state purchased land and built the old toll
road between Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. He
served two terms as representative to the state
legislature, to which he was elected in 1861 and
T862, and from 1864 until 1868 was a member of
the senate. While in the legislature he was in-
strumental in having a state normal school lo-
cated at San Jose, and in having passed the bill,
under the old constitution, exempting church and

school properties from taxation. He was always
among the foremost in the inauguration of state
improyements, giving freely of his time and
money to promote beneficial movements, and es-
pecially while a resident of both San Francisco
and Santa Clara was his influence apparent.

Coming to Fernando in 1873, ^^^- -Vlaclay, with
two other men, purchased the north half of the
Fernando ranch, which consisted of fifty-six
thousand two hundred and seventy-six acres of
land, with scarce any improvements, paying the
sum of $40,000 for it. The partnership being
dissolved in 1881, he took as his third of the
property the land lying east of the Southern Pa-
cific Railroad, and north of Pacoima, and this he
soon afterward put on the market. In 1885 he
established and endowed the Maclay chair and
theology in Fernando College, in which the ap-
pointment of the faculty was subject to the bishop
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The corner-
stone of the college building was laid in 1888,
but after a few years the school and the chairs
were moved to Los Angeles, being merged with
the University of Southern California. The col-
lege building is now owned by the Seven Day
Adventists, who use it for educational purposes.

March 2, 1851, Mr. Maclay married Kate P.
Lloyd, who was born at Williamsport, Pa., and
into their household six children were born,
namely : Thomas Lloyd, who died at the age of
fourteen years ; Arabella, who is the widow of the
late A. B. Moffitt, and resides in San Francisco;
Robert Holmes, of whom a brief sketch may be
found on another page of this volume ; Mary, of
Fernando, the widow of the late H. W. Gris-
wold ; Kate Paxton, wife of H. C. Hubbard, of
Fernando, whose sketch appears elsewhere in
this work ; and Josephine Lloyd, wife of T. J.
Walker, of Fernando. When Mr. and Mrs.
Maclay came with their family to Fernando
there was no church of their denomination in
this part of the county, but largely through the
strenuous efforts of this godly couple a Methodist
Episcopal Church was erected, and for a time
Mr. Maclay supplied the pulpit, while Mrs. Ma-
clay saw to it that the building was well cared
for. They were truly generous, hospitable peo-
ple, keeping open house for both strangers and
friends, and often having it filled to overflowing
with ministers, laymen and politicians. They
were Christians in the highest and best sense
implied by the term, benevolent and charitable,
and in their every dav life were guided by the
highest moral principles. Both have passed to
the bright world beyond, the death of ]\Ir. Maclay
having occurred at his home in Fernando. July
ig, 1890, and that of Mrs. Maclay, July 2, i8q8.
Their deaths were a loss to the entire coinmunitv,
and were mourned bv a wide circle of friends
and acquaintances. Politically Mr. Maclay was

^ £ (y-^^i^ni-Z/c^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1429

a stanch Republican, and during tlie second elec-
tion of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency his
name was on the state electoral ticket. Frater-
nally he was made a Mason when young.

ARCHIE CONNELLY. A pioneer settler
and a veteran of the harvest fields, Archie
Connell}' is one of the best known and most
liighly esteemed men of Ventura county, dis-
tinguished for his honesty, integrity, industry
and kindheartedness. The owner of two valua-
ble ranches, he gives close attention to the de-
velopment and improvement of his land, and
in liis agricultural labors is meeting with note-
worthy success. He is prudent in the man-
agement of his alTairs, strictly honorable in his
dealings, and is recognized by his fellow-men
as a true and loyal citizen of his adopted coun-
try. A native of Ireland, he jvas born IMarch
TO, 1845, in County Monaghan, being one of
the seven children of Owen and Ann (Duffy)
Connelly, who were life-long residents of the
Emerald Isle. One of his brothers resides in
California, and one of them is now living in
Ireland, occupying the farm on which his
great-grandfather spent the larger part of his
long fife.

Beginning the battle of life for himself when
a lad of eleven years, Archie Connelly spent
some time in Scotland and England, working
at any honorable employment. Not satisfied
with his future prospects on British soil, he
immigrated to the United States at the age
of eighteen years,' and for the next two and
one-half years worked at the trade of a stone
and brick mason in New York City. Going
then to New Jersey, he was employed on a
farm for several seasons, there acquiring a
fair knowledge of general farming as carried
on in the Atlantic states. In 1869 he came
to California, locating first as a ranchman in
Sonoma county, later going to Contra Costa
county, where he remained about a year.
Coming then to Ventura county, he worked
for James Leonard for three years, receiving
good wages. \A'^ise in his expenditures, he ac-
cumulated quite a sum of money, and with it
in 1876 purchased his home ranch, lying near
Oxnard, and has since been here profitably en-
gaged in the cultivation of beets and beans,
two of the best crops that can be raised in this
part of the conntv. the land hereabout yield-
ing on an average twenty sacks of beans to
the acre. He has also acquired other property
of value, owning three hundred acres of land
in the Conejo valley, upon which he raises
large quantities of hay, wheat and barley.

In T877 Air. Connelly married Lizzie Kline,
a native of Ireland, their marriage being sol-

enmized in Ventura county. Thirteen chil-
dren were born of this marriage, three of whom
have passed to the life beyond. Those living
are as follows : John T. of Los Angeles coun-
ty, Annie, Mary K., Joseph, Frank, James,
Peter, Charles, Thomas and Raymond. Mrs.
Connelly died on the home farm in 1899, at
the comparatively early age of forty years.
Politically Mr. Connelly is a Democrat in na-
tional aifairs; fraternally he belongs to the
Knights of Columbus ; and religiously he and
his family are members of the Catholic Church.

IRA EZRA MILLS. One of the most en-
terprising men of Crafton is Ira Ezra Mills,
whose residence is located in Crafton, at the
corner of Fourth avenue and E street. His at-
tention is given over to horticultural pursuits in
the vicinitv, where he located in 1890, and since
that time he has accomplished notable results in
this line of work. Born in New Haven, Vt.,
June 7, 1867, he is the representative of an old
and honored New England family ; his father,
Ira, and grandfather, Ralph, were both natives
of that state, where they engaged in farming
throuehout their entire lives. Ira !\Iills served
as a musician in the Civil war, as a member of
Company B, Fifth Regiment Vermont Volunteer
Infantry His death occurred in 1867, being
survived until 1873 by his wife, formerly
Adelaide Gullev, a native of Addison, Vt., and
daughter of Erasmus Gulley, a farmer.

The only child of his parents, Ira Ezra Mills
was orphaned at the age of six years. He was
reared on the home farm and received a pre-
liminary education in the district school, after
which he completed the course by two terms at
Beeman Academy. In July, 1888, he came to
California and in Los Angeles secured a position
as conductor on the Central avenue street-car
line. He remained in this work for two years,
when he came to Crafton November 14, 1890,
and began horticultural pursuits the same year.
He purchased the property which he now, owns
located at the corner of Fourth avenue and E
street, then raw land, began improvements, and
set out an orange grove and since that time has
devoted himself to that interest. He has finely
improved his place by the building of a fine
residence, cement flumes, barns and outbuildings,
and in the meantime has also become the owner
of twenty acres devoted to navel and Valencia
oranges, located at E and Citrus streets, also
five acres corner of Crafton street and Highland
avenue. He has demonstrated his ability in this
work and has set out about forty acres of orange
groves for others in this section.

In Crafton, January 31, 189^, Mr. Mills was
united in marriage with ^iliss Jennie Johnson,

1430

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a native of California, whose birth occurred in
Port Harford, San Louis Obispo county. She
was the eldest of four children born to her
parents, N. A. and Kittie (Upchurch) Johnson,
.the others being Nathan R., ilabel and Charles
J. Her father was a native of New York from
which state he enlisted in Sixteenth Battery New
York Artillery, for service in the Civil war. His
father, Solomon Johnson, was born in Greene,
N. Y., a son of Barent, whose ancestors, Hol-
landers, had made their home in New Jersey,
emigrating: thither about the year 1700. Solomon
Johnson became a farmer in Greene, Chenangc;
county, where his death eventually occurred.
He married Hannah Jane Reynolds, a native
of New York, where her death also occurred.
Nathan A. was their only child, his birth oc-
curring March 11, 1845. He was reared on the
home farm and educated in the district school.
He volunteered in 1862 and served in Virginia
and North Carolina, for the greater part of the
time acting as clerk of the battery. After the
close of the war he was mustered out at El-
mira, N. Y., in July, 1865, after which he at-
tended school during the following winter, and
then going to Omaha, Neb., joined a govern-
ment expedition to lay out a direct road from
Sioux City, Iowa, to Virginia City, Mont.,
whence he came on to San Francisco via Port-
land. In old Sonoma he engaged at farm work
until 1868. when he came to San Luis Obispo
county and there followed general farming and
stock-raising for about twenty years, and for a
number of years managed a lumber 3'ard in Port
Harford. Removing to Palm Springs, San
Bernardino county, in 1888, he spent one winter
there, and then came to Crafton, where he set
out an orange grove at the corner of Citrus
avenue and Crafton. He then sold and pur-
chased his present property which is all in navel
oranges. He is a member of the Crafton Orange
Growers' Association and is director in same,
is a member of the Redlands Board of Trade,
and active in the advancement of his adopted
city. Fraternally he was made a Mason in Paso
Robles and is now identified with Redlands
Lodge No. 300, F. & A. M. Politically he is
a stanch Republican. He was married in San
Luis Obispo county to Miss Kittie Upchurch,
who was born August 30, 1853, near Nevada
City. Cal., while her parents were en route to
California over the old wagon road across the
plains, and was reared in Napa county. Her
father, Richard D. Upchurch, was a native of
Nortli Carolina, and his ancestors were active
participants in the Revolutionary war, being en-
gaged in most of the skirmishes and battles
which were fought in the southern states.

]\Tr. and Mrs. Mills became the parents of the
followina: children : Ravmond, Karl, Herbert,

Maude, Frank and May. Mr. Mills is a director,
president and manager of the Crafton Orange
Growers' Association, of which he was one of
the organizers, and in the building of the pack-
ing house of this concern was one of the most
potent factors. He is also interested in the
Crafton Water Company, is a member of the
Redlands Board of Trade, and for years has
served as a member of the Board of Education
of the Redlands district. Politically he is a
stanch Democrat and is an ex-member of the
County Central Committee. Fraternally he is
identified with the Benevolent Protective Order
of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America,
while his wife is associated with the Order of
Eastern Star, Ladies of the Maccabees and the
Women's Relief Corps. Mr. Mills is a thor-
oughly liberal and enterprising citizen, public-
spirited and progressive, actively interested in
the development and upbuilding of Southern
California.

BERNARDO FELIPE ROWLAND. Three
generations of the Rowland family have contrib-
uted to the well-being and upbuilding of South-
ern California, the first of the name to locate
here being the grandfather, John Rowland. An
Englishman by birth and training, he learned
the miller's trade in his native country and fol-
lowed it there some time before coming to Amer-
ica. On coming to the new world he went direct
to Taos, Mexico, where he engaged in mill-
wrighting and also in the milling business until
1840, when he came to California. Locating at
Puente, Los Angeles county, he erected the first
mill in this entire section of country, and man-
ufactured all of the flour used in the country
round about for many miles. In partnership with
]\Ir. ^^'orkman he bought La Puente rancho,
which consisted of forty-eight thousand acres,
upon which for years they were associated in
raising stock, making a specialty of horses and
cattle. Mr. Rowland was also the first one to
erect a brick building in this countr\-, this being
his own residence, which was completed in 1855,
and is now the property of J. W. Hudson, of
Puente. The death of John Rowland in Puente
at the age of eighty-two years removed from the
community one whose influence had been far-
reaching and invaluable to both county and state.
No less influential and notable was the son of
this old settler. Thomas Rowland, who was born
in Taos, Mexico, in 1838, and was a child of only
two years when brought by his parents to Los
Angeles county in 1840. He too became a large
land owner, at the time of his death owning
twenty-four hundred and thirty-nine acres on
La Puente rancho, one of the most valuable and
remunerative stock ranches in Southern Califor-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD,

1431

nia. Like his father he was a broad-minded and
influential citizen, entering heart and soul into
any enterprise whose object was toward the bet-
terment of conditions or that would uplift or
assist his fellowman. This latter characteristic
was nowhere more distinctly brought out than
in the enthusiasm he displayed along educational
lines. He not only built up the Rowland school,
but was an important factor in the erection and
maintenance of the schools at Lemon and also
the one at Puente mill. He was indeed a valua-
ble citizen in his community, and his death in
1900, at the age of sixty-three, was mourned as
a public loss. Politically he was a believer in
Democratic principles. His wife was before her
marriage Senobia Yorba, who was born in Yorba,
Orange county, Cal., the daughter of Bernardo
Yorba, a native of Castile, Spain. He was the
owner of the well-known Yorba rancho in the
vicinity of Fullerton, and there his death oc-
curred. Mrs. Rowland passed away at the com-
paratively early age of forty-nine years, in 1892.
Eleven children were born to this worthy couple,
all of whom are still living, those besides Ber-
nard Felipe being as follows : Samuel P., a
rancher at Puente; Thomas, who is engaged in
the butcher business in Los Angeles ; Fidel, an
engineer in Puente ; Aurelia, Mrs. Vejar, of
Pomona : Ernest, David and Alejandro, all of
whom are farmers near Puente ; Albertina, who
also resides in Puente ; Alesandro, an engineer
in Los Angeles ; and John B., who is a resident
of the city of Mexico.

Bernardo F. Rowland was born on the parental
homestead in Los Angeles county, May 19, 1864,
and was reared to a practical knowledge of
farm duties. He was educated in the Rowland
school, which was named in honor of his father,
who gave three-quarters of an acre from his
ranch for the school site. Subsequently he
matriculated in St. Vincent's College, in Los
Angeles, and after his graduation therefrom re-
turned to the home locality and took up farming
and stock-raising. His grandfather had been the
pioneer miller in this part of the country, and
his father bore the distinction of building the
first school house, but it was left for him to sink
the first deep well in the valley. His initial
venture in this line was in 1898, at which time
he sunk the well at the east end of his ranch.
This well has a depth of two hundred and fifty
feet, the water being pumped by means of a
forty horse-power gas engine. From this pump-
ing plant water is furnished to about four him-
dred acres of the Rowland tract, besides which
the Rowland ditch, which is under the manage-
ment of the Puete Irrigation Association, waters
about two hundred acres of the ranch. The
pumping plant is owned by the Thomas Rowland
heirs, after whose death his son Bernardo, who

was administrator of the estate, apportioned the
ranch among the children. The family also own
a stock ranch of six hundred and sixteen acres
in the hills. Mr. Rowland's portion of the old
homestead lies on Walnut street, where he has
ten acres in walnuts, besides thirty acres at the
pumping plants also in walnuts. To him be-
longs the distinction of setting out the first straw-
berries in the valley, a fruit which up to that time
had not been grown successfully outside of
Tropico and Gardena. He has made a careful
study of this particular fruit and can now pro-
duce a better quality than is obtainable in either
of the aforementioned cities. In consequence
his trade in this commodity has grown to large
proportions, his entire crop of strawberries being
marketed in Pomona, Riverside and Colton. He
also owns an eight acre rancR south of the rail-
road which is also in strawberries and walnuts.

In Los Angeles Mr. Rowland was married to
Miss Caroline Sanchez, who is a native of the
same city. Fraternally he is a member of the
Modern Woodmen of America and the Independ-
ent Order of Foresters, and politically he is a
Democrat, and at one time was a member of the
county central committee of his party. Like
his father he is deeply interested in educational
aflfairs, and has done much to continue the good
work inaugurated by his father. At this writing
he is school trustee and clerk of the board of
Rowland district. Throughout this part of the
state there is probably no other one family that
has contributed more largely to its well-being
than have the Rowlands, grandfather, father and
son, the accomplishments of the latter comparing
favorably with either of his predecessors. He
is a man of pleasing personality, which is equal
to saying that he is popular and well liked by all
who are fortunate enousrh to know him.

REUBEN W. HILL, M. D.. was born No-
vember 2^, 1845, in Arlington, Bennington
county, Vt., the native state of both his father,
Abner Hill, and his mother, who before her mar-
riage was Marian Webb. There were eight chil-
dren born to them, three of whom still survive, a
son and daughter who are residents of the east,
and Reuben W., of Carpinteria. The father died
in Salem, N. Y., at sixty years of age, the mother
having died at the early age of thirty-eight years.
The elder Hill was a Whig in politics, was cap-
tain of the militia company and lived as a neigh-
bor to Ethan Allen at one time. Reuben W. Hill
received his early education in the schools at
Salem, after which he attended the Salem Wash-
ington Academy for his preparatory work and
received his medical degree from Belleview Hos-
pital Medical College. His determination to
thoroughly prepare himself for his profession in-

1432

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

duced him- to spend ten years for that purpose,
and his later success as a practitioner is due to
his thorough knowledge of the medical science.

In 1876 Dr. Hill located in Santa Barbara
county, practicing here for two years, then went
to Ventura, where he remained nineteen years,
building up in that time a large and lucrative
practice. His fine education, as well as profes-
sional ability, enabled him to gain the entire con-
fidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, who re-
gretted their own loss when he retired from the
greater part of his extensive practice and re-
sponded only to local calls. He is broad minded
and liberal in policy, a Republican in politics,
and has been honored with the office of coroner
in A'entura county and county physician in Santa
Barbara county, and is clerk of the Punta Gorda
district school board. In the line of his profes-
sion he is a member of the Santa Barbara Med-
ical Society and fraternally he serves as master
workman of the lodge of the Ancient Order of
United Workman, and is a member of Ihe Mas-
onic Lodge at Ventura.

The fifty-acre ranch upon which Dr. Hill lives
was purchased in 1889. and while he has raised
some large harvests of grain, the principal crop
is fruit. There are oil prospects upon the land,
however, and it is his intention to begin oper-
ations on an oil well which he says will be at
least three thousand feet deep, as the deposits
are admittedly very deep. He considers the pros-
pects very bright for a strong flow of oil of a
high grade, as the oil already found is of the
twenty gravity grade.

In 1875 Dr. Hill was married to Mary C.
Gutierrez, a member of the Catholic Church, and
a native of Santa Barbara city. Twelve children
were born to them : Louis, who married Alice
Henry and has two children : Ruby, the wife of
B. O. Clark, of Berkeley ; Benigno, who married
Juanita Hayes ; Edwin, who married Bertha
West ; Jessie, Carmelita, James, Isolina, Grace,
Abner, Newton and Emmet.

WILLI A]\I C. CAMPBELL. The pioneer
life has held great attractions for William C.
Campbell, the larger portion of whose career
has been spent among the primitive surround-
ings of a beginning civilization, his retirement
at the present writmg on the fruits of personal
labor placing him among the honored and rep-
resentative citizens of the beautiful little town
of Whittier. Born in Huron, AVayne county.
N. Y.. July 26. i8.^g, he is a son of William
C. and Silence (Demmon) Campbell, both
natives of Vermont and representatives of old
and honored New England families. His par-
ents moved to New York in their voung mar-
ried life, and later to Wisconsin, the death of

the father occurring in Iowa, his last home,
at the age of sixty-three years. The mother
died after coming to California, when seventy-
four years old. Paternal ancestors were rep-
resented in the Revolutionary war, while
various members of the family were active in
the public aft'airs of their native state.

When five years old William C. Campbell
accompanied his parents to AVisconsin, where
in the vicinity of Mihvaukee they spent three
years, thence located in Washington county
for a time, and then removed to Sheboygan
Falls, in the public schools of which Mr.
Campbell received his education, studying in
the common schools and with a private tutor.
After completing his normal education he be-
gan the study of medicine but because of his
father's wishes gave it up and returned home,
where he assisted in the cultivation and im-
provement of his parent's farm, which con-
sisted of one hundred and sixty acres devoted
to general farming and also a well equipped
dairy. The fatiier finally disposed of this in-
terest and moved into Dickinson county, Iowa,
about six miles from Spirit Lake, and there
their home remained for thirteen years. Mr.
Campbell then located in Mitchell county,
Kans., and during the fourteen years of his
residence there accumulated large properties,
owning one thousand acres of land, and still
retaining the six hundred and forty acres of
land he owned in Iowa.

His health becoming impaired by the rigor-
ous climate and hardships of the frontier, Mr.
Campbell decided to seek a milder climate and
accordingly came to California and in Santa
Ana, Orange county, purchased ' a grain
ranch upon which he now makes his home.
when he came to Los Angeles county and in
the vicinity of Whittier bought the five-acre
ranch upon which he now makes his home.
This is devoted to walnuts and is well im-
proved in everv way. His home is presided
over by his wife, formerly Miss Jeanette Pat-
terson, a native of New York, whom he mar-
ried in 1863. They became the parents of the
following children : George AV. ; Erank : Net-
tie, wife of Plarry Covell ; Minnie, wife of
John AVright : Lillie. wife of A. N. Jackson,
of Whittie'r; Herbert; Sylvia. In his pohtical
convictions Mr. Campbell is a stanch Repub-
lican, and fraternally has been identified with
the Imlependent Order of Odd Fellows. His
wife is a member of the Holiness Church.
During his residence on the Kansas frontier
Mr. Campbell found himself called upon to
use his knowledge of medicine in an attend-
ance of those families who were so far re-
moved from medical aid that it was almost
impossible to secure a physician in time of

£/C(M, *^^c:cu/

'\

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1435

need. The success he achieved in this desul-
tory practice was such as to demonstrate the
ability he possessed in this line, which would,
no doubt, if perfected by study and research,
have placed his name among the prominent
physicians of the country. Personally he is
such a man as to win and hold the confidence
and friendship of those with whom he comes
in contact, either business or social affairs,
and it is by reason of these qualities that he
IS today ranked among the representative
citizens of this section.

JEAN CAZAUX. Among the many settlers
of Southern California who came from France,
there is none that came of a more distinguished
family than the subject of this sketch, whose
family is one of the oldest of the nobility of
France, who have held important military and
political positions under the government. His
father was Guilliame Cazaux, an extensive
farmer, who for many years served as mayor
of Cier de Riviere in Haute-Garonne. His wife
was formerly Jeanne Maubie and both were
highly esteemed and led useful and apprecia-
tive lives. They were the parents of thirteen
children, ten of whom grew up, namely: Piar-
etta, Jules, Firman, Omer, Osmin and Jeanne,
all of whom died in France ; Marie resides in
France ; Auguste in the City of Mexico, and
Serine and Jean in California. The brother
Osmin was a very prominent man in the city
of Cier de Riviere, where he served as mayor
and was consul-general de la Haute-Garonne,
and chevalier de la Legion dHonneaux.

Mr. Cazaux was born in Cier de Riviere,
September ig, 183Q, where his childhood was
spent and where he received his education in
the public schools. In 1868 he left Havre, his
destination being California, coming via New
York and Panama to San Francisco, thence by
steamer to San Pedro, where he took a stage
for Los Angeles. After working for Jean Sen-
tous for three months, he began the dairy busi-
ness, which he continued successfully for
about twenty years at the following places :
JefTerson street between San Pedro and South
Main, Agricultural Park, Elysian Park, Hyde
Park and Westlake Park. In 1870 he pur-
chased the present place where he is now en-
gaged in farming and viticulture. Also owns
eighty acres near Aston, Cal., nineteen acres
in the city of Hollywood, house and lot on
Belmont avenue, Los Angeles, a house and lot
in Sherman, three acres on Western avenue
and two acres on Melrose and Hartford
streets, Los Angeles, The farm is fifty-seven
acres located on Gower and Melrose street just

south of Hollywood and the growth of the city
has now made it very valuable.

The marriage of Mr. Cazaux occurred in
Los Angeles November 23, 1876, uniting him
with Celestine Sentous, who was born in
Hous, Haute-Garonne, France, a daughter of
P'rancisco and Maria (Fadeiulle) Sentous and
came to Los Angeles in 1874. They have four
children : Guilliame, Jennie, Blanche and Vic-
tor. The latter is attending St. Gaudens Col-
lege, France, class of 1907.

Mr. Cazaux has always been a Republi-
can, but never sought office. He has helped
to develop and improve the farm lands of
Southern California, has been a hard worker,
ever ready to help build up the country of his
adoption and of which he became a citizen as
soon as possible after his arrival. Mrs. Cazaux
is a most excellent wife and has been the help-
meet of her husband in the caring for and up-
building of their home.

JACOB H. BATES. A thorough-going hor-
ticulturist, well skilled in the art and science of
fruit growing, Jacob H. Bates, of Fernando, is
actively identified with one of the leading indus-
tries of Los Angeles county, and as an orchardist
is meeting with eminent success. His home es-
tate, bordering on Griswold and Fifth streets,
compares favorably in regard to its improve-
ments with any in the vicinity, his residence and
other farm buildings being models of comfort
and convenience, with their attractive surround-
ings evincing the thrift and prosperity of the
owner. He comes of substantial New England
ancestry, and was born, March 4, 1837, in Con-
necticut, where he lived until four years of age.

Accompanying his parents to Western New
York in 1841, Jacob H. Bates lived there six
years, when, in 1847, the family removed to
Whiteside county. 111. From that time until at-
taining his majority he resided in Illinois, either
in Whiteside or Henry county, obtaining a
practical common school education, and becom-
ing proficient at the carpenter's trade. Leaving
Illinois about 1858, he followed his trade in Ne-
braska until the fall of 1861, when he enlisted in
Company I, Second Kansas Cavalry, as a private,
and was assigned to the Department of the Miss-
issippi. He took part in many engagements,
serving the gFeater part of the time in Kentucky,
Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri and Alabama.
He was slightly wounded in one battle, his old
Colt's revolver being struck by a bullet which
knocked off the sight, the latter flying up and
hitting Mr. Bates on the left cheek. September
21), 1865, Mr. Bates was honorably discharged
from the army, having served from November
II, 1 861, until that date.

U36

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Locating then in Nebraska, Mr. Bates was
there employed in general farming for a number
of years. In 1880 he moved to Kansas, where
he continued as a farmer for six years. Decid-
ing then upon a complete change, he came to
California, ' locating in San Jacinto, where he
purchased land that was in its original wildness,
on which he made good improvements, building
a house, setting out trees, and placing the major
part of the remainder in a tillable condition. He
met with success in his agricultural operations
while there, and as a carpenter carried on a sub-
stantial business. Disposing of his interests in
Riverside county in 1894, he came to Fernando
to reside. Purchasing ten acres of land he set
out a grove of orange trees, and in two years
from that time he bought seven acres lying on
the opposite side of the street, and this he de-
voted to oranges, having one of the finest im-
proved and best-bearing orchards in this part of
the county. He sold the greater part of his
ranch in June, 1906, retaining only three and one-
half acres.

August 8, 1865, in Nebraska, Mr. Bates mar-
ried Rebecca Matilda Hobson, a daughter of
Stephen B. and Mary A. Hobson, who came to
Fernando in 1894, and here spent the remainder
of their lives. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs.
Bates, six children were born, two of whom are
living, namely : George W., a clerk in the
Maclay store, who married Dolly Cressap ; and
Carrie L., the wife of Elmer Boaz, a policeman
in Los Angeles, and they have three children,
Muriel, Gilbert and Eveline. Politically Mr.
Bates is a Prohibitionist ; fraternally he is a mem-
ber of N. P. Banks Post- No. 170, G. A. R., of
Tropico, Cal., and religiously he belongs to the
Metliodist Episcopal Church, with which he
united many years ago.

JOHN OLIVER JENIFER. A man of much
enterprise and ability, John Oliver Jenifer is ac-
tively identified with the agricultural advance-
ment of Fernando, being prosperously engaged
in general farming. Distinguished as a native-
born citizen of California, his birth occurred May
14, 1870, at Hueneme, \"entura county. His
father, the late John M. Jenifer, for several years
engaged in the livery business, died at his home
in Fernando, October 14, 1904, his body being
laid to rest in Morning Side Cemetery. His wife
survives him and is living in Fernando.

A boy of seven vears when he came with his
parents to Fernando, John Oliver Jenifer was
here educated, attending the public schools. Be-
ginning life for himself when a young man, he
was employed in teaming and ranching until the
death of his father, in 1904, when he succeeded
to the latter's business, becoming proprietor of

the Buckhorn Livery and Feed Stable, which he
conducted with characteristic forethought and
energy until disposing of it. Besides owning
property in the village he is engaged in agricul-
tural pursuits, renting a ranch in this vicinity.

In 1897, in Fernando, Mr. Jenifer married
Beulah Harps, a daughter of Jacob Harps, of
whom a brief sketch may be found on another
page of this volume, and they have two children,
Clarence and Ida. Politically Mr. Jenifer is Dem-
ocratic in his views. Fraternally he is a member
of Fernando Lodge, I. O. O. F., and was one of
the charter members of San Fernando Lodge,
M. W. A., which has since been transferred to
Los Angeles. He attends the First Presbyterian
Church, of which Mrs. Jenifer is a member.

J. ALEC GATE. A native Californian and one
imbued with the progressive and enterprising
spirit which has distinguished the advancement
of the state in the past half century, J. Alec Cate
is engaged in the management and improvement
of the ranch where he was born, June 15, 1880.
His father, Daniel W. Cate, was a native of Illi-
nois, born in Ouincy, September i, 1856, there
reared to the age of seven years, when he was
brought to California in 1864 by his parents,
James W. and Eliza (Henderson) Cate, natives
respectively of New Hampshire and Indiana.
The elder man died in 1900 at the age of seventy-
three years, while his wife still survives at the
age of seventy-nine. He was a stanch Democrat
politically, and in religion a member of the
^Methodist Episcopal Church South, to which de-
nomination his wife also belonged. Daniel W.
Cate was reared on this ranch in the .vincinity
of Rivera, and educated in the district schools,
and after attaining his majority he engaged in
ranching for himself, leasing his father's land
of one hundred and fifty acres. Of this prop-
erty eighteen acres were in walnuts and the bal-
ance in general farm products. He married in
1879 Miss Emma Pierce, a native of Texas, who
was brought to the state of California at the age
of one year. Five children blessed their union :
J. Alec Cate, of this review : Harlan, who mar-
ried ]\Iaud Gilman ; Earle ; Glenn : and Dean.
A[r. Cate is independent in his political views;
in religion he is a member of the iMethodist
Episcopal Church South. He served as school
trustee for a number of years, and is a director
of the Cate Ditch Company.

Reared on the paternal ranch, J. Alec Cate
received his preliminary education in the public
schools, after which he attended ^^^oodbury
Business College in Los Angeles. Returning to
the ranch, he made his home with his parents
until his marriage, which took place in January,
1906, and united him with Miss Laura Graham.

HISTORKIVL, AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1437

She is also a native of the slate, born in Los
Nietos, a daughter of Thomas Graham, an early
settler of this section of Los Angeles county,
now deceased, her mother still living. Mr. Gate
owns this ranch of sixteen acres upon which he
lias erected a fine cottage and made many other
improvements, setting out walnut trees and de-
voting the remainder of the land to gardening.
He is a member of the Independent Order of
Good Templars, and is chief Templar of South-
ern California; in his political views, like his
father, he reserves the right to cast his ballot
accordingly to his own convictions of the possibili-
ties of the candidate.

J\IRS. MARCELLINA BERNASCONI.
Among the many notable things which attract
the attention of those who travel in California
is the large number of women who are display-
ing their great business ability as managers of
important business enterprises throughout the
state. One of the most successful of these is
Mrs. Marcellina Bernasconi, whose ranch of two
hundred and eighty-four and one-eighth acres,
which was formerly a part of one of the Mexi-
can grants, is supplemented by three hundred
acres of rented land, and who conducts the
Southern hotel at Ferris, where she now lives
in order that her children may receive the ad-
vantages of the schools there. She was born at
Tessin, Switzerland, the daughter of Jack and
Marianna Ossi, her father also being a native
of that land, where he died November, 1904,
at the age of eighty-five years. There were
sixteen children in the family the most of whom
came to the L-nited States and reside here.
Among them we name : Ponpeo Orsi, of Santa
Cruz ; Jack, a large wholesale paint dealer of
San Francisco ; Felix, who was a painter in New
York City, and was killed by accident in 1876,
at the age of twenty-four years ; John, a stock-
man of Ferris ; Daniel and Teodolinda, residing
in Faris, France ; Eliseo, living at San Francis-
co; Felicita, who became the wife of Mr. Bacelli,
and died November 12, 1888. at the age of twen-
ty-six years; Mary, who lives at Eldorado;
Carolina, Virginia and Amalia still in Switzer-
land; and Marcellina, who is now Mrs. Bernas-
coni. At the age of ten years Mrs. Bernasconi
was by death deprived of a mother's loving care
and at the age of eighteen, being of an energetic
and ambitious nature, she came to the United
States, arriving in New York City in 1877. She
remained there for a year and a half and then
removed to the Pacific coast, making her home
in San Francisco during the following four years.

Her marriage to Bernardo Bernasconi, who
was born in Switzerland, and came to America
in 187T, occurred at San Francisco, September

I, 1883, and three weeks later her husband
brought her to Ferris, where he was engaged in
ranching near Lakeview, and which enterprise
he now conducts. The premises connected with
it have a great historic interest, for when she
first built the house there was a four-acre plot
surrounding it enclosed by an adobe wall, the
place having formerly been called Corral Pilares
and being used in the early days by the people
at San Luis Rey and San Juan Capistrano mis-
sions as a place in which to brand their stock.
In 1888 Mrs. Bernasconi built the Southern hotel
at Ferris. Since 1903 she has lived in Ferris
and had charge of the hotel which she manages
with flattering success. She is a woman of en-
ergy and good business tact and ability. While
Mrs. Bernasconi conducts the hotel Mr. Bern-
asconi is engaged in the management of the
ranch on which large crops of grain are raised,
they owning a third interest in one of those
wonderful thirty-two horse-power combined har-
vesters and threshers. They have a family of
six children of whom they are justly proud :
Matilda, wife of Virgil Roberts, who lives on
the home ranch ; Felicita, Joseph, Stella and
Ernest, all residing at home ; and Edith whose
death occurred in igoo at the age of nine years.
Mrs. Bernasconi is also the proud grandmother
of her only grandchild Dorothy Helen Roberts,
who was born September 25, 1906. jNIrs. Ber-
nasconi is a member of the Catholic Giurch.

HOWARD C. BURMISTER. Throughout
Southern California and Central Arizona the
name of Burmister is synonymous w^th thrift
and prosperity, in mercantile circles especially
standing pre-eminent, H. C. Burmister being
one of the foremost grocers in Ocean Park, Los
Angeles county, while his father, R. H. Burmis-
ter, has been for upwards of thirty years a prom-
inent merchant in Frescott, Ariz., which is the
central trading point for a large territory.

After his marriage with Margaret Bashford,
R. H. Burmister was for a few years engaged in
business at San Diego, Gal. Deciding, how-
ever, to change his field of operations, he left
that city in 1871, going by boat up the Colorado
river to Needles, thence by teams to Frescott,
Ariz., where in partnership with his wife's un-
cle, the late Levi Bashford, he embarked in mer-
cantile pursuits. Enterprising and progressive,
he built up an extensive trade, both retail and
wholesale, and is still carrying it on, being one
of the best-known and most highly respected
merchants of that locality.

Born in Frescott, Ariz., Howard C. Burmister
was educated principally in California, attending
a preparatory school in San ^Mateo, and after-
wards entering Leland Stanford. Jr., University,

1438

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

from which he was graduated in 1899, having
taken the full course in the department of mines.
After his graduation he entered his father's
store, remaining there until he had mastered the
details of its management. Leaving Prescott in
the spring of 1905, he located in Ocean Park,
and on March i of that year opened the largest,
best equipped and most up-to-date grocery in this
section of the county. It is furnished with all
the modern improvements and conveniences
known to the trade, its furnishings being unique,
its mode of shelving entirely new, the store in
all of its details comparing favorably with any
like establishment in the state. Carrying a com-
plete assortment of anything and everything in
this line of merchandise, he has won an excellent
patronage since he has been in Ocean Park, and
is meeting with great success. Energetic, pro-
gressive, of honest, upright character, he is
highely esteemed, and is fast winning for him-
self an enviable reputation in both social and
business affairs.

In San Francisco, September 19, 1900, Mr.
Burmister married Virginia Breeden, daughter
of H. C. Breeden, a prominent business man in
Portland, Ore., and they have one daughter, Vir-
ginia Margaret. Politically Mr. Burmister is a
sound Republican; he belongs to the Sigma Nu
fraternitv of the Leland Stanford, Jr., Univer-
sity.

HOWARD B. SMITH. The financial in-
terests of Colton, as represented by varying
commercial, professional and railroad activities,
furnish to the First National Bank of the town
an abundant field for the building up of an ex-
tensive and increasing banking business, and
give to the towns-people an advantageous op-
portunity for the safe deposit of their funds.
The history of the bank dates back to the year
1886, when it was organized by J. W. Davis,
Sr., and J. W. Davis, Jr., both of whom are
now deceased. From the start the institution
has enjoyed the confidence of the people,
its conservatism in investments and the wise
judgment of its officials having given it a
place of importance among similiar concerns.
With a capital stock of $50,000, the bank
transacts a general banking, loan and ex-
change business- . and still shows the same cau-
tion and prudence in investments and the same
dislike for speculation that characterized earlier
officers. The board of directors comprises the
following gentlemen : Edward D. Roberts. M.
A. Hebbard, W. W. Wilcox, J. E. Davis of Red-
lands, and Howard B. Smith, while the officers
at this writing are: Edward D. Roberts, presi-
dent; Howard B. Smith, vice-president; and C.
W. Curtis, cashier.

The vice-president of the bank, who has been
connected with the institution from a period very
shortly after its organization, is a native of Wis-
consin and was born at Sparta, that state, in 1863.
The family came from the east, his father,
Robert, having been born and reared in New
York, but ultimately removing to Wisconsin,
where he became a prosperous farmer. The
early education of Howard B. Smith was ob-
tained in common schools and later he matricu-
lated in the Wisconsin State University at ;\Iadi-
son, from which he was graduated with the class
of 1885. Immediately after his graduation he
left home to make his own way in the world
and came direct to California, where he secured
employment in a short time as bookkeeper with
the First National Bank of Colton. In 1888
he was promoted to be cashier and continued
in that capacity until 1905, when he was elected
vice-president of the bank. Besides his con-
nection with this institution he owns stock in
the San Bernardino County Savings Bank and
the San Bernardino National Bank, and is a
member of the board of directors of the latter
institution.

Remaining a bachelor for some years after
coming to California, Mr. Smith in 1890 married
Miss Virginia, daughter of J. A. Van Arsdale,
a prominent citizen of Colton, where she was
reared and educated. Born of their union were
two sons, Robert L. and Howard V. Fraternally
Mr. Smith holds membership with Ashland
Lodge No. 306, F. & A. M. ; Keystone Chapter
R. A. M. ; St. Bernard Commandery, K. T.,
and Los Angeles Consistory, and in the phi-
lanthropies of these various degrees he has main-
tained a keen and continued interest through all
the period of his association with them. At no
time has he displayed a spirit of partisanship.
Indeed, he is not a politician in any sense in
which that word may be used. His opinions are
not moulded by either of the two great political
organizations, but he maintains an independence
of" opinion and party allegiance. While refus-
ing to take part in politics, he is public-spirited
in his support of worthy measures for the benefit
of the town, and is recognized as one of the
most progressive citizens of Colton.

JAMES THOMAS MARTIN. Prominent in
public affairs in San Pedro, James Thomas
Martin is justly entitled to the position of re-
spect and esteem which he holds in this place
as one of the foremost and enterprising citizens
and a promoter of all worthy projects. Mr.
Martin is a native of Cornwall, England, his
birth having occurred near Plymouth, October
18, 1858. His father, William Martin, was also
a native of that locality, where he engaged as

^..^*^te^.*;5;^,xC

HJSTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1441

a carpenter and builder until his death. He mar-
ried Mar_v Benney, also born .in Corwall, and
she survives her husband, still making her home
in the vicinity of Plymouth. Six of her eight
children are living, a son, Lewis, being located
in San Pedro, where also a daughter, Mrs. Pid-
well, made her home until her death.

The eighth in order of birth in the family of
his parents, James Thomas Martin was reared
to young manhood in his native country, re-
ceiving his education through the medium of
the common schools. He learned the trade of
carpenter and engaged in the prosecution of the
same. In 1883 he married Elizabeth Cosmer,
who was born in St. Clear's Parish, England, and
in the same year migrated to America, where in
Tombstone, Ariz., he followed his trade. He re-
mained in that location for four years, when, in
1887, he came to California and in San Pedro
entered the employ of the Wilmington Trans-
portation Company, with whom he remained suc-
cessfully engaged for six or seven years. Fol-
lowins: this connection he became associated with
the Ganahl Lumber Company, and in 1897 with
the San Pedro Lumber Company, with whom he
has since remained as order clerk. He has pros-
pered in his work and won a place among the
enterprising citizens of San Pedro. He owns
a home on Sixteenth street, near Palos Verdes,
where his family are located, two children hav-
ing blessed the union of himself and wife:
Marian A. and William J. C. ]\Ir. ]\Iartin is
charter member of the first Methodist Episcopal
Church of San Pedro, in which he officiates as
a member nf tlie Board of Trustees, treasurer
and steward. He has been a member of this
denomination since he was seventeen years old,
having united in England, and in San Pedro has
taken a most prominent part in the work, serv-
ing on the building committee and on others
equally important. In his political convictions
he endorses the principles of the Republican
party, but advocates prohibition. For four
vears he served as school trustee and was clerk
of the board, the Sixteenth street school being
built during his term of service. In 1896 he
was appointed a member of the city council to
fill an unexpired term and in April, 1902, was
elected to the position, where he is a factor in
the Building and Land Committee, and Light
Committee. He is a man of energy, ability and
strong principles and as such commands the re-
spect of all who know him either socially or in
a business wav.

ROBERT W. DAWSON. Attracted to the
Pacific coast by the manifold advantages this
section of the country offers to its residents,
Mr. Dawson has made his home in California

since 1894 and after an experience of eight
years as a rancher he relinquished agricultural
cares in order to enjoy the rest his years per-
mitted. However, being a man of active tem-
perament, he is not satisfied to join the ranks
of retired citizens, and accordingly we find him
conducting a real-estate business as a member
of the firm of Dawson & Sherman at Long
Beach, where he erected and now occupies the
residence at No. 445 Pacific avenue. In addi-
tion he built two other dwelling houses and
owns other lots in the town, his investment in
real estate proving the faith wdiich he holds in
the future of the thriving town where he
makes his home.

Of English birth and ancestry, Mr. Dawson
was born in Lancashire, November 3, 1833,
and at ten years of age accompanied his pa-
rents to the United States, settling in New
England, where he was educated in the schools
of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Eor ten
years he made his home near the city of Hart-
ford. In 1857 he became interested in photog-
raphy, which for years he made his principal
occupation and in which he acquired a skill
that made his name the synonym of local suc-
cess in his art. During the year i860 he be-
came a photographer in the city of Elgin, 111.,
where he conducted a studio for seven years,
and then removed tq Blair, Washington coun-
ty. Neb., where he carried on a photographic
establishment. Tlie year 1878 found him a resi-
dent of Little Rock, Ark., where he conducted
V. studio and gained a reputation for skill in
his chosen art. After a long career in photog-
raphy in 1892 he sold out and returned to Ne-
braska, where he lived at Blair for a short
time. Meanwhile, having heard much con-
cerning the climate of California, he decided
to remove to the coast, and in 1894 he settled
on a nine-acre tract one and one-half miles
east of Long Beach, removing from there into
the town, where six months later he opened
the real estate office of R. W. .Dawson & Co.
For a time he conducted business alone, but
since then he has had three different partners,
and with each he has made a specialty of the
sale of real estate and the renting of houses
and other properties.

In the early years of manhood Mr. Dawson
married Miss Lucy Freeman of Wisconsin,
and they became the parents of four children,
two living, viz.: Nelson, of Texas; and Clara,
living in Little Rock, Ark. The wife and
mother died in Little Rock, and in that city
Mr. Dawson was again married, his wife being
Laura Stillwell, who also died in the same
city. The only child of that union died at the
age of two years. After coming to the west
Mr. Dawson was united in marria,ge with Sue

1442

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

V. Neil, of Los Angeles, who shares with him
the esteem of associates, and with him is an
earnest member of the Christian Church, in
which he holds the office of trustee. In poli-
tics he has voted with the Republican party
ever since its organization and had the dis-
tinction of casting his vote for John C. Fre-
mont.

JOSEPH H. SPECHT is one of the old set-
tlers of the Ojai valley and is a progressive and
successful rancher, who during his long years
of continuous residence in the same community
has made no enemies and is highly spoken of by
all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.
He was born on the high seas March 19, 1856,
while his parents Thomas and Anna (Helcal)
Specht, were journeying across the ocean toward
New York harbor from their home in Germany,
where they were born. L'pon their arrival in this
country they settled in Hamilton county, 111.,
where the father died when the son was only four
years of age. His early education was received in
the common schools of Hamilton county, where he
resided until he had attained the age of twenty
years. The family gained their livelihood on a
farm in Illinois and when Mr. Specht came to
California he resolved to continue in the busi-
ness for which he was best trained and
equipped. He filed on the land in Ventura coun-
ty which is now his home, in due time receiv-
ing his title to it from the government, and now
owning a ranch comprising seventy-eight acres
of as good land as there is in the state, and
which is planted to all kinds of fruit, especially
apricots, prunes and almonds ; another fruit farm
of fifty-four acres is also among his possessions.

Air. Specht is unmarried and his mother
makes her home with him at the present time.
He was her only child by her first marriage, but
she married a second time and to this union
were born four children, three sons and one
daughter. j\lr. Specht is a man with pro-
gressive ideas on all social and economic sub-
jects and is a great reader, his political affilia-
tions being with the Socialist party, in the ten-
ets of which he is an enthusiastic believer.

A. J. SWIFT. Actively identified with the in-
dustrial advancement of Ocean Park is A. J.
Swift, who was until recently one of the pro-
prietors of a general repair shop, but since pur-
chasing his partner's interest has given his at-
tention to following his trade as an electrician.
A son of Barnabas and Amelia (Balcomb) Swift.
he was born, November 7, 1874, in Juniata,
Adams county, Neb.

The descendant of one of the early colonial

settlers of New England, Barnabas Swift was
born in the historic town of Plymouth, Mass.,
not far from the rock on which the Pilgrim
fathers landed in December, 1620. In 1870 he
migrated westward, becoming a pioneer of Ad-
ams county. Neb., where he followed his trade
of a carpenter and builder for a number of
seasons, and was also engaged to some extent
in agricultural pursuits. Coming to California
in 1889, he purchased two lots at Pico Heights,
where he resided for about fifteen years. Since
January, 1905, he has lived retired from life's
activities in Ocean Park.

Brought up and educated in Nebraska, A. J.
Swift came with the family to Los Angeles
county in 1889, and subsequently, in the city of
Los Angeles, learned the trade of an electrician,
which he followed successfully for awhile.
Starting in business for himself, he located at
No. 1040 Main street. Ocean Park in April,
1905, forming a partnership with F. A. Jennings
under the name of the Novelty repair and
electric work. Later Mr. Swift bought out his
partner and has since carried on an extensive
business as an electrician.

Mr. Swift is a young man of great energy,
enterprise and ability, and is held in high regard
in business and social circles. He resides with
his parents, his home being at No. 147 Dwight
street. Politically he casts his vote for the best
men and measures, regardless of party restric-
tions, and fraternally he is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

B.\ZIL T. ROZELLE. Devoting his atten-
tion principally to farming, in which li-e is quite
successful, Bazil T. Rozelle is actively identified
with the agricultural interests of Los Angeles
county, and is contributing his full share towards
advancing and promoting the prosperity of the
community in which he resides. His ranch, ly-
ing near Compton, is well improved and judici-
ously cultivated, constituting one of the model
fanns of the neighborhood. A son of Miles M.
Rozelle, he was born, September 13, 1864, in
Anderson, Ind., and was there reared and edu-
cated. His father, a native of Indiana, married
M. M. Tillson, who was born in Ohio, and they
became the parents of eight children, four of
whom have passed to the life beyond, and four
are living, namely : Bazil T., the subject of this
sketch ; Charles J., of Anderson, Ind. ; Miles A.,
of Compton, Cal, and Chester A., of Anderson,
Ind.

After his graduation from the Anderson, Ind.,
high school, Bazil T. Rozelle took a course in
stenography in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was
subsequently in the employ of the Big Four
Railway Company for four }ears. In 1894 he

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1443

came to Los Angeles county, locating near
Compton, where he has since been prosperously
engaged in general farming, on his finely cul-
tivated ranch of one hundred and fourteen acres
raising large crops of alfalfa.

Previous to coming here, in 1891, Mr. Rozelle
married Edith Owens, a daughter of Dr. Will-
iam Owens, a physician of prominence of Cin-
cinnati. William Owens, j\I. D., was born in
Trumbull county, Ohio, and as a )oung man
traveled extensively, for two years residing in
South America. Returning home, he learned the
cooper's trade, after which he entered, in 1843,
Woodward College, from which he was grad-
uated in 1846, with the degree of M. D. En-
listing in Company E, First Regiment of Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, he served in the Mexican
war, and during the Civil war was a surgeon
in the army. Dr. Owens married Sarah E. Wil-
cox, of Cincinnati, and they have six children.
Politically the doctor is a true blue Republican,
and in religion he is a Unitarian. Of the union
of J\Ir. and Mrs. Rozelle six children have been
born, namely: Walter j\l., William Owens, jMabel,
Raymond F., Elmer D., and Edwin Glen, and
all are natives of California with the exception
of the oldest child, whose birth occurred in Ohio.
Politically Mr. Rozelle sustains the principles of
the Republican party. Religiously he is a Bap-
tist, and Mrs. Rozelle is a Unitarian.

WILLIAM S. SMITH, M. D. Very early
in the colonial history of America representa-
tives of the Smith family crossed the ocean from
Holland to seek the opportunities ofifered by the
new v.-orkl. Several generations lived and died
in Pennsylvania, the majority of them making
Union county the scene of their labors. Dur-
ing the latter half of the nineteenth century
John Smith, who was a native of Union county,
drifted from the home of his ancestors into the
south and settled in San Antonio. Tex. In early
manhood he married Winnifred Taylor, who
was born in Ireland and at the age of two years
accompanied her parents to the United States,
settling in New York City and receiving a com-
mon-school education in its excellent schools.
While they were living at San Antonio their
onlv son, William S.. was born March 11, 1879.
The family came to California in 1885 and settled
at San Diego, but later removed to San Fern-
ando, where the father was stationed in the em-
ploy of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.
Since his death, which occurred in Los .-Xngeles,
the mother has made her home with her son.

While still a mere boy William S. Smith
showed himself to be the possessor of a fine
mind and a keen aptitude for study. .'Kfter he
had completed the studies of tlic San Fernando

high school, graduating with the class of 1898,
he entered the University of Southern Califor-
nia and took the regidar medical course, gradu-
ating from that department in 1902 with the
degree of M. D. The first experience which he
gained as a practicing physician was in Pres-
cott, Ariz., where he built up a growing practice
during the three years of his sojourn there. How-
ever, though enjoying a gratifying share of the
patronage of the people, he found the environ-
ment less satisfactory than in California and in
three years returned to this section. Since then
he has had his office in the Keller block in Santa
Monica, where he is known as a capable rep-
resentative of his profession. His talents seem
to adapt him especially for surgery and he is
making a specialty of that department, although
by no means diminishing his interest in the
regular practice of medicine.

The marriage of Dr. Smith was solemnized in
Los Angeles and united him with Mabel Wilson,
whose father, J. S. Wilson, is a retired citizen
of Santa Alonica, well known to the residents
of the place. As a progressive citizen, it has
been Dr. Smith's policy to keep posted concern-
ing the problems affecting our national welfare
and a careful study of the political situation has
made him a stanch supporter of Republican prin-
ciples, yet he displays no sentiment of narrow
partisanship, but concedes to others the same
privilege of independent thought which he de-
mands for himself. To discharge his duty as a
patriot, to aid in movements promoting the wel-
fare of town, county and state, and to give his
influence toward plans for the benefit of his
fellowmen, this is the measure of responsibility
which he places upon himself and this his ideal
of citizenship.

M. SWEENEY. One of the largest ranches
in Santa Barbara county is owned by M.
Sweeney, a leading dairyman of this section
of the state. He is a native of Ireland, and
was born on his father's farm in 1856. The
father. James Sweeney, and the mother, Mary
(.Sweeney) Sweeney, were both born in Ireland
and lived there until their death, the former at
ihe age of sixty-three years, and the latter at
ihe early age of forty years. Mr. Sweeney was
one of a family of seven children, and was
ten years old when he was left motherless.
He is the only member of the famih' in this
country, two of the children still remaining
on the old homestead in Ireland, and the others
li\ing either in New Zealand or their native
land. The father had during his entire life-
time been engaged in farming and cattle rais-
ing, and the son was from childhood trained to
the work. His education was received in the

1444

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

schools of the Emerald Isle and at the age of
nineteen he decided to immigrate to the United
States and make his foi-tune in the golden land
of promise which ofifers so much opportunity
to the vigorous and industrious young man.
He came directly to California, arriving in
San Francisco, where he remained one year,
and from there came to Lompoc, where he
has since remained. It was necessary for him
to begin at the very bottom of the ladder, and
this fact makes his success all the more flat-
tering, for today he is mdependent in fortune,
is well posted in the stock industry and the
details of the dairy business, and is popular
in the community.

The ranch upon 'which Mr. Sweeney lives
and which he owns comprises ten hundred and
fort)^ acres, eighty acres of which is farm land,
and the remainder is devoted to pasturage for
the three hundred head of cattle and general
stock, including one hundred head of high
grade dairy cows. It is necessary to employ
two additional men to conduct this immense
ranch and keep up its high state of improve-
ment and cultivation. He has been at his
present location for nine years, and in addition
to the other branches mentioned also gives
some attention to the raising of horses.

In the fall of 1877 I\Ir. Sweeney was mar-
ried to Miss Isabell Rogers, a native Cali-
fornian, and to them have been born four chil-
dren: Hugh, now in business with his father;
Sylvia, wdio became the wife of Frank Callis,
of Lompoc; Lena and Vernon. Politically
Mr. Sweeney is a strong believer in the prin-
ciples of the Democratic party, and is a mem-
ber of the Catholic Church at Lompoc.

PHILLIP DOERR, one of the best known
and most highly respected citizens of Carpin-
teria, has for eleven years been engaged in the
hotel and livery business in this village and the
wants of the public in his line are ably attended
to. Mr. Doerr is a member of a family of four-
teen children, four of whom are living, John,
one of the brothers, making his home at Santa
Ana. The father, Phillip Doerr, a native of
Germany, immigrated to ^Missouri in the early
half of the nineteenth century and died in that
state in 1861 ; the mother, in maidenhood The-
resa Michaels, was a native of Belgium and had
attained the age of sixty-five years at the time
of her death.

Phillip Doerr was born in Perry county, Mo,,
March 12, 1853, and received his education in
the common schools of that county. After his
school days were over he filled a position as clerk
in a store for six years, and in 1880, when twen-
ty-seven years of age, left Missouri and came

to Carpinteria, Cal., where he worked on a
ranch for his step-father. He then removed to
Santa Barbara, where he worked at the carpen-
ter's trade two years and was employed on the
old street-railway for two years. Following this
he returned to Carpinteria and accepted a posi-
tion in the warehouse of the S. P. Milling Com-
pany. Aside from his hotel experience, as pro-
prietor of the Doerr hotel at Carpinteria, he
spent four years in the business at the Asphalt
mines.

May 30, 1885, J^I""- Doerr was married to Miss
Lizzie B. Gay, a native of Minnesota, and to
them two children have been born. Lewis H.,
born November 8, 1886, lives at home, and be-
long to the Modern Woodmen of America.
Lawrence R. was- born January 14, 1889, and
works at the plumber trade in Los Angeles. Mr.
Doerr is a member of the Knights of Pythias
Lodge of Carpinteria, and with Mrs. Doerr, be-
longs to the Rathbone Sisters. Politically he af-
filiates with the Democratic party, and while
he is a firm believer in its principles and does
his full duty as a public citizen interested in
good government, his business forms his chief
interest and occupies the greater part of his time.
IMrs. Doerr is a member of the Presbyterian
Church.

GEORGE T. STONEHAM. Prominent
among the leading citizens of Ocean Park is
George T. Stoneham, a man of superior busi-
ness qualifications, who has met with success in
his active career, and wherever he has lived has
fully established himself in the confidence and
esteem of his friends and associates. . A son of
John Stoneham, he was born, April 25, 1843, i"
Elizabeth City, N. J., where the first two years
of his life were spent.

jNIoving with his family to Illinois in 1845,
John Stoneham became a pioneer of Chicago,
settling there at the time when Fort Dearborn
was occupied by a garrison. There were
neither railroads nor docks in Chicago at that
date ; there were no sidewalks, and on Randolph
and other now prominent business streets there
were signs on which was printed in bold letters
the words "No bottom here." For a number
of years he had what was called the Railroad
eating house, near the landing place for boats, at
the foot of State and Water streets, where he
also kept a supply store until burned out by the
fire that likewise destroyed the first theater
erected in that city. This was subsequently re-
placed by Rice's theater. He married Elizabeth
Muddell, and they both spent their last years in
Chicago.

Receiving his early education in Chicago,
George T. Stoneham attended a school on Mad-

^. /m. ^^^^i^te, ^^,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1447

ison street, just opposite the present site of Mc-
Vicker's theater. He subsequently learned the
trade of carriage manufacturer, but instead of
following that long engaged in the manufacture
of fire apparatus, being foreman for a number
of years for the Babcock Fire Extinguisher
Company in Chicago. While thus employed he
made the aerial hook and ladder trucks for Los
Angeles, and also manufactured fire apparatus
for foreign countries, including England and
Russia. During the memorable fire of 1871 he
lost nothing, being located south of the fire zone.
He subsequently moved to the west side of the
city, and giving up his manufacturing business
became a successful dealer in real estate, making
much money in his operations.

Coming to California May i, 1899, Mr.
Stoneham resided for three years in Sierra
Madre, Los Angeles county, where he was en-
gaged in the cultivation of oranges, having a
grove of twenty-five acres in the heart of the
town. Disposing of that at an advantage, he
speculated in real estate in Pasadena for a year,
meeting with good success. Locating in Ocean
Park in April, 1903, he purchased twelve acres
of land, lying between Fourth and Sixth streets,
and this, known as the Stoneham tract, he has
since sold at a profit. On Fourth street he erect-
ed a fine residence, which he now occupies, and
has since been identified with the best interests
of his adopted city. He possesses great financial
and executive ability, and for seventeen years
was officially connected with the Union Savings
Loan and Building Association, of Chicago,
serving as director, vice-president and president,
in the latter capacity carrying it safely through
with its real estate dealings.

In Chicago, 111., Mr. Stoneham married Sarah
F. Vest, a native of Illinois, and they have one
child, Charles J. Stoneham, of Ocean Park. The
son married Bertha Richardson, and they have
two children, Ada and Sarah.

G. M. DOANE, Sr. The active and en-
terprising people of Santa Maria who have
done so much to promote the industrial pros-
perity of Santa Barbara county have no more
wortliy representative than G. M. Doane, Sr.,
a leading contractor and builder and an es-
teemed citizen. As a boy he was noted for
his thoroughness, self-reliant energy and per-
sistency of purpose, and these traits of char-
acter, strengthened by his honesty and fidelity,
have been the leading factors in winning him
success in the business and social circles. A
son of M. i\I. Doane, he was born September
27, 1849, in Winnebago county, 111.

A native of Canada, M. M. Doane_ crossed
the border when a young man, locating first

in Michigan, then in Illinois, from there go-
ing to Wisconsin. He subsequently settled
on a farm in Iowa, and there resided until his
death, at the venerable age of four score and
four years. During his earlier years he was
a miller, but later in life confined his atten-
tion entirely to agricultural pursuits. He was
a Republican in politics, and although an ac-
tive party worker was never an office seeker.
In religion he was a member of the ^Methodist
Episcopal Church. He married Jane Albright,
who was born in Indiana, and died in Iowa, at
the age of fifty-two years. They were the
parents of ten children, of whom G. M., the
subject of this sketch, is the only one residing
on the Pacific coast.

Taken when a small child by his parents to
Wisconsin, G. M. Doane, Sr., lived there until
eleven years of age, when the family removed
to Iowa. Completing his early education in
the public schools, he began as a youth to
learn the carpenter's trade, serving an appren-
ticeship in Elgin, Fayette county. Iowa. He
subsequently followed his trade in Iowa for
a number of years, in addition carrying on a
lively business as a dealer m real estate. Com-
ing to California in 1880, he located at once
inSanta Maria, and as a contractor and build-
er has since built up an extensive and lucra-
tive business. He has had charge of the erec-
tion of some of the largest and most notable
buildings in this vicinity, for the past six years
keeping about twenty men steadily employed.
In addition to his work in this line he also car-
ries on a sub-stantial mercantile business, han-
dling all the supplies necessary in building, in-
cluding doors and moldings, and finishing ma-
terials of all kinds.

In 1869. in Iowa. ]\Ir. Doane married Mary
M. Hatfield, a native of Pennsylvania, and into
their home seven children have been born,
namely: George M.. Jr.. of Santa i\Iaria, who
married Jennie INTcFall, bv whom he has three
children; Marv G., wife 'of W, A. Mattocks,
of Santa ]\laria. and the mother of one child;
Clarence M.. of Santa Maria, who married
Gloria Frates ; Milford L., also of Santa Maria,
who married Sadie Bloomer, by whom he has
one child: Perry: Oscar: and Richard. Al-
rhougb an independent voter in local matters,
Mr. Doane is a stanch Republican in national
affairs, and fraternally he is an active member
of Hesperian Lodge, No. 264, F. & A. M.,
which he has ser\ed as junior warden and as
senior deacon.

ROCK S.-XRRAIL. Among the old settlers
of Southern California who deserve special
mention in tliis work is the subject of this

1448

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

article. Rock Sarrail, who was born in Basses-
P^'renees, October 12, 1839, the son of Pierre
and Madelena Cassou, who were the parents
of five children, four of whom grew to ma-
turity.

Rock Sarrail was the third of the famil}'
and was reared on the farm and educated in
the common schools. Having heard of the
great advantages of the Pacific coast, he de-
termined to cast his fortune in California, and
with that end in view, in the spring of 1859,
then in his twentieth }'ear, he left Havre on
the sailer Besan, and, after being tossed about
on the waves for five months and three days,
came around Cape Horn and landed in San
Francisco with only five dollars as his world-
ly possession. With a courage and determin-
ation to succeed he immediateh^ sought em-
ployment, and the next day after arrival went
to work in a dairy, but a few months later
obtained a place as gardener, and followed that
occupation and mining for several years, and
then leased a small farm in San Francisco
across from the old race track, where he had
floral and vegetable gardens. In 1870 he came
to Los Angeles and in 1871 purchased a band
of sheep, ranging them in different places in
San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles counties
for nineteen years. Meantime in 1877 he pur-
chased eleven acres on AVest Jefferson and
Durango streets ; this property he improved
with a vineyard and still owns, and on it he
has erected seven residences, fronting Jeffer-
son street, a property that has become verj'
valuable.

His estimable wife was Madelena Cassou,
also from France. She passed away in 1889
at the age of forty-three years. They had a
family of eight children, as follows: Mary, now
Mrs. John Cassou of Anaheim : Pierre, pro-
prietor of the Ramona Bottling Works of Los
Angeles ; Leona, now I\Irs. John Massalin of
this city ; Jennie, Mrs. Albert Blanchard, died in
Los Angeles ; and Joseph, Louis and Silvan,
all engaged in feed and fuel business on West
Jefferson street, Los Angeles, under the firm
name of Sarrail Bros.; and Julius, also of Los
Angeles.

Mr. Sarrail is a Republican and is a member
of the French Hospital Association, has always
assisted in various ways in the upbuilding of
his community and has great faith in the
growth and future of the state of his adoption.

JUSTIN E. PATTERSON._ The family rep-
resented by the above-named citizen of Pomona
was established in Crawford county. Pa., by the
grandparents, and there their son, James H.,
was born, near Meadville. Reared to an agri-

cultural life on the Crawford county homestead,
James H. Patterson further followed the exam-
ple set by his father and pushed out into the
frontier, during young manhood, settling on new
land in Boone county, 111., which he had taken
up from the government. The land responded
readily to his careful cultivation, and in the
course of the years spent on that farm he became
financially independent, finally retiring from act-
ive life. His last days were spent in Pomona,
Cal., where he passed away in 1904, at the age
of eighty-six years. Politically he was in sym-
pathy with Republican principles, and was a
faithful member of the Baptist Church, to which
denomination his wife also belongs. She was
formerly Rhoda Moss, born near Ripley, Chau-
tauqua county, N. Y., the daughter of James
]Moss, and is now living in Pomona, aged over
eighty years. Nine children originally gathered
around the family fireside, but of the number
only six are now living.

The fourth in order of birth was Justin E.
Patterson, who was born in Belvidere. Boone
county. III, October 17, 1856, and was brought
up to an intimate knowledge of farming on the
family homestead in that vicinity. L^nlike many
farmer lads he had fairly good opportunity for
securing an education, and when he had ex-
hausted the resources of the schools of Belvidere
he took up the higher branches of study in Chi-
cago. This equipment qualified him as a teacher
and thereafter he followed teaching in Boone
county for five years. During this time he had
formed definite plans to take up the furniture
and undertaking business, and upon relinquish-
ing his position as teacher entered upon the work
with a will. After learning all departments of
the business he followed it for about four years
in Belvidere, 111., and in 1891 came to Pomona
and opened undertaking parlors on Main street.
From that location he subsequently removed to
West Second street, and still later, in 1903,
erected the building which he now occupies at
No. 151 East Second street. The building is
23^x120 feet, two stories in height, the lower
floor being occupied as office and chapel, while
in the warerooms are displayed the fine line of
caskets and other needful accessories to a first-
class undertaking establishment. Since locating
in Pomona he has also erected a fine family res-
idence at the corner of Holt and Garey avenue.

In Belvidere, III, Mr. Patterson was married
to Miss Carrie Bement, who was born there, and
two children, Millicent and Donald, have been
born to them. Besides his associations of a busi-
ness nature, being a member of the State Fu-
neral Directors' Association and a member and
president of the Southern California Funeral
Directors" Association, 'Mr. Patterson is well
known in fraternal circles, holding membership

ROBERT C. KIRKPATRICK

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1451

in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, For-
esters, Woodmen of the World, Woodmen of
America, Fraternal Aid, Fraternal Brotherhood
and Knights of Pythias. He is an enthusiastic
worker in behalf of the welfare of his home
city and is an active member of the Board of
Trade. Politically he is a Republican, and with
his wife is a member of the Baptist Church, both
taking their places among the active and zealous
workers of that organization, which they also
support liberally in a financial sense.

ROBERT C. KIRKPATRICK. The true
though trite saying that in union there is strength
is nowhere better exemplified than in the Menifee
valley, Riverside county, where the four sons ol
the pioneer, Robert C. Kirkpatrick, and one of
his grandsons own and operate one of the larg-
est ranches in the county. When Menifee valley
was still a part of San Diego county the father
came to this part of the country in 1879 and lo-
cated in tlie center of the valley, taking up three
quarter-sections of land from the government,
besides buying railroad land. Some idea of the
newness of the country may be formed when it
is told that between his ranch and Box Springs
(a distance of twenty-five miles) there was only
one house. Robert C. Kirkpatrick, the inspirer
of the enterprise which has since grown up
around his pioneer undertakings, has passed to
his reward, and his estate has fallen to his four
sons, John A., Amos G., Claudius AL, and Will-
iam T., -who are no less ambitious and enter-
prising, and in carrying out the wise policy of
their father are meeting with a success no less
gratifying. Robert H. Kirkpatrick, a grandson
and the son of William T. Kirkpatrick, is also
interested in the ranch, as is a daughter, Keziah
Tecl, of Long Beach, who accompanied the fam-
ily to the coast.

The sons well recall the appearance of the
property when their father first assumed control
of it in 1879 and have not only witnessed its
transformation from a desert to one of the finest
ranches in the county, but have taken no small
part in the work which this involved. They now
control over th.ree thousand acres of land, the
greater part of which is in barley and wheat, the
harvesting of which requires two large twentv-
six horse-power combined harvesters. These are
drawn over the fields by seventy-five head of
work horses, which are fine animals of their own
breeding and raising. All of the grain raised
on this immense tract is shipped direct to the
Globe Mills in Colton.

Robert C. Kirkpatrick and his four sons were
all natives of Tennessee. Leaving the south in
1874 the father and sons made their way across
the plains to the Golden state and settled in

Orange county, remaining there for five
}ears. The next removal brought them to San
Diego county, where besides buying railroad
land they took up three quarter-sections of land
from the government. Since they settled here the
county lines have been changed, so that their
property now lies in Riverside county. Together
the sons own fifteen hundred acres, besides which
they lease land which brings the acreage under
riieir control up to three thousand acres, all in
grain. The machinery and stock necessary to
conduct this large ranch represent $10,000, be-
sides which they have money to their credit in
the bank. The wonderful success which has
come to the Kirkpatrick brothers is due in a
great measure to the excellent water facilities with
which their ranch is supplied. \'arying in depth
from seven to twenty feet water may be bored
for in any part of the ranch. What is true of this
part of the valley holds good throughout this
portion of the county and is rapidly bringing it
into prominence as one of the best grain-raising
sections of the state.

The wife and mother, who in her maidenhood
was Elizabeth Thompson, died in Tennessee in
1864; ten years before the removal of the father
and sons to the west. The father passed away
upon the homestead ranch in Menifee valley.
Cal., near Perris, in 1904, at the good old age of
eighty-five years. Claudius AT. and William T.
are married and have families, while John A. and
Amos G. are still single. In their political opin-
ions the brothers are united, all voting the Dem-
ocratic ticket. They are held in the highest re-
spect wherever known and are foremost in as-
sisting any project for the betterment of the
communitv. Too much praise cannot be accord-
ed them for what they have accomplished, and
both their lives and their accomplishments are
excellent examples for the younger generations
to take as their patterns.

WILLL\M MERRITT PIERSON. The re-
sort of Skyland was largely the result of the ef-
forts of Mr. Pierson, who gave it the name,
built the hotel, and in other ways took a most
active interest in its upbuilding. He is now re-
siding at Bryn Mawr in a delightful home over-
looking the San Bernardino valley and engaped
in horticultural pursuits. He is a native of Ce-
dar county, Iowa, where he was born September
15, t8^6. the oldest of four children, all of whom
are living, born to his parents, George and Deb-
orah (Smith) Pierson. Thev were both natives
of \ew York, the father being born in Cattar-
augus county and the mother in Erie county :
they became early settlers of Cedar countv, Iowa,
where the father engaged as a farmer until the
breaking out of the Civil war, when he enlisted

1452

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in Company K, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer
Infantry, and died in service in 1863. The
mother passed away in Highgrove and was in-
terred in Pasadena, Cal.

Reared in Cedar county, Iowa, William Mer-
ritt Pierson was educated in the public schools
of that state, and also in Gowanda, N. Y., where
he lived with his paternal grandfather from the
age of seven years to twelve. He then returned
to Iowa and worked out on farms until he was
seventeen, when he was apprenticed to learn the
trade of carpenter, and after its completion en-
tered the Davenport Business College for a term.
Following he taught school for three winter terms
and worked at his trade during the summers.
Removing to Kansas in 1877 he purchased a
farm near Osage City, but rented it and made
his home in the town, where he secured a posi-
tion as bookkeeper in the Osage County Bank.
In December, 1885, he came to California and in
Pasadena engaged in the building business for
two years, then in the real estate business in
Santa Ana, and El Modena for three years. At
the expiration of that time he went to Portland,
Ore., and followed his trade for two years, then
returned to Southern California and in Riverside
purchased a home and followed his trade. He
resided in Riverside until 1901 and then pur-
chased one hundred and sixty acres up Water-
man canon, where he built a hotel and called the
place Skyland, one of the scenic places of beau-
tiful Southern California. He set out an apple
orchard of four acres and otherwise improved
his property, continuing the management of the
hotel for five years, when he sold out at a good
profit, and coming to Bryn Mawr purchased
twenty acres of land, of which ten acres are in
full bearing navel oranges. In Riverside Mr.
Pierson was united in marriage with Miss Olive
Bayley, a native of Illinois, and born of this
union is one son. Hartley B. Fraternally Mr.
Pierson is identified with the Knights of the
Maccabees of Riverside, and politically is a
stanch advocate of Republican principles. He is
a member of the Presbyterian Church of Red-
lands, and liberally supports its charities.

WALTER L. PECK. A keen-sighted, pro-
gressive agriculturist, Walter L. Peck is carry-
ing on an extensive and lucrative business as
dairyman and farmer, his ranch being advan-
tageously located three-fourths of a mile south-
east of Compton. His land is under good cul-
tivation, with improvements of a substantial
character, the estate being a credit to his in-
dustry, enterprise and wise management. A son
of the late Sedley Peck, he was born in Trum-
bull county, Ohio, October 26, 1862, and was
there reared and educated.

Sedley Peck was for many years a leading
citizen of Trumbull county, Ohio, and an im-
portant factor in promoting its growth and pros-
perity. Possessing good business ability and
judgment, he was quick to take advantage of all
offered opportunities, and was among the first
of the '49ers that staked a claim in the Cali-
fornia gold fields. Returning to Ohio, he re-
mained in business there for several years,
making, however, three more trips to the Pa-
cific coast before coming here permanently in
i8go. Disposing of his Ohio property in that
year, he resided for two years in Los Angeles.
In 1892 he bought land in Compton, and was en-
g'aged in ranching for two years, when he sold
out and thenceforward made his home with his
son Walter L. until his death, in February, 1905,
at the ripe old age of eighty-two years. He
was a man of great prominence, filling most of
the offices within the gift of his feHow-citizens,
and was an active member and an officer in the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Mary
Hazen, who died in Compton, at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. Levitt. She bore him nine chil-
dren, all of whom were a credit to their parents.

Having acquired his rudimentary education
in the common schools, Walter L. Peck was
graduated from the high school in Mesopotamia,
Trumbull county, Ohio; subsequently worked on
a farm four years, after which he spent a year
in Florida. Returning to Ohio, he stayed there
a short time, and then came to California, set-
tling in Los Angeles in 1886. Engaging in the
sidewalk, cement and grading business, he was
for the next thirteen years actively engaged in
adding to the city improvements, working both
for individual property owners and for the mu-
nicipal government. Giving up that work he
invested his money in land, buying his present
ranch, and since that time has been prosperously
employed as a farmer and dairyman with the ex-
ception of 1904, when he again engaged in ce-
ment contracting in Long Beach, Los Angejes
and Compton. He has twenty-five acres of his
land in alfalfa, and is carrying on a profitable
dairy business, meeting with well deserved suc-
cess in his undertakings.

October 4, 1886, Mr. Peck married Kathryn
Heaton. who was born in Illinois, a daughter
of William Heaton, now living retired in Los
Angeles. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Peck
two children have been born, namely : Sedley,
a student in the Compton high school ; and
Mabel, born in 1896. Mrs. Peck is a woman of
culture and refinement, a graduate of the high
and Normal schools. Both she and her hus-
band are good musicians, and for the greater part
of their lives have belonged to the church choirs,
Mr. Peck singing bass, while ]\Irs. Peck has a
strong, sweet contralto voice. Both are active

-A^i^^^yh:::::^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1455

members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
PoHtically Mr. Peck is a Repubhcan, and is a
member and president of the Fraternal Aid So-
ciety of Compton. He is widely and favorably
known as a man of unquestioned worth, and
both he and his estimable wife are very highly
esteemed throughout the communitv.

JAMES D. KNOX is known as the efficient
mayor of the city of Colton, and as a promi-
nent and successful contractor and builder.
He is a descendant of a well-known Southern
family, tracing his lineage directh^ to John
Knox who came to North Carolina in 1730 and
left an indelible impress on the history of that
state. His parents, Joseph S. and Mary E.
(Carlock) Knox, were both natives of Ten-
nessee and the father was an enrolling officer
under General Lee during the Civil war. He
was captured and sent to Camp Chase, where
he was held about six months, and after his
release returned home a life invalid. He
died at the age of fifty-four 3-ears. There were
nine children in the family, six of whom are
living, and the mother also survives, being
now sixty-four years old, and living in Colton.
Of the children, !Mrs. Fuller lives in Col-
ton; Mrs. John P. Isbell lives in Whittier;
Clarence M. is a commercial agent for the
Southern Pacific at Santa Ana ; Dr. Charles
H. is a surgeon at Decatur, Tex., and Mrs.
W. H. Mann, whose husband is agent for the
Santa Fe at Wickenburg, Ariz.

The birth of James D. Knox occurred Sep-
tember 18, 1861, in McMinn county, Tenn.,
and at the age of fourteen years he removed
with his parents to Decatur, Tex., where he
attended the common schools, the country at
that timie being but sparsely settled, and he
found it necessary to carry a revolver to
school. As a young man Mr. Knox worked
on his father's ranch for several years, then
started on an independent career, engaging
in the stock business for another period. He
afterwards secured employment with the
bridge building department of the Fort Worth
& Denver Railroad, working on bridges and
stations for three years, then was given a po-
sition as baggage master at Decatur, and
was also at one time check clerk at the same
place.

In 1885 Mr. Knox came to Downey, Cal.,
and was first engaged in the erection of the
depot at Downey for the Southern Pacific,
then superintendent of the signal service for
the same company near AVhittier. Later he
was postmaster, clerk of the board of school
trustees and notary public for five years. He
was then in Los Nietos, Los Angeles county.

for a time, after which he secured the posi-
tion of commercial agent for the Southern Pa-
cific at Whittier, retaining the place for four
years. Following this he was a brakeman on
the line between Los Angeles and Yuma,
Ariz., for one year and resigned the position
to engage in the fruit business, buying and
shipping oranges. For four years he was
agent for the Fay Fruit Company and in 1902
settled in Colton, purchased a ranch of three
acres planted to oranges and carried on a fruit
business. About a year ago he again took up
his old business of contracting and has been
engaged therein since that time.

In 1881 occurred the marriage of ]Mr. Knox
to INIiss Nancy Graves, a native of Illinois,
and they have become the parents of six chil-
dren : ]\iinnie Lee is the wife of Mathew Moss,
of Rivera, and has two children ; James O.
married Lowell Rounds, of Selma, and resides
in Colton ; Jodie C. is the wife of R. W. Cur-
tis, of Colton, and has one child ; Elizabeth G.,
Charles E., and Loma E. complete the family.
Mr. Knox is prominent in fraternal circles and
has been a member of nineteen different se-
cret societies. He now belongs to the Ash-
lar Lodge No. 306, F. & A. ]\I. ; the Indepen-
dent Order of Odd Fellows ; Knights of
Pythias ; the Woodmen of the World at Whit-
tier; Fraternal Aid at Whittier; Independent
Order of Foresters at Norwalk ; Knights of
the Maccabees at Norwalk ; Fraternal Brother-
hood ; and both he and his wife are affiliated
with the Eastern Star and Rebekah lodges.
They are also active members and liberal sup-
porters of the Christian Church and their
influence is given to the furtherance of all
charitable and benevolent enterprises. Polit-
ically he follows the teachings of his father
and adheres to the beliefs of the Democratic
party. He is especially interested in educa-
tional matters and has at various times served
on the board of school trustees. As mayor
of Colton, to which office he was elected in
the spring of 1906, Wr. Knox has proven him-
self an able executive and conscientious pub-
lic servant and the duties of the office were
never more satisfactorily administered than
under his direction. He is public spirited and
energetic and in all matters exercises an
intelligent caution that makes his judgment
valuable.

CHAUNCEY E. CARPENTER is one of the
oldest settlers and best-known ranchers in San
Luis Obispo county, he having been the first
man to locate in the valley which now bears his
name. He has an exceptionally well-improved
ranch <if fifty-six acres of as fertile land as can

1456

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

be found in the county, which is devoted prin-
cipally to beans and potatoes, with a few acres
planted to vegetables and small fruit, including
blackberries, dewberries and Loganberries. As
a citizen and neighbor he is well liked and highly
esteemed, and enjoys the reputation of being
strictly a man of his word in every particular.
Mr. Carpenter was born in Herkimer county,
N. Y., May 29, 1845, his father, Halsey C. Car-
penter, being a native of Rhode Island, and his
mother, Sarah \'an Natter, was a direct de-
scendant of one of the old Dutch families who
settled in New York state in the early days.
Both parents are now deceased, the father hav-
ing reached the age of eighty-three years, while
the mother was of still greater vitality and sur-
vived her ninetieth birthday, all of the ten chil-
dren of her family being yet alive at the time
of her demise. There were seven sons andlhree
daughters, and the youngest of the children is
now forty-six years and the oldest seventy. The
mother was a woman of deep religious convic-
tions and during her lifetime was a member of
the ]\Iethodist Episcopal Church.

When Chauncev E. Carpenter was but ten
years of age his parents removed to Wisconsin,
in which state he received his education through
the medium of the public schools, subsequently
learning stationar}- engineering in Galesburg,
111., where he worked four years in the engine
manufacturing establishment of Frost & Co. He
then returned to Wisconsin and engaged in
farming for two years, after which, in 1870, he
removed to Kansas, and purchased a piece of
school land upon which he farmed and raised
stock until the spring of 1888. He then put into
execution his plans to cross the plains and
mountains and locate in California, and was so
favorably impressed by the. climate and quality
of soil found in San Luis Obispo county that he
chose a location in what is now Carpenter val-
ley and bought the ranch which has ever since
been his home.

On the loth of March, 1866, Mr. Carpenter
was united in marriage with Miss Fannie Han-
dey, and of this union eleven children were
born, two dying in infancy. Lorena, who re-
sides in Kansas, became the wife of Riley LTn-
derwood, by whom she has thirteen children ;
DeWayne, living in Oregon, married Lida Bell,
and they have five children ; ]\Iina, who became
the mother of eleven children by her marriage
with William Dowel, of Arroyo Grande, died
December 21, 1905. Nellie died in 1889, at the
age of seventeen years ; Eva, who married Fred
Iversen, of Paso Robles, has two daughters ;
Adda became the wife of Dow ^^'ood, of Paso
Robles, and is the mother of three children;
Edith married Dean Laughlin, of Santa Maria,
and has one son : Cliffie, unmarried, lives in Los

Angeles, and Theresa, also unmarried, makes
her home with her parents. Politically Mr.
Carpenter affiliates with the Socialist party, and
he serves his district officially in the capacity of
school trustee. He is a member of the Quirch
of the Latter Dav Saints.

ROBERT OSBORNE HURSEY. Con-
spicuous among the more active, keen-sighted
and progressive business men of Compton is
Robert O. Hursey, who is identified with the
foremost interests of this part of the county, and
in its industrial and financial progress is an im-
portant factor. A son of the late Adam Hursey,
he was born February 25, 1852, in Licking coun-
ty, Ohio, coming from substantial ancestry on
both sides.

A native of Ohio, Adam Hursey w^as a mer-
chant during young manhood. Migrating west-
ward in 1857, he settled in Illinois, where he
engaged as a farmer for many years, living first
in Dewitt county, afterwards being a resident
of Woodford and INIcLean counties. On retiring
from active pursuits he located in Normal, 111.,
where he died at the venerable age of eighty-
three years. His wife, whose maiden name was
Mary Melick, also lived to an advanced age, and
died at Normal, 111. In politics he was a Demo-
crat, ever loyal to his party.

About six years old when his parents moved
to Illinois, Robert O. Hursey attended first the
district schools, completing his early education
at the Normal school in Normal. He subse-
quently taught school during seven winter terms,
being quite successful in his pedagogical labors.
In order to further fit himself for a business ca-
reer he then took a course at the Woodberry
Business Colleg'e in Bloomington, 111., from
there going to Bellflower, McLean county, where
he was engaged in mercantile pursuits for two
years. The ensuing year he had charge of a
grocery in Fairbury, 111. Coming then to Cali-
fornia, he became interested in the various
branches of agriculture and horticulture, and
for eight years had charge of ranches for other
people. Locating permanently in Compton in
1896, he resumed mercantile affairs, and has
since been manager of the Co-operative Associa-
ton which was organized in 1891 with a paid-
up capital of $30,000, and under his efiicient
management is carrying on a flourishing busi-
ness. The association has large financial inter-
ests outside of its large store, having stock in
the Compton Water and Lighting Company.
]Mr. Hursey owns forty acres of land near
Compton : twelve acres near La Verne ; and
two hundred and fifty-one acres in the vicinity
of Bakersfield, Kern county. By means of thrift
and good management he has accumulated

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1457

money, and is a stockholder, a director, and the
assistant cashier of the Bank of Compton, a well-
established financial institution, having a large
list of depositors.

In 1881, at Le Roy, 111., Air. Hursey mar-
ried Eliza Kinsey, who was born in Indiana,
where her father, the late Henry Kinsey, was
born and reared, and spent a large part of his
life. Her mother, whose maiden name was
Mary Stanley, survived her husband, and is now
a resident of Rcdondo, Gal. Politically Mr.
Hnrsey is in sympathy with the Prohibitionists,
but in local matters he is an independent voter.
He takes an intelligent interest in public affairs,
and since coming to Compton has been a member
of the school board. Fraternally he belongs to
Compton Camp, M. W. A.

NEWTON EMMETT MAY, secretary of the
United Syndicates Company Limited, ranks
among the most enterprising and progressive
men of Long Beach, who is taking an active
interest in the upbuilding and increasing the im-
portance of the city by the sea. Mr. May was
born in Galveston, Texas, June 28, 1866, and
was the fourth in order of birth of a family of
eight children bom to David R. and Hattie
(Lindsey) ]\Iay, natives respectively of Kentucky
and Pennsylvania. The father was a stock
raiser in Texas and a cotton planter in Missis-
sippi, and both parents spent their last days in
the latter state.

Mr. May received his education in the public
schools of Mississippi until the age of seventeen,
when he began for himself, doing newspaper
work in New Orleans, La., on an industrial
paper, then on the Times-Dcuiocrat until 1888,
when he came to the Pacific Coast. The first four
years were spent in Washington and Oregon
and in 1892 he located in San Francisco, where
he engaged with the New York Life Insurance
Company as a solicitor. In 1876 he located in
Los Angeles as manager of the Germania Life
Insurance Company for Southern California. In
1897 he removed to Honolulu as manager of the
same company for the Hawaiian Islands and
built up a business for them at the rate of $50,000
per year in premiums. In the spring of 1903.
having become interested in real estate and gen-
eral business affairs on the islands, he gave up
the management of the Germania and devoted
all his time to personal affairs. However, in iqo.i
he closed up his business and returned to Los
Angeles, where he began operating in real es-
tate. In 1906 he organized and incorporated the
United Syndicates Company, Ltd.. with a capital
of $200,000. of which he was elected secretary
and assumed the management, launching the en-
terprise in Long Beach, where he has built up a

successful business. They are at present using
the debenture system of syndicating property, al-
though he has copyrighted five different plans of
syndicating real estate. Mr. May promoted and
organized the United Building Company, with a
capital of $200,000, of which he is secretary.
They have valuable patent rights of America's
greatest invention, a disappearing bed and apart-
ment house plans, thus saving and utilizing every
bit of space, and destined to become very popu-
lar and universal.

The marriage of Mr. May occurred in Hono-
lulu, uniting bin: with Miss Rose Roth, who was
born in that capital city and chief seaport of the
Hawaiian Islands. They have one child, New-
ton Emmett, Jr. Mr. May is a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is
an ardent and stanch Republican. He is an active
member of the Long Beach Chamber of Com-
merce and was chairman of the committee and
the main factor in raising the $100,000 bonus
for the securing of the Craig shipbuilding plant
for Long Beach, chairman of the Harbor Char-
ter Day committee which made that celebration a
success. Since coming to Long Beach he has
aided in every public enterprise that has been
started, sparing neither time nor money to make
it a success, and he is much appreciated by the
men of aft'airs. who esteem him for his many
excellent qualities, integrity, worth and enter-
prise.

J. E. STONES. One of the oldest settlers in
this part of the country and a citizen well known
and highly esteemed, is J. E. Stones, who has
witnessed the development of the state from the
days of its infancy. He was born in St. Louis.
Mo., October 23, 1845. ^ son of William and
Mary Stones, natives of England, where they
were married, thence emigrating to the United
States in 1843. They made their home in St.
Louis until 1850. when they crossed the plains as
far as Ogden, Utah, there spending two years,
and again starting on a perilous overland jour-
ney which landed them in California. They lo-
cated first in Amador county, where the death
of the mother occurred at the age of thirty-five
years ; later in life the father removed to the
vicinity of Artesia. Los Angeles county, and there
he passed awav at the advanced age of eighty-
eight years. He took a keen interest in the de-
velonment of the country, was a Republican in
politics, seeking the advancement of that part\'s
principles. He had eight children, of whom five
are still living.

J. E. Stones was but seven vears old when
they finallv arrived in California, he but dimlv
remembering the portion of two years spent in
Ogden, I'tah, where his father put in a crop of

1458

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wheat. In the spring of 1S52 they arrived in
Sacramento, and thence went to Amador county,
where the father took up a government claim.
He received his first educational training in that
county, more or less limited, and after complet-
ing the course of the common schools in 1857
he came to San Bernardino county, in Southern
California, where his father had in the meantime
become the owner of a small ranch. Mr. Stones
remained at home until he was twenty-two years
old, when he started out for himself, ranching
and working in the lumber mills of that section,
where he continued to make his home until 1876,
wlien he came to Artesia, Los Angeles county,
rented land, and began farming operations. He
finally purchased twenty acres of land and en-
gaged in general farming, later purchasing the
five acres which constitutes his home, where he
carries on the raising of poultry and also a small
dairy, which is supplied by eight cows. Through-
out the years he has also been interested in other
kinds of work — well-boring, the conduct of a
threshing machine, hay press, etc.

In July, 1870, Mr. Stones was united in mar-
riage with Miss Emily C. Bingham, a daughter
of H. T. Bingham, located on Twenty-fifth street,
in Los Angeles, and born of this union are the
follow'ing children: Emma, wife of H. Robin-
son ; Mary, wife of Edward Trapp ; Ida, wife
of Claude French ; Annie, wife of Bert Hille-
bert ; Herbert ; and George. Mr. Stones is iden-
tified with the Fraternal Aid. and his wife is a
member of the Woodcraft. He is an independent
voter, reserving the right to cast his ballot for
the man he considers best qualified for official
position. His wife is a member of the Christian
Church, to which he gives a liberal support.

ADOLPH D. DIAZ. The agricultural inter-
ests of Adolph D. Diaz extend throughout San
Bernardino and Riverside counties, where his
name is well known as belonging to that of one
of the upbuilders and enterprising citizens of
this section. Mr. Diaz is the representative of
one of the old families of Southern California,
his father, Manuel Diaz, being a native of Cadiz,
Spain, where his grandfather, Fernando, en-
gaged as an extensive merchant and also had
large land holdings in both Spain and Cuba.
Manuel Diaz went to Havana, Cuba, to look
after his father's interests and from that point
came to Mexico and enlisted in the Mexican
army, serving as paymaster and lieutenant. He
was given a grant of land known as the San
Vicente grant, in Lower California, and there
he built up a large farm and stock ranch, and
also owned the Santo Thomas ranch, located on
the border. In 1853 he commanded the soldiers
that drove Walker out of Mexico. Some vears

later the Indians rose against the white settlers
and practically exterminated them, Mr. Diaz
being saved only through his wife's ability to
speak the Indian language, and because of their
paying of a ransom. He made his escape to
San Diego with a friend named Jose Maria
Necochea. On the way Mr. Diaz lost his horse
and the friend decided to journey on alone and
not wait for him to make his way on foot, where-
upon he drew his revolver and killed Necochea's
animal, and then together they made the balance
of the journey unmounted. The wife brought
the family by ox-cart to San Diego and that city
remained their home for a time, finally remov-
ing to San Jacinto. About 1859 Mr. Diaz lo-
cated in San Timoteo canon, wdiere he purchased
the grant known by this name, the Rofle brothers
owning it at that time, and there he at once
established a small store and also engaged in the
raising of stock. Later he lost by suit the grant
of land he had purchased, but not daunted by the
misfortune he immediately purchased other prop-
erty, that which is now owned by his son — El
Caiion San Timoteo — and later obtained the title
to two hundred acres of the valley land. Here
he engaged in a mercantile enterprise and the
raising of stock, also later entering the Diaz
Springs, in the Moreno valley. He finally sold
his interests to the Van Luvens, and in 1889
passed to his reward, being then eighty-one years
old. His wife was in maidenhood Encarnacion
Bermudez, a native of Lower California, and a
daughter of a prominent cattleman of that sec-
tion. Her death occurred January 17, 1906, of
her eight children, three surviving: Adolph D..
of this review ; Nettie, Mrs. Disdier, of Los An-
geles; and Inez. Mrs. York, of Los Angeles.

Adolph D. Diaz was born in Lower California,
on the Santa Thomas ranch, December 19. i8.s6,
and being brought to California in his child-
hood received his educational training in San
Bernardino county, where he was reared, and
at the state normal school of Los Angeles, then
under the direction of Prof. I. M. Sylva. Re-
turning to San Bernardino he engaged as a clerk
in that place and later was so occupied in Los
Angeles. He was next employed as a manager
of a mercantile enterprise in Julian, and later
superintended a branch store at Banner, San
Diego county. In 1878 in San Bernardino he
was united in marriage with Miss Mattie Le
Barr, a native of northern California, and a
daughter of John Le Barr, a pioneer miner of
the state, of French origin ; he was murdered in
Phoenix by a man by the name of McCloskey,
who was lynched the following morning.

After his marriage Mr. Diaz removed to
Phoenix, Ariz., and there engaged in business
until the excitement in Tombstone attracted him
thither, after which he soon engaged in mining

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1461

in Santa Rita, where he also opened a general
merchandise establishment. The Skaget river
gold excitement in British Columbia attracted
him north, and after mining in that location for
a time he returned to Arizona and in Tucson
engaged as a clerk until he raised a stake, when
he returned to San Bernardino, there following
a different line in the management of the Santa
Fe stables and the Opera House Parlor for the
period of seven or eight years. Finally dis-
posing of these interests, he returned to the
ranch, until the Alaska excitement induced him
once more to try his fortunes in a mining camp,
and accordingly in 1900 he took passage on the
South Portland, a steamer bound for the frozen
north. After spending one year in Council City,
he, in a partnership with a Mr. Hansen, started
out to buy the Big Hurrah mine ; during their
trip to see it they got lost and wandered for four
days with nothing but salmon berries to eat, and
with never a moment for rest. They finally
found their way out and also discovered the mine
to be absolutely valueless. Returning to Solo-
mon by way of the Solomon river, thence to
Nome, they took passage on the Oregon, bound
for Seattle', their journey occupying thirty-seven
days, during which they were shipwrecked and
so nearly ran out of provisions that for a time
but one scant meal a day was allowed, until they
crossed the track of the Empress of Japan, from
whom necessary provisions were obtained.

Upon his return in 1901 Mr. Diaz went to
Sonora, Mexico, and there obtained a concession
from the Mexican government which will per-
mit the development of two mines which he has
■ in his control. Upon the death of his mother he
became administrator of the estate, and has im-
self purchased the home farm, which is devoted
to alfalfa, grain and fruits. In 1906 he obtained
a postoffice for this section, built upon hisprop-
ertv, known as Diaz, where he is now serving as
postmaster. He is a stanch Republican polit-
ically and seeks to advance the principles he en-
dorses.

CHRIS KREMPEL. The opportunities
for acquiring financial independence which
have brought large numbers of Germans to
America were the" principal inducements lead-
ing to the emigration of Mr. Krempel from
his native land.'" The family to which he be-
longs is among the oldest in the Rhenish
provinces, the "father, Tohn P., having been
born in Rhenish Prussia, while the mother,
Susanna Stocker, was born in Worms, in the
province of Rhein-Hessen. As a brick manu-
facturer and contractor the father attained
considerable prominence in his native land,
and died there in 1887, his wife following him

in 1902. Of the nine children born to them
.all are living with one exception, four sons
and four daughters, and of the number only
two are in America, Chris and John P., the
latter an architect in Los Angeles.

The eldest child in the parental family, Chris
Krempel was born in Kreuznach, a town and
watering place in Rhenish Prussia, eight miles
from Bingen, the date of his birth being Oc-
tober 8, 1857. His childhood and youth were
spent in Kreuznach, where he attended the
primary schools and later was a pupil in the
gymnasium. Following the custom which
prevails in Germany he was obliged to learn
a trade, but instead' of taking up his father's
trade, as is very often the case, he appren-
ticed himself to a banker, and for three years
was associated with the firm of Beckhardt &
Sons. His apprenticeship over, he became a
member of Company 3, Eightieth Regular
Army, and served for three years, thus ful-
filling another obligation which the strict
laws of his native country lays upon her citi-
zens. When he was once more free to en-
gage in commercial life, for which he had pe-
culiar adaptation, he entered the employ of a
fruit and grain firm, and from 1880 to 1883
gave praiseworthy and conscientious service
to his employers. To a young man of ]\Ir.
Krempel's ambitious temperament the in-
ducements offered in America far outstripped
those which his own country had to ofTer, and
he determined to take advantage of them.
Suiting the action to the word he debarked
from Hamburg, Germany, in 1883, and in due
time cast anchor in the port of New York.
Coming at once to Los Angeles, he soon found
a position as bookkeeper, and served in this
capacity with various firms, in the mean time
learning the language of his adopted country
and familiarizing himself with both her busi-
ness and social customs.

It was a fortunate step in the life of Mr.
Krempel when he accepted the position of-
fered him with the Maier & Zobelein Brewing
Company, and during the twelve years which
he represented them as salesman and collector
he not only rendered valuable services to his
employer, but acquired a business training
which was of inestimable value to him in later
years. Filled with the conviction that he
was capable of managing a business of his
own, in 1902 he bought out the business and
good-will of the San Pedro Wholesale Com-
pany, an enterprise founded by M. W. Til-
ton, from whom he purchased the stock. With
himself as president and Richard Mahar as
secretary and treasurer business has since
been carried on under the old name. Besides
dealing in wholesale wines, liquors and cigars,

1462

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the company manufacture sodas, seltzer, syrups
and cordials, and are sole agents for the Union
Ice Company, IMaier & Zobelein, and John
' Wieland, and handle all kinds of. eastern beer.
In Los Angeles, October i6, 1886, Mr.
Krempel was united in marriage with Miss
Anna Bauermann, who like himself was a na-
tive of Kreuznach, Rhenish Prussia, Ger-
many. Since becoming a citizen of the United
States ]\Ir. Krempel has studied the political
platforms of the two great parties and now
gives his allegiance to the Democracy. While
in Los Angeles he was made a Mason in Los
Angeles Lodge No. 42, F. & A. M., and he
also belongs to the Red Men and the Sons of
Herman of that city, and the Eagles of San
Pedro. Socially he is an active member of the
Turner Society, and he is also identified with
the Chamber of Commerce in San Pedro.
When it is considered that he came to Ameri-
ca less than a quarter of a century ago with-
out friends or capital the success with which
he has since been blessed bespeaks an intel-
ligent mind, a determined will and a persever-
ing disposition, and it is largely to these at-
tributes that his present standing is due.

EDWARD W. DURANT. One of the old-
est settlers in Riverside county is Edward W.
Durant, who is located on a twenty-acre ranch,
seven acres of which is devoted to a peach or-
chard, four acres to alfalfa, and the remainder
being planted to potatoes and garden vegetables.
He was born May 19, 1857, in Darke county,
Ohio, the son of E. W. and Susanna (Cook)
Durant, the father being a native of Mississippi
and the mother of West ^''irginia. In early life
the parents removed to Ohio, and later, in 1884,
came to California, buying a ranch near Los An-
geles, on which they lived for two years. In
1886 Mr. Durant sold the place and removed to
the San Jacinto valley and the raw land which he
bought and cleared was the first piece improved
on the Mesa. In 1887 he was hooked by a cow
and from the injuries received died October 11
following, at the age of fifty-seven years.

The education of Edward \\\ Durant was re-
ceived in Ohio, and he came with his parents to
California and lived with them until the death of
the father, when he took charge of the home
place. He had two brothers. Blakely. a resident
of Riverside county, and Sumner, who died in
Ohio, in 1888. at the age of twenty-six years. Mr.
Durant was married in August, 1893, to Angle
Swope. who was born in Indiana, and they have
one child, Mary Fred, aged twelve vears. Mrs.
Durant is a member of the Baptist Church. Po-
liticallv Mr. Durant is a strong believer in the

principles embraced in the platform of the Re-
publican party, and he is now serving the public
as fruit inspector of the third supervisoral dis-
trict in which he lives. He is a man of good
business ability and progressive public spirit
and is interested in all matters tending toward
the upbuilding of the community in which he re-
sides, and where he is held in the highest esteem
bv all who know him.

THOMAS A. FREEMAN. Though a re-
cent acquisition to the list of land-owners in
the northern part of San Diego county, Mr.
Freeman is by no means a newcomer in this
part of the state ; on the other hand, almost
the entire period of his active life has been
passed within the limits of the county where
he now resides, and he has a large circle of
acquaintances among its miners, ranchers and
business men. It was during the year 1904
that he bought the ranch of eighty acres near
Bonsall and established his home on the prop-
erty', which has since been increased to one
hundred and sixty acres. The improvement
of the ranch is now engaging his attention. It
is his ambition to briiig the tract into a condi-
tion where it will compare favorably with the
best ranches of this locality, and he is spar-
ing no pains in an effort to attain that result.

The Freeman family is of southern extrac-
tion, and Mr. Freeman is a Texan by nativity,
born in Collin county Jul}- 20, 1865, his par-
ents being Alfred and Amelia (Freeman)
Freeman, both natives of jNIissouri. His fa-
tiier was a blacksmith by trade and during the
entire period of the Civil war was engaged in
shoeing- horses for the cavalry regiments. Af-
terward he returned to the same occupation
under the more favorable environment of
peace, and for ten years he remained in the
south laboring with diligence and skill in his
little shop. Removing to California in 1875
he settled at San Luis Rey, San Diego county,
and opened a shop, which he conducted as
long as his health and strength permitted
manual toil. Since his death, which occurred
in iqoi, his widow was made her home near
A'ista, San Diego count}-.

^^^^en the family came to California Thom-
as A. Freeman was a boy of ten years, active,
robust, energetic and capable, a willing help-
er in the shop and the home. Though he did
not receive superior educational advantages,
yet he was sent to the San Luis Rey schools
and gained a thorough knowdedge of the com-
mon branches. At the age of seventeen years
he began to earn his livelihood as a farm hand
and for a long period he worked by the month
on ranches, ^^'ith the monev earned bv his

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RiaORl).

1463

industry and saved by his economy he in-
vested in the property which he now owns.
For some time he has been interested in min-
ing, and in 1904 located the Mountain Belle
mine, a very profitable proposition, in which
he owns one-half interest, and Godfrey G.
Thatcher owns the remaining one-half. In
addition he owns interests in about eight other
claims, almost all of which give promise of
large returns upon their development.

The marriage of Mr. Freeman took place at
San Luis Rey in 1881 and united him with
Miss Nola Gooden, a native of Texas. Seven
children bless their union, namely: Clarence,
Edward, Asa, Rupert, Verna, Evelina and
Pearl. The family are identified with the
Christian Church and Air. Freeman is a regu-
lar contributor to its current expense fund
and to its missionary interests and charities.
Though he has never connected himself with
any party and votes independently, this is not
the result of indifiference to the problems faced
by our government nor does it indicate ne-
glect of duty as a citizen ; with him indepen-
dent thought is the result of his mental at-
tributes and where parties show weaknesses
and a desire to divide the spoils his lack of
sympathy with their failings throws him into
the camp of the independents. With the over-
sight of his mining claims and the improve-
ment of his land he finds little leisure for par-
ticipation in public afi^airs, nor do his tastes
incline in that direction. Of a domestic na-
ture, he enjoys the society of wife and chil-
dren, and is happiest when occupied with pro-
moting their welfare. Since he came to his
present farm nsar Bonsall he has made need-
ed improvements, has secured an equipment
of stock and machinery, has established a
colony of bees of seventeen stands, and has
shown an interest in every department of ag-
riculture.

JACOB WATSON. The earliest recollec-
tions of this native son of California are asso-
ciated with the stirring scenes of pioneer days.
His father, Henry, a Virginian by birth and
in early life a teamster engaged in the Santa
Fe trade, came to California in 1849 ^s cap-
tain of a train of three hundred wagons drawn
by oxen and occupied by hundreds of emi-
grants seeking the El Dorado of their dreams.
After the arduous journey had reached a
peaceful termination he engaged in teaming
to the mines, and while he and his wife, Ma-
thilda (Cox) Watson, a native of Missouri,
were making their home at the mines on the
Feather river their son, Jacob, was born De-
cember 19. 1850. After a time the family

settled on a tract of raw land on the San Joa-
quin river and for some years Watson's terry
was the popular mode of crossing that river
by emigrants and farmers.

In addition to general farming and the rais-
ing of sheep, Henry Watson also at one time
was interested in the milling business. Dur-
mg the year 1869 he removed to Olive, now in
Orange county, and there he bought a large
tract of land and bought, bred and sold sheep.
With the incoming ot settlers the sheep busi-
ness ceased to be as profitable as when the
ranges were unlimited in extent, and he then
concentrated his attention upon general farm-
ing. Surviving to the age of eighty-six years,
he peacefully passed away after a strenuous
life, and his wife, who lived to be fifty, also
tlied at their Olive homestead. Both were
faithful members of the Christian Church.
They were the parents of ten children, of
whom six still survive, Jacob being next to
the youngest and the only one to settle in San
Diego county. Reared on the San Joaquin
river near the present site of Fresno, he at-
tended the common schools of Fresno and
Monterey counties, and also for a short time
after coming to southern California he stud-
ied in the schools of what was then Los An-
geles county.

After having gained a thorough practical
knowledge of agriculture through helping his
father on the home farm, in 1876 Jacob Wat-
son came to the San Luis Rey valley and
purchased from O. H. Borden the land which
since has been the center of his activities. On
the knoll he built a farm house which is the
home of his family and which commands an
attractive view of the surrounding countr}\
The ranch comprises three hundred and twen-
ty acres, all of which may be irrigated as
needed. In former years the raising of sheep
was the owner's principal occupation, but
more recently he has given his attention to
stock and has made a specialty of the dairy
business. The property lies five and one-haff
miles from Oceanside on the Southern Cali-
fornia Railroad and is adjacent to the village
of San Luis Rey, memorable in the early his-
tory of the state. Besides his important farm
and dairy activities, Mr. Watson is a director
and stockholder in the San Luis Creamery
Company and has the office of president in
the San Luis Rey Irrigating Company, in ad-
dition to which he gives his influence and sup-
port to other enterprises for the upbuilding of
his communit}. Religious movements have
felt the impetus of his encouraging aid, and
he has been particularly active in the work
of the San Luis Rey Christian Church, in
which he is a leading member. Though he

1464

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

has never been a leader in politics and has not
solicited official honors, he has always been
stanch in his support of the Democratic party.
The marriage of Mr. Watson took place at
Olive, this state, and united him with JNIiss
Ellen J. Borden, a native of Alissouri, and a
daughter of O. H. Borden, who was a pio-
neer of the San Luis Rey valley, but now re-
sides at Lakeside, San Diego county. The
family of Mr. and Mrs. Watson consists of
four children now living, and in addition they
lost a daughter, Laura, at the age of four
years. The daughters now living are Mrs.
Clara L. Woodruff and Flora May, Mrs.
Charles Libby, both residing in the San Luis
Rey valley. The sons, Roy and Percy, are
assisting their father in the management of
the home ranch.

CHARLES J. BARNES was born in Smith-
field, R. I., the youngest child of James A. and
Abby N. (Bishop) Barnes, and was educated
in the schools of East Providence, R. I. From
his youth he gave much time to the piano and
then spent three years abroad studying at the
Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipsic. On
his return to the United States he located in
Chicago and later attended the Massachuetts In-
stitute of Technology, where he made a specialty
of the study of chemistry. Desiring to engage
in horticulture he came to Redlands in 1897,
where he has become much interested in orange
culture. He now owns forty acres in Bryn
Mawr, of which twenty acres are in oranges.
The residence and place are well improved and
modern in every way. It is located on a gentle
slope with a most magnificent view of the valley
and mountains and is sufficiently high to be frost-
less, which fact is illustrated by tomato vines
growing the year around. Mrs. Barnes was
Miss Jean M. Brophy, of Chicago, and they have
two children, Florence and Charles J., Jr. Mr.
Barnes is an active member of the First Congre-
gational Church of Redlands, a member of the
Board of Trade, and takes an active part and
gives liberally of his means toward enterprises
that are launched with a view to promoting the
welfar of Redlands and its people.

ANTHONY J. HAPPE. The proprietor of
the Pony Stables of Redlands is one of the en-
terprising and progressive citizens of the place,
and as such he has added no little impetus to the
advancement of the general welfare. Mr. Happe
is a native of Germany, his birth having oc-
curred in Westphalia, September 17, 1876; his
father, Anthony Happe, brought the family to
America in 1880 and located them at Little

Rock, Ark., where he engaged as a farmer for
the period of seven years, at the expiration of
that time coming to Southern California and
spending the ensuing two years in San Bernar-
dino county. In 1890 he went to Perris, River-
side county, and there improved a farm, in con-
nection with which he followed quartz mining.
He is now about sixty-three years of age, re-
taining health and mental faculties. While a
member of the Fatherland he served in the Fran-
co-Prussian war and was severely wounded. He
is one of the respected citizens of Riverside
county and takes an active interest in the devel-
opments of the community, being especially ac-
tive along educational lines. His wife, former-
ly Annie Hunstich, a native of Germany, is also
living. They are the parents of seven chil-
dren of whom six are living.

Anthony J. Happe is the third child in the
family of his parents, and was but four years
old when the journey was made to America, and
eleven when he came to California. In this state
he received his education through the medium
of the public schools, after which he remained at
home and assisted on the paternal farm. In
February, 1896, he located permanently in Red-
lands where he had spent a portion of every
year since 1888, and here engaged as a horticult-
urist, each adding to his interests until he was
cultivating a large acreage. In conjunction with
J. H. Garretson he purchased in 1902 the pony
stables owned by J. T. Bennett, which was then
but a small enterprise. This he continued to
enlarge from time to time until in May, 1905,
he moved into new and more commodious quar-
ters at the corner of East State and Sixth streets,
a brick building 80x120 feet in dimensions, where
he has a capacity for fifty head of horses. He
also carries on a livery, feed and transfer com-
pany, the latter meeting all trains, and in all
these various lines he has met with deserved suc-
cess. In 1906 he became sole owner of the en-
terprise, purchasing his partner's interest and
has since conducted it independently. His meth-
ods of conducting his business have won for
him the esteem and respect of all with whom he
has had business dealings.

In Redlands Mr. Happe was united in mar-
riage with !Miss Carrie Gessmann, a native of
Iowa, and their home is now located in this city.
Mr. Happe is interested in the Redlands Driv-
ing Association, which was formed for the pur-
pose of caring for the tourist trade which comes
to the city annually, providing carriages for their
accommodation. In his fraternal relations Mr.
Happe is identified with the Odd Fellows here
and also the Woodmen of the World. He is a
member of the Board of Trade, and active in
his efforts to advance the general welfare of the
city.

A-oU-kji^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1467

JACOB MILLER. After twenty-four years
of successful ranch life Mr. Miller has retired
from the active duties which once engaged his
attention, contentment and the joy of living in
this favored country being enhanced by the
fact that the wife of his youth is also spared to
share the benefits and luxuries which have
been made possible as much by her assistance
and co-operation as by his exertions. When
he came to Los Angeles county in 1869, and
purchased the tract of sixty acres to which he
brought his famih', Indians had but recently
left the region. Bare spots in the cacti showed
where their tents had been pitched, and their
fireplaces and cooking utensils were scattered
about the fields. Many curious Indian relics
have been unearthed during the man}' years
that l\Ir. Miller has made his home here, these
now being the property' of the Chamber of
Commerce and on exhibition in their rooms.
It was under the foregoing conditions that Mr.
Miller settled on his ranch in Miller's caiion, as
it Avas called, and undertook to cultivate what
up to, this time had been a cactus field. His
first improvement was the erection of a small
house 18x20 feet. From j^ear to year as his
means would permit he made additions to the
original structure until he now has a very
comfortable and attractive home. The city of
Hollywood has practically grown up around
him, and as a consequence his property has be-
come very valuable. Recently he disposed of
twenty-three acres to a realt}^ company, he still
owning thirt}--seven acres for his own use.
This is located on the west side of the canon,
besides which he owns three acres on the east
side.

A native of the Fatherland, Jacob Miller
was born in one of the Rhine provinces August
5, 1833, and Vi'as educated in native schools
until he was sixteen years of age. Leaving
home and parents at this tender age he set sail
for the new world on an old-fashioned sailing
vessel which dropped anchor at New Orleans
forty-seven days later. From New Orleans he
Vv'ent up the ^lississippi river to St. Louis,
where for aboiit four years he was employed
in a marble sliop. While in his native coun-
try he had devoted two years to learning the
marble business, and for two years during the
time he was employed in St. Louis he contin-
ued his studies along this line, thus complet-
ing the course which made him a full-fledged
marble-cutter. For one year following this he
worked at his trade in Nashville, Tenn. The
year 1852 again found liim in New Orleans,
whither he had gone to set sail for California.
The dawning of the New Year, 1853, found
him on the Isthmus, and also on the very sum-
mit which todav is being cut for the canal

which is to connect the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans. While there he cut his name and
New Year's greetings upon a tree. In com-
pany with several others he was rowed up the
Chagres river by natives as far as Gorgona,
where the crew became intoxicated and were
no longer responsible or safe companions.
From Gorgona to Panama they made the trip
on foot, a very dangerous undertaking for
any one, much more so for those with no
knowledge of the country whatever. However,
Ihey arrived in safety and debarked on a ves-
sel bound for San Francisco, arriving in Jan-
uary, 1853. From there i\Ir. Miller went to
Mariposa county and took up several mining
claims which he worked alone for three j^ears,
when, in 1856, with a few companions, he went
into the Yosemite valley, they being the first
white men to pass over the new trail from
Mariposa to that country. His companions
became fearful of the dusky neighbors who
surrounded them and left for safer quarters.
For four days Mr. Miller remained alone with
a large tribe of Indians, whose confidence he
gained and consequently he was not molested.
His mining venture in the valley proved an es-
pecially fortunate one, and he remained there
until 1869, when he came to Los Angeles and
established the pioneer marble works in the
city. In the interests of his business he trav-
eled over the hills between Los Angeles and
San Bernardino and in so doing learned of the
rich quarry at Lytic creek. Besides opening a
quarry at the latter place he also opened one
on the Slova mountains, and some of the mar-
ble which he quarried from these places may
still be seen in the cemetery at Los Angeles.
Subsequently lie discontinued working the
quarries on account of the heavy expense at-
tached to it. After twelve years of successful
business life in Los Angeles j\lr. Miller sold
his business and good will and came to Holly-
wood, with v.'.hich city his name has been iden-
tified for the past twenty-four years.

In Los .\ngeles. Cal., in October, 1878. Ja-
cob AHller was married to Dorothea Grelck,
who like himself was born in Germany. She
has been a resident of the United States ever
since her twenty-fifth year. Six children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. ^Filler, as follows:
Emma, Mrs. Otto Glardy. of Los Angeles:
Elise, Mrs. Lvman F. Hathaway, a resident of
Hollvwood : Tlieressa, who for two years
taught school in Hollywood and in August,
190(1, entered .Stanford University to complete
her education ; and Dora, \\'iHiam .\., and
Edith, the three last mentioned at home
with their parents. Until recently Mr. Miller
was a member of the school bo^rd of Hollv-
wood, to which he gave faithful service for

1468

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

thirteen years. While in Los Angeles he
joined the Independent Order of Foresters, but
of late years he has not been as active in the
ranks of the order as formerly. Although he
is not a member of any church, he gives liber-
ally toward the support of all denominations,
and has the good-Yv^ill and veneration of all
who have lived and labored with him in Hol-
lywood for nearly a quarter of a century.

DOLORES M. VEJAR. A skillful, intelli-
gent and capable ranchman, the late Dolores M.
Vejar was actively associated with the advance-
ment of the agricultural prosperity of Los An-
geles county, owning large tracts of land, which
he managed successfully. In his boyhood days
the now attractive city of Los Angeles, in which
he spent many years, was very sparsely settled,
the only residences being the adobe houses of the
early settlers. He was of Spanish descent, and
was born, June 22, 1845, in Los Angeles, a son of
John Christopher Vejar.

Coming from Spain, his native country, to Cal-
ifornia, John Christopher Vejar served as a sol-
dier in the Spanish army, after which he received
as a grant Cone jo rancho, a tract of one thousand
six hundred acres of land in Ventura county.
He also owned extensive and valuable interests
in Los Angeles, which city he made his home for
a number of years. He engaged extensively in
stock raising in the Ventura locality, although
resident in Los Angeles, where he was a man of
distinction, having served as councilman and as
mayor. He was a man of wealth, at the time of
his death at the age of sixty-two years, leaving
a handsome property to his family. He married
Marv Grace Reyes, the descendant of a promi-
nent Spanish family. She was born in Los An-
geles, and died, at the venerable age of eighty-
six years, in that city.

Educated in the public schools of Los Angeles,
Dolorgs M. Vejar learned much of the various
branches of agriculture while young, and at the
age of twenty-one years acquired bv inheritance
the old Vejar ranch, lying between Los Angeles
and Ventura, and containing six hundred and
thirty-five acres of land. He followed stock
raising during his life, but a number of years
asro moved into Los Ansreles in order to give his
children better educational advantages, buying
the ranch now owned and occupied by his widow
and children. In addition to this ranch of thirtv
acres, Mr. Vejar also owned two hundred an'd
forty-five feet of land on Flower street. Los An-
geles, a valuable residential property. He was
very active and enterprising, and in addition to
operating both of his ranches he rented large
tracts of land, and was successfully engaged in

general ranching until his death, which occurred
March 22, 1904, after a brief illness of only two
weeks.

In 1883 Mr. Vejar married Mary E. Goss,
who was born, June 22, 1855, in Onetis, Mari-
posa county, this state, a daughter of Willis G.
Goss. A native of Georgia, Mr. Goss came over-
land with ox-teams to California in 1852, settling
as a miner in Mariposa county, where he resided,
an honored and influential citizen, until his death,
at the a,ge of si.xty-two years. His wife, Eliza-
beth Petty, was born in Texas, and came across
the plains with her father in 1852, in the same
train with her future husband, Willis G. Goss.
Mr. Goss died March 19, 1870, and his widow
then removed to Los Angeles, where she spent
the remainder of her life, passing away at the
age of thirty-nine years. Of the union of I\Ir.
and Mrs. Vejar seven children were born,
namely: Theodore J., Beatrice E., j\lary Grace,
Victoria G., Annie Ray, Dolores R. and Rudolph
G. Vejar. All living at home.

ELGAR REED, M. D. A successful expo-
nent of the medical profession is named in the
person of Elgar Reed, who has been located in
El Monte since 1893, and has built up an exten-
sive practice. He is a native of Ohio, his birth
having occurred in the vicinitv of Cincinnati,
December 13, 1865 ; his father, Garrett R. Reed,
was born in 1827 in Franklin, Ohio, while his
grandfather, Gilbert, was born in New Jersey
in 1796 and became a pioneer settler of Ohio,
where he engaged in farming until his death.
He came of fine old eastern stock, being related
to the A'an Shaicks and also to George Read, the
signer of the Declaration of Independence, the
spelling of the name being changed by himself.
Garrett R. Reed attained years of maturity in
Ohio, where he learned the blacksmith's trade,
after which he settled in Iowa at an early date in
the history of the state, and in Louisa county
engaged as a farmer and blacksmith. Later he
engaged in the hardware business for a time,
finally removing to Carmi, .111., where he became
a lumber manufacturer. In 1882 he made a
trip to Southern California and spent some time
in Los Angeles, but returned to Carmi because
of his business interests and remained there
seven years. In Los Angeles, where his death
occurred in 1904, he was interested in the Los
Angeles Box Comnanv. He is survived by his
wife, formerly Elizabeth ^^'eller, a native of
Ohio. Her father, Tobias Weller, was born in
Preble county, Ohio, in 1801, and in manhood
engaged as a fanner in that state until 1875,
when he came to Los Angeles and purchased a
ranch upon which he made his home until his
death in 1892, when nearly ninety-one years old.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1469

Mrs. Reed makes her home in Los Angeles, and
is the mother of two sons and one daughter.

Elgar Reed was the youngest in the family
and was reared in the states of Iowa, Illinois and
California, his preliminary education being re-
ceived in the schools of the two former states
before his removal to Los Angeles. In this city,
in 1884, he entered the preparatory department
of the University of Southern California and
graduated therefrom in 1890 with the degree of
B. S., later receiving the degree of M. S. In the
same year he returned to Ohio and entered the
Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery,
from which institution he was graduated in
1893 with the degree of M. D. He at once lo-
cated in El Monte and began the practice of his
profession, which has since absorbed his entire
time and attention. He has built up an extensive
practice and is looked upon as a physician of
unusual ability, whose most conscientious efforts
are given wherever his services are required.

In Los Angeles Dr. Reed was married to Miss
Mary Sawyer, who was born in Colorado. Dr.
Reed is prominent in fraternal associations, hav-
ing been made a Mason in Lexington Lodge No.
104, of El Monte, and is also associated with the
Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent
Order of Foresters, Fraternal Brotherhood and
the Modern Brotherhood. Politically he casts
his ballot for Republican candidates.

CHARLES POWERS. A citizen of worth
and ability is Charles Powers, who first saw San
Pedro in 1880, and has witnessed much of the
growth and development which have marked the
city's history. Mr. Powers is a native of Sweden,
his birth having occurred at Oskersham Septem-
ber 19, 1863. His father, Olander Powers, .also
a native of Sweden, spent his entire life in that
country with the exception of a short time in
Chicago, III, where he located in the early days
of that city. Of the five children born to his
parents Charles Powers is the only one in Amer-
ica, and his residence here is probably due to the
fact that his travels as a seaman brought him
to the Pacific shores of this country. From
boyhood he followed the sea, becoming cabin
boy and in time a sailor before the mast. In
1879 he shipped on the McMillan of Glasgow,
rounding the Cape of Good Hope and in Sep-
tember of the same year touching at the port of
San Diego, Cal. He disembarked and for a few
montlis remained in that location. In January
of the following year he came to Los Angeles
county and in Wilmington engaged with the
Wilmington Transportation Company, with
whom he continued until 1889. He then se-
cured employment with the Kirckhoff Cuzner
Lumber Company as shipping clerk, and in 1891

became the foreman of their yards in San Pedro,
the wholesale and distributing point for the com-
pany, and since that time he has remained so oc-
cupied, being located permanently in this city.
He thoroughly understands his business and is
successful in his work.

After his location here Mr. Powers married
Mercy J. Crocker, a native of Wilmington, Cal.,
and the daughter of Henry Crocker, a pioneer
of this section. They have one son, Charles
A\'aldo. In his political affiliations ]\Ir. Powers
is a Democrat, but is liberal and broad in his
views, reserving the right to cast his local ballot
for the man whom he considers best qualified
for official duty. As a trustworthy citizen he
was elected a member of the city board of trus-
tees, which position he held until removing be-
\ond the city limits, when he resigned. Fra-
ternally he is prominent, being a member of the
Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past officer:
the Eagles, and Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks. Until 1905 he was also associated with
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in
which he officiated as an officer, but in the last
named ^■ear withdrew from the ors:anization.

GEORGE BAY. When George Bay first
came to California, like many others it was in
search of good health and he has gained not only
that, but a very generous material prosperity as
well, as a progressive and energetic man who
adopts up-to-date methods cannot fail to do in
the fertile Ojai valley. His father, William Fin-
ley Bay, a native of Ohio, was one of the early
Oregon pioneers who crossed the plains in 1850
and settled in that western coast state. He con-
ducted a ranch in Oregon, where he died at the
age of fifty-six years, being survived by his wife,
formerly Nancy J. Kirkpatrick, a native of Quin-
cy. 111., and who is still residing on the old home-
stead at the advanced age of ninety years.

Of the family of ten children George Bay is the
only member residing in California and he came
to this state when a young man of twenty-two
years. He w^as born July 30, 1853. in Oregon,
and was educated in the common schools of that
state. Impaired health induced him to come to
California and to Ventura county in particular.
In April. 1875, he settled on a piece of govern-
ment land which is now a part of his homestead,
owning at the present writing one hundred and
twelve acres of land upon which he raises fruit
and hay, and in addition rents and cultivates a
grain ranch of two hundred acres. The Ojai val-
ley has some of the best apiaries in the state lo-
cated in the foothills and ^Ir. Ba\- owns four
hundred stands of honey bees which net him a
handsome income during the season. Upon one
occasion ninety-six of the stands made the splen-

1470

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

did record of producing nine tons of that clear
white honey for which the state is famous.

In 1878 Mr. Bay was married to Maggie Van-
curen, a native daughter of Iowa, and to them
were born four children : Guy Ora, who married
Bertha Whitney ; Nellie Agnes, the wife of Frank
T. Brooks; James W., who is fourteen years old;
and Fred Leo. Mr. Bay is well versed in social
and economic subjects and after a careful study
of the policies to which the old-line parties are
pledged he believes that they do not stand for the
best and most progressive ideas and so gives his
allegiance to the Socialist party. He has always
taken an active interest in all affairs of interest
to the public welfare and as an intelligent and
leading citizen he is accorded a high esteem
throughout the Ojai valley.

JOHN W. SPEED. Prominent among the
earlier settlers of the Santa Maria valley is
John W. Speed, an influential resident of the
city of Santa IMaria. He has won his own way
through life, by his honesty and upright deal-
ings establishing a reputation for integrity that
any man might well covet, and gaining an as-
sured position among the business men of this
part of the county. A native of Missouri, he
was bom August 4, 1849, i" Morgan county, be-
ing one of a family of five children born of the
union of James H. and Lucy A. (Maroni)
Speed. His parents were both born and reared
in Virginia, and both died on the home farm
in Missouri, the death of the mother occurring
at the age of fifty years, while the father, who
survived her, attained the age of seventy-two
years. John W., of this review, is the only
member of the family living in California.

John W. Speed labored hard to acquire an ed-
ucation, and after leaving the public schools of
Morgan county spent three years at the State
University, in Columbia, Mo., taking the regular
scientific course, by his own efforts paying all of
his college expenses. At the early age of six-
teen years he began to be self-supporting, and
after leaving college embarked in agricultural
pursuits, for two years having charge of a grain
ranch. Leaving home in 1S75, he came to Santa
Barbara county, and for a while was employed
in ranching in this valley. Returning to Mis-
souri, he resumed farming, remaining there un-
til 1879, when he again came to the Santa Maria
valley, settling as a farmer in Santa Barbara
county. Leasing land near Guadaloupe, he car-
ried on dairying and stock-raising for eleven
years, meeting with satisfactory success in his
operations. In 1890 he bought one hundred and
sixty acres of land in the upper part of the val-
ley, and, with the exception of two years that he
spent as a hay and grain dealer in San Francisco

he was for fourteen years engaged in horticult-
ural pursuits, making a specialty of apricots.
He subsequently bought his home ranch, which
consists of forty acres of valuable land, and is
advantageously located in Santa Maria. Be-
sides this ranch he owns one hundred and sixty
acres of land near the Sunset oil fields of Kern
county; has title to thirty acres of land in the
district near Orcutt; is a stockholder in the
Brookshire Oil Company ; and is a shareholder
and the president of the Meridian Oil and Land
Company, that is developing oil in the Santa
Maria fields.

In 1884 Mr. Speed married Fannie Herndon,
who was born in Carrollton, Mo., in 1857, and
died in Santa Barbara county in 1890, at the age
of thirty-three years, leaving two children,
James H. and John W., Jr. The former took a
preparatory course in the academic department
of the Missouri Valley College, at Marshall,
Mo. In 1893 Mr. Speed married for his second
wife Mary Bocay, who was born and educated
in England. In politics Mr. Speed is independ-
ent, using his own judgment in casting his bal-
lot, instead of blindly following any political
leader, or giving unqualified adherence to any
party.

JOSEPH B. ROBISON. Ten miles north-
west from Santa Monica, in the Garapatos
school district No. 10, lies the stock ranch on
which Mr. Robison resides, and which he owns
in partnership with his father-in-law, Benjamin
F. Berkey. The ranch includes one hundred
and eighty acres, of which about fifty acres are
under cultivation, while the remainder of the land
forms a range for the cattle. Stock-raising is
the principal industry engaged in, although they
also conduct a small dairy and raise fruit and
nuts.

Mr. Robison is a native of the middle west,
born in Vernon county. Mo., not far from the
village of Harwood, October 13, 1871. His
father was born in the adjoining state of Illi-
nois, and was reared on a fann there until re-
moving to Missouri during young manhood.
There also he established himself on a fann,
and in addition to its management also conducted
a sawmill and jwned threshing machines, with
the latter assisting farmers throughout the local-
ity during the harvest season. His active and
well-planned course in life has resulted in mak-
ing him fairly well-to-do, so that he is now prac-
tically retired from business cares, although to
keep his mind occupied he still manages a small
farm near Harwood, Mo. The wife of his youth
is still spared to him and together they are
spending their later years in the enjoyment of
the competency accumulated through hard work

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1473

and frugality. J\lrs. Robison was before her
marriage Elmira Hodgson and like her husband
was born in Illinois.

\'ernon count)', Mo., was the scene of the
early life of Joseph B. Robison, and by the time
he was nineteen years old. his school days were
over and his business career was fairly begun.
It was at this age that he crossed the "plains to
the west and located in California, coming direct
to Santa Monica, where he worked as a farm
hand for about nine months. With commenda-
ble ambition to become a land owner he squatted
on railroad land in Antelope valley, but after
holding it about a year he sold the property.
Coming to the Garapatos school district in No-
vember, 1894, he bought a squatter's right to
his present ranch, filing on the same in i8g6.
Since his marriage he and his father-in-law have
combmed their interests, their landed possessions
aggregating one hundred and eighty acres, up-
on which they raise cattle, horses, hogs and
poultry.

In November, 1900, was celebrated the mar-
riage of Joseph B. Robison and Miss Ethel Ber-
key, the latter of whom was born in Nebraska,
where for six years she taught school. She has
been a resident of California since she was
twenty-three years of age, and after coming to
this state also taught school for a time. Three
children have been born to JNfr. and Mrs. Robi-
son, Irriia Eleanor. Florence Edna and Bertha
Blanche. Mr. Robison's political views are in
harmony with the Democratic party, which he
stanchly upholds. For two }ears he was a mem-
ber of the board of school trustees of his district.

JOHN F. ^ilOORE. The versatile ability
of John F. Moc'c. one of the successful ranch-
ers of the vicinity of Norwalk, Los Angeles
county, has enabled him to make a success
financially and at the same time build up for
himself a position of respect and esteem among
the citizens of whatever community he has
made his home. He boasts a California
birth, for his parents were both pioneers of
the state, the father, Henry Moore, a native
of Ohio, having come to the Pacific coast in
1855 via the Isthmus of Panama and in the
mines near Camptonville was engaged for
seven years. He then followed freighting to
various California and Nevada points, and
at the same time purchased a ranch in Yuba
countv, Cal. Later he sold this and took up a
government claim in Colusa county, but event-
ually had to give it up. Fie then went to Or-
!and, Glenn countv. Cal. and there purchased
three hundred and twenty acres, sold it in
iSqt, and then in Oregon bought a ranch of
two hundred and fiftv-one acres. His death

occurred in that location in 1892 at the age of
sixty years. He was a man of public spirit
and energy. A Republican in politics, he was
called upon by this party to discharge the
duties of supervisor of Colusa county for
twelve years. Fraternally he was a Mason.
He came of a loyal and patriotic family, two
of his brothers serving valiantly in the Civil
war. He married Adaline Andrews in Cali-
fornia and she is still, living on the old home-
stead. She was the mother of six children,
of whom four are still living, besides John F.,
the eldest, being Retta, wife of John Sexton,
of Los Angeles county ; Edward, who lives on
the home place in Oregon ; and Charles, a
student in a divinity school in Oregon in
preparation for the Christian ministry.

Born in Marysville, Yuba county, Cal., Sep-
tember 21, 1866, John F. Moore sp'ent the. first
three years of his life in that place, when he
was taken by his parents to Colusa county,
and five years later to Orland, Glenn county.
He received his education in the common
schools of that place, and after his schooldays
were over he went to work at Marysville to
learn the trade of harness maker. He was
then but eighteen years old and henceforth he
was dependent upon his own resources. He
also started to learn the trade of blacksmith
but because of defective eyesight had to give
this up. He ranched for his father for a time
following this, and finally, in the fall of 1890,
lie went to Oregon. He was married in that
state and there rented land and farmed for
about seven years. At the expiration of that
time he came south and in Santa Barbara
county spent one year, then came to Los An-
geles county and in the vicinity of his pres-
ent property rented land and engaged in gen-
eral farming. Fie again rented land here and
then with his brother-in-law purchased forty
acres. Mr. Moore now owning the north twen-
ty acres of the tract, of which fourteen acres
are devoted to alfalfa, three acres to a fine
family orchard, and a dairy business being
supplied by five cows. He has made his own
improvements, built residence, barns, out-
buildings, and installed a pumping plant
equipped with a fifteen horse power gasoline
engine. He is also interested in poultry breed-
ing. It may also be added that Mr. Moore
is a natural carpenter and has added to his in-
come at times because of this ability.

Mr. Moore's wife was in maidenhood Rosa
Newlan, the ceremony which united them in
marriage being performed July 3, 1892. She
is a daughter of J. N. Newlan. whose personal
history also appears in this work. They be-
came the parents of the following children:

1474

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

INIaud, aged fourteen ; Roy, aged thirteen ; Jo-
seph, aged eleven; Ethel, aged eight; Lester,
aged six; Ada, aged three. Both Mr. Moore
and his wife are members of the Christian
Church. Politically he is a stanch Republi-
can and fraternally is associated with the
Woodmen of the \\^orld, while both himself
and wife are members of the Fraternal Aid.
Mr. ^iloore is much esteemed in the community
and is justl)- named among the representa-
tive citizens.

SYLVESTER KINCADE SMITH. In the
vicinity of Beaumont, Riverside county, is lo-
cated the ranch operated by Sylvester Kincade
Smith, one of the enterprising and successful
farmers who have assisted materially in the up-
building of the best interests of this section of
Southern California. He was born in Yates
Cit_v, Knox county, 111., January 12, 1854, among
the youngest in a family of fifteen children of
whom thirteen are now living. His father, Seth
Smith, was born in North Carolina, a son of
William, also of that state, whence he removed
to Hillsboro, Ohio, and engaged as a farmer
until his death. Seth Smith engaged in fanning
in Ohio, where he attained manhood, and later
located in Yates City, III, and there followed
farming and also the trades of stone and brick
mason, carpenter, wagon maker and blacksmith,
being gifted with natural mechanical ability. In
1869 he removed to Iowa and in Adams county
improved a farm and spent the remainder of
his life. His wife, formerly Mary George, was
a native of Mrginia and a daughter of William
George, who removed to Ohio, thence to Yates
City, III, where he engaged as a farmer until
his death. A son, John, served in the Eighty-
sixth Regiment Illinois Infantry, and is now a
resident of loWa ; and also William Smith, served
in the Fourth Regiment Iowa Battery, and is now
a resident of Williamsfield, 111.

Reared on the paternal farm in Illinois, Syl-
vester Kincade Smith received his education
through an attendance of the public school in
the vicinity of his home, after which he went
to work for his father. He accompanied the
family to Iowa in 1871, and remained with his
father until attaining his majority, when, in May,
1885, he came to California because of his health.
He spent the first summer at El Monte, Los
Angeles county, and in the fall came to San
Gorgonia Pass and secured employment on va-
rious farms in the section. In the summer of

1887 he engaged in freighting lumber from the
mountains, and following this in the spring of

1888 began farming operations with H. J.
Roberts, with whom he continued for two years.
At the close of that time they dissolved partner-

ship and Mr. Smith purchased the farm upon
which they have been operating, and it is that
which he owns at the present writing. He has
since added to the original purchase a ranch of
one hundred and sixty acres, the greater part of
which is devoted to the raising of grain, and in
addition to this he leases eleven hundred acres
for the purpose of raising grain, hay and stock.
He owns three six-horse teams and carries on
an extensive business, in which he has been very
successful, acquiring a competence and at the
same time a place in the estimation of his fellow
citizens.

In Beaumont Mr. Smith was married to Miss
Catherine Adams, a native of Maine who died
in California July 20, 1902. She was a mem-
ber of the Episcopal Church and devoted to its
interests. Mr. Smith was made a Mason in San
Jacinto Lodge, F. & A. M., and in the same place
was raised to the degree of Royal Arch. Polit-
ically he is a Republican.

GEORGE W. CAIMPBELL. A broad-minded
citizen and one of the progressive and up-to-
date ranchers of this section of Los Angeles
county, George W. Campbell is located in the
vicinity of Whittier and engaged in the manage-
ment and improvement of thirty-eight acres of
land, which he purchased about five years ago.
He was born in Sheboygan, Wis., April 27,
1868. a son of William C. Campbell, the latter
a pioneer of California and for many years pre-
vious a frontiersman in Iowa and Kansas, where
he endured the hardships and privations of a
beginning civilization. For more complete de-
tails concerning his career refer to his personal
sketch which appears elsewhere in this volume.
Taken by his parents to the Iowa frontier, George
W. Campbell spent his boyhood years in Dickin-
son county, and later in IMitchell county, Kans.,
where the father improved a farm in Solomon val-
ley. He had engaged with his father on the home
farm and also attended the public schools in
pursuit of an education, after coming to Cali-
fornia in 1890 completing the course in the state
Normal school at Los Angeles, and University
of California at Berkeley, where he spent two
years. He then engaged in teaching and for two
years was located at Portersville, Tulare county,
Cal., where he built up a reputation for thorough-
ness of work and breadth of education. For a
time he also labored in San Fernando, the Mill
district and Carmenita, pursuing the course
which has brought him success in his efforts.
In 1902 he decided to locate on a farm, follow-
ing the bent of his early training, and he then
purchased the ranch above mentioned, consist-
ing of thirty-eight acres, of which fifteen acres
are devoted to the cultivation of walnuts and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1477

twenty-three acres to the raising of alfalfa. He
has improved his property in every possible way,
his home being presided over by his wife, form-
erly Miss Ella Newlin, whom he married De-
cember 18, 1904. She was born in Indiana, a
daughter of J. E. Newlin, a resident of Nor-
walk. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have one son,
Chester. They are members of the Christian
Church, which receives their most liberal and
helpful support. Mr. Campbell is a Republican
in politics and it is in this connection that he is
most prominent in Los Angeles county as well
as the state, serving as county delegate to con-
ventions and giving time, means and personal
attention to the advancement of the principles
he endorses. He is a man of high intellectual
attainments, broad in thought and comprehen-
sion, and has brought to bear in all his efforts
the qualities which bespeak the citizen of worth
and helpfulness. He takes the keenest interest
in the higher education of the California schools
and seeks to promote all movements calculated
to advance the standard. He has served for
some years as school trustee. All in all he is a
citizen whose efforts speak eloquently of his
worth.

HERMAN ECKELKAMP. In the vicinity
of Norwalk is located the ranch of twenty
acres owned and operated by Herman Eckel-
kamp, one of tlie enterprising ranchers of this
section. He was born in St. Louis, Mo., June
26, 1847, a son of Henry and Mary (Brinker)
Eckelkamp, both natives of German}^ and who
came to the United States and finally located
in St. Louis, where the father worked at his
trade of baker, conducting a bakery and gro-
cery in that city. During the war the family
moved into the country, the father still con-
ducting a general merchandise store, but lost
heavily by robbers, who carried away three
wagon loads of goods. The father died in 1902,
at the advanced age of eighty-two j-ears, the
mother having passed away when sixty-four
years old. They were the parents of seven
children, of whom two died in infancy.

Herman Eckelkamp received a substantial
education in the public and high schools of St.
Louis, after which he attended the Jonathan
& Kelly Business College, where he took a
course in bookkeeping. In 1873 he came to
California and in San Francisco spent the ensu-
ing two years, and while there worked on a pile
driver in the harbor and also drove a transfer
team. He then returned to Missouri and en-
gaged in farming, purchasing a fine farm of
forty acres, of which twenty acres was in fruit
and twenty acres in vegetables. This he later
disposed of but still owns a twenty-acre farm

near St. Louis. In 1905 Mr. Eckelkamp came
back to California and purchased his present
property, which consists of twenty acres near
Norwalk, which is devoted entirely to garden-
ing, while he also owns a fine residence in Ar-
tesia, being the first to build after the town
site was located and platted. Mr. Eckelkamp's
first marriage united jiim with Miss ]\Iary Finn,
a native of Missouri, and born of this union
were two children : Josephine, wife of Ted
Ryan, of St. Louis; and Annie, who died at
the age of twenty-two years. His wife died in
Missouri, and in 1892 he married Miss Alice
Finn, a sister of his first wife, and born of this
union are two children : Alice and Julius. Mr.
Eckelkamp is associated with the Democratic
party in his political afiiliations, and in religion
is a member of the Catholic Church.

WILLIAM B. COVINGTON, a successful
horticulturist and dairyman of San Bernardino
county, was born in Calhoun county. Miss., Julv
5, 1869, the oldest son in the family of P. H.
Covington, a pioneer of Southern California,
whose biography is given at length in another
part of this volume. But seven years old when
he was brought to the state, William B. Coving-
ton is practically a Californian, having been
reared on the farm where he now lives, and edu-
cated in the public schools and the Redlands
Academy. In 1891 he married Miss Mattie
Reed, a native of Nebraska, and immediately af-
terward he began farming this property, then
raw land, with no cultivation nor improvement.
He built a residence, substantial barns and out-
buildings, set out an orchard of peaches and apri-
cots, and began an intelligent farming that was
soon productive of large returns. He eventually
dug out his peaches and apricots and set out
eleven acres in an orange grove, which is now in
full bearing and produces \he fine fruit that this
section of tlie country is famous for. At the
present writing Mr. Covington has just sold his
orange grove. In 1902 he started the Tremont
Dairy farm on his father's place, farming two
hundred and fifty acres of the home ranch, and
this property he has since bought outright, while
he rents eighty acres adjoining, and owns seven-
ty-five acres besides, making a ranch of over
four hundred acres under his management. He
has forty acres in alfalfa, raised by irrigation
from the Lower Yucaipe, and also a pumping
plant which has been installed on the ranch, while
the balance is given over to grain and pasture.
His dairy herd consists of ninety head of cows,
of Jersey. Holstein and Durham stock, the
product being retailed in Redlands and delivered
to the customers twice per day. He has a sepa-
rator and all modern methods for conducting his

1478

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

enterprise. The Edison Electric Co. supply the
power for running the separator, pumping plant
and various other work to which it can be ap-
plied on the premises. The dwelling, bams and
grounds are lighted by electricity furnished by
same company. All these improvements have
been made at large outlay, but have proven a
financial success, while making his farm an ideal
one.

To Mr. and Mrs. Covington were born the fol-
lowing children: Irma; Carl, Henrietta, Ralph
and Ibel.

Mr. Covington is a school trustee for the R.
R. district. He is prominent fraternally, being
a member of the Odd Fellows lodge of Red-
lands and the Woodmen of the World, of the
same place. Politically he is a stanch Democrat.
He takes an active interest in all upbuilding
movements of the section and can always be
counted upon to further any plan with both
time and means. It can safely be said that it
was through the influence of Mr. Covington, and
his alone, that after six months" negotiating the
Edison Electric Co. poled their power into the
San Timoteo canon. At the present writing he
is serving as secretary and. treasurer of the
Lower Yucaipe Water Company, one of the de-
veloping resources of the section.

EUGENE MACLOA^E VAN DEVENTER.
In his work a? an agriculturist Eugene M.
Van Deventer has brought to bear a general in-
telligence as well as an unusual perseverance and
energy, which have resulted in the accomplish-
ment of his aims and ambitions and have placed
him high among the ranchers of San Timoteo
canon. He is a native Californian, his birth
having occurred in Napa county, November 15,
1857. The name is an old and honored one
among the Knickerbocker families of New York,
where the emigrating ancestor located in 1620
from his home in Germany. His father, Michael
F. Van Deventer, was born in Buffalo, N. Y.,
whence the paternal grandfather, Qiristopher,
removed with his family to Michigan in the early
days of that state. Later he went to Louisville,
Kans., and engaged as a pioneer farmer until his
death. Michael F. Van Deventer was reared in
Kansas and there followed his early training and
engaged as a farmer : he participated in the
Mexican war as sergeant and received a severe
wound. In Mexico he met and married his wife,
formerlv Francisca Diaz, born in Chihuahua,
Mexico, and a daughter of Francisco Diaz, one
of the old Spanish "families. In 1854 Mr. Van
Deventer came to California and first engaged in
the mines. He finally located on a ranch in
Napa county, thence moved to Oak Glenn in
1865, where he entered land which is now the

farm owned by Joseph Wilshire, one of the
pioneers of this section. Following this he en-
gaged in freighting to Arizona, and in 1868 was
attacked by the Indians while crossing the desert,
l)eino- wounded with two poisoned arrows, from
the effects of which he never full)' recovered.
He managed, however, to stampede the Indians
with a gun, and unhitching one horse left the
others and rode this one to Aqua Caliente, under
attack the greater part of the way and bleeding
profusely from his wounds. He located in San
Timoteo canon and engaged as a farmer until
his death, which occurred in 1871. His wife
survives him and makes her home with her son.
They -were the parents of eight children, four
of whom are living.

The second child in the famil}" of his father,
Eugene Maclove \'an Deventer was reared on
his father's farm in Southern California and
educated in the public schools until he was thir-
teen years old, when by the death of his father
he and his older brother took charge of the
home farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He
remained at home until his marriage, which took
place May 17, 1881, uniting him with Miss
Martha Jane Singleton, a native daughter of
San Bernardino county; he then purchased his
present property, consisting of one hundred and
fourteen acres adjoining the James Singleton
property, and on this made all the improvements,
set out an orchard of six acres in prunes and
two acres in apricots, ten acres were devoted to
alfalfa, and the balance of the ranch, since in-
creased by eighty acres, is given over to the
raising of grain and hay. His ranch is located
eleven miles from Redlands, where he has an
excellent market for all his produce. To himself
and wife have been born three children, Cyrus
E., who graduated from the high school in 1905;
Arthur, who will graduate in 1908; and Grover,
who will graduate in 1909. He takes a keen in-
terest in educational affairs, and has served for
years as a trustee of the San Timoteo district,
officiating for a time as clerk of the board. Fra-
ternallv he is a member of the Woodmen of the
World, and in politics votes the Democratic
ticket. Mrs. Van Deventer died November 6,
1903.

JOHN TERRIBILINI. As proprietor of
the Live Oak dairy in the Yucaipe valley John
Terribiliiti is one of the successful and enter-
prising citizens of Riverside county. He is a
native of Tessini, Switzerland, where he was born
May 12, 1873 ; his father, Joseph, was born there
as was also his mother, Julia (Garbani) Terri-
bilini. and there both passed away, the father
having engaged all his life as a farmer and
merchant. Thev had four children, of whom

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1481

two are living, the only one in California being
John, the subject of this review. He was reared
in his native county and educated in its com-
mon and high schools, after which, in the spring
of 1889, he came to California. He located in
Winchester (now in Riverside county), and
secured employment in a dairy, and followed a
similar employment in the Martin dairy of
Riverside. Two years later he went with H. D.
Noland, and there managed his employer's
dairy for seven years, after which he purchased
the interests of Mr. Noland, who retired from
business. He followed this business for a num-
ber of years and built up a large dairy, having
as many as one hundred and twenty cows at a
time, the product being retailed in the city, and
also utilized in the creamery which he estab-
lished, where he manufactured butter and
cheese. In 1903 he sold this enterprise and lo-
cating in the Imperial country entered three
hundred and twenty acres of land, placed it un-
der irrigation, and began the raising of alfalfa
and the conduct of a dairy. Leasing his ranch
in October two years later he returned to River-
side county and purchased the Bonita dairy,
which he conducted until July, 1906, then sold
it, and in August sold his farm in Imperial, and
in Riverside county purchased a ranch of one
hundred and twenty acres, where he has a pump-
ing plant, a twenty horse-power gasoline engine,
with a capacity of one hundred and sixty inches.
This ranch is devoted exclusively to the raising
of alfalfa. He also owns business property in
Long Beach, where he has invested for future
profits. In January, 1907, he leased the Live
Oak dairy in the Yucaipe valley and here has
one of the largest enterprises of its kind in this
section, milking one hundred and seventy-five
cows, and retailing the product in Redlands.

In Riverside Mr. Terribilini was united in
marriage with Miss Bonnie Woolfolk. a native
of Texas, and born of this union is one son, John
Horace. Fraternalh' Mr. Terribilini is identi-
fied with the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of
the World, of Redlands, and politically he is a
stanch Republican.

EZRA DAVIS AlOSHER. A career which
began in Bradford, Pa.. February 3, 1837, and
closed in Pomona, Cal., June 20, 1897, rep-
resented a life of over sixty years of busv use-
fulness, of which four had been spent in the
latter city. Hi.s father, Erastus Mosher, wa.s
a native of the Empire state, but during his
vounger years he removed south into the ad-
joining state of Pennsylvania, where a num-
ber of his children were born. It was in 1848
that with his wife and children he removed
to Wisconsin, settling on a farm near .\rgyle.

Lafayette county, where he later died, as did
also his wife, formerly Polly Smith, she too
being a native of Nev/ York state. Two of
their nine children sacrificed their lives in
their country's cause, Frank and Dallas dying
on the field of battle.

Of his parents' large family Ezra D. Mo-
sher was the third in order of birth, and could
clearly recall the interesting journey which
brought the family from Pennsylvania to Wis-
consin, he then being eleven years of age. He
attended the common schools of the latter
state and to prepare himself for business life
he learned the carpenter's trade. It was in
i860, when twenty-three years of age, that he
struck out for himself independently, remov-
ing that year to Neosho Rapids, Lyon county,
Kans., following his trade there for some time.
Subsequently he put to practice his knowl-
edge of agriculture. He began in a modest
way with only forty acres, adding to it •from
time to time as his means would permit, until
lie finally laid claim to four hundred acres of the
finest land in the state. As he was a carpenter
as well as a farmer it goes without saying
that his buildings were of the best, and taken
all in all he had one of the finest farms in the
state. During the Price invasion in that part
of the country he assisted in the restoration
of peace and quiet as a member of the state
militia.

After tliirty-thrce years of successful farm-
ing in Kansas Mr. :\fosher sold out his entire
holdings in that state and removed to Cali-
fornia, coming at once to Pomona, where the
remainder of his life was passed. Two miles
south of the town he purchased a ranch of
fifty-fi\-c acres which he devoted to raising al-
falfa and otherwise improved the property,
making it one of the fine estates for which
this part of California is noted. In the fam-
ily residence which he erected at the corner of
Palomares and Holt avenues his earth life
came to a close June 20, 1897, when in his
sixty-first }-ear, and when it would seem that
many years of usefulness yet lay before him.

In Neo.=ho Rapids. Kans.. :\Ir. Mosher
formed domestic ties by his marriage with
Miss Snrah Jane Harper, the cerenionv being
performed October 28. 1866. She was born
near Madison, Ind., the daughter of George
R. Harper, wdio was born in Crawford countv.
Pa. The grandfather. George Henry Harper.
v.'as also a native of that state, and throughout
his life followed farming and stock-dealing,
first in Pennsylvania, later in Indiana, arid
stil! later in West T/nion. Iowa, where he died.
His .son, George R. Harper, was a merchant
in that place until i8S7. '" which year he re-
moved to Neosho Rapids. Kans..' wlicre as

14S2

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

captain of a local militia company he did val-
iant service during the border ruffian difficul-
ties, taking a prominent part in the Quantrell
and Price raids. After relinquishing his mer-
cantile interests in Neosho Rapids he removed
to Hartford, where his death occurred at the
age of sixt3--t\vo years. In his young man-
hood he married Miss I\Iary Jane McCullough,
who was born in Ripley county, Ind., the
daughter of John IMcCullough, a native of old
Virginia. Removing from the south he took
up farming in Indiana, later was likewise en-
gaged in Iowa, and finally removed to Lyon
county, Kans., and there both himself and
wife passed away. Of the nine children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Harper six are living, Mrs.
Mosher being the next to the oldest of the
family. She was educated in Kansas. Of
the thirteen children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Mosher we mention the following: Achsa
Jane became tb.e wife of Arthur Roach and
they'reside in Pomona ; Ella Dora is a teacher
in Glendora; George Erastus is a graduate of
dental surgery and is practicing his profession
in Pomona ; Emma Nora is the wife of Frank
W. Johnson and resides in Pomona; Mabel
]\Iay"is the wife of Ernest JNIorgan, they mak-
ing their home in Honolulu ; Orra Ruth mar-
ried Charles Carter, of Pomona; Eva Laura,
with her husband, Arthur Waters, lives in
Ontario: and Maude E., Blanche O.. John A.,
Ezra Davis. Frank R. and Helen Elaine are
still at home with their mother. Mr. Mosher
was an active member of the Christian Church,
with which his wife and family are also as-
sociated, and like him too Mrs. iMosher is a
liberal contributor to all noble causes which
tend toward the uplifting of mankind. With
her six youngest children she makes her home
on the ranch on the corner of Philadelphia
avenue and Reservoir, and in its management
carrying out the wise policy maintained by
Mr. Mosher during liis life. A kind husband
and father, his death was deeply lamented,
and though he has been gone from their midst
nearh^ ten years, his memory is still held in
the deepest reverence.

JACOB STERN. One of the largest general
merchandise establishments in Orange county,
Cal., is that owned by Mr. Stern and his partner,
Mr. Goodman, and located in Fullerton. Thev
make the claim of handling anything from a pin
to a threshing machine, as well as from a canary
bird to milk cows and other live stock, and from
a town lot to a multitudinous parcel of acres.
Starting in business in 1889 in an unpretentious
way, they first carried a small stock and occu-
pied a building with a frontage of twenty-five

feet. Seventeen years of activity has worked a
wonderful change in the aspect and no one would
recognize their present emporium as having any
relation to the humble beginning. As the growth
of the business demanded, additions have been
built to the nucleus, until the store now has a
frontage of two hundred and seventy-five feet,
and the amount of capital involved is $500,000.
Mr. Goodman takes entire charge of the store
in Fullerton, while i\Ir. Stern has under his su-
pervision the hay and grain business and the real
estate business, and makes his headquarters at
No. 404 Huntington building, Los Angeles.
Three-fourths of the hay and grain business of
Orange county passes through Mr. Stern's hands.
Much of the real estate handled and owned by
the firm lies in Orange and Los Angeles counties,
also some outside property located in the east,
north and west. Personally Mr. Stern owns land
in Imperial, San Diego county, also considerable
property in the northern part of the state, and
with that in other towns in Orange and Los An-
geles counties aggregates over twenty thousand
acres. He also owns several buildings in Los
Angeles, and is interested in the firm of Stern
Brothers, Anaheim, being associated with his
brother in the merchandise business. Besides the
interests already enumerated the firm owns a
store building in Placentia, and oil wells in Olin-
da. Orange county, where they also conduct a
general merchandise business.

Jacob Stern is a native of the Fatherland,
born in Saxony September 20, 1859. Consider-
ing his parents' circumstances, he was given a
good education, attending first the common
schools and later a business college in his native
country. From the time of leaving school until
reaching his twentieth year he assisted his 'parents
on the homestead farm, marketing the livestock
and produce. In 1884 he determined to emi-
grate to America. Embarking from the German
port of Hamburg, in June. 1884. in due time his
vessel dropped anchor in the harbor at New
York. Making his way to Cleveland, Ohio, he
obtained a position in the wholesale clothing store
of Lehman, Richman &: Co.. filling it for five
years, at the end of which time, in 1889, he came
to Fullerton and formed the partnership with
Mr. Goodman, as previously stated.

In Los Angeles, in 1891 IMr. Stern was mar-
ried to Miss Sarah Laventhal. a daughter of E.
Laventhal, a pioneer settler in the county. Dur-
ing the earlier years of their married life Mr.
and ]\Irs. Stern made their home in Fullerton,
Mrs. Stern's native city, but in July, 1904. they
purchased Colonel Northam's beautiful home in
Hollvwood on the corner of Vine and Prospect
streets, where the family have since lived. Four
children add brightness and cheer to the home,
as follows: Harold, Elsa, Helen and Eugene.

HISTORICAl. AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1483

Mr. Stern joined the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows at Fullerton an is also identified with
the Fraternal Aid, while in his political prefer-
ences he is a Republican. Mr. Stern is a fair
representative of the men that have accomplished
so much in the advancement of all the enterprises
of this great western country — energetic, force-
ful, progressive. Starting out in this new world
a total stranger and with little means, what Mr.
Stern has accomplished in the meantime is little
short of marvelous and displays the quality of
his mettle as no mere words can.

EX'OCH K. PARRISH. The late Enoch K.
Parrish is remembered as one of the upbuilding
factors in the life of San Bernardino county, to
which section he came in the pioneer days of the
state. He was born in Brownsville, Jefferson
county, N. Y., August 6, 1835, a son of Ezra and
Susanna (Sherwin) Parrish. The father was
born in Jefiferson county, N. Y., May 4, 1804,
and there grew to manhood, becoming a ship
calker at Sackett's Harbor and also followed
farming. He eventually removed to Missouri,
thence to Illinois and to Council Bluffs, Iowa,
from there crossing the plains in 1852 to Salt
Lake City, where he engaged as a farmer. His
last day.s were spent in California with his son,
his death occurring at the age of seventy-nine
years. The mother was a native of the same
place in New York state and a daughter of
Azariah Sherwin. She died in San Bernardino
at the advanced age of eighty-six years. They
became the parents of seven children, of whom
three are now living.

The youth of Enoch K. Parrish was spent in
]\Iissouri, Illinois, Iowa and Utah, in all of
which he attended the public schools in pursuit
of an education. Early in the '50s he crossed the
plains to Salt Lake with his parents, and re-
mained at home until 1857, when he came to San
Bernardino by mule-teams and engaged in farm-
ing on Mill street. In December, 1867, he pur-
chased the property now owned by his widow,
and in March of the following year he located
with his family in Yucaipe. He improved the
place and built a residence, barns, etc., and also
homesteaded a place, and added by purchase
until he owned three hundred and twenty-seven
acres. His death occurred in Redlands July 5,
1904, removing from the community a "helpful
and practical citizen and one whose eflforts were
always given toward the upbuilding of the
countrv. He was a Democrat in politics and
gave his influence to support this party.

In Beaver City, Utah, December 7, 1863, Mr.
Parrish was united in marriage with Miss .Susan
M. Merchant, who was born in New South
Wales, Australia. Her father, Richard Mer-

chant, was born in England and became one of
the first settlers of New South Wales, making
the trip to Australia on one of the first ships
that carried free citizens to that country. He
leased land and engaged in farming and im-
proved property, making that place his home
until his death. He married in Australia Eliza-
beth Barnes, a native of England, and after the
death of her husband she brought her family to
America in 1856. They located in San i3er-
nardino and in December of the following year
went to Utah, where she resided until her death,
which occurred in June, 1863. Of the family
of twelve children born to her parents Mrs.
Parrish was among the youngest ; she was reared
to the age of twelve years in Australia, after
which she accompanied her mother on the boat
Jennie Ford to America, coming via Honolulu
to San Pedro, where they landed in August,
1856. Since her husband's death she has re-
sided on the old home place, and has continued
to add to its improvements, the land being ir-
rigated by running water. A large apple orchard
contributes to the income from the place, where
they deal largely in the raising of potatoes.

She is the mother of the following children:
Esther M., wife of Stephen Covington, of Beau-
mont; Ezra K., teaming in Redlands; Charles
H., a carpenter of Redlands; William E., of
Dixon, Cal. ; Maude S., wife of Hugh Livingston,
of Redlands ; John Qiester, a farmer of Yucaipe ;
Frank M., in charge of the home place. Two
children, James L. and George R., died aged
respectively twenty and thirteen years.

JOHN N. SMITH. A pioneer of Los Angeles
county and one of its successful ranchers and
fruit growers, John N. Smith holds a high place
in its citizenship. He is a native of Ohio, his
birth having occurred in Cuyahoga county De-
cember 21, 1832, his parents being John G. and
Nancy (Burnside) Smith, natives respectively
of New York and Ohio, the mother a cousin of
the famous General Burnside of Civil war fame.
A more complete history of the Smith family
will be found in the biography of James A. Smith,
which is found elsewhere in this volume. In
the common schools of Ohio John N. Smith re-
ceived his education and then went to work with
his father in a steam sawmill. During the six
years in which he was so occupied he also learned
the moulder's trade, and followed it for a time
in Ohio, and later in South Bend, Ind., eventu-
ally returning to the sawmill business and giving
tliat the greater part of his attention. He finally
became interested in farming and was located for
a time in Ohio; going to De Kalb county, 111.,
he rented land for four years, and then w-ent to
Nebraska and took up a homestead of one hun-

1484

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

dred and sixty acres. He improved this prop-
erty and farmed there for eleven years, raising
broom corn extensively, the first car of this prod-
uct shipped from the state being from his farm.
He finally decided to locate on the Pacific coast,
and accordingly came to California and in Sacra-
mento engaged in ranching for two years, and
in 1879 located in Norwalk. In the same year
he returned to Nebraska and sold out his inter-
ests in that state and with the proceeds purchased
his present ranch in 1881, originally consisting
of eighty acres, of which twenty acres have since
been given to his son. The property was a sheep
camp without improvements, and this part of the
work has devolved entirely upon Mr. Smith, who
has built a residence, barns and outbuildings,
and set out trees for shade and fruit. He now
has thirty-five acres in a vineyard and has his
own winery, in 1906 turning out nine thousand
gallons of wine. The balance of the property is
devoted to the raising of grain, corn and alfalfa.
In i860 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Ase-
nath Cooper, a native of Ohio, and they have
three children, namely : Nelson A., married ;
Theron; and Nancy, wife of John Clanton, of
Norwalk. In his political affiliations Mr. Smith
is a stanch adherent of Republican principles.

WILLIAM DUNFORD. A name well known
in Ferris valley is that of William Dunford, who
until recently conducted a six hundred acre ranch
there, raising hay and grain, and owning a stack-
er and other haying machinery. In November,
1906, however, he sold out his holdings there and
removed to Riverside, wliere he has associated
himself with John Garner in the raising of hogs.

Born August 29, 1872, in St. Joseph, Mo., the
son of E. J. and Mary (Shields) Dunford. Will-
iam Dunford spent his younger boyhood days in
his native city. His father was a native of
Georgia and his mother of Indiana, and Missouri
was one of the frontier states when they re-
moved there in 1853. The senior Dunford was
engaged in the hotel business and for many years
was proprietor and manager of the Dunford
house. In 1883 he removed with his family to
Washington county. Kans., and six years later,
in 1889, came to the western coast, locating in
Perris county, Cal., and adopting the occupation
of ranchman. He lived to be a trifle more than
four score years, his death occurring December
19, 1905, at the age of eighty-one. His wife sur-
vives him and now resides in Perris valley, being
at the present time fifty-eight years old. It was
in the public schools of St. Joseph. Mo., that
William Dunford received his education, and
when his father removed to California he came
with him, the two being partners in a ranching
enterprise until the death of the father. For al-

most a year thereafter the son continued the busi-
ness alone, when, as previously stated, he sold the
ranch in November, 1906, and removed to River-
side, where he is associated with John Garner in
the raising of hogs.

Alay 23, 1899, William Dunford was married
in Los Angeles to Miss May Reynolds and they
have become the parents of one child, Edna, who
is four years old. The family attends the Con-
gregational Church and liberally supports the
charitable and benevolent enterprises of the com-
munity in which they reside. Politically Mr.
Dunford is an advocate of the principles em-
braced in the platform of the Democratic party,
and all public social and civic interests receive his
intelligent co-operation in their furtherance.

CHARLES HENRY THOMAS. Among
the residents of Santa Monica conspicuous for
their ability and worth is Charles Henry Thomas,
a practical millman and an expert machinist, who
is carrying on an extensive and lucrative busi-
ness, employing in his shop from three to five
men daily, increasing the number in busy times.
A son of the late Samuel Thomas, he was born
in Ogle county. 111., being the oldest of a fam-
ily of five children.

The descendant of a Welsk family of note,
Samuel Thomas was born and reared in Hagers-
town, Md. A young man of high ambitions,
he resolved to take advantage of the sale of
cheap lands in the then distant west, and in 1845
made his way overland to Illinois, settling near
Oregon, Ogle county, where he improved a
good homestead, and in addition worked at the
trade of a cabinet maker and joiner. Soon af-
ter locating in Oregon he married Siisan C.
Hess, whose parents settled in that vicinity as
jjioneers in 1839. and there both he and his wife
spent their remaining days. He died November
12, 1905, at 'the age of eighty years, and she
died Jul}- 2T,. 1905. aged seventy-seven years.

Having completed his early education in the
educational institutions of Ogle covmty, Charles
Henry Thomas went to Maryville, Nodaway
count)-, ?iIo., where he followed various oc-
cupations, and after reading law for a time was
admitted to the Missouri bar. For a number of
years he practiced his profession most success-
full\-, but gave it up to engage in newspaper
work, which, owing to an unfortunate partner-
ship, was not a financial success. Coming to
Los Angeles county April 2/, 1S87, just as the
memorable boom was at its height and the
beaches were humming with its real-estate opera-
tions, he and his father, who accompanied him
on the trip, took contracts for building and car-
ried on a successful business in carpentering.
Mr. Thomas also purchased land, becoming

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1487

owner of a house and lot on Tenth street, where
he has now a vakiable homestead. Giving up
carpentering when the boom burst, he entered
.the employ of the Santa Monica Mill & Lum-
ber Company as foreman, and for eight years
had charge of a planing mill. The ensuing
six years he was connected with the United
Electric Gas and Power Company, and was
afterwards associated with the Edison Company.
While with the Electric Gas and Power Coip-
pany he had charge of some very important
pieces of work in this county, installing gas
plants in many of its cities and towns. An ex-
pert mechanic, he embarked in his present busi-
ness in June, 1905, starting with two partners,
both of whom he has since bought out. He has
been very successful in the management of his
shop, and is fast building up a large business,
his patronage being extensive and well-paying.

In JNIaryville, Mo., Mr. Thomas married Anna
Williams, and of their union five children have
been born, three of whom are living, namely
Charles Henry, Ruth Emma and Paul Denslow.
Politically Mr. Thomas is a Democrat, and is
now serving acceptably as chief of the local fire
department of Santa Iilonica. Fraternally he
belongs to the order of Free and Accepted
Masons, and is a member and the secretary of
both the Royal Arcanum and of the Independent
Order of Foresters.

ANGELO DOMENIGONI. The possibili-
ties afforded by California to those seeking a
livelihood within its boundaries find illustra-
tion in the life of Mr. Domenigoni, who left
Europe so poor that he was obliged to leave
his family behind and to borrow the money
necessary for the paying of his expenses to
the new world, ^^'ithout friends or money he
landed in Southern California, where since
he has achieved noteworthy success. The val-
ley in Riverside county which bears his name
and of which he was the first settler has been
his home since the year 1880, when he took up
a large tract of government land as yet un-
surveyed. The necessity of an immediate sur-
vey led him to hire the work done at his own
cost, thus entailing an expense of $300. The
year following his arrival he was appointed
the first postmaster at Winchester and for
four years he filled the office. Meanwhile his
farming interests rapidly increased in im-
portance, and from time to time he has added
to his property until his ranch now embraces
three thousand acres, besides which he owns
fifteen hundred acres in the San Rafael valley
in Lower California.

Of Swiss birth, Mr. Domenigoni was born
in the canton of Ticino December 21, 1851, be-

ing a son of Anton and Dominica (Gartni)
Domenigoni, also natives of that portion of
Switzerland lying near the Italian border.
The father, though ninety years of age, is re-
markably robust and during the year 1906
made the trip to the Alps, walking around and
up the mountains a distance of twenty-five
miles or more. The mother died in 1873, at the
age of forty-five years. After having completed
his education in the schools of his native can-
ton, Angelo Domenigoni at the age of seven-
teen years took up the stone-mason's trade,
at which he served an apprenticeship, and
later worked as a journeyman in many of the
countries of Europe. These travels broad-
ened his mind and were the direct incentive
leading him to emigrate -from Switzerland to
America. JNIay i, 1874, he landed in New
York City, from which point he traveled west-
^vard to California and secured work near
Stockton. F^'or five y£ars he acted as superin-
tendent of a large dairy in that locality and
from there removed to Riverside county,
where, he embarked in the dair^- business at
Temecula Station in 1879. His dairy herd
comprised fifty head of cows, and the prod-
ucts were sold in the city market. After one
year on that place he came to the vicinity of
"Winchester, where he now owns three thou-
sand acres, improved with a neat ranch-house
and substantial barns.

The raising of wheat and barley and the
carrying on of a dairy form the principal in-
dustries in which Mr. Domenigoni engages.
He has three thousand acres in grain, yielding
an average of seven sacks per acre from year
to year. 'The year 1906 was exceptionally fav-
orable, the crop averaging much larger than
usual. The grain is cut with a combined har-
vester of thirty-six horse-power. About fifty
head of horses are utilized in caring for the
crops, and all of these he raises himself, be-
sides which he frequently sells stock to others.
In addition to his grain land he has three thou-
sand acres of pasture land, on which he keeps
five hundred head of cattle, and each year re-
duces his herd bv the sale of about one hun-
dred head. The "Helvetia creamery, of which
he is proprietor and which is located on his
ranch, comprises seventy cows, and the out-
put (several thousand pounds of butter per an-
num) finds a readv sale in the Los Angeles
markets. In addition to his other enterprises
he has a vineyard of five acres and from the
grapes manufactures wine for family use.

On coming to the United States Mr. Dom-
enigoni left his wife and two children in the
old country. There he had married, Novem-
ber 10, 1870, .Mary A. Gorbani, a native of

1488

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Switzerland. In May, 1882, she joined liim
in his new home, and they have since labored
earnestly and intelligently in the accumulation
of their property and the rearing of their six
children, Anton, Peter, Jack, Margaretta,
Serefina and Sunday. The family are identi-
fied with the Catholic faith and aided gen-
erously in building the church of that denomi-
nation at San Jacinto. In 1893 J\Ir. Domeni-
goni visited the World's Fair at Chicago and
from there proceeded to his old home in
Switzerland, where he enjoyed a pleasant visit
among old friends. His father and grand-
father for many years served as members of
the legislature in Switzerland, but he has never
cared to participate in political affairs, pre-
ferring to devote himself to the development
of his ranch and the management of his busi-
ness interests. The only office which he ever
accepted is that of president of the boai-d of
trustees of the Helvetia, school district. The
organization of this district was due to his ef-
forts, and in order to place the work upon
a permanent basis he consented to serve as the
first president of the board, an office that he
filled for nine years, meanwhile grading
the school, improving the property and intro-
ducing the best text-books to be obtained for
their varied purposes. Every movement for
the benefit of the valley and the county re-
ceives his quiet but steadfast and stanch sup-
port, and he has accomplished much as a
rancher, dairyman and grain-raiser, proving
by his own success that diligent application
and constant labor will bring their own meas-
ure of prosperity.

HON. ELI T. BLACK^IER._ The family
represented by this prominent pioneer of San
Diego springs from English progenitors and
the first record of their settlement in America
dates back to 1650, when Peter Blackmer
identified himself with the sparsely settled
regions of Cape Cod. From him the line of
descent is traced through Peter, Jr., Solomon,
John and Lewis to Eli T., the latter represent-
ing the sixth generation in the new world.
John and Lewis Blackmer were born in the
vicinity of AVarren, Mass., where for a time
they engaged in farm pursuits, then took up
shoemaking, and later resumed farming, fol-
lowing this occupation until their deaths. The
lady whom Lewis chose as his wife was also
a member of an old family of the Bay state
and was Miss Nancy Keep, a native of Wor-
cester county, where her father, Chellis Keep,
followed the blacksmith's trade. Her death
occurred in Connecticut when she was eighty-
nine vears and five months old. Of their

twelve children, six sons and six daughters,
four sons and six daughters grew to maturity,
and three sons living in California, and
three daughters in New England. The.
eldest son, Eli T., was born at New Braintree,
]\Iass., February 14, 1831, and from the age
of three years was reared at North Brook-
field, also in Worcester county, Mass. There
he was a pupil in the grammar schools and also
attended the high school, after which he
learned the shoemaker's trade and then worked
at Chicopee, Hampden county, in the employ
of the Ames ^Manufacturing Company.

During a short period of the Civil war
(from July, 1862, to November of the same
year) Mr. Blackmer was a volunteer in Com-
pany A, Thirty-seventh ^lassachusetts Infan-
try, of which he was elected and commissioned
first lieutenant, but after a brief service he
was obliged to resign his commission owing to
the failure of his health. As soon as he was
able to resume work he became identified with
a musical organization traveling from New
York, and from there in 1866 he removed to
Indianapolis, where he engaged in the music
business. A year later he went to Chicago
and opened a music store, but this he soon sold
and turned his attention to the tuning of
pianos. In 1873 he came to California for
the benefit of his wife's health, and on the
I2th of October arrived in San Diego, com-^
ing from San Francisco on the old Orizaba,
commanded by Captain Johnson. In 1874 he
opened on H street the first music house in
San Diego and this he conducted until Febru-
ary of 1888. when he sold out. Meanwhile he
taught voice culture, trained choruses, gave
lessons on the violin, etc., acted as instructor
of music in public and private schools and was
director of the Philharmonic Society for six
years. This was the beginning of the present
standing of San Diego as a musical center.
Later he made a specialty of tuning and rent-
ing pianos, but in 1894 retired from that busi-
ness and has since had no business interests
aside from the management of his property
holdings. In his familv there were two chil-
dren. The daughter, Nettie, married F. AI.
Lewis and resides in Philadelphia, Pa., and
the son, Leon, makes his home in Gardner,
Worcester county, Mass.

The Republican party has received the sup-
port of Mr. Blackmer ever since its organiza-
tion. In 1879-80 he served as superintendent
of the schools of San Diego county. As a
member-at-large from San Diego county he
attended the constitutional convention in 1880
and served as member of the committee on
education and as chairman of the committee
on amendments. For five vears he filled the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1489

office of library trustee. Personally he is a
man of admirable attributes of character. A
love of travel, as well as the management of
his business affairs, led him to make frequent
trips to the east, and he has a record of four-
teen trips across the continent. To one of his
ger.ial, warm-heirted qualities, the fraternities
present the attractions of comradship and con-
genial association, and for years he has been
active in various organizations of such a na-
ture. Among these is Heintzelman Post No.
33, G. A. R., of which he served as command-
er at one time. In San Diego Lodge No. 35,
F. & A. M., he was made a Mason and served
as master, besides having been secretary of
the lodge since 1896, and since 1898 has served
as secretary of the board of relief. For three
terms he officiated as high priest of San
Diego Chapter, R. A. M., and for years was
an officer of the Grand Chapter and in April
of 1898 he was elected grand high priest of
the Grand Chapter of California. With the
Scottish Rite bodies he is identified as follows :
Lodge of Perfection, in which he has officiat-
ed as venerable master since 1896; Chapter of
Rose Croix, in which he acts as master of
Ceremonies ; Council of Kadosh, in which he
is second sub-preceptor : and the Consistory,
in which he served as minister of state. In
addition, he has been chosen Knight Com-
mander of the Court of Honor, and is also
identified with the San Francisco Command-
ery of the Loyal Legion.

THOMAS VINCENT COONY. Among
the skillful mechanics and energetic business
men of Ocean Park conspicuous for their ability
and integrity is Thomas Vincent Coony, one of
the leading plumbers of the place. Paying strict
attention to his business, he has met with en-
couraging success since locating here and has
built up an extensive and remunerative patron-
age. A son of Alfred Coony, he was born in
Edina, Knox county. Mo., where his grand-
father, Patrick Coony, was an early pioneer, set-
tling there in 1846, when the country was in its
original wildness.

Born in Ohio, Alfred Coony accompanied his
parents to Missouri, and when ready to start in
life for himself estalDlished himself as a merchant
in Edina. In 1901 he came with his family to
California, giving up farming, in which he had
previously been engaged for a few years, and is
now living retired from active pursuits in Santa
Monica. He married Harriet Winterbottom, and
they reared a family of ten children, of whom
nine are living, seven sons and two daughters.

Educated in the common schools of Missouri
and western Kansas, Thomas V. Coony subse-

quently went to Denver, Colo., where he learned
the plumber's trade, which he followed for a time
in that city. Coming to Los Angeles in 1895, he
remained there a year, and then went to Alexico.
From there he returned to the United States, and
after visiting in New Mexico and many of the
principal cities of the western states, including
Omaha, Kansas City, Salt Lake City and San
Francisco, he spent a year in Topeka, Kans. Re-
turning then to California, he worked as a jour-
neyman plumber in Los Angeles until 1902, when
he established himself in business in Ocean Park,
opening a shop of his own, which he has con-
ducted successfully from the start, his record as
a skillful workman being above reproach.

In Los Angeles, Cal., Mr. Coony married
Katherine Kennelly, a native of New York state,
and they have one child, Thomas E. Politically
Mr. Coony is independent, voting as his con-
science dictates, without regard to party restric-
tions.

ALBERT ARTHUR THOMAS. The
chief of police of San Diego is a member of
an old southern family descended from Welsh
progenitors. Of Virginian birth, his father,
James B., removed to Ohio at an early age and
then settled at Springfield, 111., where he fol-
lowed the occupations of millwright and build-
er. Becoming a pioneer of Iowa in 1844, he
took up the difficult task of clearing a farm
and supporting his family in the midst of
frontier surroundi,ngs. During the fall of 1856
he removed to the frontier on the Des Moines
river near the Minnesota and Iowa state line,
where he had large herds of cattle on the
plains. Indians were numerous and hostile
and the while settlers fortified their cabins in
preparation for attacks. Early in the year
1857, at the time of the massacre at Spirit
lake, Mr. Thomas helped to defend the white
people from the onslaughts of the savages and
lost an arm in the fight. One of his sons,
AVilliam, was shot on the doorstep of their
home, and after the family had hastily fled
for Fort Dodge, Iowa, an infant daughter
died en route from exposure. As it seemed
unwise to again establish the family so far
from civilization, he settled in Marshall coun-
ty, Iowa, and opened a mercantile store at
Marietta. Later he became interested in
farming, and that occupation he was follow-
ing when he died in 1865, at the age of fifty-
five vears. After settling in Illinois he mar-
ried Irene Clark, daughter of John Clark, and
a native of Illinois, but now a resident of
?ilarshall county, Iowa.

In a family of nine children, six of whom
survive, Albert Arthur Thomas was next to

1490

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the oldest and is the only one to settle in Cali-
fornia. Born in Springfield, 111., September
2, 1844, his early recollections are associated
with the frontier of Iowa and the primeval
conditions then characteristic of that country.
Early in life it was necessary for him to aid
in the support of the family and, while work-
ing on the farm, he learned lessops of thrift,
self-reliance and perseverance, of inestimable
value to him in later years. In addition to
public-school alvantages he enjoyed a course
of instruction in the Lutheran College of Al-
bion, Marshall county, Iowa, and afterward
clerked in his father's store and worked on the
home farm. In 1862 he offered his services as
a volunteer in the Union army, but was re-
jected. However, he was more successful
when in June of 1864 he again volunteered in
the defense of the Union. At Davenport he
was mustered into Company G, Forty-fourth
Iowa Infantr}^, and went with his regiment to
the south, serving principally in Tennessee,
where he was promoted to be a corporal. At
the close of the war he was mustered out at
]\Iuscatine, Io\va, and returned to farm pur-
suits.

The marriage of l\Tr. Thomas took place in
Marshall county, Iowa, March 14, 1867, and
united him with Miss Harriet A. Hixson, who
was born in Jamestown, Greene count3\ Ohio,
being a daughter of Dr. O. F. and Elizabeth
(Dawson) Hixson. natives of Harpers Ferry,
W. Va. Her maternal grandfather, John
Dawson, removed from West Virginia to
Ohio and followed the tanner's trade at
JamestOAvn. Dr. Hixson also removed from
West A''irginia to Ohio and settled at James-
town, where he engaged in the practice of
medicine. Eventuallv he became a resident
of Marshall county, Iowa, and there remained
until death. Long before the outbreak of the
Civil war he espoused the cause of anti-slav-
erv and was a stanch abolitionist in the davs
when that word was used as a term of re-
proach and contempt. Among his nine chil-
dren there were three sons, John, Erasmus
and George, who served as Iowa volunteers
in the T^nion army, and John rose to the com-
mand of a companv.

Removing to Nebraska in 1869 Mr. Thomas
settled in Lyons, Burt county, at a period so
early in the settlement of the village that Mr.
Lyons and familv v/ere the only other resi-
dents of the hamlet. For three years he car-
ried on a general store and then ooerated a
farm adjoining the town. Meanwhile he hnd
become prominent in local Republican poli-
tics and on that ticket, in the fall of 1879, '^^
was elected sheriff, after which he removed
to Tekamah, the county seat. LTpon the ex-

piration of his term as sheriff in 1881 he was
elected county clerk and two years later was
chosen to succeed himself in that office, which
he filled until the ist of January, 1886. Not
long afterward he closed out his interests in
Nebraska and arranged for removal to the
west. April 7, 1887, he came to San Diego,
where he engaged in the real-estate business,
but like all others similarly interested, he suf-
fered heavy losses in the reaction subsequent
to the memorable "boom." Later he set out
an orchard of ten acres of lemons, also con-
tinued in the real-estate business and built his
present resident on the corner of Third street
and Ash. For fi.ve years he was employed as
a conductor on the San Diego electric street-
cars and for some years he was one of the
inspectors in the customs service, resigning
that position to accept the appointment as
chief of police, tendered him in June, 1903, by
Mayor F. P. Frary. Under re-appointment
by Captain Sehon he is now serving his sec-
ond term as the head of the police depart-
ment. He is a member of the San Diego
Chamber of Commerce, belongs to the Union
League Club, is identified with Boomer Post,
G. A. R., and with his wife belongs to the
Methodist Episcopal Church. While in Ne-
braska he was made a Mason in Tekamah
Lodge No. 35, A. F. & A. M., and now holds
membership with San Diego Lodge No. 35,
F. & A. M. Both of his daughters have mar-
ried and now reside further east, so that he
and his wife are alone in their home by the
seashore. The older daughter, Ella M., be-
came the wife of O. G. Tabor, of Holton,
Kans., and the younger daughter, Frances,
married Dr. J. JJ. Scott of Missouri, who is
engaged in the practice of medicine at Har-
risonville, that state.

FELIPE J. CAZAS. With the exception of
three years while in Lower California Felipe J.
Cazas has spent his life in Southern California.
On February 5, 1854. he was born in Ventura
countv, the son of Paul and Ramona (Bemis) Ca-
zas. The father, a native of Mexico, fought in the
Mexican war, arid his death occurred in Ventura :
the mother, who was born in Ventura, died in
1883. The education of Mr. Cazas was received
through the medium of the common schools of
Ventura county and in 1869 he removed to Los
Angeles countv, locating in the San Fernando
valley. In 1871 he returned to Ventura county,
remaining for three years, when he again came
to this section of the state. The three years fol-
lowing 1875 he spent in Lower California and
the remainder of his life thus far has been spent
in farming on his present ranch, located six miles

HISTORICAL v\ND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1493

south of Temecula. He is also interested to some
extent in honey production, owning thirty-four
colonies of bees which yield him a nice income.
In 1885, in Temecula, Mv. Cazas was married
to Louisa Aval, who is a native of Riverside
county, and of this union six children have been
born : Sarah, Estefana, Joseph, Louisa, Marie and
Louis. They are members of the Catholic
Church and contribute liberally to the support of
all enterprises tending- to elevate and upbuild the
community in which they make their home. Mr.
Cazas is an enterprising- and progressive citizen
and possesses many sterling qualities which have
won for him the highest esteem and respect of all
who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

WILLIAM OTTERBINE GRAHAM.
The development of the walnut industry as
one of the profitable enterprises of California
may be attributed to the sagacity and per-
severance of a comparatively small number of
men, among whom mention belongs to Mr.
Graham of Whittier, a horticulturist who has
ever been anxious to experiment with new
methods in order to ascertain those that are
the most practical and successful. Through
a long series of experinients he has arrived at
a certain theory and definite conclusion re-
garding the growing of walnuts, and the value
of his plan of work is proved by his success
with the trees. When he came to Whittier
he bought twenty-five acres from B. F. Max-
im, the same forming a part of the old Gunn
and Hazard tract, watered by the old Banta
ditch, but wholly unimproved. Immediately
after the purchase of the property he set out
walnut trees, which are of such value that he
has been oiTered $800 per acre for the orchard.
However, as he has no desire to change his
place of residence, he has declined all ofifers.

In his care of the orchard Mr. Graham has
adopted a method as unique as it is success-
ful. Briefly stated, his plan is as follows: In
the spring the weeds are allowed to grow tall,
for the weeds that are so obnoxious to a grain
farmer are a blessing to the orchardist. After
the rains of April and ?*Tay he uses a disk
plow to turn the soil to a depth of ten or twelve
inches, then harrows the land. During the
latter part of July he irrigates by means of
a system of furrows. A stream of water is
turned into each of six furrows between rows
of trees forty feet apart, and from forty-eight
to sixty hours are allowed for irrigation, after
which he harrows the ground crosswise and
then uses the Killifor weed-knife cultivator.
Each season he plows deep but once and ir-
rigates but once. Many of his acquaintances are
adopting his methods, convinced by his suc-
71 ■ Ti

cess that jiis plan of cultivation is judicious.
The success of his system entitles him to a
place among those men who have benefited
their community by the exercise of wise judg-
ment and original methods.

At the family home on the banks of Wills
creek in Maryland, near the old Savage Fur-
nace. ;\Ir. Graham was born February 21,
1843, ^"'3 from there when three weeks old he
was taken to Pennsylvania by his parents,
William and Sarah Graham. Somewhat later
he accompanied the family to Illinois and set-
tled on a farm in Adams county near the Mis-
sissippi river, where he was trained to a knowl-
edge of agriculture and to habits of industry
and frugality. At the same time he also ap-
plied himself to the cabinet-maker's trade,
which he learned in youth, and did consider-
able work in carpentering after his removal
in 1884, to Jasper county, Iowa, where also
he conducted a farm. While living in Illi-
nois he niarried Aliss Gilly Mustain, who was
born in that state and died in Iowa. The two
daughters of that union were Sarah Belle
(deceased) and ^.frs. Gilly J. Wolf. After go-
ing to Iowa he was a second time married,
his union with Miss Carrie Taylor being sol-
emnized in August of 1886. In March of 1887
he brought his family to California and set-
tled at Garvanza, a suburb of Los Angeles,
where he built a house, but remained only a
short time. From there he went to Pasadena
and took charge of the building of a brick
block, after which he filled a contract to build
a substantial hotel at Fairmont in the Ante-
lope valley. On the completion of that con-
tract he came to Whittier, where he and his
wife and their three children, William J., Mil-
lie Elmira and Harry Reuben, have niany
friends among their circle of acquaintances.
In addition to his home place he owns thirty
acres of pasture land near by. also a small
orange orchard in Whittier, and one hundred
and sixty acres in Antelope valley, these vari-
ous properties representing a considerable
monetary value and the nccumi'.lations of years
of energetic application.

ALBERT DUANE EASTDX. Since De-
cember, 1905, Mr. Easton has been engaged in
the conduct of the ^Todel market, of Ocean
Park, and although a resident of this place for
so brief a time he has still made for him.self a
place among the business men and bids fair to
acquire a noteworthy success in his venture.
He is a native of the middle west, his birth hav-
ing occurred in Piatt county. 111., April 10. 1873:
when he was but six weeks old his parents, Ezra
and ^lary (Hodge) Easton (natives respective-

1494

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ly of Ohio and Indiana), removed to Iowa and
located in Monona county on a farm. For
twelve years they remained in that location, en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits, when, in 1885,
they came to California and in Colton estab-
lished their home, j\lr. Hasten following ranch-
ing there. In that place Mrs. Easton died in her
thirty-eighth year ; she is survived by her hus-
band, who is now living retired in iNIonrovia.

Of the six children born to his parents, Albert
Duane Easton was third in order of birth. His
boyhood years were spent in Iowa and Califor-
nia, and he received his education in the pub-
lic schools of both states, eventually attending
the high school of Colton. In }oung manhood
he learned the trade of tailor, but not caring for
the work he later engaged in the grocery busi-
ness. Eventually learning the trade of butcher
in Colton, he opened a shop in Los Angeles, and
later was located in various cities of the state,
among them, San Francisco and San Jose, in
the latter city conducting the business of the
noted Saratoga ^Market. Coming to Ocean
Park, in December, 1905, he purchased the
Model market and hag' conducted the same since,
with every prospect of meeting w^ith entire
success.

Bv his marriage Mr. Easton has one daughter,
Roberta Lillian. In his political convictions he
is identified with the Republican party, while
socially he is esteemed for the many qualities
of manhood as displayed by him in both his busi-
ness and social life.

JOHN VERPLANK LARZALERE, M. D.
Noteworthy among the influential an<l re-
spected citizens of Escondido is J. V. Larza-
lere, Isl. D., a well-known physician, who, now
in the prime of life, is followmg a career of
usefulness, being exceptionally well fitted for
the duties of his responsible position. His
skill and ability and his thorough knowledge
of medicine have won for him the confidence of
the community to such an extent that his suc-
cess is assured, and his patronage is of the
best and most lucrative. A son of John Lar-
zalere, he was born, January 28, 1859, in Wa-
terloo, N. Y.

The lineal descendant of a family that emi-
grated from France to the United States in
colonial days, John Larzalere was born in New
York state more than eighty years ago. \\'hen
a ^roung man he learned the trade of harness-
maker, which he followed successfully for a
number of years. Enlisting during the Civil
war in Company H, One Hundred and Forty-
eiglith New York Volunteer Infantry, he was
detailed as a harness maker, and served in,
that capacity during his term of enlistment.

After the war l:e was machinist and superin-
tendent of a woolen mill in Waterloo, N. Y.,
where he is now living, retired from active
business. He is a member of the Grand Army
of the Republic. He married Maria Schick, a
native of Faj-ette, Seneca county, N. Y. Her fa-
ther, David Schick, was born in Pennsylvania,
of German ancestry, and was for many years
engaged in business in Fayette, N. Y., being a
stock-dealer, a butcher and a merchant. She
died at the early age of thirty-seven years,
leaving six children, four of whom are living,
J. v., the subject of this sketch, being the only
one on the Pacific coast.

Brought up in Waterloo, N. Y., J. V. Larza-
lere there laid the foundation for his future
education, attending the public schools and the
village academy. After studying medicine for
awhile with Dr. John W. Day, of Waterloo,
in 1881 he entered the University of Buffalo,
from which he was graduated with the degree
of M. D. in 1884. Immediately beginning the
practice of his profession with Dr. Day in Wa-
terloo, he remained there a year, and in the
mean time served as county physician. Going
then to Poplar Ridge, Cayuga county, N. Y.,
he continued there as a practitioner for a num-
ber of years, meeting with excellent success.
Coming to San Diego county, Cal., in 1895, he
was engaged in his professional labors at Na-
tional City for a year, succeeding Dr. Buxton.
Locating in Escondido in 1896, he has built
up a large and lucrative practice in this city,
his natural talents and industry placing him
among the most able physicians of this part
of the county. In the treatment of diseases,
the doctor uses the most modern methods, and
in his finely equipped office he has ' a static
electrical apparatus, with an X-ray attachment
and all forms of electricity used in the treat-
ment of diseases. He is local surgeon at Es-
condido for the Santa Fe Railroad Company,
in this direction ably performing the duties
devolving upon him. In 1901, Dr. Larzalere,
ambitious to keep up to the times in his pro-
fessional work, went to New York City to take
a post-graduate course at the New York Hos-
pital College.

The doctor is much interested in horticult-
ure, and for a few years had twelve acres of
oranges and lemons. He has recently sold
five acres, and has now seven acres, all under
irrigation, on which he built his present two-
story residence, lying one and one-half miles
east of the cit3^ Since coming to Escondido
he has taken a genuine interest in local aflfairs,
and was one of the directors of the Irrigating
District at the lime of the work that was car-
ried on in connection with the committee of
fifteen that were successful in raising money to

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1495

settle the bonds, which were burned upon h-
quidation, the directorate being then dissolved.
He is president of the Escondido Chamber of
Commerce, and has served one term of the
board of health in Escondido district.

In Poplar Ridge, N. Y., Dr. Larzalere mar-
ried Frances E. Peckham, a native of that
place, and they have three children, namely :
Ray v., a pupil in the high school, belonging
to the class of 1907; Lena M. ; and Harriet E.
Politically the doctor is a zealous supporter
of the principles of the Republican party and
an ex-member, of the county central commit-
tee, being a delegate to the state convention
in 1906. Professionally he belongs to the
County, State and American, Medical Associ-
ations. Fraternally he is a member and past
chancellor of the Knights of Pythias ; is a past
officer and district deputy of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, with which he united
at Poplar Ridge, N. Y. ; is a member and the
medical examiner of both the Woodmen of the
World and the Modern Woodmen of Amer-
ica ; is a member of the Independent Order of
Foresters : and a member of the Knights and
Ladies of Security. Religiously Mrs. Larza-
lere belongs to the Congregational Church,
towards the support of which the doctor con-
tributes willingly and liberally.

RICHARD J. WELTY. A goodly number
of the men who were identified with the early
.\merican colonization of Southern California
have been spared to witness its remarkable de-
velopment and prosperity. Included in this class
may be mentioned Richard J. Welty, who since
the year 1866 has made his home in this section
of the country and who has been a factor in its
material growth. Born and reared in Illinois, he
became a resident of Iowa in early life
and there met and married Miss Mary
Singleton, a native of the state. On leav-
ing the settled regions of the Mississippi val-
ley for the unknown and remote locality beyond
the desert and the mountains, he traveled with
wagon and team across the plains, accompanied
by his family. After an uneventful journey of
six months he arrived in San Bernardino county,
where he established his liome and engaged at
the carpenter's trade, also for a time worked in a
lumber mill on the San Bernardino mountains.
When the tide of immigration turned toward
San Diego county in 1869 he took up land on the
Pala road and for seven years superintended his
ranch, which is now occupied by Victor Magee
and is known as the McCumber ranch.

Drifting from the occupation of a rancher into
the specialty of an apiarist. Mr. Welty established
his liome at Aguanga and for twelve years en-

gaged in the bee business, meanwhile becoming
the owner of four apiaries, which he conducted
in a profitable manner. At the same time he had
charge of a cattle ranch at San Ignacio. During
the year 1885 he came to Temecula, Riverside
count}-, where he still makes his home. Soon aft-
er his arrival he bought real estate and erected a
building for hotel purposes. Later this was de-
stroyed by fire, and soon afterward he put up the
Welty hotel on the same site. For some time this
hotel was leased to other parties, but June 17,
1906, Mr. Welty again assumed its management
and since then has been its popular and efficient
landlord. In addition to this property he owns
several houses in Temecula and has ranch prop-
erty in the locality.

The family of Mr. Welty now comprises the
following-named daughters: Nancy E., who
married \^'illiam Kinkead, of Moosa Canon ; Ma-
tilda A., at home; Hattie A., who was appointed
postmaster at Temecula in 1888 and has held the
office continuously with the exception of one and
one-half years; Laura, wife of Hugh McCon-
ville, the well-known liveryman at Temecula ;
Mattie E., Fronie J. and Allie A. The daughters
are educated and refined, possess charitable dis-
positions and high principles, and in their re-
ligious views favor the Baptist and Christian
Churches. Miss Hattie A., who has charge of
the postoffice, fills the position with characteristic
fidelity and tireless energy, and has won the con-
fidence of the patrons of the office by her long
and efficient service. Fraternally Mr. Welty
long ago became identified with the jMasonic Or-
der and has remained to the present time an ar-
dent disciple of the fraternity's principles of
brotherhood and charitv.

VINCENT SENTOUS, a successful business
man of Los Angeles, and one of the old pioneers,
was born in Mont Rejeau, in the department of
Haute-Garonne, France, August 4, 1857, ^ son
of Francisco and Marie (Fadeuill) Sentous.
They were both natives of France, where they
passed their entire lives. The father was a
farmer and stockman and successful in his ef-
forts, acquiring a competence and a position of
prominence among the citizens of his section. He
was twice married, having three children by the
first union and five by the second, all of whom
are located in California. The first of the fam-
ily to emigrate was John Sentous, who came to
California in 1852 ; this led to another brother,
Louis, following in 1855, and in 1874 Vincent
Sentous severed his connections with the Mother
country, a lad not yet in his eighteenth year and
just through his course in college. July i, 1874,
he reached San Francisco and on the 3rd of that
month was in Los Angeles and in the sunny

149(3

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

land of Southern California. His brothers were
already established here in the sheep business,
and he at once secured employment with them,
beginning on the bottom rung of the ladder and
with nothing to presage a future success save
his energy, perseverance and industry. Three
years later with his accumulated earnings he pur-
chased a flock of sheep and continued the busi-
ness alone until 1883, when he sold out and in
partnership with his brother purchased a meat
market on the corner of Los Angeles and Aliso
streets, where the firm of Vincent and Exupere
Sentous became widely known to an appreciative
public. They dissolved partnership in 1903 and
Vincent Sentous established a similar enterprise
at No. 228 Aliso street, which was first known
as the Vincent Sentous Market and later as the
New Orleans Market. In addition to this busi-
ness he is also engaged as an extensive farmer
and stockman at Lemon Station, Los Angeles
county, where he owns sixteen hundred acres of
land, a part of the old San Jose grant. This
extensive property is well watered by living
streams and springs and much of it can be placed
under irrigation. His chief interests here are in
the raising of cattle and fine horses, in which he
has met with unusual success, and which places
him among the prominent farmers of Southern
California.

In Los Angeles Mr. Sentous was united in
marriage with Miss Zelia Meysan, a native of
Columbia, Cal., but reared and educated in Inyo
county, this state. Her father, Giarles Mey-
san, was a miner in the early days and later a
merchant at Lone Pine, Inyo county. Mr. Sen-
tous is a member of the Los Angeles Chamber
of Commerce and is in every way interested in
the advancement of the city and the development
of its best interests.

CLAUDE WOOLMAN. During an early
period in the settlement of America the Wool--
man family crossed the ocean from England
and became identified with the fortunes of the
new world, where, as in their old home, they
adhered to the doctrines of the Society of
Friends and displayed the peace-loving and up-
right qualities characteristic of the members of
that organization. As the trend of emigration
drifted toward the Mississippi valley the family
were quick to identify themselves with the newer
and undeveloped regions whose fertile soils of-
fered a large return for their care and cultiva-
tion. Benjamin Woolman, who was a pioneer
farmer of Iowa, afterward became an early set-
tler of Nebraska, and eventually established his
home at Julesburg, Colo., where he still lives.
In his family was a son, J. H. Woolman, who
was born in Osceola. Iowa, and became a hard-

ware merchant of York, Neb., but as early as
1882 came to California, where, after a year in
National City, he established his headquarters in
San Diego, embarking in business as a tinsmith
and hardware merchant. For some years he
was one of the local leaders of the Republican
party, on which ticket he was twice elected to
the office of city trustee and also for four years
held a position as member of the county board
of supervisors. Largely to his tireless labors
and enthusiastic support may be attributed the
movement which led to the purchase and im-
provement of City Park on F street, and many
other local enterprises of permanent value re-
ceived the impetus of his support. Eventually
he transferred his allegiance to the Democratic
party, on which ticket in 1902 he was nominated
for the legislature, but suffered defeat. Fra-
ternally he long has affiliated with the Knights
of Pythias. A busy life covering fifty-five years
has not diminished his physicial powers or men-
tal energies, for he still remains active in busi-
ness, interested in the issues of the age, in-
telligently informed concerning matters of gen-
eral importance, and public-spirited in his sup-
port of projects for the general welfare.

While still a resident of Iowa J. H. Woolman
married Mary Estes, who was born in Osceola,
that state, her father, J. M. Estes, having been
a member of an old southern family and for
some years a resident of Missouri, but in his last
davs a citizen of California. There are two
children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Wool-
man. The daughter, Mrs. Ida Maude Deeble,
lives in Los Angeles, and the son, Claude, is a
business man of San Diego. The latter was
born in Clarinda, Iowa, February 3, 1875, and
was a small boy when the family removed to
the Pacific coast, so that his education was ob-
tained almost wholly in the west. After having
graduated from the San Diego gramr.iar school
and • having taken a course in the San Diego
Business College, he learned the plumber's trade
under his father's oversight, after which for
five years he was connected with McKinzie
Brothers (now the Western ]\Ietal Supply Com-
pany) and as a traveling salesman in Southern
California and Arizona for three years he opened
up the territory for them and established an ex-
cellent business in their line.

Upon resigning from the company's employ
in the fall of 1904. Mr. Woolman formed a
partnership with A. J. Bradley under the firm
title of Bradley & Woolman. The partners pur-
chased a lot and erected a three-story building,
60x30 feet, where now they conduct an under-
taking business. The establishment is said to
be the finest of its kind in this part of the state
and is fitted up in the most modern manner with
every convenience. The basement is utilized as

PATRICK DONOVAN

HISTORICAL .\ND BIOGRAPHICAL RFXORD.

1499

an embalming room, stockroom and workroom,
while the first floor has the office and reception
room, and the second floor contains a chapel with
appropriate furnishings. In addition to taking
his part in the management of the business, JNIr.
Woolman has been interested in all movements
for the city's development, has maintained a
warm interest in the Chamber of Commerce, and
until November, 1905, served for some time as a
member of the board of police commissioners.
For three years he served in the Naval Reserve
at San Diego. After the outbreak of the war
with Spain he enlisted at Pasadena as a musi-
cian in Company I, Seventh California Infantry,
and went with the regiment to the Presidio. The
course of the war was such that he was not called
into action, but after seven months received
an honorable discharge at Los Angeles. When
an association was organized of the Spanish-
American war veterans he became identified with
the movement and attended their gathering at
Camp Bennington. At different times he has
been connected with the majority of the bands
of Southern California, and now plays the trom-
bone in the City Guard Band, besides which he
is a charter member of the Musicians' Union.
In San Francisco, April 21, 1904, he married
Miss Edna B. Bradley, only daughter of A. J.
Bradley, now of San Diego. Mrs. Woolman was
born in Boise City, Idaho, and is a graduate of
Alills College, Oakland, an earnest member of
the Episcopal Church and a leading worker in
the Order of the Eastern Star. In fraternal
relations Mr. Woolman is an officer in the Be-
nevolent Protective Order of Elks, and also a
prominent member of the Knights of Pythias,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Woodmen
of the World and Independent Order of For-
esters. Under an appointment, which dates
from November 26, 1905. he fills the office
of city treasurer and tax collector, in which work
he has proved painstaking, efficient, prompt and
trustworthy, a strict guardian of the city's funds,
a careful accountant and an honorable repre-
sentative of the people in an office of trust and
responsibility.

PATRICK DONOA^AN. Rising from pov-
erty to independence and from obscurity to
prominence in his county, Patrick Donovan
proved himself to be the possessor of the facul-
ties that lead to success. Nor was his prosper-
ity alone that of gaining a valuable ranch by
dint of persevering energj- and wise judgment.
He was also successful in winning friends and
in gaining the respect of associates. When
he passed from his labors into rest there was
none to say an unkind word of his character;
on the other hand, all united to bestow trib-

utes of praise upon the man whose progressive
character they admired, whose kindness of
heart had often been proved, and whose gen-
erosity to those in need was one of the leading
traits of his disposition. Throughout all of his
active life he was a friend of higher education
for the rising generations ; having been de-
prived of educational advantages himself, he
realized their value and was solicitous that
others might enjoy the privileges he was de-
nied.

Born in County Cork, Ireland, February 22,
1840, Patrick Donovan was a brother of Dan-
iel Donovan whose sketch appears elsewhere
in this volume. On attaining the age of twen-
ty-one years he came to the United States and
settled in Boston, where he was employed as a
longshoreman. Two years later, in 1863. he
came to California and made a brief sojourn at
Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, after which
he carried on a farm in Alonterey county for
three years. Next he came to Santa Barbara
county and remained for three years at Guada-
loupe. From there he removed to Nipomo,
San Luis Obispo county, where he was en-
gaged in ranching for five years. Eventually
he came to the vicinity of Arroyo Grande and
bought a ranch of four hundred and seventy-
five acres, of which a considerable portion is
under cultivation to beans and grain. On this
place he remained until his death, which oc-
curred at the age of sixty-six years, March 16,
1906.

The marriage of Mr. Donovan occurred in
1867 and united him with Jane McCarty, who
came to the United States in girlhood from
her native place in County Cork, Ireland.
There she attended the same school with Mr.
Donovan and a mutual attachment was
formed. Her parents died in Ireland and she
came to America, where she was married in
San Francisco. Of her union four children
were born. The eldest. IMary, is :\Irs. J. E.
Adams of Santa Maria. John A. spends a
part of the year in looking after the interests
of the home ranch, and the remainder of the
year is occupied in Arizona, where he is en-
gaged in stock-raising as well as being inter-
ested in a number of other enterprises; he is
a young man of exceptional abilities, inherit-
ing many fine qualities from his father; hon-
est, capable and energetic, he is making de-
cided progress in his business undertakings and
the future has much in store for him; his per-
sonal qualities are such as to make him a gen-
eral favorite and none know him but to ad-
mire and respect him. The next child in order
of birth is Katie, Mrs. C. Williams, of Los
Berros valley. ' .Agnes resides with her mother
on Ihc ranch in San Luis Obispo county. The

1500

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

family are identified with the CathoHc Church
of Arroyo Grande, and Mr. Donovan always
contributed generously to the work of the
church, in whose faith he passed from earth.
Though he never held any offices, he was well
posted concerning politics and voted the Dem-
ocratic ticket at all elections. From the time
( 1871) that he became a naturalized citizen of
the United States he was deeply interested in
the political history and material progress of
his adopted country, and those born under the
stars and stripes were not more loyal to the
Union nor more devoted to its prosperity than
was Mr. Donovan.

JAMES A. JASPER. The history of the
Jasper family in America dates back to the colo-
nial settlement of Virginia, whence one of their
number crossed the mountains into the wilder-
ness of Kentucky. Among the children of this
Kentucky pioneer was a son, Hon. Achilles
Jasper, who was born in the Blue Grass state
and served as a member of its legislature, also
conducted a stock farm there for some years.
After a time he became a pioneer of Missouri,
settling in Holt county. Eventually in 1853 he
removed to Te.xas, where he died ten miles east
of Fort Worth. In his family there was a son,
William H., who was born in Kentucky, lived
for some years in Holt county. Mo., and in the
fall of 1853 removed to Texas, engaging in the
cattle business in that state. Not only did he
serve throughout the entire period of the JNIexi-
can war, but also through the Civil war, and at
the expiration of the latter conflict he was a
cripple through disability brought on by ex-
posure and privation. Returning from Texas
to Missouri, he settled in Clay county, but in
1868 made another change of residence, this
time coming to California with his wife and five
children via New York and Panama. After one
one year at Santa Clara county in 1869 he went
to San Luis Obispo county, and in 1870 removed
to what was then Los Angeles (now Orange")
county, settling at Santa Ana, where he took
up horticulture and general ranching. At the
time of his death, which occurred November 7.
1900, he was eightj'-two years of age.

The marriage of William H. Jasper united
him with Mary E. Brown, who was born in
Holt county. Mo., and now resides at Santa
.A.na, Cal. One of her brothers, Rev. Samuel
Brown, is a well-known Methodist Episcopal
preacher in northern California. Her father.
Samuel Brown, who was a pioneer farmer of
Holt county, Mo., crossed the plains to Califor-
nia in 1850 with ox-teams and wagon and settled
near San Jose, buying an unimproved tract of
ranch land. Tn 1 861 he removed via the south-

ern route to Texas and settled in Denton county,
but in 1865 returned to Missouri and a year
later followed the old California trail across the
plains to San Jose, where he remained until his
death. There were nine children in the family
of William H. and Mary E. Jasper and all but
one of these are still living, James A. being
next to the eldest in order of birth. While the
family were living on a farm in Holt county.
Mo., he was born INIarch 7, 1853. His earliest
recollections are of Texas, and when he was yet
a small child his father left home and entered
the army as a volunteer in the Civil war, from
which he returned permanently disabled. Up-
on his son fell the burden of helping to support
the family and to educate the younger children,
hence he had no opportunity to attend school
himself nor did he enjoy any of the advantages
that fall to the lot of most boys of the middle
class. Yet he was ambitious to acquire know-
ledge and neglected no opportunity to gain in-
formation by reading and self-culture.

Upon leaving home at the age of twenty-six
years Mr. Jasper married Aliss Mary E. Will-
iams, of Santa Ana, Cal., and began housekeep-
ing at what was known as the old Gospel swamp,
four miles south of Santa Ana. However, poor
health forced him to abandon agricultural pursuits
and he thereupon engaged in merchandising in
Santa Ana, but in 1885 removed to Julian,
where he engaged in ranching and stockraising.
Soon he became interested in newspaper work
through the purchase of the Julian Sentinel.
which he published every week for eight }-ears
and which was noteworthy as the only paper in
San Diego county printed away from direct ac-
cess to telegraph, telephone and railroad. In
1902 he removed to the Imperial country and
purchased a farm of two hundred and forty-
six acres which he still owns. After he settled
on the place he became interested in the dig-
ging of the canal and saw the first shovel of
dirt thrown up in its construction. After hav-
ing engaged in raising grain and stock for a few
years, in December of 1905 he brought his fam-
ily to San Diego, where he now resides.

For years ]\Ir. Jasper has been a stanch ad-
herent of the Democratic party and one of its
local leaders. The members of his party in the
third district in 1892 elected him to represent
them on the county board of supervisiors, and
he was re-elected in 1896, 1900 and 1904, serv-
ing until January, 1906, when he resigned owing
to the pressure of other duties. Since t888 he
has been a member of the San Diego Chamber
of Commerce and in October, IQ05, he was
chosen its secretary to fill the unexpired term of
Mr. Wood, being duly elected to the office in
Jantiarv following. The organization possesses
a membership of five hundred and thirty-five

/i.A >^

(m/^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1503

and is, with one exception, the largest in South-
ern California. In the upbuilding of the town
and county it has proved most helpful. Al-
though having for its ultimate aim the attract-
ing of a desirable class of permanent settlers, it
yet has been equally helpful in promoting the
prosperity of the people already resident here,
and has proved a power in the material develop-
ment of the community.

Fraternally Mr. Jasper holds membership with
the Order of Foresters, while in religious views
he upholds the doctrines of the Christian Qiurch
and is identified with that congregation in San
Diego. His wife has been a lifelong resident
of California and was born near Watsonville,
Santa Cruz county, being a daughter of Isaac
and Lydia (Patterson) Williams, who crossed
the plains to California respectively in 1844 and
1846. After a brief experience as a miner Mr.
\Mlliams settled near \\'atsonville and planted
the first large apple orchard in the Pajaro val-
ley, later becoming a leading horticulturist of
the locality. Three children comprise the fam-
ily of Mr. and Mrs. Jasper, namely: Ralph, who
is engaged in ranching near Imperial; Mollie,
who married Thomas Doss and resides in Los
Angeles ; and Virgil, who remains with his
parents in their San Diego home.

RUSSELL B. WILSON, a resident of Sher-
man, Cal., since 1896, was born in Sherburne,
Vt., in 1832, a son of Jonathan and a grandson
of Ezra Wilson. The latter was a farmer of
the pioneer period, being the first white man
to settle in Rutland county, Vt. There he
hewed a farm out of the timber lands, living on
berries and such game as he could kill until
the harvest of his first crop, when he carried
liis wheat on his back to the mill to have it
ground into flour. The greater part of his life
was spent in Rutland county, where his death
occurred at an advanced age. He inherited
the valiant spirit of his forefathers — early set-
tlers of the colonics — and during the Revolu-
tionar}' war served as a Continental soldier.
His son Jonathan was reared among the
primitive surroimdings of a pioneer section
and followed farming his entire life, having re-
ceived a limited education in the rude schools
of the day. He was induced by his son to go
to Wisconsin, where land was cheap and op-
portunities greater for a growing family, and
in Menomonee took up government land, and
with the aid of his sons cleared a farm which
remained his home until his death. His wife
was formerly Huldah Thompson, also a native
of Vermont. They became the parents of thir-
teen children, twelve of whom were livins: at

the time of their removal to Wisconsin, and
one son still makes that state his home.

It was through the influence of Russell U.
Wilson that the family fortunes were removed
to the middle west, he being then a young
man. His education was received in the com-
mon schools of Rutland county, which he at-
tended during the winter months and assisted
during the summer on the home farm. In
1852 he took a course in the Leoni (Mich.)
high school preparatory to taking up educa-
lional work, after wdiich he taught in that
town for two years. Then going to Minne-
sota, he took up a quarter section of land in
the vicinity of Northfield, cleared it and began
farming. Well satisfied with the country he
returned to Vermont and induced his parents
to locate in Wisconsin, just across the river
from his farm in Minnesota. He gave valua-
ble assistance in the clearing of his father's
farm and during the winter worked in the
lumber camp on the Menominee river. After
two years he returned to Northfield and be-
came prominent in public afi^airs, supporting
the principles of the Republican party (having
cast his first vote for Fremont) and served for
a time in the Minnesota legislature. In 1868
he disposed of his interests in that section and
went to Kansas, following contracting and
building successfully there for one year.

January I, 1880, Mr. Wilson started for Cal-
ifornia and arrived in Los Angeles county on
the loth of that month. He took up a home-
stead of a quarter section on the slope back
of Pasadena, later selling this property to ]\Iil-
ton Lindley for the erection of the Esperanza
Sanatorium. After having disposed of this
interest he engaged in contracting and build-
ing in Los Angeles for five years, and with
the means thus acquired invested in a ranch
of three hundred and twenty acres in the
vicinity of Cucamonga. This venture proving
disastrous he sold out and in 1896 located in
.Sherman, where he purchased property which
lias since become very valuable. Since his
location here he has taken great pride in the
growth of the place and the improvement of
his property, setting out various tropical trees,
among them the Mexican lemon guava and the
cherimoya or custard apple tree, so named be-
cause of the resemblance to custard in con-
sistency. This fruit is prized for its delicate
flavor. Mr. Wilson does not raise this for
profit, although the market price is from fifty
to seventj'-five cents each. His friends are
liberally supplied with this fruit.

Mr. Wilson was married in 1857 to Aliss
Mary Potter, a resident of Pittsburg, but a
native of Allegheny, Pa., whose death occurred
in California. They became the parents of

1504

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

three sons: Russell B., Ji^., of Los Angeles;
W. W., of Texas ; and one son who died at the
age of three years. Air. Wilson is well in-
formed and in touch with current events, keep-
ing abreast of the times by the perusal of the
best papers and magazines the country alTords,
and, although in no sense narrow, he is de-
cided in his opinions, and frank in his utter-
ance of them. He has been an interested spec-
tator of the growth of California and has as-
sisted in ever}' way possible towards its up-
building.

ROBERT L. OWENS. A well-known and
respected citizen of Saticoy, and a progressive
and prosperous ranchman, Robert L. Owens is
closely associated with the agricultural and busi-
ness interests of this part of Ventura county,
and may well be classed as one who has con-
tributed his full share toward its growth and
improvement. He is a man of solid worth, pos-
sessing in a high degree those traits that com-
mand respect in all circles, and win esteem
among one's neighbors and associates. A son of
David C. Owens, he was born, May 24, 1862, at
Glade Spring, Washington county, Va.

Born and reared in Washington county, Va.,
David C. Owens spent his entire life in the old
Dominion state. He was a planter by occupation,
raising grain, hay and cereals. During the Civil
war he enlisted in Company F, Sixty-third Vir-
ginia Volunteer Infantry, in which he served
four years. Returning home, he continued in
agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1895, at
the age of sixty-eight years. He married Sarah
O'Neil, who spent her forty-five years of earthly
life in Virginia. Of the six children born of
their union, Robert L., the subject of this sketch,
is the only one living outside of their native state.
The father was a stanch Democrat in politics,
and, with his wife, belonged to the Baptist
Church.

Having first attended the common schools, R.
L. Owens completed his early education at the
Emory and Henry College, in Emory, Washing-
ton county. Beginning the struggle of life for
himself, he then went to Florida, where for two
years he was clerk in a general store. Coming
to California in 1888, he worked as a wage-
earner in Saticoy for two years, after which
he was employed in ranching on his own
account in Los Angeles county for a year
having land in Inglewood. Returning to Ven-
tura county in 1 89 1, he leased the Santa Del
Norte ranch of two hundred acres, which he is
still carrying on, devoting it entirelv to the rais-
ing of beans, which yield bountiful harvests,
averaging twenty-five sacks to the acre. The
yield in 1905 was exceptionally large, one hun-

dred acres producing thirty-five sacks to the
acre. For some time after locating here, he was
engaged in mercantile business in addition to
ranching, having a variety store in Saticoy. He
disposed of that, however, and purchased seven-
teen acres of land, which he has set out to wal-
nuts, and here he also has a fine artesian well
for irrigating.

December 27, 1893, Air. Owens married Lil-
lian Kimball, who was born in Sonoma county,
a daughter of George Kimball, and they are the
parents of four children, namely : Winnifred,
Carleton, Leland and Helen. Politically Mr.
Owens votes independent of party affiliations,
supporting the best men and measures at the
polls. Fraternally he is a member of Saticoy
Lodge No. 1419, I- O. F. Religiously he at-
tends the Congregational Church, of which Mrs.
Owens is a consistent member.

JOSEPH W. NICHOLSON. Distinguished
alike as a native son of California, and for the
noteworthy position that he has won among the
rising young business men of Los Angeles coun-
ty is Joseph W. Nicholson, who is connected
with the Compton branch of the San Pedro
Lumber Company. Active, energetic and pro-
gressive, he had done much to promote the in-
terests of his employers, at all times proving
himself capable and reliable. A son of the late
F. H. Nicholson, he was born March 18, 1875,
in San Jose, Santa Clara county, being there
reared and educated.

Although born in New York, F. H. Nicholson
began life for himself in Illinois, embarking in
mercantile pursuits in Joliet, Will county. Fol-
lowing the tide of emigration westward, he came
to California in 1849, and for a few years sought
for gold in the mining regions, in his efforts
meeting with some degree of success. In 1863
he married Elizabeth Charles, a native of Ire-
land, and for some time thereafter was located
in San Jose, where he engaged in the general
merchandise business. In 1879 he removed to
Maderia and became cashier and manager of a
store belonging to a lumber company. He was a
man of good business judgment, and continued
in mercantile pursuits until his death, in 1884.
To him and his good wife eight children were
born, and all are living, namely : Annie M.,
Frank R., Charles H., Louis F., Edmund A,,
Joseph W., George H., and Genevieve E. He
was a Democrat in politics, and was a member
of the Catholic Church, to which his wife also
belongs.

Having laid a substantial foundation for his
future education in the common schools, Joseph
W. Nicholson attended the State Normal school
in San Jose. He was then employed in teach-

"^^dLws^^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1507

ing school for a year and a half, meeting with
success in his professional work. Since that
time he has had charge of the San Pedro Lum-
ber Company's yard in Compton. This com-
pany was first organized thirty years ago, be-
ing incorporated with a capital of $300,000. In
his present position Mr. Nicholson shows a thor-
ough understanding of the details of his busi-
ness, which he is managing to the entire satis-
faction of the compan)'. He is a man of up-
right character, highly esteemed by his associ-
ates. Politically he is identified with the Demo-
cratic party, but has never been an aspirant for
public office. Fraternally he is a member of the
San Pedro Lodge of Elks No. 966, and relig-
iously he is true to the faith in which lie was
reared, belonging to the Catholic Church.

WILLIAM P. DUNCAN. For many years
the late William P. Duncan was well known
throughout Compton and its vicinity as an in-
dustrious and enterprising farmer, an honor-
able and upright citizen, a kind neighbor, and
a loving husband and father : and his death,
which occurred April 15, 1899, on his home
farm, was a cause of general regret. A na-
tive of jMississippi, he was born, February 23,
1826, in Lowndes county, about three miles
from the city of Columbus, where his father,
William Duncan, an extensive cotton raiser,
had large mercantile interests. William Dun-
can was born in North Carolina, while his
wife, whose maiden name was Jane Dowdle,
was a native of jNIississippi, and a life-long
resident of that state.

Having received such educational advan-
tages as were afforded by the common schools
of his boyhood days. William P. Duncan be-
gan life for himself as overseer on a plantation,
retaining the position several years. In 1851
he went to Texas, where he w-as engaged in
the stock business for upwards of a quarter of
a century. Going from there to New Mexico
in 1878, he continued in that occupation for
about five years, when he disposed of his stock
and removed to Kansas Cit}-. Mo. Four years
later, in 1886, he came with his family to Cali-
fornia, just after the completion of the Santa
Fc road to Mojavc, and for a few months re-
sided in Los Angeles. Investing his money
then in land near Compton, he purchased one
hundred acres, from which he improved one
of the best and most productive ranches in
this section of the state. Twenty acres of the
original tract were subsequently sold, but still
later five acres were added by purchase, the
ranch now containing eighty-five acres, upon
which Mrs. Duncan and children are carrying
on dairying M'itli good residts. To the im-

provements previously inaugurated the}- are
making continual additions, each year adding
substantially to its attractiveness and value.
Airs. Duncan also owns one hundred and six-
ty acres of wheat land in Riverside county, in
the Alamos school district.

In 1859, in Texas, Mr. Duncan married
Elizabeth J. Hall, who w^as born in Tennessee,
which was also the birthplace of her parents,
John M. and Elizabeth (Moore) Hall. Mr.
Hall, a stock-raiser and dealer, moved from
Tennessee to Texas after the death of his wife,
and there spent his last years. He was a
member of the Masonic fraternity, uniting
with that organization about twelve years be-
fore he died, and both he and his wife were
members of the Baptist Church. Of the union
of ]\Ir. and Mrs. Duncan six children were
born, namely : John W., who married Dollie
Connor, and has one son ; James E., who died
at the age of forty-one years ; Mary P., who
died when thirty-nine years old; Robert 'SI..
of Arizona ; and David P., and Harry H., liv-
ing at home. Politically Mr. Duncan was a
strong Democrat. Mr. Hall, Mrs. Duncan's
father, was also a Democrat, and four of his
sons served in the Civil war on the Confeder-
ate side.

JOHN JOHNSTON. A man of great men-
tal attainments, untiring industry and incor-
ruptible integrity, John Johnston is a well-
known citizen of Southern California. For
many years he was engaged in the practice of
law in Chicago, where he met with well mer-
ited success. He was born, April 2, 1845, i"
Illinois, and there received his elementary edu-
cation. After his graduation from the Peoria
high school he attended Gambier College for
two years, subsequently taking a full course
of four j'ears at Yale College, and then enter-
ing the Albany Law School, from wdiich he
was graduated three years later.

Beginning the practice of his chosen pro-
fession in Chicago. Mr. Johnston was in part-
nership with Emor}' Storrs, a noted lawyer,
for a short time. Subsequently becoming head
of the law firm of Johnston, Rogers & Apple-
ton, he built up an extensive practice, becom-
ing well known throughout northern Illinois,
his clientele being large and lucrative. He ac-
quired wealth while thus employed, becom-
ing owner of real estate in Chicago, also at
Lake Geneva, Wis., where he had a beautiful
summer home, wdiich he called Gaylynne.
Near this home is the famous Yerkes Observ-
atory, for the site of which Mr. Johnston gave
sixtv-three acres of land, and in which is the
largest refracting lens ui the world. A bril-

1508

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

liant scholar from his bojhood days, he had an
honorable record in school and college, and on
graduating from Yale, in 1863, was class his-
torian. He is highly esteemed as a man and
as a citizen in Oceanside. and his home, which
he calls Gay Mount, is a center of social activ-
ity.

In 1871 Mr. Johnston married Elizabeth Con-
stance Gay, who was born in Georgia, a daugh-
ter of Capt. Charles H. Gay, the descendant
of a Virginia family of prominence and influ-
ence. She was brought up in Baltimore, Md.,
and was educated at a school in New Haven,
Conn. John Johnston, Jr., the only son of Mr.
and Mrs. Johnston, was prepared for college
at Racine College, after which he was gradu-
ated from Princeton College. He is now a
real estate owner in San Diego, and it was
partly to be near him, partly for the mild cli-
mate, and partly on account of ill health, that
■N'Ir. and Mrs. Johnston come to Oceanside to
live. Politicall}' Mr. Johnston is an unswerv-
ing Republican, and while a resident of Chica-
go served for a number of years as a member
of the board of education. He belongs to the
University Club of that cit}', and is an active
member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging
to lodge, chapter and to ]\Iontjoie Command-
erv, K. T.

DAVID G. HARRIN^GTON. Among the
wide-awake, enterprising men who have been
largel>- interested in the upbuilding of Ocean-
side David G. Harrington holds an important
position. He is successfully engaged in general
ranching and carries on a substantial business as
a dealer in real estate, his transactions in this
line being many and large. As a loyal, public-
spirited citizen he is ever among the foremost
to encourage and support all enterprises con-
ducive to the growth and prosperity of his
adopted town, and as a public official has per-
formed the duties devolving upon him ably and
faithfully. A son of William Harrington, he
was born November 12, 1833, in Franklin county,
Vt., coming on the paternal side of Irish an-
cestry, and on the maternal side of good old
New England stock.

A native of Ireland. William Harrington im-
migrated to the United States when young, set-
tling in Vermont, where he was engaged as a
tiller of the soil until his death, in 1849, when a
comparatively young man. He married Lydia
Stockwell, who was born and reared in New
Hampshire. She survived him, and died in Min-
nesota in 1893, at the advanced age of ninety-
five years, at the home of her son, David G. She
was a most estimable woman and a valued mem-
lier of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She

bore her husband eight children, and these are
scattered in different parts of the Union, some
living in Minnesota, some in Texas and some in
California.

Educated in Franklin, A't., David G. Harring-
ton attended first the district school and then the
village academy, remaining on the home farm
until after the death of his father. At the age
of seventeen he began learning the trade of car-
penter and joiner, and after serving an appren-
ticeship of four years in his native county went
to Toledo, Ohio, where he remained a short
time. Going thence to West Superior, on Lake
Superior, he was there employed in carpenter-
ing and fishing for eight years. Desirous then
of broadening his scope of action, in 1862 he
went to Dakota county, Minn., locating near St.
Paul. Turning his attention to agriculture, he
became owner of one thousand acres of land,
on which he was prosperously engaged in gen-
eral farming for thirty-six years, by his diligent
labor and judicious management acquiring a
handsome property. In 1898 he came to South-
ern California in search of a desirable place of
location. Charmed with the site, scenery, cli-
mate and future possibilities of Oceanside, he
bought land, and has since carried on an ex-
tensive business as a buyer and seller of real
estate in this vicinity, and has also continued the
pursuit of agriculture, owning and occupying a
valuable ranch of twenty acres, which he de-
votes to general farming purposes.

In 1859 ]\Ir. Harrington married Alary A.
Seward, who was born in Franklin county, Vt.,
and of their union seven children have been born,
of whom we make the following mention : Lloyd
M., of Oceanside, is married, and has one child :
Nancy, wife of Guy Maltby. of San Diego, has
eight children ; D. Seward, of Dakota county.
Minn., has two children ; Charles D. is a well-
known physician of Minneapolis, Alinn. : Reuben
B., of Farmington, Alinn., is married, and has
one child ; Stephen G., also of Farmington,
jNIinn.. has three children ; and Herbert E. resides
at home. Mrs. Harrington was a woman of great
intelligence and thrift, doing credit in her daily
life to her New England training, and was a
faithful member of the Alethodist Episcopal
Church, with which she united when a girl. She
died while on a visit in Minnesota. September
24. 1906.

Politically Mr. Harrington is a stanch Demo-
crat, as was his honored father. During the
Civil war he served as a soldier about six months,
being a sergeant of Company C, First ^Minnesota
Volunteer Infantry. He took part in several
engagements around Petersburg, including that
preceding the evacuation of the city, and was
present at the surrender of Lee at .\ppomattox
Court House, after which he was mustered out

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1509

of service. While a resident of Minnesota he
was very prominent in pohtical afifairs, serving
for eigfht years as county commissioner of Da-
kota county; as assessor, as township supervisor,
and for thirty years was a member of the school
board of his district. In 1896 he belonged to
the Bryan Club of Dakota county, and in 1900
was a member of the Bryan Club of Oceanside.
^'or four years he has been a member of the
board of trustees of Oceanside, the past two
_\ears serving as president of the board.

JAMES W. DAVIS. Varied enterprises
have engaged the attention of Mr. Davis since
first he came to California many years ago in
the hope of regaining his health, which had
become impaired by service in the army and
by later exposure to the inclement weather of
a northern climate. The immediate object of
jiis removal was accomplished and with re-
stored strength he was able to take upon him-
self the duties of active life, working at differ-
ent occupations and filling a number of posi-
tions. For a number of years he has made his
home in Whittier, where he owns real estate
and at this writing officiates as city superin-
tendent of water supply.

Early in the settlement of Illinois the Davis
family removed from North Carolina to the
newer country and took up agricultural pur-
suits in the midst of a frontier environment.
Ransom Davis, who was a farmer of Greene
county, married Elizabeth Hart, a member of
a South Carolina family, and they became the
parents of five children, among whom was
James W., born in Whitehall, Greene county,
March 19, 1843. From Illinois the family
moved to the north and took up a raw tract of
land in Hennepin county. Minn., where the
parents labored earnestly in the development
of a farm homestead. Eventually they moved
to the town of Litchfield and there died. The
early years of James W. Davis were passed
uneventfully in the routine of farm work, but
when he was eighteen the outbreak of the Civ-
il war broke the monotony of existence. Fired
with the enthusiasm of youth he determined to
offer his services to the Union. August 15.
1861, he became a member of Company K.
Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, in which he
served as corporal and non-commissioned of-
ficer.

The experiences which fell to the young sol-
dier were such as fate brought to the lot of
all who participated in bringing success to
Union arms. The memorable campaign be-
fore Atlanta and the march to the sea with
General Sherman remain impressed upon his
nieni(ir\- as among his most thrilling cx]ieri-

ences of war times. When the war ended he
was sent to Washington and there took part
in the grand review. On returning to the pur-
suits of peace he became a farmer and thresh-
erman in Minnesota. After some years his
health failed him .and in November, 1879, ^^^
sought the more healthful climate of Cali-
fornia, where he settled in November of 1879.
For three years he was connected with a gro-
cery on Spring street, Los Angeles, and then
entered the police department as a city guard.
(Dne years later he was chosen chief of po-
lice by the city council, and in that capacity-
proved himself a fearless, trustworthy and
capable ofKcer, determined in his efforts to up-
hold law and justice. The collapse of the
boom brought financial disaster to him as to
the entire population of Los Angeles. The de-
pression and loss in values left him $15,000
the poorer and somewhat discouraged him as
to immediate investments in Los Angeles, so
he removed to Whittier, where he was con-
nected with the state school for four years and
one month, meanwhile filling various positions
of trust with credit to himself. Twice he was
elected city marshal and since leaving that of-
fice he has served as city water Superintend-
ent. W^hile in Minnesota he married Miss
Olive Gilman. Tliey have no children of their
own, but reared an adopted daughter, Daisy,
who is now the wife of H. G. W^ebster of Los
Angeles. In politics Mr. Davis always gives
his vote to Republican candidates and meas-
ures, and in matters fraternal he holds mem-
bership with the Masons and the Grand Army
of the Republic.

JOHN LAUGHLIN. Ventura county is for-
tunate in having been settled by a most enterpris-
ing, industrious and intelligent class of people;
and among this number is John Laughlin, of
Moorpark, who is actively identified with the
development and promotion of its agricultural
interests. In the management of his ranch he
has shown good judgment, and has placed his
land, which is advantageously located, under ex-
cellent tillage, and made improvements of a sub-
stantial character. A son of Alfred Laughlin, he
was born, March 25, 1852, in Lincoln county,
Mo., where he spent the days of his boyhood.
His father was horn and reared in Missouri, liv-
ing there until 1865, when, having been left a
widower the previous year, he started westward
with his four children, traveling across the plains
with ox-teams to Oregon, where he passed his
remaining years, dying at the age of sixtv. He
was a man of high character, honest in all of hi-
dealings with his fellow-men. and a faithful mem-
ber of the Methodist Epi.scopal Church. He

1510

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

married Lucy Kent, who died in Missouri, her
native state, in 1864. Two of the children born
of their union are residents of CaUfornia, Mr.
Lauglilin having- a sister residing in Santa Bar-
bara.

Accompanying the famil}- to Oregon in 1865,
John Laughlin soon after began to be self-sup-
porting, working for wages in Oregon for a num-
ber of seasons. Going from there to Nevada,
he was employed in agricultural pursuits for
two or three years, but was not sufficiently
pleased with the country to remain there per-
manently. Making a decided change, therefore,
in 1872 he came to Southern California, and for
fifteen years was a ranchman in Santa Barbara
county. Migrating then to Riverside county, he
took up a claim of school land, and having proved
his title, sold out and went to San Luis Obispo
county, where he purchased a ranch of sixty
acres, and for about five years made a specialty
of raising beans. In 1893 he came to Ventura
count}', and having bought his present farm of
one hundred and forty-three acres, has since been
actively and prosperously engaged in its care and
cultivation. He raises beans in large quantities,
his land yielding about fifteen sacks to the acre
on an average, which is a profitable crop, and he
has recently set out a fine grove of walnut trees.

In 1889 Mr. Laughlin married Jane Morgan,
who was born, reared and educated in Iowa, and
into their home three children were born, namely :
Pauline, who died at the age of fourteen months ;
Frank; and Charles, who died in infancy. Mrs.
Laughlin died in 1899, at the early age of thirty-
seven years. She was a woman of many excel-
lent qualities, highly respected by her many
friends and acquaintances, and was a valued
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Po-
litically Mr. Laughlin is an unswerving Repub-
lican, and fraternally he is a member of the
Knights of Pythias.

WILLIAM LIGHT GRIFFITHS. One of

the most successful men of Los Angeles county
is William Light Griffiths, who in addition to an
eighty-acre ranch he owns conducts extensive
properties throughout the section surrounding
Covina, Los Angeles county, as well as a steam
threshing machine which has brought him in
large financial returns in the past years. Mr.
Griffiths is a native Californian, his birth having
occurred in Humboldt county, at Bear River
Ridge, September 15, 1873. His father, George
W. Griffiths, also represented in this work, was
born in Detroit, Mich., where the paternal grand- _
father, Giarles, had located upon his emigration "
from Wales with three brothers. Charles Grif-
fiths came to California in 1849, crossing the

plains with ox-teams and upon his safe arrival
established a hotel and confectionery at Sacra-
mento. He was flooded three times and burned
out a like number of times, but survived all his
disasters and each time rebuilt his enterprise.
His death occurred in San Francisco. George
W. Griffiths came to California in 1850 and en-
gaged in teaming in California and Nevada, after
which he engaged in the cattle and dairy busi-
ness in Humboldt county, then as a farmer in
Yolo county and finally, in 1889, came to Ven-
tura county, thence to Orange, then Los Angeles
county, following general farming occupations
in each place. He is now living retired in Los
Angeles. His wife, formerly Eliza Moore, a na-
tive of Lansing, Mich., was a daughter of Ed-
ward Moore, who crossed the plains in 1849
and located in Marin county and engaged in
dairy farming. He is now living in San Benito
county, where he has a large stock ranch, re-
tired from active business life at the age of
eighty years. Mrs. Griffiths died in 1904 at
Fairview. They became the parents of four
sons and one daughter, namely : Catherine, who
became the wife of Fred Wickersham, of Peta-
luma, and after his death married A. L. Dowler,
of San Francisco ; Charles E., a large contractor
of Bakersfield, Cal. ; George, a cement contractor
of Covina ; William L., of this review ; and
Walter, a farmer and stockman, of Napa county.
William Light Griffiths was reared on the
paternal farm and educated in the public schools,
at the age of sixteen years beginning life for
himself. His first venture was raising potatoes,
then bean growing in Ventura county, remain-
ing at Camarillo for the period of three years.
Deciding to engage in farming on a larger scale
in 1890 he went to the San Joaquin valley and
rented one thousand acres, which he cultivated
for three years, then located on La Puente ranch,
while he also rented a part of the Baldwin ranch,
farming in all seven thousand acres. He
equipped with every possible improvement in the
manner of carrying on his farming enterprise,
purchasing a Best steam traction engine, of one
hundred and ten horse power, equal to from
five to seven gang plows, he having plowed one
thousand acres in ten and a half days. He also
owns a steam thresher and reaper, which has a
thirty-five foot cut ; it has an auxiliary engine of
twenty-five horse power which runs the separator.
In addition to his general farming he also raised
fine roadsters, and full-blooded Jersey cattle.
With his brother, George W., he was inter-
ested in the Griffiths' Bros. Milling Co., which
they organized, building a large concrete mill
and warehouse on Citrus avenue and the Pacific
Electric carline, where they manufactured cereals
and flour, and also handled hay. grain, coal and
wood. He served as vice-president of the com-

^ r^ ^o/Tff^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1513

pany until they sold out in 1905 to the San Gab-
riel V^alley ^Milling Co.

In San Luis Obispo, Cal, June 14, 1904, Mr.
Griffiths was united in marriage with Miss
Elenore Russell, a native of Missouri who had
been educated in the schools of New York. Mr.
Griffiths is prominent in Masonic circles, hav-
ing been made a member of the order in Santa
Ana, raised to the degrees of Royal Arch and
Knight Templar, and is now a member of Al
Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. :M. S. He also
belongs to Pomona Lodge No. 789, B. P. O. E.
He belongs to the Episcopal Church in religion,
while politically he is a stanch adherent of the
principles advocated in the platform of the Re-
publican party. Socially he is prominent in
Covina, being a member of the Covina Country
Club. Mr. Griffiths enjoys the esteem and con-
fidence of all who have known him during his
long residence in this section, appreciated for his
sterling traits of character as manifested in both
business and social life.

STEPHEN D. LANPHER. A substantial
and prosperous rancher and a respected citizen
of San Luis Rey, the late S. D. Lanpher is
specially deserving of mention in this historical
record, having been a fine representative of the
brave and courageous pioneers who came to Cal-
ifornia in 1849, a"d were thereafter identified
with the best interests of their adopted state.
Little do the people of the present generation
realize the hardships and the trials endured, the
great ambition required, and the physical strength
demanded to secured the homes established by
the early settlers for themselves and their de-
scendant's. How well they succeed in their ef-
forts is plainly proved in the broad expanse of
cultivated fields and the large and productive or-
chards and vineyards everywhere visible, the
many fine farm residences and buildings that have
been erected, and in the long trains of palace
cars that are used for transportation in place
of the wagon drawn by oxen. Of New England
ancestry, Mr. Lanpher was horn January 11,
1822. in Bucksport, Me.

Completing his early studies in the district
school of Sangerville, I\Ie., S. D. Lanpher began
life as a sailor, for seventeen years following the
sea. He visited many ports, as first mate of his
vessel making a number of trips around the Horn,
being engaged in trade along the Pacific coast.
After his marriage he worked for a time as a
wharf hand, remaining in New England until
1849, when he came bv wav of Cape Horn to Cali-
fornia. Settling in San Francisco, he was there
engaged in the milk business for a little while,
and then went to ^larin county, where for six
years he carried on a prosperous dairy business.

Removing then to Sonoma, he purchased fifty
acres of land, from which he improved a ranch,
on which he resided eight years. Coming to the
San Luis Rey valley in 1875 he purchased the
ranch now owned and occupied by his widow and
son, and continued his agricultural labors. He
carried on general farming and stock-raising with
both profit and pleasure, placing a large portion
of his one hundred and sixty acres of land in
a tillable condition, residing here until his death,
September 9, 1890. Inheriting in a marked meas-
ure the habits of industry, energ)- and thrift char-
acteristic of his Maine ancestors, he became suc-
cessful in his business career through his own
strenuous eftorts, by his integrity, honesty and
upright dealings winning the esteem of the com-
munity in which so many years of his long and
useful life were passed. He was a Republican
in politics, and served his district most accept-
ably as school director.

In ]\Iaine, in 1853, Mr. Lanpher married
Sarah Knowlton, who was born, reared and mar-
ried in that state, and is now living on the home
ranch, beloved and respected by all who know
her warm heart, and kindly, sympathetic nature,
winning for her a large circle of sincere friends.
Two children were born to her and her husband.
Philantha died at the age of seven vears, and
Fay, born in California, resides with his mother
on the home place.

E. Y. CA^iIMER. A man of enterprise and
ability, E. Y. Cammer was for many years a
leading journalist of Los Angeles county, in that
capacity becoming widely and favorably known,
and is now actively identified with the mercan-
tile interests of Ocean Park, owning and man-
aging a well-stocked grocery store. A son of
the late B. W. Cammer, he was born. October 9,
1857. in Huntsville. Tex.

Born and reared in South Carolina, B. W.
Cammer moved to Texas in early manhood, and
for a few years was employed in mercantile pur-
suits, first in Centerville, and afterwards in
Bremond. He subsequently made a decided
change of occupation, engaging in newspaper
work in different towns, including Huntsville,
Centerville and Bremond, Tex. His wife, whose
maiden name was Mary J. Lee, was a native of
Alabama.

The oldest son of the parental household, E.
Y. Cammer worked in his father's office until
familiar with the printer's trade, which he first
followed in his native state. For several years
he was editor of the Hearne Enter/^rise, at
Hearne. Tex., after which he edited the Calvert
Clipper, in Calvert, Tex. Coming from there
to California in 1886, he worked in the job print-
ing office of the Los Angeles Times for two

1514

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

years. Locating in Lancaster, Los Angeles
county, in 1888, he published the Lancaster Ga-
zette for four years, when, in 1892, he sold out
to Walter S. Alelick. He continued in the same
office, however, for two years longer, and then
embarked in mercantile pursuits, opening in
Lancaster a general store, which he managed
with good results until April, 1904. Coming in
that month to Ocean Park, he opened a grocery
at No. 15 Pier avenue, where he established a
fine trade, his patronage being large and luca-
tive.

Mr. Cammer"s first marriage occurred in Cam-
eron, Tex., in 1880, uniting him with Elizabeth
Peoples, and to them were born three children,
as follows : Edna,' wife of C. W. Crawford, of
Los Angeles; J. Benjamin, in the store with
his father; and Margaret M. Mrs. Elizabeth
Cammer died in Los Angeles in 1901, and in
Sacramento, Cal., in 1892, Mr. Cammer was
united in marriage with Emma J. Menzies, who
was born in California, a daug'hter of Thomas
Menzies, now a well-known resident of Ocean
Park. Politically :\Ir. Cammer is an ardent
supporter of the principles of the Democratic
partv, and fraternally he is a member of the Be-
nevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the
INIodern Woodmen of America, and of the In-
dependent Order of Foresters.

BISHOP J. EDI^IONDS. .-V man of marked
business ability and judgment, B. J. Edmonds
is numbered among the active and useful citi-
zens of San Diego, and now, as city auditor and
assessor, is filling the position with credit to him-
self and acceptably to the people. Of English
ancestrv, he was born January 4, 1864, in New
Brunswick, N. J., which was likewise the birth-
place of his father, James C. Edmonds. He
comes from patriotic stock, his great-grand-
father, James Edmund Edmonds, having served
as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His grand-
father, Jacob Edmonds, was born in Dover, N.
J., but when a young man removed to New
"Brunswick, N. J., where he embarked in the lum-
ber business, establishing the first lumber yard
opened in that city.

Brought up and educated in New Brunswick,
James C. Edmonds developed great executive
power when young, and for forty years was
manager of the Meyer Rubber Company, the
plant being located in New Brunswick, X. J.,
and the office in New York City, He was an
able assistant in developing and promoting the
business of the company, devoting his energies
in that direction until his death, December 6,
1879, while yet in manhood's prime. He mar-
ried Alary Brown, who was born in Philadelphia,
and died in . New Jersey December 13, 1880.

Her father, Benjamin F. Brown, a wholesale
paint dealer, served in the Civil war, and her
grandfather, William Brown, was a soldier in the
Revolutionary army.

The ninth child in a family consisting of eight
daughters and three sons, B. J. Edmonds received
excellent educational advantages, and after his
graduation from the high school attended Rutgers
College, in New Brunswick, N. J. At the age of
nineteen years he went to New York City, where
he was for a time employed as a clerk. Re-
turning to his native city he was subsequently
emplo}'ed in the plant of the New Brunswick
Rubber Company, for six or seven years being
assistant superintendent. Resigning the position
in 1894, he entered the United States Internal
Revenue service, at East Millstone, N, J., in
Meischman's distillery, which was paying
$1,000,000 taxes per year. At the end of six
years he resigned that position, and on account
of the ill health of his wife came to California,
hoping that in this land of kind sunshine and
balmy airs she might regain her physical vigor,
and in this wish he has not been disappointed.
Locating. in San Diego in 1900, he entered the
employ of the Southern California Railway Com-
pany, having charge of its wharf until the
steamer line was discontinued. He was after-
wards bookkeeper for Simon Levi, wholesale
commission merchant, until receiving his appoint-
ment to his present position as city auditor and
assessor.

In New Brunswick, N. J., Mr. Edmonds mar-
ried .\nnie \'room, who was born in that city,
a descendant of a Holland-Dutch family of prom-
inence. Five children have blessed the union of
Air., and Mrs. Edmonds, namely: Cora; War-
ner, a graduate of the San Diego high school,
and now with the Southern California Railroad
Company ; Eleanor ; and James Clark and Bishop
Jacob, twins. In politics Mr. Edmonds has the
courage of his convictions, voting according to
the dictates of his conscience. He belongs to the
Episcopal Church, and is a member of the Cham-
ber of Conimerce.

GEORGE H. HAZELTON. An honorable
service during the entire period of the Civil
war and an equally honorable record as a pri-
vate citizen mark the life of George H. Hazel-
ton, a retired business man of Ocean Park and
the ow-ner of valuable real estate in that sub-
urb, as well as in the Seagirt tract. Though
for years a resident cf the east and also for a
considerable period identified with northern
California, he has found no spot so nearly ap-
proaching the ideal as the southern part of the
Sunset state, where kind Nature smiles upon
the intelligent efl^orts of man and a pictur-

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1515

esque environment pleases his artistic tastes.
Since coming to Ocean Park in 1898 lie has
witnessed the rapid growth of this locality
and has enjo3xd the benefits accruing there-
from, while at the same time he has won the
esteem of associates and acquaintances.

Directly across the line from Pennsylvania,
in Braceville, a town of Trumbull county,
Ohio, Mr. Hazelton was born August 21, 1844,
the son of Thaddeus Hazelton, an industrious
carpenter descended from an English family
early identified with the history of Vermont.
It was natural that, on the conclusion of his
school studies, he should take up the carpen-
ter's trade under the oversight of his father,
who taught him to be efficient, skillful and
practical in the work. At the opening of the
Civil war he was only a youth, scarcely old
enough for service, yet he solicited admission
as a private and was accepted in 1861, becom-
ing a soldier in the Eighty-third Pennsylvania
Infantry. With his regiment he marched to
the front and bore a part in the numerous en-
gagements falling to their lot. In the second
battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862, he was
wounded, but soon recovered and rejoined his
regiment, with which he remained until the
close of the war. When peace once more
reigned in the country he was mustered out of
service and honorably discharged June 26,
1865, after which he returned to his old home
and resumed the occupation of a private cit-
izen.

After having worked as a carpenter in Penn-
sylvania for a number of years, in 1876 ]\Ir.
Hazelton sought the undeveloped regions of
the northwest, settling in Winona county,
Minn. Considerable building was being done
in that locality and he had a part in the new
jsrosperity coming to the region. Land was
quite lovv and he invested his savings in farm
property, in which way he became the owner
of a farm of one hundred and twenty acres.
However, the long and severe winters of the
northwest proved trying and irksome, and to
secure more favorable climatic conditions he
disposed of his holdings and removed to Cal-
ifornia, where in 1889 he became a resident
of Santa Rosa. Agricultural pursuits and
the carpenter's trade occupied his attention
here as in his former home. Upon coming
to Ocean Park he bought property and erect-
ed houses, several of which he yet owns. Of
a quiet, retiring disposition, he has had little
inclination to identify himself with social or
fraternal organizations, none of which has
gained his allegiance exce])t the Grand Army
of the Republic. After settling in Minnesota
he was united in marriage with Miss Agnes
Graves, an estimable lady who had accom-

[janied her father from their native place in
Canada into the States and had settled in
Minnesota during the pioneer history of that
region.

WILLIAM H. FRINK. The Frink family
were established in California in the famous days
of '49 and since that time members have taken a
prominent part in the upbuilding of the interests
of the state. The pioneer, John R., was born
in New York, a son of Jefferson Frink, the latter
of an old ^lassachusetts family who located in
Xew York. John R. Frink was reared in St. Louis,
whither his parents removed later, and thence
he began freighting across the plains and act-
ing as captain of trains. In 1849 he came to
Sacramento and began mining, remaining in that
section of the state until 1852 when he came to
Southern California and in Los Angeles estab-
lished a feed and sale stable. He married there ■
Sarah Peacock, a native of Yorkshire, England ;
her father having died in Canada, she crossed
the plains with Mrs. Jane Lathrop and her
mother in 1849, the latter dying in Council
Bluffs, Iowa. In 1854 Mr. Frink brought his
family to San Bernardino and located on a small
farm, and a year later he bought a farm in San
Timoteo caiion, while at the same time he con-
tinued interested in mining ventures, being as-
sociated with the Vulture Mining Company at
Wickenburg, Ariz., and acting for some years as
its manager. The gold obtained was carried in
a four-horse carriage across the desert to San
Pedro, thence by boat to the mint in San Fran-
cisco. After the mine ceased to pay he went
into the stock business at Wickenburg. He was
later interested in the mines at Darwin, Inyo
county, where they had a stamp mill, and also
interested in the mines near Virginiadale, this
county. He sold his cattle business in Arizona
in 1886, and then engaged in ranching in Tulare
county, southwest of the town of that name. His
death occurred there at the age of sixty-two
years. His wife is still living at the age of sev-
enty-nine years, and makes her home with her
son. Of their four children three are living,
George M., of Los Angeles ; Daniel J., of Red-
lands ; and William H.. of this review.

William H. Frink was born in San Bernar-
dino, Cal., May 23, 1865, and was reared on
the paternal farm, and educated in the public
schools, after which he attended the San Ber-
nardino Business College for a more complete
preparation for his work in life. He then re-
turned to the home ranch and followed farming
on the old Frink ranch in San Timoteo canon.
In 1892 he engaged in dairying and farming
for himself, improving property, which consisted
of five hundred acres eight miles from Redlands.

1516

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

eighty acres being in alfalfa and under irrigation
from the San Timoteo creek. He devoted his
time to the raising of hay and grain, and also
had a creamery outfit which utilized the products
of his dairy. In December, 1905, he sold the
ranch and located in Redlands at No. 231 West
C_ypress street, where he has five and a half
acres in navel oranges, a handsome residence,
and necessary outbuildings, this being one of the
valuable little ranches in the city. Mr. Frink
is associated fraternally with the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks and the Odd Fellows,
of Redlands, where he also belongs to the Board
of Trade and gives his best eflforts toward the
material upbuilding of the city. He is a Re-
publican in politics, and is ex-member of tiie
Riverside Republican County Central Commit-
tee. He has been very successful in his wck
and is accounted one of the progressive and en-
terprising citizens of Redlands.

JOHN DUSCH. Noteworthy among the
pioneer settlers of Ventura county was the
late John Dusch, who came here in 1873, and
from that time until his death was an import-
ant factor in developing its agricultural re-
sources. Purchasing land that was mostly in
its native condition, he labored with unremit-
ting toil until he had it under good cultiva-
tion, with substantial improvements. A hard-
working, honest and industrious man, he was
in every way trustworthy and highly respect-
ed. He was born April 9, 1849, in Switzer-
land, the country which has given us so inany
of our most valued citizens, and died on the
home farm in October, 1904, aged fifty-five
years.

Brought up and educated iii Switzerland,
John Dusch there learned the baker's trade, in
which he became proficient. Immigrating to
the United States when a young man, he spent
a short time in New York City, from there
going to Philadelphia in search of congenial
employment. Not contented, however, he
pushed onward to the Pacific coast, in 1872 ar-
riving in San Diego, where he remained about
a year. In 1873 he located in Ventura county,
and in the Santa Clara valley made his first
purchase of land, buying ten acres. Very soon
afterward he took up a homestead claim of one
hundred and sixty acres, and immediately be-
gan the improvement of his home ranch. Suc-
ceeding in his ventures, in the course of time
lie bought ninety acres of adjoining land. En-
terprising and thrifty, he raised all of the grain,
fruit and cereals common to this section of
the country, having an apricot orchard of fif-
ten acres, and raising wheat, barley, hay and
beans in large quantities.

In San Diego, in 1873, ^^^'- Dusch married
Alary Gisler, who was born and reared in
Switzerland; coming to this country when a
girl, she lived in Philadelphia until 1871, when
she came to this state, where she has since re-
sided. Two of her sisters have also resided
here since 1884. ]\Irs. Dusch's parents are
both deceased, as are the parents of Air. Dusch,
both of whom were life-long residents of Swit-
zerland. In May, 1905, Airs. Dusch and her
daughter Amelia took a trip across the Atlan-
tic, visiting friends and relatives in the moth-
er's childhood home. Of the children born of
the union of Air. and Mrs. Dusch, six died in
infancy, and five are living, namely: William,
of Santa Paula, who married Mary White ;
Bertha, wife of Christopher Nelson, of Somis,
and the mother of two sons; Leonora, wife of
^V. P. Daily : Arno ; and Amelia, a pupil in the
Santa Paula high school. Politically Mr.
Dusch was a firm supporter of the principles
of the Democratic party, and took a warm in-
terest in the affairs of his adopted town and
countv.

FRANK PITTS. Occupying an honored
position among the many worthy citizens of
A'entura county, Frank Pitts is a successful and
energetic farmer residing at Somis. A native
son of the state, he was born in Alendocino
county, August 10, i860, and is one of ten chil-
dren, eight of whom are living. He is the son
of W. O. and Isabella (Burrse") Pitts, the for-
mer a native of Alissouri and the latter of Illi-
nois, both of whom are living, aged seventy-four
and sixty-six respectively. The father is also
a rancher, and in connection with his agricultural
pursuits runs a profitable livery business and
besides has mining interests in Idaho, where he
spends a portion of his time. In his political
views he is a stanch supporter of the Repub-
lican platform and of the candidates of that
partv. The mother is a consistent member of
the Episcopal Church.

Remaining at home with his parents until fif-
teen years of age, during which time he attended
the common schools, Frank Pitts started out in
the world for himself at that age, engaging in
agricultural pursuits in Ventura county, where
he has since resided. It has been his good for-
tune to succeed beyond his expectations, and
he now operates a five hundred acre ranch which
is dovoted principally to raising sugar beets,
Lima beans, barley, wheat and stock. The land
vields on an average ten sacks of beans to the
acre and is also well adapted to fruits and grain.
The ranch upon which he has lived for the past
fifteen vears is a part of the Los Posas ranch.
He owiis a ranch at Hueneme, a comfortable

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1519

home at Somis and property at Oxnard, and has
won success by his individual and persistent ef-
forts, industry and progressive spirit. His
standing in the community is the best proof of
his abihty, integrity and worth.

In 1892 Mr. Pitts formed domestic ties by his
marriage with j\liss Emma Willard, who is a
native of Idaho, and two children, Earl and
Edna, have been born of their union. At the
present writing Mr. Pitts is identified with the
Fraternal Brotherhood. Politically he is a stanch
adherent of the principles advocated in the plat-
form of the Republican party, lending his sup-
port to its men and measures.

SAjNIUEL M. LESHER. One of the most
up-to-date and progressive ranchmen in Riverside
county is found in Samuel M. Lesher, who has
upon his six hundred acre ranch, located near
Murrietta, every convenience for farming, dairy-
ing and stock-raising, and in addition has a fine
blacksmith shop on the farm. He is a man of
more than usual intelligence and whatever he
does is accomplished in the best and most scien-
tific manner possible. He is a natural mechanic
of ability, a progressive business man and con-
ducts his ranching operations in a thoroughly
modern manner, being well read and thoroughly
familiar with all new developments in his lines
of work. He was born November i, 1868, in
Henderson, Minn., the son of Benjamin and
Annie (Gunderson) Lesher, the former a native
of Pennsylvania and the latter of London, Eng-
land. The father was a pioneer settler in Min-
nesota, having removed to that state in 1865, and
there continued the prosecution of his business
as contractor and builder, having been engaged
at that occupation in the south before coming
west. He assisted in the erection of the state
capitol of Minnesota in St. Paul, and later con-
ducted a hotel on the Minnesota river in the
city of Henderson. In 1880 he pushed on further
west, and locating in Montana continued the
hotel business first in Forsyth and later in Glen-
dive, in which latter place he also engaged in
mercantile pursuits. His residence in Califor-
nia dated from 1888. when he arrived in Los
Angeles county, subsequently removing to Valley
Center. San Diego county, at which point he
took up land. Following this he spent a great
deal of time in travel, visiting in Washington,
D. C, and making a trip to Dawson. Alaska.
His last years were spent with his son, Samuel
M., his death occurring in 1902. at the age of
seventy-three years. His wife died in Montana
in 1884. in her fifty-seventh year. Of their
children one son. Jacob C. is a draughtsman
in W^ashington, D. C. ; another son, Benjamin,
resides in Los Angeles : a daughter, Gcorgiana,
72

is now the wife of Edward Keys, of Fairbanks,
Alaska.

The preliminary education of Mr. Lesher was
received in the public schools of Minnesota, this
being supplemented by work in St. Johns Uni-
versity, at Collegeville, Minn. After the com-
pletion of his studies he went to Montana and
was for three years employed on the cattle ranges
of that state, and after his removal to Glendive,
in 1887, began his training at the blacksmith's
trade. The following year he came to Los An-
geles, from that place removing to Escondido,
where he worked on a ranch for a couple of
years, after which he returned to Los Angeles
and engaged in blacksmitliing until 1895. Sub-
sequently locating in Murrietta on his present
ranch he has since made this place his home.
About three hundred acres of land is given over
to the raising of crops, while a like amount is
devoted to pasturage purposes. He has a dairy
and creamery and milks thirty-eight cows, makes
and ships butter supplying Murrietta Hot
Springs and Elsinore with this product. His
creamery was established in 1903 and was the
first one located in this vicinity. He is also a
breeder of fine horses of both trotting and the
Percheron-Norman stock, owning Poco Pronto
and Roscoe, two standard-bred stallions which are
considered the best in this section of the state.
Among his other property interests is a fine
ranch at Valley Center.

Mr. Lesher's marriage in Los Angeles, in
1891, united him with Henrietta R. Christian,
of Minnesota, and they have become the parents
of seven children, namely: Roy, Earl, Edward,
Ira, Oliver, Rena and John. The prominent
interest which Mr. Lesher takes in educational
matters is evidenced by his service as a trustee
of the Murrietta school district. He is a Repub-
lican in politics and an active worker in his
locality for the interest of the party. He is a
public-spirited and well-informed citizen who
takes an interest in all matters of importance
to the community at large, his influence being al-
ways exerted on the side that builds up and
develops the section in which he lives.

WILLIAM HARVEY BENTLEY. The
genealogy of the Bentle\- family in America is
traced back to the year 1720, when settlement
was made in Rhode Island by James Bentley, an
Englishman by birth and a brother of Sir Rich-
ard Bentley of England. In the family of James
there was a son. Benjamin, who had a son
named Gideon, the latter following farming pur-
suits in Rhode Island and New York, eventually
dying at Constantia, Oswego county, N. Y..
when he had attained the age of one hundred and
ten years. From him the genealogy descends

1520

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

through his son^ Gideon, who was a farmer of
New York and Ohio, but in 1831 removed to the
sparsely settled state of Illinois and settled on a
tract of raw land in Pike county, remaining there
until his death. When the family became estab-
lished in Pike county in 1831 William was then
but a year old, hence his earliest recollections
were associated with the frontier, and as a boy
he assisted his father in operating a woolen and
flour mill run by water power. Upon starting out
for himself he went to Iowa and there married
Malinda C. Shaul, who was born in Indiana, and
is a sister of M. J. Shaul of Oceanside (see his
sketch for the family history).

Shortly after his marriage William Bentley
bought a farm in Wapello county, Iowa, but in
1873 he removed to Kansas and improved a large
tract of land near Westmoreland, Pottawatomie
county. At this writing he still makes his home
in the same county, but has retired from agricult-
ural labors and resides in Havensville. In poli-
tics he votes with the Republican party and in
religious views he is in sympathy with the doc-
trines of the Christian Church. In his family
there are five sons and one daughter, namely :
Rev. F. H. Bentley, pastor of the Christian
Church at Topeka, Kans. ; William Harvey, of
San Diego; O. L., a merchant at Havensville,
Kans. ; Rev. Charles C, pastor of the Christian
Church at Hanford, Cal. : jMrs. Hattie \\'itten,
of Westmoreland, Kans.; and Bert I., who is an
evangelistic singer and makes his home in To-
peka. The second of' the sons, W^illiam Harvey,
was born at Ottumwa, Iowa, October 20, i860,
and at the age of six years accompanied the fam-
ily in their removal from town to a farm six
miles away. In 1873 he went with them to Kan-
sas and afterward attended the country schools
near Westmoreland. On leaving school he gave
his attention to farming and stock-raising.

During the spring of 1882 Mr. Bentley left
Kansas and made a tour of investigation through
the region further west. While in Idaho he took
up a claim and proved on the land. About 1886
he returned east as far as South Dakota with a
drove of horses which he sold there and then vis-
ited relatives in Kansas. On again coming west
during 1887 he settled at Fallbrook. San Diego
county, and secured work with the American Os-
trich Company which had started in the ostrich
business in San Diego as early as November of
1883. Their importation of twentv-three birds
was the first to be brought to the United States
except with shows. In" February of 1884 they
removed to Fallbrook and established a farm, and
in 1887 started the Coronado ostrich farm. In
December, 1891, Mr. Bentley and C. F. A. John-
son started an ostrich farm at Riverside. During
1893 Mr. Bentley had charge of the exhibit of
the American Ostrich Company at the World's

Fair in Chicago. At the close of the exposition
E. J. Johnson signed a contract to exhibit at the
Antwerp (Belgium) exposition, having first se-
cured from Mr. Bentley a promise to take charge
of the exhibit. From Qiicago the birds were
taken to London, England, and wintered at the
Royal Aquarium at Westminster, arriving at
Antwerp in May, 1894, where they were exhibit-
ed until Sepember 15, same year, and were then
sold to Hagenbach at Hamburg.

After having disposed of the birds Mr. Bentley
traveled on the continent and in January, 1905,
returned to San Diego, where he bought the for-
ty-eight birds owned by the American Ostrich
Company. Before this he had acquired the birds
from the Riverside farm ( twenty in number)
and in December, 1893, had them sent to Coro-
nado to be put with the birds owned by the com-
pany. For a few years, owing to the small de-
mand for feathers, there was little profit in the
business, but eventually the demand increased
and the profits became commensurate with the
risks. From Coronado in December, 1904, the
farm was removed to its present location, a por-
tion of the old Mission Cliff park, where the nine-
ty-five birds have ample room and comfortable
quarters. Some of the birds formerly owned by
Mr. Bentley have been sold to other breeders,
and several have secured their start from his
farm. The manufacture of boas and plumes and
tips is his specialty and orders for these come
from all parts of the country. With one excep-
tion the farm is the .largest of its kind in Cali-
fornia and no spot in San Diego county yields to
the tourist more of interest or instruction than
this farm, which is, indeed, included among the
most attractive "show" places for visitors to
Southern California.

The marriage of Mr. Bentley took place in
Clarinda, Iowa, and united him with Miss Ros-
ena Stuart, who was born and educated in that
town and is a cultured lady and an earnest mem-
ber of the Presbyterian Qiurch. Their two sons
are William Harvey. Jr. (nine years of age) and
Gilbert Stuart (two years old). For some years
Mr. Bentley has been connected with the San
Diego Chamber of Commerce, for three terms
he served as treasurer of Coronado and for one
term officiated as town trustee. In politics he
gives his allegiance to the Republican party and
fraternally holds membership with the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows.

WILLARD B. HAGE. One of the large
business enterprises of San Diego is the Ne>v
England Dairy and Creamery, whose owner
and proprietor, Willard B. Hage, since com-
ing to the city in 1891, has built up an indus-
try of important and increasing proportions.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1521

The management of his retail milk business,
with the utilizing of six milk wagons for de-
livery to customers, is only a small part of
his business, although this is the largest dairy
in the city. Even more important is the
creamery plant, occupying a modern build-
ing on the corner of 5th and G streets, op-
erated by steam power and equipped with the
latest appliances for butter-making. Often
three thousand pounds of butter are churned
in one day and at times the pay roll to farm-
ers reaches $500 per day. Receiving stations
have been established at Escondido, Ramona,
San Luis Rey and Bonsall. and the balance
of the cream is shipped by stage and railroad
to San Diego. In addition to the operation of
this plant he started the first creamery at Im-
perial, but finding it to far away to be given
personal attention he sold the plant ; for two
years he also owned a creamery in San Fran-
cisco, but this too he sold to other parties, so
that now his energies are concentrated upon
the business at San Diego.

A native of Wisconsin, j\Ir. Hage was born
at Eagle, Waukesha county, June i, 1868, and
was the eldest child and onlv son among four
children, all still living. His father, S. S.,
was born in Livingston county, N. Y., and
married Sarah Kelloway, also a native of New
York state. The paternal grandfather, John
Hage, was of English birth and parentage and
on coming to America settled in Livingston
county, N. Y., but later became a pioneer of
Wisconsin and took up a tract of raw land
in Waukesha county near Eagle lake, where
he improved a farm and remained until death.
The father likewise followed farming pursuits
in Waukesha county and made a specialty of
the dairy business, shipping milk to Milwau-
kee, thirty-five miles distant. On selling out
there in 1904 he came to .San Diego and since
then he and his wife have lived retired from
active cares.

After having completed the studies of the
grammar schools and the Waukesha high
school, Mr. Hage began to assist his father,
whom in 1890 he accompanied to Phoenix,
Ariz., for the purpose of engaging in the stock
business. The following year he came to San
Diego and embarked in the dairy business,
which he has since conducted with unusual
success. By reason of his thorough knowl-
edge of the principles of butter-making he has
gained considerable prominence among men
following that occupation and at this writing
he holds office as vice-president of the Cream-
ery Operators' Association of California, in
addition to being a leading member of the Los
Angeles Creamery Board of Trade. The close
attention which he has gi\en to business mat-

ters has prevented him from becoming active
in politics, in which he takes no part aside
from voting the Republican ticket at general
elections. The San Diego Chamber of Com-
merce numbers him among its members and
no one is more interested than he in its plans
for the upbuilding of the town and county. In
fraternal associations he is identified with the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. While
living in Wisconsin he was married at Eagle
Lake to Miss x\ddie Scofield, a native of Chi-
cago, 111. Four children were born of their
union, namely: Frederick, Edna, Ruth and
Willard, all of whom are at home.

JAMES HENRY CASSIDY. The supervis-
or from the second district of San Diego county
has made his home in the city of San Diego for
twenty years or more and meanwhile has formed
a circle of business and social acquaintances ex-
tending throughout his home town and county.
The present place of his residence is far re-
moved from the scenes familiar to him in early
life, for he is a native of New Brunswick and as
a boy grew accustomed to the bleak and storm-
tossed shores of that province. His parents,
James and Elizabeth (]\Iilligan) Cassidy, were
also natives of New Brunswick, whence his pa-
ternal grandfather, Andrew Cassidy, had emi-
grated from the north of Ireland. For some years
the father followed the carpenter's trade in his
native province, thence came to the United
States and worked in Calais, Me., later in Min-
neapolis, Minn., but eventually in 1900 he came
to San Diego, where at the age of eighty-three
years he is living in retirement from business
cares. While residing in Minnesota he lost his
wife by death. .

There were seven children in the family. Of
these James Henry was second in order of birth
and is the only one living in California. Born
at St. John's, New Brunswick, June 10, 1853. he
was eight years of age when his parents removed
to a farm near Gagetown. At the age of twelve
years he began to learn the carpenter's trade and
four years later, upon removing to Calais, Me.,
he commenced to assist his father in the building
business. After removing to Minneapolis in 1878
he secured employed as foreman for W. H.
Haight & Co., a firm of prominent and extensive
contractors, with whom he continued for seven
years. Coming west in 1885, he began to work
at his trade in Portland, Ore., but tlie following
year, in August, he established himself in San
biego, where for seven years he held a position
as foreman with J. D. Raymond, and then took
up contracting for liimself. In the pursuit of his
duties he has worked in various sections of San
Diego county and everywhere has held a reputa-

1522

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tion for reliability, energy, promptness and ac-
curacy.

Decidedly Republican in his political opinions,
Mr. Cassidy always has given his support to the
principles of the party which he supports, and for
years he has been prominent in local affairs. In
November, 1904, he was elected to represent the
second district as a member of the county board
of supervisors, and in January following he as-
sumed the duties of the office, which he now fills
with conscientious devotion to the welfare of the
people. Measures for the development of the
county receive his stanch co-operation when once
he is convinced of their permanent value to the
property owners, but at the same time he does
not jeopardize the interests of the taxpayers. The
San Diego Qiamber of Commerce and the Lhiion
League Club number him among their members.
While making his home in ]\Iinneapolis he mar-
ried Miss Nellie Rose, who was born in St. Law-
rence county, N. Y., and who always has shared
with him the good-will and respect of acquaint-
ances. After coming west he was made a Mason
in Silver Gate Lodge No. 296, F. & A. M., in
which he officiated as master. The Woodmen of
the World have his name enrolled as one of the
members of their San Diego camp. In addition
he is a leading member and past grand of San
Diego Lodge No. 153, I. O. O. F., also past chief
patriarch of Centennial Encampment No. ^4, at
San Diego, and likewise identified with the Or-
der of Rebekahs.

GUY W. WISDOM. Prominent among the
recent energetic, thorough-going business men
of Escondido, who, through their own tact, abil-
ity and good judgment have attained success hi
life, is Guy W. Wisdom, a well-known general
merchant. A native of Iowa, he was born Oc-
tober 18, 1867, in Taylor county, near Block-
ton, _ a son of P. J. Wisdom. His grandfather,
John A. Wisdom, removed from Kentucky to
Missouri when a young man, from there going
to Taylor county, Iowa, where he spent his last
years. He was a man of strong patriotism, and
during the Civil war served in the Federal Army.
His wife was a \'irginian by birth, the descend-
ant of an old southern family.

Born and brought up in the northwestern part
of Missouri, P. J. Wisdom began life as a farmer
in Iowa. On the breaking out of the Civil war
he enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer
Infantry, and as a soldier rendered his country
much service. He subsequently settled near
Blockton, Iowa, where for a number of years he
was employed in mercantile pursuits. In April,
1904, he came with his family to San Diego
county, locating in the Escondido valley, where
he was for two years activelv and successfullv

engaged in the culture of fruit, having a well-
cultivated ranch of twenty acres. This he has
since sold and is now senior member of the firm
of Wisdom & Co. He is a Republican, a mem-
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, a prom-
inent j\Iason, having attained the Knights Temp-
lar degree in Iowa. He was postmaster of
Blockton, Iowa, from 1872 to 1884, and from
1888 to 1892. He married Thankful Jane Carter,
who was born in Taylor county, Iowa, a daugh-
ter of Col. John D. Carter, formerly of Indiana,
who served as an officer in the Civil war, com-
manding a regiment, and is now a resident of
Iowa. Mrs. Wisdom died in 1881, leaving four
children, one son and three daughters, Guy W.
being the oldest child.

Obtaining the elements of his education in the
public schools of Blockton, Guy W. Wisdom sub-
sequently attended Parson's College, at Fairfield,
Iowa, for two years, after which he completed a
business course in the Capital City Commercial
College, in Des Aloines, Iowa, After his gradu-
ation from tbe latter institution he was in busi-
ness with his father in Blockton as a general
merchant until 1901, when he sold out, removing
to Portland, Ore., where he remained two years.
Coming to Southern California in 1903, he was
a resident of Los Angeles until July, 1904, when
he located in Escondido. Three months later,
on the first of October, 1904, he purchased his
present store building, which he has enlarged
and remodeled, it being now 25x92 feet, and has
since established an extensive and remunerative
general mercantile business, his stock of goods
being one of the most varied and complete to be
found in this section of the count)', embracing
everything demanded Ijy the trade.

In Oskaloosa, Iowa, Mr. Wisdom married
Mittie A. Nelson, who was born in Wayne
county, Iowa, and they are the parents of three
children, namely : Gail L., Eva Marie, and Alta
Marguerite. Mr. Wisdom taeks an active in-
terest in the welfare of his adopted city, being
very public-spirited and doing his full share
towards advancing its material and business pros-
perity. He is a member of the Chamber of Com-
merce and of the school board of the Escondido
High School District. Politically he is a sound
Republican, and religiously he belongs to the
Baptist Church, and is assistant superintendent
of the Sunday-school.

WINFIELD SCOTT KEEN. Among the
prosperous and enterprising citizens of Whittier,
Los Angeles county, especial mention may be
made of Winfield Scott Keen, who is carrying
on a successful business in teaming and grading,
and is an important factor in advancing the in-
dustrial interests of the communitv. A son of

/^^^^i^ti^^^^t^^^'C^^^ii^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1525

the late George Washington Keen, he was born,
November 12, 1863, in Baltimore, Md., being
lineally descended from an early colonial family
of that state. His grandfather, Edward Keen,
a life-long resident of Alaryland, was a success-
ful farmer and fruit grower.

A native of Maryland, George W. Keen was
there reared and educated. Becoming a farmer
from choice, he was first employed as a tiller of
the soil near the home of his youth, remaining
there until about 1872, when he removed with
his family to Iowa. Buying land in Marshall
county, he continued in his free and independent
occupation the remainder of his life. In Balti-
more, Md., he married Eliza Smardon, who was
born in England, and died in Iowa.

But nine years of age when he accompanied
his parents to Iowa, Winfield Scott Keen com-
pleted his early education in the public schools.
Wliile on the home farm he was well trained in
the various branches of agriculture. Following
in the footsteps of his honored ancestors, he en-
gaged in farming for himself as soon as he be-
came of age, owning a good ranch of fifty acres
in jMarshall county. In 1897 he came with his
family to the Pacific coast, arriving in Whittier
December 9. After ranching for two years lie
changed his occupation, and has since that time
been actively engaged in teaming and grading,
having established a large and profitable business.
He has seventeen teams, and a complete grading
outfit, one of the best in this vicinity, and keeps
several men constantly employed. Industrious,
thrifty, and a man of sterling character, he is
highly respected, and occupies an assured posi-
tion among the valued citizens of his adopted
town.

While a resident of Iowa, Mr. Keen married
Nellie Willets, a native of Iowa, and they have
now six children living, two sons and four daugh-
ters, narnely : Walter S., Blanch C., Maria E.,
George Willets, Mary E. and Dorothy May : all
at home. Politically Air. Keen is a stanch sup-
porter of the principles promulgated by the Re-
pulilican partv, and fraternallv he belongs to
^\•hittier Lodge No. 315, I. O. O. F.

PIERRE LAPEYRE. A large landholder,
and one of the most active and prosperous farm-
ers of X^entura county, Pierre Lapeyre is meet-
ing with excellent success in his labors, accumu-
lating wealth and distinction. A man of pleas-
ing address, cultured and talented, his geniality
invites acquaintance, while his intelligence and
kindly manners inspire respect and friendship. He
was born March 9, 1862, in sunny France, where
he received excellent educational advantages. His
father spent his entire life in France, and his
widowed mother, whose maiden name was Mary

Minvielle, still resides in that country. He has
two brothers in the United States, one of whom
lives with him in California.

On leaving school, Pierre Lapeyre began work-
ing on a farm, and while there became somewhat
acquainted with the science of agriculture. Just
before becoming of age he immigrated to the
United States, landing in New York City. Stay-
ing but a short time in the east, he came to
Southern California, and for ten years resided in
Los Angeles. Locating in Ventura county in
1890, he was at first engaged in sheep raising. In
1891 he bought his present home ranch, near
Moorpark, and has since been employed in gen-
eral farming. His ranch, which he purchased
from the Simi Land and \\^ater Company, con-
tains six hundred and sixty-five acres of land,
a large part of which he uses for pasturage, de-
voting two hundred and fifty acres to grain. In
the management of his place he uses sound
judgment and wisdom, his land being well im-
proved and productive, bringing him in a hand-
some annual income. Not affiliated with any po-
litical organization, Mr. Lapeyre has the cour-
age of his convictions, voting independently for
the men and measures that are most likely to
advance the interests of town and countv.

LEBBEUS _ SCOFIELD. Several genera-
tions of the Scoficld family have been identified
with lumbering interests. Some have owned
tracts of timber and have rafted the same down
rivers to sawmills; and others have been con-
nected only with the sale of lumber, having no
connection with its manufacture. Many years
ago a farmer of Dutchess county, N. Y., bear-
ing the name of Lebbeus Scofield, operated a
sawmill at Fishkill and manufactured lumber
for the local needs. A son of this pioneer miller,
Jerome, followed the lumber business all
through a very active life and was still interested
in the industry at the time of his death, which
occurred at Clinton, Iowa, at seventy-eight years
of age. Surviving him, at the old Clinton home-
stead, is his wife, now eighty-nine years of age,
and who bore the maiden name of Ann Van
Voorhis, being of Mohawk Dutch lineage.

In the family of Jerome and Ann Scofield
there were two sons, James T. and Lebbeus, both
of whom were soldiers in the Civil war. Leb-
beus enlisted at Clinton, Iowa, August 15, 1862,
and served as sergeant in Company K, Twenty-
sixth Iowa Infantry until the end of the war.
In the memorable march of General Sherman to
the sea he bore a brave part, and later it was his
privilege to participate in the Grand Review at
Wasliington. Though he was with his company
in almost the entire number of battles in which
his regiment participated, he was never wounded.

1526

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

nor did he fall a prisoner in the enemy's hands.
The other son, James, was a member of the
Brooklyn Zouaves, Fourteenth New York In-
fantry, known as the Henry Ward Beecher Regi-
ment; less fortunate than his brother, he re-
ceived severe wounds while serving in the battle
of Gettysburg.

A native of Dutchess county, N. Y., born
September 2, 1838, Libbeus Scofield received his
primary and common-school education princi-
pally in Brooklyn, N. Y. At sixteen years of
age he went to Buffalo, where also he attended
school. After two years he moved to Clinton,
Iowa, and learned the carpenter's trade, from
which later he drifted into the lumber business.
From his father he inherited a sawmill at Du-
buque, Iowa, and logging interests above La-
Crosse, Wis. The timber was cut from the for-
ests and then the logs were rafted down the
[Mississippi river to Dubuque and Clinton, where
they were converted into lumber, and finally
shipped to the markets of the west. About 1870
:\Ir. Scofield disposed of his interest in the busi-
ness and moved to Crawford county, in western
Iowa, where he leased a tract of three hundred
and twenty acres. Later ,he became postmaster
of Westside, a village in Crawford county,
Avhere he held office for two years under Presi-
dent Cleveland. There he also bought and op-
erated eighty acres of land.

On resigning as postmaster ' Mr. Scofield
came to California in 1887 and settled in the
Santa ]\Iaria valley, where he carried on a hotel
for some eight months. Next he worked at his
trade in San Diego. During April of 1888 he
came to Los Angeles and secured a position as
manager of the yards of the Ganahl Lumber
Company, later being in chatge of the lumber
yard of A. H. Carey. For ten years he was
superintendent of the Los Angeles Lumber
Company. On resigning from their em-
ploy he became connected with the San
Pedro Lumber Company in San Pedro, later
was transferred by the company to Compton,
and in December, 1901. he came to Whittier as
the company's manager at this point, where he
still remains in charge of their business. While
living in Iowa he married Alice Santee, who was
born in Pennsylvania, and by whom he has four
children, Jerome, Helen, Harold and Florence.
In fraternal relations he is connected with the
Masonic Order and the Grand Army of the Re-
public.

S. D. RYNEARSON. Not infrequently those
who have passed years of busy activity in the
sterner climates of the north and east, after gain-
ing competencies as the result of their wise judg-
ment, seek the genial sunshine of the Pacific

coast and in our equable climate establish a home
for the twilight years of existence. Such is the
experience of ^Ir. Rynearson, formerly an exten-
sive stock-raiser in Iowa, more recently a busi-
ness man of Nebraska, and now a resident of
San Diego, whither he came in the fall of 1895
for the purpose of enjoying, in the midst of at-
tractive climatic surroundings, the leisure so
amply earned by previous years of application
and endeavor.

Descended from a colonial family originally
from Holland, Air. Rynearson was born in Ohio
near the city of Cincinnati, and was the third son
of Jacob and Phoebe (Sharp) Rynearson. The
paternal grandfather, John Rynearson, and also
the maternal grandfather removed from New
Jersey to Ohio in a very early day and engaged
in the development of farm land in the then
frontier. Jacob Rynearson was born after the re-
moval of the family to Ohio and in 1834 he re-
moved to Illinois, where he spent a }^ear in Pe-
oria county and then bought land near Farming-
ton, Fulton county. On the farm he there im-
proved, he remained until his death in 1846. His
wife was born in New Jersey and died in Illinois.
They were the parents of four sons and two
daughters, of whom two sons and one daughter
survive. One of the surviving sons is S. D., who
was born Januery 16, 1827, and at the age of
seven years accompanied his parents to Illinois,
where he had such advantages as the subscrip-
tion schools afforded.

Upon starting out for himself at the age of
twenty-two years Mr. Rynearson went to Lee
county, Iowa, and settled thirty miles north of
Keokuk. The country was new, settlers few
and improvements almost wholly wanting. In
the transformation of the primeval region into a
finely improved farming country he bore his
share and reaped the reward which comes with
the increased value of land. During 1870 he re-
moved to Red Oak, Iowa, where altogether he
improved about thirteen hundred acres of land
and conducted an extensive business in the buy-
ing, feeding and shipping of cattle and hogs.
Often many carloads of stock were shipped to
the markets from his farm at the same time. In
common with other stock-raisers he experienced
reverses and successes, gaining large profits
when the fluctuations of the market brought high
prices for stock, and on the other hand suffering
losses when a depression occurred in prices. In
1888 he disposed of his stock interests in Iowa
and removed to Nebraska, where he engaged in
business at South Omaha and also bought farm
lands in Saunders county. From Nebraska he
came to California in the fall of 1895 and settled
at San Diego, where he now owns a comfortable
residence with pleasant surroundings. While he
has been interested in local enterprises in every

HTSTORTCAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1527

place where he has resided, yet he has never been
prominent in poHtics nor has he sought the offi-
cial positions which a man of his ability might
command. Both in religion and in politics he
has maintained independent views and has not
allied himself with any organization.

The marriage of Mr. Rynearson took place in
Lee county, Iowa, September 25, 1855, and
united him with Miss Rebecca Townsend, who
was born near Richmond, Ind., being the only
surviving member of the family of Jonathan and
Mary (Long) Townsend, natives respectively of
Ohio and South Carolina. Her paternal grand-
father, John Townsend, was a member of a
Quaker family and in an early day went from
Pennsylvania to Ohio ; her maternal grandfather,
John Long, who also was a member of the So-
ciety of Friends, became a pioneer farmer of In-
diana. The former was a soldier in the Revolu-
tionary war. At an early age Jonathan Town-
send began to assist in the task of transforming
raw land into fertile farms, and at different times
he helped to clear three farms in Indiana. In
that state he was married, but some years later
he removed to Iowa, where he continued to make
his home until death. The family of Mr. and
Mrs. Rynearson consists of two daughters, both
of whom have left the parental home for homes
of their own. The elder, Cora, was graduated
from the University of Iowa with the degree of
B. S., and was valedictorian of her class: later
she became the wife of Prof. C. M. Wirick and
now resides in Chicago. The younger daughter,
^linnie, the widow of Dr. F. L. Breed, is at
home.

NICHOLAS HERKELRATH. A well-
known citizen, Mr. Nicholas Herkelrath is lin-
ing in San Bernardino retired from active busi-
ness life and enjoying the fruits of his labors.
He is a native oi" Germany, his birth having oc-
curred in Bavaria, February 5, 1838, the son of
John and Anna Baum Herkelrath. His father
was a baker by trade and emigrated to America
in 1848. He landed at New Orleans from there
making his way up the river to Belleville, St.
Clair county. 111., where he remained for sev-
eral years. From there he went to Peru, and
La Salle county, but remained only a short time
when he decided to go still further west and lo-
cated in Nicollet county, Minn., near St. Peter
on the Minnesota river.

Nicholas Herkelrath commenced his business
career by clerking in a general store in Minne-
sota, after which he went to Qiicago and en-
gaged in the railway business. After several
years employed in this capacity Mr. Herkelrath
decided to change his location and occupation and
removed to Ortonville, INfinn., engaging in gen-

eral merchandising for six years, after which
he sold out his business and went to St. Peter,
Minn. In 1893 Air. Herkelrath came to Cali-
fornia to spend the winter and was so well
pleased with the climate and conditions that it
Ijecame a practice with him to come to this state
when the cold weather set in at his northern
home. In 1898 he became a permanent resident
of California, making his home in San Bernar-
dino, where his residence is on South E street.
In politics he is independent.

MRS. COLLISTO WILLARD SCOTT, of
the firm of C. W. Scott & Co., of Ocean Park,
Cal., is a native daughter of the state, being
a daughter of Alexander Hamilton ^^'illard,
Jr., a pioneer of 1849, and Mary A. (Wake-
field) Willard, his wife. Alexander Hamilton
\\'inard, Jr.. was one of the sons of Alexander
Hamilton Willard. Sr.. and his wife, Eleanor
(McDonald) Willard, the elder man being one
of the Lewis and Clark men of 1804. (See his-
tory of that expedition.) His name will be
found on the roster and in the original rec-
ords of that expedition on file at the Smith-
sonian Institute, and in other historical works.
He was one of the nine picked men who left
St. Louis wdth Lewis and Clark, selected for
his fine physique and known courage and
hardihood. After returning from the expedi-
tion he married Eleanor McDonald, of Ken-
tucky, and born of this union were five
daughters and seven sons. He was actively
engaged in the Indian war of 181 1 with Te-
cumseh and was selected by General Clark to
carry his despatches from St. Louis to Prairie
du Chien. which he did with many hairbreadth
escapes and much suft'ering. He. with four
of his sons (George, Austin, Royland and Ham-
ilton. Jr.), fought in the Black Hawk war. In
1852 iie again crossed the plains, this time
to California, with other members of his own
family, where he joined his son, Hamilton.
Jr.. and other members of the same family
who had emigrated to the Sacramento valley
in 1849 ^"'^ lia^ acquired part of a large Span-
ish grant on Cache creek, near Sacramento.
He was born in New Hampshire in 1778 and
died in 1868, and is buried in Georgetown,
near Sacramento, Cal. He had one brother
by the nam.e of Joel Willard. who remained in
New Hampshire ; and two sisters who married
men by the name of Willard. He was a de-
scendant of the two Harvard presidents. Sam-
uel and Joseph Willard. who were descended
from Simon Willard, one of the founders of
Concord, Mass., in 1634. and whose ancestry
has been traced for eight hundred years on
English soil. The late Frances W'illard. the

1528

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

noted temperance reformer, is a descendant of
the same famil}'.

Alexander Hamilton Willard, Jr., was born
in Missouri in 1812, and died in California in
1870. He married Alary A. Wakefield, a
daughter of Judge John A. Wakefield, and to
them fourteen children were born, most of
whom grew to maturity in California. Judge
John A. Wakefield was born in South Caro-
lina in 179s, his mother being a member of
the celebrated Barnwell family. When seven
years of age his parents removed to Ken-
tuck}^ and he there attained manhood, and
during the war of 1812 served as a member of
the battalion of mounted rangers, and also
served through the Black Hawk war, attain-
ing the rank of major. In later life he wrote
a history of the Black Hawk war which has
alwaj^s been standard. He came of Revolu-
tionary stock, his father and several uncles
being members of Mariona's "Immortal
Band." He was also a pioneer in the states
of Illinois, Minnesota and Kansas, having
served several terms in Illinois legislature,
being a fellow member of Stephen A. Doug-
las, between whom a warm friendship exist-
ed. Judge Wakefield entered the legal pro-
fession when a young man and acquired a
noteworthy success in this line, being a schol-
ar as well as a good financier, having accumu-
lated a large fortune in lands and stock. He
also wrote several books and from Judge
Wakefield's library in Galena, 111., Abraham
Lincoln received his first instruction toward
an education, and in the home of the judge
found a trusted and valued friend. Judge
Wakefield married Eliza Thompson, with
whom he lived a long life and reared a large
family. He was distinguished for his energy
of character and hi eh sense of personal honor,
and was one of the men who helped to make
the historv of this country.

G. W. NEULS. Although he has been a per-
manent resident of San Bernardino county, but
little more than a year, G. W. Neuls succeeded in
establishing himself in one of the extensive lum-
ber dealing and manufacturing enterprises in that
section of the county, being a director and former-
ly secretary and general manager of the San Ber-
nardino Lumber & Box Company.

G. W. Neuls was born November 11, 1857, at
Scranton, Pa., where he received his education in
the public schools, and early went to work as a
mechanic for the Dickson Manufacturing com-
pany, under direction of his uncle, Mr. Dupree.
He remained at this employment for three years,
then became manager of a furniture factory, after
which he accepted a position in the brush handle

factory of Holgate Brothers & Co., at Daleville.
In 1 88 1 he went to Mexico to install machinery
for a large manufacturing plant, and after that
work was completed came to California, locating
at San Francisco for a short period, later accept-
ing a position with L. Shover, a lumber merchant
of San Rafael. In 1885 he returned to PennsxI-
vania, intending to spend six months with the
Holgate firm, which had removed to Kane, Pa.
He became general manager of the factory, and
in 1889, when the firm was incorporated as Hol-
gate Brothers Company, Mr. Neuls was made
vice-president and general manager. He set
about to develop the business into one of much
more importance than it had been and succeeded
in building up the capacity of the factory from
an enterprise demanding the labor of twenty-live
men to one which employed two hundred hands.
He invented many machines to be used in the
manufacture of brush handles and ultimately the
factory became the largest in the world in that
line, manufacturing one thousand seven hundred
different varieties of brush handles, handling
eighty-five per cent of the trade in the United
States and securing large export orders. Mr.
Neuls had been carrying the whole responsibility
of the business and detail work at the factory
when realizing that his duties were undermining
his health he resigned the position.

For five years Mr. Neuls had been spending his
winters in California and in March, 1905, he de-
cided to make Redlands his home. He has a fine
twelve-acre orange grove on Fern avenue and
takes considerable pride in his residence there. In
June, 1905, the San Bernardino Lumber & Box
Company was re-organized and Mr. Neuls became
secretary and general manager. They have the
largest planing mill in San Bernardino, which is
fitted with steam and electric power, employs
from thirty-five to forty hands, and is engaged in
the manufacture of boxes and planing mill work,
as well as dealing in all kinds of lumber. His
marriage occurred at Champaign, III, where
Miss Grace Dale, a native of Pennsylvania who
was educated at the University of Illinois, became
his wife. This union has been blessed with the
birth of three children, Joseph D., William D.,
who died aged two years, and IMarion. Mrs.
Neuls is an active member of the Presbyterian
Qiurch, and a woman of superior intelligence
and education. Fraternally Mr. Neuls is promi-
nent in the Masonic order, of which he was made
a member in Kane Lodge No. 566, F. & A. M.,
and is past master of the same ; is a member of
Kane Chapter No. 279, R. A. M., and is past
high priest ; also belongs to Warren Command-
ery No. 63, K. T. ; Bradford Council No. 43, and
Valley Consistory at Williamsport, Pa. In 1902
he was sent as a representative from Kane lodge
to the Sesquia Centennial of the initiation of

^^^^^^^^.e^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1531

George Washington as a Mason which was held
in Philadelphia. Politically he believes in the
principles advocated in the platform of the Re-
publican party. He has always been interested
in military matters and while in Scranton was a
member of Company A of the Thirteenth Regi-
ment of Pennsylvania National Guards. At San
Rafael he assisted in the organization of a com-
pan}' of state militia and was commissioned lieu-
tenant just as he removed his residence from that
place. Air. Neuls is a liberal and public-spirited
man of pleasing personality and has won the es-
teem of his fellow citizens of San Bernardino
county during" his residence among them.

WILLIAM ALEXANDER McFARLANE.
In tracing the ancestry of this honored pioneer
of San Bernardino we find that he descends from
families connected with the colonial history of
Virginia and boasting records for patriotism and
lo}-al devotion to country. The old Common-
wealth gave to our struggling colonies no de-
fender more brave than the young Virginian,
Andrew McFarlane, who left home at the open-
ing of the Revolution and gave seven years to
the service of the patriotic spirits aiming at in-
dependence. During the progress of the war he
was captured by the English and Indians, by
whom he was held a prisoner for some time and
forced to run the Indian gauntlet. The McFar-
lane family was related to Lewis and Clark, who
made the memorable expedition to the mouth of
the Columbia river and thus opened to settle-
ment one of the most fertile regions of the
country.

Among the children of Alexander McFarlane
was a son, Thomas Lewis, who was born, reared
and educated in Pennsylvania, and from there
in 1843 removed to Iowa, settling among the
frontiersmen of Jackson county. After farming
there for a short time he went to Illinois and
secured employment in the Galena mines, but
eventually returned to Jackson county, Iowa,
where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until
his death in 1875. Early in manhood's prime he
married Susan Alexander, who was born in Ire-
land of Scotch ancestry, the daughter of an
English officer, William Alexander. In their
family was a son, William Alexander, whose
name introduces this article, and whose birth
occurred in Jackson county, Iowa. Alay 19, 1845.
Educated in the primitive log schoolhouses of
the frontier, he managed to acquire a broad
knowledge despite the primitive conditions of
the schools. Each summer he helped to till the
soil and gather in the harvest ; each winter found
him diligently pursuing his studies in the com-
mon schools.

During the spring of 1865 William Alex-

ander McFarlane crossed the plains with a
freighting expedition, leaving Iowa and fol-
lowing the customary route along the Platte
and through Qieyenne pass. When he started
on the journey he had hired as driver of
a team of mules, but it soon developed that
he was an expert shot. Accordingly he was
taken from the team and appointed hunter
for the train. With the aid of his gun he sup-
plied the large party during the entire trip with
an abundance of wild game, including bear and
deer. The first stop in California was made at
San Bernardino, from which point he proceeded
to Los Angeles and thence to Kern county,
where his three brothers were living. In that
county he engaged in placer, gulch and quartz
mining for a number of years, meanwhile meet-
ing with fair success. During 1869 he went to
White Pine, Nev., where he engaged in silver
mining for a time, but in the fall of the same
year he returned to Kern county. From 1870
until 1872 he engaged in silver mining at the
Ivanpah mines, in which he still retains an in-
terest.

Since establishing his home in San Bernardino
in 1872 Mr. McFarlane has lived somewhat in
retirement from business cares, but still main-
tains an active supervision of his various in-
terests, including mines in Inyo county and else-
where. In this city he married Mrs. Anne
AIcFarlane. a native of Ohio, and an estimable
lady, who presides with cordial hospitality over
their beautiful home at No. 581 E street. While
he came west wholly without means and friends,
he has been successful in gaining a fair share of
the world's goods and in winning the warm
friendship of a large circle of acquaintances, by
whom he is highly esteemed for his record as
a pioneer of the state and for his integrity of
character and geniality of temperament.

PROF. G. WALTER AIONROE. There is
in the whole world no higher field of usefulness
than that of educational activity, and the men
and women who give their lives to the training
of the young are of all others the most helpful
factors in the development of the race. South-
ern California has gained a wide reputation for
its thoroughness in educational work, and this
high standing is due to its talented educators,
one of whom. Prof. G. Walter Monroe, holds the
responsible position of principal of the Whittier
high school and superintendent of the grammar
schools of the same district. Educated prin-r
cipally in the schools of the west, he may be
called a product of California institutions of
learning and whatever of success he has achieved
(which is large) the credit may be attributed to

1532

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the development of his talents through a correct
and systematic course of training.

It was during 1886 that Felix M. and Chloe
H. (Sevier) Monroe, natives respectively of In-
diana and iNIissouri, removed to California,
bringing with them their son, G. Walter, who
was born in Floris, Davis county, Iowa, and
was a youth of sixteen years at the time of the
removal. The father settled in Monrovia and
still makes that place his home, being well known
to the people of the vicinity. After having com-
pleted the studies of the Monrovia _ public
schools, the son was sent to the California State
Normal School of Los Angeles, where he took
the complete course and was graduated in 1892.
Immediately afterward he began to teach school
and for three years held the position of principal
of the schools of San Gabriel, Los Angeles coun-
ty. With the savings of that period he deter-
mined to broaden his education and accordingly
inatriculated in the California State University
at Berkeley, where he carried on a thorough
course of study for two years. Afterward he
became a teacher in the ^Nlonrovia high school
and continued in that position for three years,
resigning in order to resume his studies at
Berkeley, where he remained until his gradua-
tion in 1900. For the ensuing years he was en-
gaged in post-graduate work at the university
and then came to his present position at the
head of the Whittier schools.

The marriage of Professor Monroe took place
in Monrovia and united him with Miss Leila E.
Bent, of that place, and they are the parents of
a daughter, Muriel I. The religious affiliations
of the family are with the Baptist Church, to
the maintenance of which Professor Monroe has
been a regular contributor. Having devoted his
life thus far to the acquiring of a broad educa-
tion and the mastering of the most thorough
principles of pedagogy, he has had little leisure
for participation in public afl'airs, in which, in-
deed, he takes no part aside from voting the Re-
publican ticket at local and general elections. In
fraternal relations he is a ^lason, upholding the
principles of brotherhood for which that order
stands.

OLIVER J. NEWLAN. Holding a position
among the successful ranchers in the vicinity of
Norv.'alk is Oliver Newlan, who, although he has
been located here but a comparatively brief time,
has already established himself among the up-
building factors of the section. He is a native of
^loultrie county. 111., where he was born October
27, 1878; his father, Joseph N. Newlan, was also
born in that section, the date of his birth being
!May 27, 1841, while the paternal grandparents,
William and Rachel (Funk) Newlan, were na-

tives of Ohio. They removed to Illinois and en-
gaged in general farming, owning one hundred
acres of productive land. His death occurred
there at the age of forty-seven years, his wife sur-
viving him and removing to Alissouri, where she
passed away at the age of eighty-seven years.
They were the parents of eight children, of whom
seven are living, two sons and two daughters re-
siding in Missouri, two in Illinois and one in Cal-
ifornia. ^^'illiam Newlan was a Democrat in his
political affiliations and was prominent in affairs
in his community. His wife was a member of
the Christian Church, which received a liberal
support from the family. Joseph N. Newlan was
reared in Illinois and educated through the medi-
um of the public schools, after which he engaged
with his father in the conduct of the home farm.
He remained so occupied until he was twenty-sev-
en years old, when he started out for himself,
having previously purchased a forty-acre tract of
land. He also added a forty-acre tract to this
first purchase, retained it for a time, then sold
and going to Bethany bought one hundred and
thirty acres, and made this his home for a period
of ten years engaged in grain and stock-raising.
He finally came to California and in Santa Bar-
bara was located for one year, engaging in ranch-
ing. Then he returned to his old faryn in Illinois
for one year ; at the end of that time he rented
this property and went to. Oregon, where in Sil-
verton he raised hops and then engaged in gen-
eral farming at Lynn, same state, for some time.
In 1883 he returned to California and rented a
place of eighty-five acres near Carpinteria, Santa
Barbara county, and after residing there for seven
years he came to Los Angeles county and bought
twenty acres. He sold his properties in the east
and in Oregon and with the proceeds invested in
two forty-acre tracts, and finally adding another
twent}- acres now owns a fine ranch. He was
married in 1869 to ]\Iiss Sarah E. Hostetter, a
native of Indiana, and they became the parents
of the following children : Corwin E., who mar-
ried Annie Sentney, and has one child ; Rosa,
wife of J. M. Moore, and who has seven children :
Oliver, of this review ; Ella, wife of George
Campbell: and Roscoe V. Mr. Newlan is a
stanch adherent of Democratic principles, and
while in Illinois was chosen by this party to the
position of road commissioner of Moreborn town-
ship. In religion he belongs to the Ctiristian
Church.

Oliver Newlan was reared in his native state of
Illinois and in California and Oregon, and return-
ing to California in 1893 he completed his educa-
tion in the public schools of Santa Barbara coun-
ty. At the age of seventeen years he became de-
pendent upon his own resources and following his
early training engaged in farming enterprises. In
1900 he came to his present ranch, a well im-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1533

proved tract of twenty acres, given over entirely
to pasturage for twenty-three cows, which consti-
tute a dairy herd, the product being shipped to
Los Angeles. In August, 1902, he married Mrs.
Sarah Hammerton, a native of Illinois, who had
three children by her former husband. i\Ir. Now-
lan is identified fraternally with Modern Wood-
men of America, Woodmen of the World and the
Fraternal Aid. He is independent in his political
affiliations, reserving the right to cast his ballot
for the candidate he considers best qualified for
official position. The Christian Church receives
the support of the family, both being active mem-
bers of the same.

SIDNEY VORIS HORTON. Positions of
honor have been the part of Air. Horton since
his location in Southern California, for he has
demonstrated during his residence here the high
qualities of character and the sturdy integrity
of manhood which bespeak for him the confidence
and esteem of his fellow citizens. Born in Green-
ville. Hunt county, Tex., January 4, i860, he
was a member of a family of three children,
two of whom attained maturity and are now liv-
ing, his brother. Benjamin Sterling Horton, be-
ing located in Indio, Cal., as roadmaster of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company. His father,
Peter Ivory \^oris Horton, was born in Tennes-
see, and came to Texas in boyhood, and there
engaged as a farmer and stockman. At the
breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted in the
First Texas Cavalry and served as captain until
the close of the struggle, being wounded at the
battle of Shiloh. In 1868 he brought his family
to San Bernardino and here purchased a farm
and began the raising of grain and the cultiva-
tion of a vineyard and orchard. His death oc-
curred in February, 1885, at the age of fifty-
eight years. His wife was formerly Mary Ann
Eliza Melton, a native of Selma, Ala., and a
daughter of Peter Melton, a planter who is sup-
posed to have died on a trip to Mexico; the ma-
ternal grandfather, named SoRelle. was a planter
in Alabama and later in Texas, and was of
French descent. Mrs. Horton died in San Ber-
nardino county in 1878.

Sidney Voris Horton was reared in Texas for
the first eight years of his life, when he was
brought to California by his parents and has
here continued to mal<e his home. He attended
the public school at the old Alission and was
early trained to the life of a farmer's son, learn-
ing methods used in horticulture and general
farming which have proven of benefit to him in
later years. At twenty-one years of age he went
on the railroad and for three or four years was
engaged in the construction of the Southern Pa-
cific Railroad, after which he returned to farm-

ing, and has since been so occupied. He owns
twenty-three acres in ]\Iission valley at the foot
of the Terracina bluff, all of which is set out in
Valencia and navel oranges. In igo6 he was
elected justice of the peace of Mission town-
ship on the Democratic ticket, his office being
at Bryn Mawr.

In San Bernardino Air. Horton was united in
marriage with Miss Beulah Hamner, a native
of Mississippi, and born of this union are the
following children ; Clara Evelyn, Alice, Mil-
dred, Sidney V., Jr., Gladys, Hugh, Bertha, Eu-
gene and Floyd. The first three named are grad-
uates of the Redlands high school in the class
of 1906. Mr. Horton has served as school trus-
tee of the mission district for one term, and was
clerk of the board for that time. Fraternally he
is associated with the Benevolent Protective Or-
der of Elks, of Redlands ; the Knights of Pythias
and Odd Fellows, of San Bernardino: and the
Modern Woodmen of America of Redlands.
Mrs. Horton is a member of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. Politically Mr. Horton is a stanch
Democrat, and for many years has served as
a member of the Democratic County Central
Committee.

JOHN \\". BARTON. A pioneer miner and
rancher. John W. Barton is located in the vicin-
ity of El Monte and engaged in the cultivation
of an extensive ranch of between fifteen hun-
dred and eighteen himdred acres, while he is
improving a homestead of twenty-four acres. He
has met with gratifying success in his efforts,
has acquired a competence, and at the same time
has taken his place among the citizens of his lo-
cality, who are always counted upon to uphold
public honor and support progressive and de-
veloping measures. Mr. Barton is a native of
Berrien county, Alich., born October ig. 1841,
a son of John W. and Emeroy (Williams) Bar-
ton, earlv pioneers of California, whose historv
is given at length in that of their son, Giester I^.
Barton, which appears elsewhere in this volume.
The mother lived to a ripe old age. her death
occurring December 19, 1906.

During childhood John W. Barton was brought
to California by his parents and located in
Solano county, and there he attended the public
schools. After completing his educational work
he went to the mines of Nevada and engaged
in driving a twenty-six mule team in the hauling
of ore. During this time and later he made his
home in A'irginia City, which was then one of
the flourishing cities of the west. Later he en-
gaged in buying and selling stock of mining
companies and the numerous mining operations
in hand at that time enabled him to occupy his
time very thoroughly. He also owned stock in

1534

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

some of the best mines known at that time, mak-
ing and losing several fortunes during his con-
tinuance in this work. Thirty years of his life
were thus spent in the mining towns of Nevada,
but finally he withdrew his interests and going
to Arizona became manager of quartz teams with
the Pinal Company, of that state. After three
years of this work he resigned, and returning
to California located in Los Angeles county,
since which time he has been extensively en-
gaged in grain raising, renting a part of the Bald-
win property, and he also owns twenty-four
acres upon which he is making his home. He
employs more men than any other one man in
this section and his success has given him no
little prestige among the ranchers of the county.
In 1876 Mr. Barton was united in marriage
with Miss Scioto Eggleston. a native of Iowa,
and a cultured woman, who occupies a promi-
nent place in the social life of the community.
She is a member of the Episcopal Church, whose
charities are liberally supported by Mr. Barton.
In his political convictions he is a stanch adher-
ent of Republican principles, and although he
has never cared for official recognition has still
taken an active interest in the advancement of
his party's welfare. Fraternally he is a mem-
ber of Lexington Lodge No. 104, F. & A. M.,
of El Monte, in which he has served as treas-
urer for the past twenty years, being elected with-
out a dissenting vote— an eloquent tribute to his
honesty and nobility of character.

DANIEL M. DURRELL. Not only as a pio-
neer of Los Angeles county has Daniel M. Dur-
rell won for himself a position among the citi-
zens of this section, but as well for the success
which he has won as a rancher. Although his
ranch is now onl}- moderate in size, yet he has
owned considerable property here and has as-
sisted materially in the development of the farm-
ing interests in and about Compton, where he has
been located since the fall of 1876. He is a na-
tive of Maine, his birth having occurred in So-
lon, Somerset county, February 25, 1842. His
father, Daniel M. Durrell, Sr., was of English
parentage, while his mother, Elizabeth (Toms)
Durrell was the representative of a family long
established on American soil. Both were natives
of Maine, where the father followed farming un-
til 1872, when he brought his family of ten chil-
dren to California and located on a part of the
Tajanta ranch in the vicinity of Florence.
There he died at the age of eighty years, while
his wife passed away wlien eighty-five. He was
a citizen of worth and prominence, taking an act-
ive part in public afifairs, always voting the Re-
publican ticket and seeking always to advance
the principles advocated in the platform of this

party. Both himself and wife were affiliated
with the Methodist Episcopal Qiurch.

Daniel M. Durrell, Jr., was reared to young-
manhood in his native place, receiving his educa-
tion through the medium of the public schools.
At the age of nineteen, in i860, he came to Cali-
fornia. In Plumas county he engaged in min-
ing until 1876 (having in the meantime made one
trip to British Columbia prospecting), when he
came to Los Angeles county and in 1879 pur-
chased the property upon which he now lives.
He now owns of this acreage a tract of twenty-
five acres, devoted principally to the cultivation
of alfalfa, although he raises some vegetables.
His alfalfa crop averages about seven tons to the
acre. He is also interested in a pumping plant
which has a twenty-two horse power engine, with
a flow of one hundred inches.

November 9, 1880, Daniel M. Durrell married
Miss Margaret J- Juden, a native of Missouri,
and the daughter of George W. and Mary
(Caker) Juden. Mr. and INIrs. Durrell are the
parents of the following children : Nellie E.,
Catherine I., who married Raymond Ball and has
one child ; Herbert J. ; and Frank and Maggie
Mae, twins. Mr. Durrell is associated fraternal-
ly with the Odd Fellows, having become a mem-
ber of the organization in Plumas county, and is
now an Ancient Odd Fellow. Like his father he
is and always has been a Republican in politics
and like him also takes an active and intelligent
interest in all movements of the party, as well as
any movement calculated to advance the general
welfare of the community. The family are mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr.
Durrell is a man of broad ideas and very well
read on all topics of contemporan,' interest, mak-
ing him an entertaining and interesting compan-
ion. He is thorough and painstaking in his
methods, conscientious in all of his efforts, and
has deservedly won the position of esteem which
he holds among those who have known him for
so many years.

The history of the Juden family can be traced
to John Juden, who was born in Kent. England,
February 15, 1700, and he it was who first repre-
sented the name in the new world. Descended
from this ancestor was Thomas Juden, who was
born in Baltimore, Md., April 12, 1799. A farm-
er by occupation, he followed this calling in Cape
Girardeau county. Mo., where he was well known
as a citizen of worth and abilitv. For four terms
he served as judge of Capt Girardeau coiinty, a
position to which he was elected on the Whig
ticket. In his religious belief he was a Baptist.
His marriage united him with Nancy Holcomb, a
native of North Carolina, where her father car-
ried on farming. The first representative of the
Holcomb family in the United States was James
Holcomb.

63,^\H.h(.rm^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1537

To the marriage of Thomas and Nancy (Hol-
comb) Juden George Washington Juden was
born in Cape Girardeau county. Mo., May lo,
1829, and in that locahty he received his educa-
tion and was tliere reared to a practical knowl-
edge of agriculture on his father's farm. At the
time of the gold excitement in California he was
a young man of twenty-one years and like many
others he came west to try his luck in the mines,
and in addition to mining also followed farming
to some extent. Subsequently he returned to the
east, and January 10, 1854, he was united in mar-
riage with Mary Caker, who was born in Nash-
ville, Tenn., the daughter of S. T. and Margaret
J. Caker. The latter were pioneer settlers in the
west, the family having located in Watsonville.
Cal., at an early day. Eight children were born
of the marriage of George W. and Mary (Caker)
Juden, as follows : Mrs. F. E. Turner, T. S. Ju-
den, Mrs. M. A. Hollowav, Margaret T. (Mrs.
Daniel M. Durrell), G. W. luden, J. W. Tuden,
C. F. Juden and Mrs. M. C. Wheat. When their
daughter Margaret was a child of eight months
Mr. Juden brought the family to California and
in 1867 located in Azusa, where he still makes
his home. The wife and mother is deceased. In
politics Mr. Juden is a Democrat and fraternally
he is a ]\Iason.

BOYD M. MOORE. Friends as well as a
competence have been the result of the ener-
getic and well directed efforts of Mr. Moore,
who is located in the vicinity of Norwalk and
engaged in the management of a twenty-acre
ranch. Of southern lineage, he was born in
North Carolina August 23, 1859, ^ son of
William R. and Sarah (McCrary) Moore, both
natives of Transylvania county, same state.
The father was a planter and owned two hun-
dred acres of land susceptible of cultivation
and about five hundred acres of mountain
pasture land. He was a Republican in poli-
tics and was elected county treasurer for six
terms. He served in the Civil war as a sol-
dier in a regiment of North Carolina Infantry,
and sui-vived the perils of warfare. He is now
living in North Carolina, his wife also is liv-
ing. They were the parents of twelve chil-
dren of whom ten are living, another son be-
sides Boyd being in California, Perry Moore,
of Long Beach.

Boyd jMoore received his education in the
public and high schools after which he entered
Judson College, at Hendersonville, N. C. Aft-
er completing the course he began teaching
and continued this occupation for the period
of nine years, oeing employed in the erammar
grades, high schools and subscription schools,
i)5 both the Carolinas. He finally gave up his

educational work, and going to Texas en-
gaged in ranching for the next five years,
when, December 11, 1893, he came to Cali-
fornia. On his arrival he took an inventory
and found the extent of his worldly posses-
sions amounted to $2.40. Nothing daunted
he went to work with the determination and
will to succeed and found employment on
ranches for two years ; then rented a ranch
in the vicinity of Norwalk, farmed there for
about four years, and then purchased his pres-
ent property of tw.enty acres. After batching
it for several years he resolved it was not
good for man to live alone, so in 1902 he made
a visit to his old home and while there married
Miss Carrie Batson, a native of that state and
the daughter of Ed. E. and Sallie (Lyon) Bat-
son, who are still living in North Carolina.
Of the family, Mrs. ^Nfoore is the only one in
California, she having seven brothers and one
sister still living in the sunny south. Mrs.
Moore obtained her education in the public
schools. She is a woman of much abilit)' and
excellent qualities, which endear her to a
large circle of friends ; and she is an active
member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Moore
by his energy has improved his place until it
has become a very valuable farm with eight
acres in bearing walnut trees and eleven acres
in one and two year old trees. The balance
is devoted to a family orchard with substantial
improvements, including his residence, out-
buildings and a fine well. From his twenty-
acre ranch in 1906 he cleared the sum of
$1,700, a very large yield considering eleven
acres are in young trees. He is also inter-
ested in copper and last year invested $2,000
in copper mines that looks very promising.
They are the parents of two children. Vera
and Thelma. In his fraternal relations ]\Ir.
]\Ioore is identified with the Fraternal Broth-
erhood, and also carries in.surance in the Etna
vOld Line Company and the INIutual Life of
New York. He is a Republican in politics
and while in North Carolina worked for his
father in the office of county treasurer. In re-
ligion he is a member of the Baptist Church
and liberally supports its charities.

ORIN PORTER. Mining has occupied much
of the attention of Orin Porter, but he is now
spending the evening of his days in the pleasant
surroundings of Redlands, engaged in horticul-
tural pursuits. He was born in Troy, Orleans
county, ^'t.. November 11, 1838. a son of
Charles Porter, the latter was a native of Cale-
donia countv, Vt., where the grandfather.
Eleazer, of English ancestry, came from Con-
necticut and followed farming. Charles Porter

1538

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

died when his son was but nine j'ears old, being
at that time employed as a grading contractor on
the C. P. & S. Railway. His mother, Electa
Hand in maidenhood, was a native of Peacham,
Vt., and a daughter of Capt. Charles Hand, a
farmer at that place and later in Troy, where he
died. Mrs. Porter died in Redlands at the age of
eighty years, when making her home with her
son. She was the mother of four sons and one
daughter, of whom three sons are living.

Reared in Vermont on the paternal farm, Orin
Porter received his education through the medi-
um of the public schools and the Peacham Acad-
emy, which he attended for one term. At seven-
teen years of age he came to Iowa and made his
home with Arad Hitchcock, in Osage, Mitchell
county, where he continued for four years. Re-
turning to \'ermont in 1859 ^e engaged in farm-
ing for three years, also following the blacksmith
trade. In 1868 he removed to Idaho, making the
trip by rail to Cheyenne, thence by mule teams
and on horseback to Boise basin, Idaho, where
he prospected and mined for a time, and then en-
gaged in teaming. In Nevada he worked at lum-
bering where logs were worth $100 a thousand,
and then again took up mining and teaming. He
returned to Vermont in 1872 and engaged in the
blacksmith trade in Troy, going again to Idaho
four years later, where he was occupied in min-
ing at Rocky Bar, Alturas county, that state, and
assisted in opening the following mines : The
Governor Bennett, the Golden Eagle, after which
he went to Wood river and engaged with his
brother, E. H. Porter, and his partner, J. L. Ma-
son, in the lead and silver mines, and- there
opened the Red Cloud group as the Red Cloud
Mining Company. He worked in that section
until the spring of 1890 when he sold out for
$250,000, and in the same fall came to Califor-
nia and was so impressed with the country that
he decided to locate here permanently. The fol-
lowing winter he accordingly purchased a ten-
acre tract on Wabash street, which he set to
oranges, and settling here in 1892 he built a res-
idence, barns, outbuildings, and made all neces-
sary improvements. Since that time he has
added to his original purchase a twenty-acre
tract on Wabash, ten acres of which being in
oranges, and he also has a ten-acre grove on the
Williams tract, thirty acres in bearing.

In Idaho Mr. Porter was united in marriage
with Mrs. Sarah (Rogers) Gregory, a native of
\'ermont, and they have one child, Ora. Mrs.
Porter is a member of the Congregational
Qiurch. Fraternally Mr. Porter was made a
Mason in Troy Lodge No. 16, A. F. & A. M.,
and now belongs to Haley Lodge No. 16 in
Idaho. Politically he is a stanch Republican. He
is interested in the East Redlands Water Com-
pany and is serving as a director, and is also act-

ing in the same capacity in the Redlands Orange
Producers' Association. He is one of the promi-
nent citizens of the town, and is accounted one
upon whom public honor may safely rest, every
movement looking toward the general welfare
being liberally and enthusiastically supported by
his efforts.

JAAIES BRCJWN GLO\'ER. Among the
pioneers of Redlands mention belongs to James
Brown Glover, who came to California in 1855
and to this location in 1869, and since that time
has given his efforts toward the material up-
building and development of this section of
Southern California. He was born in Warsaw,
Mo., near the farm owned by Thomas H. Ben-
ton, June 29, 1842. His father, Milton \Miite,
was born in Kentucky, a son of Richard, a farmer
who lived and died in that state. Milton White
Glover became a minister in the Methodist Epis-
copal Church South, was ordained in Kentucky
and after his location in jMissouri in an early
day engaged in the ministry of his church. He
attended the St. Louis Conference and was ap-
pointed to a circuit six hundred miles in circum-
ference. He worked at the builder's trade for a
livelihood. In 1850 he crossed the plains to Cali-
fornia by means of ox-teams and after his ar-
rival engaged in the mines of the state and also
preached on Sundays as a local preacher. He
returned to Missouri in 1855 via the Isthmus of
Panama and in the same year brought his fam-
ily to California via Nicaragua. After his re-
turn to the state he engaged in mining for a
time, and finally in 1858 on the formation of
the Pacific Conference of the IMethodist Epis-
copal Church .South he joined it and was sent
as a missionary to San Bernardino, where he
established the first church of this denomination
in the county. After serving for three years he
went to Los Angeles and preached in the old
courthouse, Mr. Harper, the father of the pres-
ent ma)'or of that city, being one of his principal
supporters, and with him and Bishop Keener,
Mr. Glover purchased a lot on Spring street
between Second and Third streets, where the
first church of this denomination was erected in
Los Angeles. He was later sent to San Luis
Obispo and there he formed a church and erect-
ed a building, doing the work with his own
hands. Overwork and exposure caused him to
lose his health and he was forced to retire from
the ministry, and coming to the home of his
son at Highland he made this place his home
until his death, which occurred in 1878, at the
age of sixty-seven years. His wife was Eliza-
beth Osburn, who was born near ]\It'. Wash-
ington, Ky. ; her death occurred in Los Angeles
at the home of the Rev. William A. Knighten.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1539

She was the mother of the following children:
James Brown, of this review; Sarah Margaret,
Mrs. Carter of San Bernardino; Nancy ^Maria,
wife of Rev. William A. Knighten, of Los An-
geles ; Jasper, a horticulturist of Redlands ; and
Newton, who died at the age of fifteen years.

The oldest in the family of children born to
his parents, James Brown Glover was reared in
Missouri to the age of thirteen years, when he
w-as brought to California, the journey being
made by way of the Nicaragua route, their pas-
sage being on the Prometheus to Greytown and
thence on the Uncle Sam to San Francisco.
Their landing was made in October, 1855, when
they went to Drytown, Amador county. In 1858
Mr. Glover was apprenticed to learn the trade
of blacksmith and after two years he went to
Sonoma county, and there completed his educa-
tion in the public schools of the state. He was
married in 1863 to Miss Elizabeth A. McGuire,
who was born in the vicinity of St. Joseph, Mo.,
a daughter of Cornelius McGuire, who brought
his family to California in 1852 across the plains
and in Sonoma county engaged as a farmer.
After his marriage Mr. Glover located in the
vicinity of Ukiah, Mendocino county, Cal.. and
there engaged in general farming. Through
the glowing reports made by his father of the
climate and opportunities of San Bernardino
county he came to Southern California in 1869
and entered land on the Bench (now Redlands)
and began the improvement of a tract of one hun-
dred and sixty acres. Five years later he proved
up on the property, but having no water he re-
moved to Crafton and leased a fruit farm,
which he cultivated for two years. He was next
located in Highland and engaged in fruit cult-
ure. Returning in 1878 to his original farm
he with other settlers who were now located in
this district formed the Sunnyside Company and
took out a ditch from the Santa Ana river and
began irrigation, later forming the Lugonia
Water Company which took out a large ditch,
rocked and cemented it. This is still in exist-
ence and is now a pipe line. He improved his
property and in the fall of 1878 set out fifty
orange trees and continued to set out oranges
until he had twelve acres devoted to this fruit.
In 1890 he sold out this property and engaged
in a mercantile enterprise in Redlands, locating
on Orange and Central avenues, where he con-
ducted a grocery business for the period of six
years. In the fall of i8g6 he was nominated on
the Democratic ticket as supervisor of district
No. 3, and was elected by a majority of forty-
three votes in a district where the Republicans
led by a plurality of five hundred and sixty
votes. He was re-elected in 1900 with a ma-
jority of one hundred and fifty votes, and re-
elected in 1904 by seventy-three votes, witli his

district going Republican by a plurality of nine
hundred and ninety-one votes. He is chairman
of the finance committee, and a member of the
hospital committee, for the first eight years hav-
ing served as chairman of the board of super-
visors and ex officio member of the Law Library
of San Bernardino county. From the organiza-
tion of the city of Redlands in 1 888 Mr. Glover
served as a member of the Board of Trustees,
and officiated as president of the board. He was
a member of the Board of school trustees of the
Lugonia district for nine years and served as
president, during which time the first school
building was erected.

Mr. and Mrs. Glover are the parents of the
following children: Ida M., wife of Walter
Lawry, of Redlands; \"irginia Lee, wife of F.
A. Armstrong, proprietor of Eden Springs ; Ed-
win Milton, operator for the Edison Electric
Company at Inglewood, Cal. ; and Anna Katie,
who died at the age of two years. Fraternally
Mr. Glover is identified with the Knights of
Pythias and is past chief counsellor of Redlands
lodge; and the Uniformed Rank of the K. of
P. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South, and has held every office in the
church, having served as trustee and Sunday-
school superintendent for the past tw-enty-six
years. He served as delegate to the General
Conference held at Birmingham, Ala., in 1906,
and during his trip east visited his old home in
Missouri after an absence of fifty-one years. He
is a stanch Democrat politically. As a member
of the Board of Trade and an ex-director he
has been instrumental in the material prosperity
of the city. Mr. Glover has not been too much
engrossed with his multifold duties to entirely
ignore his mechanical ability, taking time to in-
vent various articles, among them the Glover
roadoiler, for oiling streets and roads, a patent
for which he secured in IQ03. This is used in
San Bernardino county, Los Angeles, Santa
Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Santa Bar-
bara and Orange, and is justly considered one
of the most important achievements in the mat-
ter of improvements in Southern California.

IVES E. COBB. Perhaps no man in A'enice
is better informed on its public affairs and the
valuation of property than Ives E. Cobb, who
has been a resident of the place since its phenom-
enal rise upon the business horizon of Southern
California. Natural ability enhanced by educa-
tion, experience and contact with the world in
all its business forms, has given to him a knowl-
edge that he has found invaluable in his work in
this section of the state, and putting into prac-
tice the quick, unerring decision which distin--
guishes the man equal to progress, he has ac-

1540

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

quired both financial success and a wide influ-
ence as a capable man of affairs. His name is
associated with practically every movement which
has for its end the growth and upbuilding of
\^enice, in whose future he has unbounded
faith.

It is not a matter of surprise that Mr. Cobb is
endowed with a mentality of unusual caliber,
for this has long been a characteristic in his fam-
ily, whose members have distinguished them-
selves in professional and business life. His
father, James T. Cobb, of eastern birth, was edu-
cated at Dartmouth College, where he was a
brilliant member of an unusually brilliant class,
comprising such men as Phillips Brooks, Digby
Bell, George W. Emery (afterward governor of
Utah"), and others of equal prominence and note.
.'Mthough a man of advanced years he is con-
sidered today one of the best Shakespeare
scholars in the United States, for his services
along this line having been included bv Ignatius
Donnelly in his Cryptogram. Mr. Cobb is a resi-
dent of Salt Lake City. Utah, where he en-
gaged as a journalist on two of the leading
papers many years ago. Time has not lessened
his ardor in the matter of research or literary
criticism, and he is still named among the lights
of his home citv, where he has acquired a wide
circle of friends. His wife, formerly Camilla
C ]\Ieathe. a native of Dresden, Germany, is also
living. She is a daughter of Professor Meathe,
a well-known educator of German^', and in her
young womanhood received a most excellent edu-
cation, being a clever lins:uist and able to both
speak and write fluentlv in three languages.

.A native of Utah. Ives E. Cobb spent the
first years nf his life in Salt Lake City, where
he received his education through the medium
of the public schools. Preferring active business
life rather than a professional career, at the age
of twenty-one years he accepted an opening in a
bank of his native city, being first employed as
messenger. Promotion was not long in coming
to him and from one position to another he was
chosen until he became bank teller. Having in
the mean time become interested in mining, he
resigned his bank position to enable him to give
his entire attention to this other enterprise, and
for some time thereafter he engineered important
deals in this line of work. In igoo he came to
California and in the southern portion of the
state became identified with real estate opera-
tions, finally locating in Ocean Park, and thence
opening an office in A^enice. where he was in-
strumental in the organization of the Venice In-
vestment Company, of which he became presi-
dent. He is also serving at the present wanting
as president of the Venice .\musement Company,
and is thus closelv identified with everv movi.-
nunl for tlic improvement of the place, stand-

ing close to the master mind that has conceived
and with the help of invaluable lieutenants has
executed this gigantic plan.

In spite of his engrossing business affairs ilr.
Cobb has found time to ally himself with social
organizations, being a valued member of the
Country Club. Politically a Republican, he sup-
ports the men and measures of his party and seeks
to advance the best interests of the country ac-
cording to the principles he endorses. That iie
is a loyal citizen has been demonstrated, for at
the call of his country during the Spanish-
American war he enlisted in Company One, Utah
\"olunteer Cavalry, in the capacity of sergeant,
although to do so he was compelled to resign a
lucrative position.

DR. FREDERICK C. SHELDON. On
both sides of the house the late Dr. Sheldon
of San Diego descended from ancestry prom-
inent in the public affairs of New England, the
states of Vermont and Massachusetts profiting
by their participation in the upbuilding and de-
velopment of that section. The only child of
his parents, Dr. Sheldon was born September
13, i860, in Boston: his father, Leonard R,
Sheldon, a native of Vermont, was a prominent
physician of that cit}^ Avhere his death oc-
curred in 1872. Plis mother was formerly
Anne M. Cartwright, of Boston, whose father,
Charles W. Cartwright, the representative of
an old Quaker family, was a successful bus-
iness man in banking and railroad circles and
acquired considerable wealth before his death.
She died in 1866 in the family home in Boston.

Dr. Sheldon was the recipient of every ad-
vantage in youth, besides inheriting the force-
ful characteristics of his New England ances-
tors being trained in the best schools afforded
bv his native city. Following his first im-
pressions in life he took up the study of med-
icine and graduated from a college of physi-
cians and surgeons in Burlington, Vt., hav-
ing been capable of graduation at the age of
nineteen years, but was refused his degree
until just three months before attaining his
majoritv. He then took a course in Bellevue
Hospital in New York City, from which he
also received a degree. Being taken ill with
pneumonia he sought a milder climate, and in
the fall of 1882 came to San Francisco, whence
he went to San Jose and practiced medicine
for one year. Pasadena was his next location
and there he remained for three years, during
Vihich time, in addition to practicing his pro-
fession he also established the first drug store
of that place. While there, too, he also be-
came interested in horticulture, setting out an
orchard and also developed several pieces of
pn.i)crty. From November. 1885. Dr. Shel-

^ j^ <^2i

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1543

don dated his residence in San Diego, at that
time making a visit to the city on the old
steamer Orizaba and becoming so favorably
impressed with existing conditions he de-
cided to make this lier permanent home. He at
once engaged in the development of the prop-
erty which he had purchased on Sixth street,
known as the Sheldon Block, and in December
of the following 3'ear beginning the erection
of the magnificent residence at the corner of
Eleventh and D streets, which is now the home
of his widow and children. This was com-
pleted in March, 1887, and became their home
at that time, and on the 14th of June of the
same year the death of Dr. Sheldon occurred.
The illness which caused his death — typhoid
pneumonia — was contracted through exposures
during a trip to the vicinity of Ensenada in
the gold excitement of the previous May, dur-
ing this experience enduring many hardships
and privations.

To the energy and progressive spirit of Dr.
Sheldon is due much of the development of
San Diego, for although he was a resident but
a brief time he gave every effort toward the
upbuilding of the section in which he had de-
cided to make his home. In the year of his
death he completed the fine Sheldon block at
the corner of Sixth and F streets and had made
many other im.provements on property which
he owned. Among other holdings he owned
five hundred acres of musselbeds upon which
Ocean Beach now stands. Since his death his
business undertakings have been ably carried
on by his wife, who was before marriage Em-
ma Bancroft. She was born in A^ermont, a
daughter of George Bancroft, a -farmer and
lumberman, whose death occurred in Febru-
ary, 1888, in San Diego, as did that of his
wife in 1896, she being Caroline Sheldon be-
fore marriage, and a native of Vermont. The
Bancrofts were members of the same family
which gave to the world the famous historian.
Mrs. Sheldon was the only child in her parents'
family, and in her girlhood received every ad-
vantage, being a graduate of the high school
at St. Albans, Vt. She is the mother of two
children. George Bancroft, who is preparing
himself for the medical profession ; and Anna
Cartwright. Since her husband's death l\Trs.
Sheldon has improved her property with hand-
some flat buildings and bungalows, and she
also built the Richelieu, a rooming house,
which she has since sold. She is a member
of the Congregational Church and is active in
its development in every possible way, but
being particularly interested in missionary
work. Dr. Sheldon was a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church and gave his
support liberally to all its charities. In poli-
73

tics he was a stanch adherent of the principles
advocated in the platform of the Republican
party and fraternally was a Master Mason.
The name of Sheldon is justly accorded a place
among the upbuilders of San Diego, honored
remembrance being given to Dr. Sheldon for
his participation in public enterprises and a
place of prominence is accorded Mrs. Sheldon
lor her active work of to-dav.

CHARLES S. LIBBY. I'rominent among
the ambitious, energetic and progressive agri-
culturists of San Diego count}- is Charles S.
Libby, one of the largest landholders of San Luis
Rey, and one of its most extensive stock-raisers
and dealers. He has been an important factor
in developing and promoting the farming inter-
ests of this part of the county, and is numbered
among its most enterprising and public-spirited
citizens. Coming from substantial New England
stock, he was born November 27, 1857, in Good-
hue county, Minn., a son of Jacob Libby.

Jacob Libby was born in Lebanon, Me., Feb-
ruary 24, 1825, and died in San Luis Rey Febru-
ary 22, 1902. Following the occupation in which
he was reared he carried on farming and for
many years was successfully engaged in his
chosen occupation in Minnesota. In 1887 he
came to San Diego county, locating in San Luis
Rey, where he purchased a ranch of four hun-
dred and si.xty-five acres, on which he resided
until his death. He married Rebecca Bliss, a
native of Maine, and of the five children born
of their union two died in infancy, and three
grew to years of maturity. He was a man of
sterling character, and both he and his wife were
valued members of the Baptist Church.

Having acquired a practical education in the
district schools of Goodhue county, Minn., Charles
S. Libby went to Iowa, settling there as a farmer.
Removing from there to Gage county. Neb., in
1880, he remained there three years, in the spring
of 1883 locating in Platte county, where, having
purchased four liundred and forty acres of land,
he was successfully engaged in general farming
and stock-raising for ten years. In ]\Iarch, 1893,
he came to San E)iego county, locating first in San
Luis Rey, and buying a half interest in a ranch
lying two and one-half miles from the village.
Going then to Bernardo, he was employed in gen-
eral ranching for five years. Returning to San
Luis Rey he subsequently bought his present
large ranch of one thousand acres, and in its care
and management has met with eminent success.
He carries on general farming and stock-raising
on an extensive scale, paying especial attention
to the breeding and raising of horses and cattle.
A man of keen foresight and excellent judgment
he has accumulated a large share of this world's

loU

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

goods, and in addition to his realty in San Luis
Rey owns valuable residence property at Ocean-
side.

Mr. Libby's first marriage was solemnized in
Nebraska in 1884, uniting him with Susan E. Lat-
termire, who died October 20, 1900, leaving four
children, namely : Edna May, wife of C. G.
Borden, of Carlsbad, San Diego county ; Victor
S. ; Clarence M. ; and Gladys L. In February,
1902, Mr. Libby married May Watson. Politi-
cally he was formerly identified with the Repub-
lican party but is now an ardent Prohibitionist.
Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Order
of United Workmen, with which he united when
twenty-nine years of age. Religiously he and his
wife belong to the Christian Church.

JOHN E. SMITH. Occupying a foremost
position among- the worthy and respected cit-
izens of Ventura county is John E. Smith, of
Moorpark, an able and skilful agriculturist,
who has never been satisfied with less than the
highest possible results in his farming oper-
ations. A man of culture and scholarly at-
tainments, he holds a position of influence in
the community, and among his fellow-men is
respected for his many fine qualities of both
heart and mind, and honored for his integrity
and strength of character. A son of John
Smith, he vi'as born, August 22, 1843, i" Hen-
rysburg, Canada East, now province of Que-
bec, coming from English stock.

Emigrating from England, his native coun-
try, in 1830, John Smith settled in the United
States, living first in the east. In 1836 he pur-
chased a tract of heavily wooded land in Ohio,
cleared an opening, and having erected a small
house moved into it with his familj'. Work-
ing with indomitable perseverance and a reso-
lute will, he improved a good homestead and
gave material aid in advancing the growth of
the town, county and state. He was success-
ful as a farmer, and remained a resident of
Ohio until his death, in 1887, at the advanced
age of eighty-two years. He married 'Slary
Braithwaite, a native of England, and of this
union there are three children living. She sur-
vived him ten years, dying in Canada in 1897,
at the age of four score and two years.

Having received his elementary education
in the public schools of Lorain county, Ohio,
John E. Smith continued his studies, intend-
ing to fit himself for college. The Civil war
breaking out in 1861, his patriotic ardor was
aroused, and, enlisting in Company H, Forty-
first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he served for
one year, during which time he saw some hard
fighting, taking part in the engagement at
Pittsburg Landing and at Corinth. Subse-

quently, at Nashville, Tenn., he was honorably
discharged on account of physical disability.
Returning to Ohio, he remained at home a
year, and then entered Oberlin College, at
Oberlin, Ohio, and having finished the course
was graduated from the classical department.
Then, after teaching a year in Fisk University,
at Nashville, Tenn., he took a three j^ears'
course of study at the Andover (Mass.) Theo-
logical Seminary. Going south after his grad-
uation from that institution, he taught Latin
in the Atlanta l^niversity for two years. The
ensuing six j^ears he was engaged in minis-
terial work, preaching four years at West An-
dover and Andover, Ohio.

Subsequently removing to Dakota. ]\Ir.
Smith took up government land, and the next
eighteen months resided in that state. Sell-
ing his land, he then accepted a position in Nio-
brara, Neb., and for a number of years had
entire charge of the Indian work in that place,
at the same time being a teacher "in the In-
dian school. Coming to Ventura county in
1891, he invested his money in land, buying
eighty acres near Moorpark, where he has
improved a fine orchard, the entire tract be-
ing devoted to apricots and walnuts. About
one-fourth of this place is in bearing condition,
and he carries on an excellent business as a
fruit dryer, the amount disposed of in 1903
reaching twenty tons. He also carries on
general farming, cultivating one hundred and
ninety acres in all, raising grain, corn and
beans on a part of his ranch. Laboring dili-
gently and successfully, he is continually im-
proving and beautifying his property, each suc-
ceeding season bringing him in richer rewards
from a financial standpoint.

September 9, 1874, Mr. Smith married L)^dia
E. Stratton, a native of Ohio, and they have
three children, namely: Hope B., a graduate
of Pomona College ; Raymond S., a senior in
that institution : and Philip E., a junior. Pol-
itically Mr. Smith invariably and conscien-
tiously supports the principles of the Repub-
lican party, and for several years served as
school trustee in his district. He is an active
member of the Presbyterian Church.

HOTEL ESCONDIDO, located at the
head of Grand avenue, on an elevated point of
land, overlooks the "City of the Hidden Val-
ley," and commands on either side views of
unsurpassed beauty. The house and its en-
vironments present an unusually attractive
appearance, the ten-acre park being adorned
with beautiful shrubbery and a large variety
of ornamental trees, while its winding walks
and driveways are made brilliant and fra-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1545

grant by the many rows of "exotic plants and
nati\-e roses. The entrance to the grounds is
carefull}' guarded by two tall Norfolk Island
pines, one on each side of the drive, giving to
the visitor a faint suggestion of the wealth of
beauty within. A deep well furnishes clear,
sparkling water for use in the house, while
the grounds are watered by irrigation from
the city water works.

This hotel, which was built by the Escon-
dido Land and ToVn Company at a cost of
J]?50,ooo, was at the time of its construction
most modern in every respect. It is three
stories in height, and with its rose-covered'
veranda, which extends almost entirely around
the building, is indicative of the comfort to
be found therein. It is finely equipped and
furnished, having large corridors, baths, and
with its superior ventilation and excellent sew-
er system, is an ideal health resort. It con-
tains one hundred guest rooms, each furnished
comfortably, and in busy seasons is usually
taxed to its utmost capacity. In the base-
ment is a billiard table which gives the guests
opportunities for social recreation indoors, and
out of doors is a tennis court for their especial
use. The hotel is noted for its select class of
guests, and under the supervision of its pro-
prietor, Mrs.' D. F. Henderson, and its man-
ager, H. M. Hawkins, it gives to each visitor
all of the comforts, ease and pleasures of a
well-kept home. Mrs. Henderson came from
St. Paul, Minn., to Escondido, Cal., in 1899,
and being charmed by the location of the
house, the climatic conditions of the surround-
ing country, and its many natural attractions
and varied improvements, she purchased the
hotel, which is now recognized as one of the
very best in its appointments of any in South-
ern California.

FRANK J. GARRISON. Associated in the
largest building and plumbing business in
Rivera and its vicinity, Frank J. Garrison is
named among the progressive and enterprising
men of the community. He is a son of James
A. Garrison, the senior member of their busi-
ness firm, and a prominent and successful citi-
zen. (For complete details concerning his life
refer to his biographical sketch, which appears
elsewhere in this volume.)

Frank J. Garrison is a native of Bellona, N.
Y., his birth occurring September 26, 1864;
his childhood and youth were passed in that
city, where he received his education. He
learned the trades of builder and plumber under
the instruction and practical training of his
father, and after their location in California

ihey established the business which they have
since conducted with a full measure of success.
Mr. Garrison has established home ties
through his marriage with Mrs. Ellen Marlin,
a daughter of John McLaughlin, of Los An-
geles, who brought his family to this section
of California when his daughter was only a
small child. She received her education in
Los Angeles, and here married Mr. Garrison.
In religion she belongs to the Baptist Church
and is prominent in all its charitable move-
ments. Mr. Garrison is a citizen whose worth
is appreciated by all who know him and who
is universallv esteemed wherever known.

JOHN HOOK. On Christmas Day in 1847,
John Hook was born in Baden, Germany, the
son of Magnus and Anna (Willman) Hook,
both of whom lived their entire lives in that
country, where the father was occupied as a
farmer. There were eleven children in the fam-
ily of which John Hook was a member, and two
of his brothers are still residents of Germany.
He received a good common school education in
Baden and in his fifteenth year began to learn the
carpenter trade, no progressive and enterprising
German family considers the education of the
sons complete until it embraces the knowledge of
some good trade. After completing his appren-
ticeship he followed the occupation as a traveling
journeyman for three years in different parts
of Germany, Switzerland and Italy, while in the
latter named country having had the pleasure of
seeing Pope Pius IN. On returning to his na-
tive land he enlisted in the German army and
served a term of three years, after which, in
1870, he emigrated to America, landing in New
York City. He did not remain at that point,
however, but pushing his way westward stopped
for seven months in Arkansas, where he plied
his trade, from there traveling the rest of the
distance across the continent into California.
His first stop was at Sacramento, then at San
Francisco, where he remained two years, next
coming to Southern California and locating in
Los Angeles for a year, after which he became
a resident of San Bernardino.

Arriving at this place he first secured employ-
ment in a sawmill in the mountains and subse-
quently adopted the occupation of farmer. He
formed a partnership with John Suverkrup some
time later and for twenty-six years carried on
a lumber manufacturing business under the firm
name of Suverkrup & Hook. Disposing of his
interests in this enterprise Mr. Hook then re-
tired to San Bernardino city and this place has
since been his home. In 1890 he was married
to Miss Johanna Jacobson. who had two years
previously come from Sweden to California,

1546

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and they have one daughter, Bertha, a very tal-
ented young lady. Mrs. Hook is a woman of
much culture and refinement and is especially
well versed in languages, speaking a number of
them fluently. Their home which is located at
503 B street is an attractive one comfortably and
artistically furnished. Air. Hook is, fraternally,
a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 178, F. & A.
I\r., and of Keystone Qiapter No. 56, R. A. M.
He is an advocate of the principles embraced in
the platform of die Republican party, but has
never sought political office, preferring to per-
form his duties as an intelligent and progressive
citizen in the private ranks.

POMEROY B. FUSSELL. The horticultural
interests of San Bernardino county have in
Mr. Fussell truly a most successful exponent,
every detail of the business, all modern methods
and improvements, being a part of the under-
standing which he has brought to bear in his
work. He is a native of the middle west, his
birth having occurred in Fayette county, Iowa,
near the town of Fayette, September 14, 1857;
his father, David E. Fussell, was born in Ohio
and in 1844 became a settler of Linn county,
Iowa, there engaging in farming for four years,
when he located in Fayette county and improved
a farm from the wilderness lands, his death
eventually occurring in that place. His wife,
formerly Rachel Jennings, was born in Ohio and
died in' Iowa. They had twelve children, of
whom seven survived and are now living.

The sixth child in the family of his parents,
Pomeroy B. Fussell was reared on the paternal
farm and educated in the district school in the
vicinity of his home until old enough to enter
a more advanced institution, when he became a
student in the Tapper Iowa University at Fay-
ette. He attended this institution for four years,
and upon leaving school engaged in the hard-
ware business in Fayette, the firm being known
as Fussell & Co. After ten years in this work
he disposed of his interests and then engaged
in general farming and fancy stock breeding,
raising Polled Angus cattle, Poland China hogs,
and fine poultry, and continuing so occupied for
five years. In November, 1888, he came to
Redlands, which had then a population of but
four hundred people, and the following year took
charge of one hundred and forty acres, which
he set out in oranges and for the ensuing seven
years proceeded to cultivate. During this time
he set out several other orchards, over one hun-
dred acres in all. The year 1897 was spent in
San Diego as assistant under the chief engineer
of the ice plant of the Coronado Hotel Com-
pany. Returning to Redlands he purchased fif-
teen acres in San Timoteo canon, under the Ter-

racina blufif, and proceeded to set it out in navel
oranges, irrigation being received from the Lower
Yucaipe Water Company. In 1906 he bought
the old Grant place containing thirty-two and a
half acres, of which twenty-four acres are in
oranges, while the property is further improved
with a residence, barns and outbuildings. There
is a pumping plant on the ranch, and two one
hundred and twenty foot wells, operated by a
nine horse power gasoline engine with a twenty-
seven inch capacity, which , allows him to sell
water as well as irrigate his own ranch.

In Iowa, in 1879, Mr. Fussell was married
to Miss Sarah J. Houlsworth, a native of that
place and a daughter of Joseph, born in Pennsyl-
vania and a pioneer farmer of Iowa. Her mother
was in maidenhood Eliza Jane McConn. Mr.
and Mrs. Fussell are the parents of the following
children : Nellie L., wife of G. W. Zellers, of
Los Angeles; Homer Leo, engaged with father;
Georgia O., a graduate of the San Bernardino
Business College in 1907. Fraternally j\Ir. Fus-
sell is very prominent, being a member of the
Knights of Pythias of Redlands, and belonging
to the Uniformed Rank of the K. of P. ; the
Rathbone Sisters ; Modern Woodmen of America,
of which he is V. C; the D. O. K. K. ; Royal
Neighbors, of which his wife is also a member ;
and the Fraternal Aid. He is identified with
the Mutual Orange Growers' Distributers, of
Bryn Mawr, in which he is a director, and polit-
ically is a stanch Republican.

CAPT. jNIITCHELL DUFFY. As pro-
prietor of the Salt Lake ferry Captain Duffy
operates four naptha launches and carries on a
successful business in San Pedro, of which city
he has been an upbuilder and a promoter of
movements calculated to advance the general
welfare. The captain is a pioneer of the state,
having come west in 1871, locating two years
later in Santa Monica, Los Angeles county, and
in 1881 in San Pedro, which was then known as
Fyall. He is a native of Ireland, his birth hav-
ing occurred in French Park, County Roscom-
mon, December 9, 1841, one of a family of
thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters, of
M-hom all attained maturity and five are now liv-
ing. His father, Mitchell Duffy, was an exten-
sive contractor and bridge builder, having worked
in nearly every section of Ireland. He died in
his native land, as did also his wife, formerly
Maria Cullen.

LTntil he was sixteen years old Mitchell Duf-
fy, Jr.. was reared in Ireland, there receiving his
education and youthful training. He became an
expert horseman in his native land and after his
arrival in New York City in 1847, became a
jockey, riding in many races, principally under

JOHN McCain

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1549

Hiram Woodruff on the Fashion track of Long
island, where he won thirteen races out of twen-
t}-. He also performed a noteworthy feat in the
stopping of a runaway team attached to a car-
riage containing seven people. Climbing over
the rear of the carriage he caught the reins,
which were hanging over the dashboard, and
succeeded in stopping the frightened animals.
He was fond of all sports and was an expert
swimmer, an accomplishment which he has put
to good use since locating in California. On ac-
count of his increasing weight he finally gave up
his work as jockey and in 1871 came to Cali-
fornia, in San Francisco locating as a dealer in
horses and from that point making several trips
to New York City. In 1873 he removed to Santa
Monica, during the first sale of lots in that place,
and built a residence on Fifth street, and later
erected the bath house on Southern Beach. Resi-
dents of the place regarded such a move as a
mistake, but results soon justified his faith in
the future of the town, taking in on his first Sun-
day $107 from 9:45 A. M. to 4:30 P. M. At
the same time he conducted a restaurant in the
canon and. up town, continuing this business un-
til 1881, when he sold out and came to what was
then known as Fyall, where there were but three
shanties. The following year he bought several
lots and built the first house in San Pedro, be-
ing located on Terminal Island. He ran the first
row boats to Terminal for the benefit of his
bath house and also built and ran the first gaso-
line launch here. Since the building of the Salt
Lake Railroad he has conducted a ferry serv-
ice, operating four launches, Blanche, May, Ida
and the Orient, the latter the largest, having a
capacity of one hundred and fifty passengers. At
one time he also owned and operated the Dora
and Elsie. He is assisted in his work by his three
sons, and together they are carrying on a suc-
cessful business.

Mr. Duffy owns several residences in San
Pedro, his home place being on Fifth street, near
Center, one of the finest houses in San Pedro,
while four of his other houses are located on
Fifth street and one on Sixth street, the cost of
all the buildings which he has put up in the city
amounting to $21,000. He has been an inter-
ested witness and participant in the growth and
progress of the place and has given his best ef-
forts to advance the general welfare. His home
is presided over by his wife, formerly Anna M.
Reddy, a native of Brooklyn, N. Y., where they
were married. Thev became the parents of ten
children, of whom eight are living: Edward,
captain of the Orient : Ida, wife of Walter Rccht-
wig, of San Pedro ; George, of St. Louis ; Dora,
wife of Norbey Olds, of San Pedro ; Elsie, who
graduated with highest honors from the Univer-
sity of California in the class of 1905 ; Cyrus,

in business with his father ; Blanche, at home ;
and Horace, also in business with his father.
Mr. Duffy is a member of the Foresters of
America, and politically is a stanch adherent of
the principles advocated in the platform of the
Democratic party, having served as a member of
the county central committee.

JOHN McCAIN. To become an associate
of Mr. McCain is to enjoy the privilege of lis-
tening to many exciting stories of his experi-
ences when crossing the plains or running cat-
tle on the desert, for during his younger years
he remained for a considerable period upon
the outposts of civilization and endured the
dangers incident to the existence of a fron-
tiersman. When lie had abandoned that life
of vicissitude he settled down to agricultural
pursuits and in 1871 came to Julian, San Diego
county, where he engaged in blacksmithing
and since 1884 he has been proprietor of the
Mountain Glen hotel and livery barns in the
same town, besides owning and taking charge
of eighty acres of orchard and pasture, also
owning one hundred and sixty acres on which
are located the Borago springs.

Born near Little Rock, Ark., January 25,
1843, -Toll" McCain is a son of George Mc-
Cain, a pioneer of 1851 in the far west. When
the latter had decided to establish a perma-
nent home in California he returned across
the plains for his family, and with them start-
ed back toward the coast, but en route, in
1854, he was bereaved by the death of his
wife. The year following he settled in Mendo-
cino county, and in 1868 became a resident of
Acampo, where he died in 1882, at the age of
eightv-three years. The removal of the family
\o the west when John jNIcCain was a mere
lad caused him to become familiar with pio-
neer life at an early age and gave him an ac-
curate insight into conditions as they then
existed throughout a sparsely settled tract of
country. With his father he settled near
Acampo in 1868 and took up the raising of
cattle and the carrying on of ranch pursuits.
From that locality in 1S71 he came to Julian,
where he has since resided. In the midst of
]jleasant surroundings, in the quiet spot where
he has established his home, he passes his days
in bus}' contentment, remote from the frontier
scenes of Idaho and Montana where the ad-
venturous experiences of a cattleman filled
his younger years.

The marriage of Air. McCain took place
near Julian in 1872 and united him with Alary'
E. Cline, who was Ijorn in this state near the
line of Oregon. Of the marriage five children

1550

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

were born : Christian is married ; John is at
home; Maude, Mrs. Russ, who Uves near Es-
condido, has one child : LilHe, who is the wife
of Robert Haley, has three children and lives
near Julian ; and Edith, the wife of Joseph
McGann, has one child. Politically Mr. Mc-
Cain always has orjven alle£;;iance to the Dem-
ocratic part}', but has not been active in local
politics nor has he been a candidate for any
of the offices of town or county ; however, at
all times he is anxious to aid measures for the
benefit of the party and especially those for
the upbuilding- of his community. He has al-
ways been ready when called upon to aid
those less fortunate than himself and has sur-
rounded his fam.ily with all the luxuries that
have come within his reach.

OSCAR WILLIAM HARRIS. Among the
pioneers of Redlands prominent place belongs to
Oscar William Harris, residing at No. 114 West
Palm avenue, who since his location here in
1887 has bent his energies to the accumulation of
personal means and at the same time building
up for himself a. position among the representa-
tive citizens. Mr. Harris was born in Newton
county, Ind., October 14, i860, a son of John
T., also an Indianian, born in Tippecanoe county.
The grandfather, Benjamin, was a native of Vir-
ginia and became an early settler of Indiana,
where he engaged as a farmer until his death.
John T. Harris participated in the Civil war as
a soldier in the Fifty-first Regiment Indiana Vol-
unteer Infantry, enlisting in iSfii and serving
for over three years. Upon the close of the war
he returned to Indiana and engaged in farming
near Kentland, Newton county, spending his last
two years in Jasper county, same state. His
wife, formerly Louisa Cashaw, was born near
Kokomo, Ind., and also died in that state. They
were the parents of four children, of whom Os-
car William is the eldest and the only one living.

Reared on the paternal farm and educated in
the district school, Oscar William Harris re-
mained at home until attaining his majority, when
January 4, 188^, in Newton count v. he married
Miss Alice Cook, a native of Miami, Ind., and
a daughter of Milton E. Cook, of Vermilion
county, Ind., and granddaughter of Eli, of
North Carolina, and an early settler in Vermilion
county and later in Miami county, where he fol-
lowed farming. He was a member of the
Friends Church and a helpful and practical
citizen. Milton E. Cook was a farmer and
Quaker, and married Rebecca Rinker, who was
born in Virginia and died in Indiana. They
were the parents of nine children, of whom all
are living and five are in California, Mrs. Har-
ris being the fifth in drder of birth. After mar-

riage Mr. Harris located on an eighty acre farm
and later purchased eight acres adjoining, en-
gaging in general farming and stock-raising. In
order to enjoy the healthful climate of Southern
California he decided to locate here, so disposing
of his property in 1887 he came to California
and located in Redlands, where his brother,
Grant D. Harris, had preceded him. He bought
ten acres and set it out in navel oranges, and
later bought three acres adjoining, making thir-
teen acres in all on the Bench, at East High-
land. He has lived in Redlands since 1887 on
the same property, owning ten acres at No. 114
West Palm avenue, near Cajon street, all of
which is in oranges. In 1904 he completed a
handsome residence on his ranch. In addition
to the property already named he owns seven
and a half acres in oranges on Highland avenue,
and sixty acres on Judson between Lugonia and
Colton avenue, which he is now setting out in
navel oranges. He has also improved a fifty-
acre ranch at Oak Glen, watered by Oak Glen
creek, which supplies also water for domestic
purposes, and was one of the organizers and is
now president of the Oak-Glen Domestic Water
Company, with canal and stone flumes, siifteen
acres being in apple orchard. He is a director
in the Redlands Water Company and interested
in the development of the resources of the coun-
try, also a director and was one of the promoters
of the Redlands Golden Orange Association.

Seven children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Harris, namely: Ruth E., attending Oc-
cidental College; Chester C, in Imperial, Cal;
Hazel, who died at the age of thirteen years;
Benjamin Harrison; Virginia R. ; John Milton;
and Olive. Politically Mr. Harris is a stanch
Republican.

\

CHESTER JOHN HOLMES. The Holmes
family was first established on American soil in
1687, the emigrating- ancestor being an English-
man who came to jMassachusetts and later was
one of the original settlers of Woodstock, Conn.
He was a civil engineer by occupation and as-
sisted in the first surveys of the country. Suc-
ceeding generations were prominent in the social,
civic and political life of Connecticut, where the
name became a representative one. A son of the
emigrant John Holmes, born in Woodstock,
Conn., was named David ; he engaged as a farmer
in that state, married and reared a family, his
son, Josiah, representing the family name in the
Revolutionary war. He was engaged in the
hotel business as a means of livelihood ; in his
family was a son, David, who again returned to
the soil and followed agricultural pursuits
throughout his entire life. He reared a family,
among his sons being one whom he called John,

'b.'B.^c^ oAx

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1553

who was born in Stafford, Conn., and was the
father of Che.ster John Hohnes, the subject of
this review, and the CaHfornia representative of
the name. John Hohnes followed farming
throughout his entire life in his native state,
there passing away at an advanced age. He
married Sabrina Case, a native of Stafford,
Conn., and a daughter of Stephen Case, who
was born in Tolland, the paternal great-grand-
father having located the name in that state
from Nantucket, Mass., where he engaged as a
farmer. Mrs. Holmes also died in Connecticut.
She was the mother of eight children, of whom
but two are now surviving, Mrs. Mary A. Thrall
living in Rockville, Conn. One son, David,
served in an Ohio regiment during the Civil war
and Chester John, the fifth in order of birth and
born February 19, 1837, in Stafford, Conn.

Reared on the paternal farm until he was six-
teen years old, Chester J. Holmes attended the
public schools in pursuit of an education and re-
ceived the first lessons in life. He was first ap-
prenticed to learn the trade of a machinist, and
following this became superintendent of a linen
mill. Because of impaired health be left Con-
necticut in 1856 and in Red Wing, Minn., en-
gaged at the trade of carpenter and builder for
two years, when he went to St. Louis, Mo., and
followed a similar line of work. In i860 he went
to Louisiana and in Madison Parish engaged in
contracting and building, putting up houses on a
new plantation until the breaking out of the
Civil war, and was there compelled to enlist in
Company B, Third Regiment Louisiana Cavalry,
in 1862, and served to the close of the war. He
was engaged in the Trans-Mississippi depart-
ment until the close of the struggle, when he
engaged in the manufacture of lumber, operat-
ing a steam sawmill above Grand Gulf for two
years. The climate was not salubrious and he
returned to Connecticut, there married, and fol-
lowing engaged in the coal and lumber busi-
ness in Stafford Springs for seventeen years. In
search of a milder climate he moved his family
to California in i88g. locating in Pomona, Los
Angeles county, for one vear. and then coming
to Redlands. and' in the following year (1891),
located on his present propert\-, which consists
of twenty acres set to navel and Valencia oranges,
while he also raises poultry on a larse scale, his
preferred fowl being full-blooded \\'hite Wyan-
dottes. He has three incubators and carries on
the work in a thoroughly scientific manner, his
son. B. G., assisting him in this work.

Mr. .Holmes' wife was formerly Miss .\melia
M. Gay, a native of Connecticut, and a de-
scendant of Puritan ancestry, direct from John
-Mden. and born of this union was one son,
Bernese Gay, who was born in Stafford, Conn.,
and educated in its public and high schools. He

came to California with his father in 1889, and
was here married to Miss Blanche M. Walton, of
Philadelphia, and they have three sons, Alden
Walton, Charles Chester and J. Walton. Mr.
Holmes was made a Mason in Stafford ; polit-
ically he is a stanch adherent of the principles
advocated in the platform of the Republican
party.

EDGAR DOUGLAS GOODE. Prominent
among the representative citizens of Glendale is
Edgar Douglas Goode, who during his residence
in this locality has been conspicuously identified
with the best interests of town and county, gen-
erously using his influence to promote the public
welfare. - A native of Illinois, he was born,
March 10, 1858, in Taylorville, Cliristian county,
of English ancestry. His father, Benjamin E.
Goode, was a son of Morgan Goode, and a grand-
son of Benjamin Goode, the emigrant ancestor.

Born and reared in England, Benjamin Goode
crossed the ocean to America in colonial days,
settling first as a planter in Virginia. He took
an active part in the Revolutionary war, partici-
pating in many important .battles, and subse-
quently fought the Indians on the frontier. Go-
ing then to Indiana, he took up land, and there
spent the remainder of his life, dying at a ven-
erable' age. These facts were gleaned in part
from an old Bible formerly in the possession of
Peter Cartwright, the noted frontier evangelist.
He was twice married, and his children were
born and reared on the western frontier, one of
them being Morgan Goode, the next in line of
descent.

A native of Indiana, Morgan Goode was there
brought up, receiving excellent educational ad-
vantages for his day. Going in early manhood
to Qiristian county. 111., he became distinguished
as the first school teacher in Taylorville. Set-
tling there permanently, he became prominent
in public life, serving as county treasurer, and
filling other offices of importance. He died while
in the prime of life, at the age of sixty years.
He married Elizabeth Schoonover, who was born
in Pennsylvania, and died, at the advanced age
of ninety-two years, in Illinois. They reared
four sons and four daughters, bringing them up
wisely and well.

Benjamin F. Goode was born and educated in
Illinois, and during the earlier years of his life
was engaged in agricultural pursuits, but is now
living, a retired farmer, in Brookfield, Mo. He
married Mary Bennett, also a native of the
Prairie state, and they became the parents of
.thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters,
all of whom, excepting one son, are now living,
Edgar D., the special subject of this sketch, being
the first-born.

1554

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Having completed his early education in the
public schools of Taylorville, Edgar Douglas
Goode was graduated from Bogardus Business
College, in Springfield, 111. Returning home, he
chose for his occupation the one to which he was
reared, and for a number of years carried on
general farming in his native state. The day
after his marriage, in the fall of 1882, he started
with his bride for California, coming a stranger
to a strange state, having no acquaintances here.
After spending a year in Santa Barbara he went
into the Conejo mountains, becoming superin-
tendent of the large Hunt estate, of which he had
charge a year. The ensuing two years he was in
business in Los Angeles, and the following twelve
years he was engaged in tilling the soil in EagFe
Rock valley. Coming from there to - Glendale,
Mr. Goode has since been a resident of the place,
and is now leading an ideal Californian life. He
is identified with many enterprises, and occupies
a position of prominence among the leading citi-
zens of this part of the county. He takes genu-
ine interest in aiding all beneficial projects, and
is overseer of the Los Angeles road district, su-
perintending nearly two hundred miles of road.
He was instrumental in having the Glendale
Electric Railway established, being one of its
most ardent promoters, and securing to the com-
pany a free right of way. He is interested to
some extent in literary matters, and is the local
correspondent for the Los Angeles Times.

In Taylorville, III, in October, 1882, Mr.
Goode married Aletia E. Suttle, who had been
his sweetheart since early boyhood, their fathers
having been boys together in the pioneer days of
Illinois; her father was editor of the Taylorville
Democrat for years, and was also county assessor
of Christian county ; her grandmother was Lady
Jane Sturgeon of England. Into the pleasant
home of Mr. and Mrs. Goode five children havfe
made their advent, namely : Lillie Fay, Ray Ed-
gar, Pearl C, Leo Douglas and Donald Bryan,
the two first mentioned having graduated from
the Glendale Union high school in 1904 and 1906,
respectively. Their home life is ideal. Mr.
Goode says he believes he has established a new
record, in that during the first twenty-one years
of their married life, he and his wife were not
separated twenty-four hours at one time. Mrs.
Goode was one of the organizers of the Glendale
Library Association and was one of its most act-
ive promoters and enthusiastic supporters. Much
credit is due her for her tireless efforts in estab-
lishing this first library for the new citv of Glen-
dale.

In politics Mr. Goode is Democratic, and at
the recent Los Angeles county convention he-
was unanimously nominated for the state legis-
lature in the sixty-seventh assemblv district. He
worked out the necessarv details for the organi-

zation of the Glendale Union high school, which
is composed of seven grammar schools ; he has
always been the Glendale member of the board,
and also clerk of the board of trustees. In the
contest between the various districts for the loca-
tion of the building, he won it for Glendale
against strong opposition. He was one of the
organizers of the Glendale Improvement Asso-
ciation, being its first secretary, and was the
first citizen to advocate the incorporation of Glen-
dale as a city, under his leadership and against
great opposition, the incorporation being accom-
plished. He is a charter member of Glendale
Lodge, I. O. O. F., and also of Carnation Re-
bekah Lodge of Glendale. At all times he has
the courage of his convictions; he believes in a
square deal, and a fight in the open when a fight
is necessarv.

JOHN F. AHLSTROM. The development
of Los Angeles county and Southern California
in general has had in John F. Ahlstrom one of
its most interested witnesses, and as well a citi-
zen whose best efforts were always given toward
the furtherance of every movement which tend-
ed to upbuild his community. He is a native of
Sweden, born May 14, i8ji8. the son of John F.
and Johanna (Warlin) Ahlstrom, also natives of
Sweden ; both are deceased, the father dying,
when seventy-two years of age, and the mother
when thirty-six. The father was a cooper by
occupation, a trade which he followed through-
out his entire life. O'f their family of eight
children two sons and two daughters are located
in the United States, the others being residents
of their native land. The Lutheran State Church
of Sweden claimed the religious allegiance of
the parents and their children have been true to
their early teachings.

John F. Ahlstrom was reared to young man-
hood in his native country, receiving a limited
education in the public schools, after which he
learned the trade of carpenter. He worked at
his trade in Sweden until 1873, when he im-
migrated to America, and coming direct to Cali-
fornia, located in the vicinity of Niles. Alameda
county, where he engaged as foreman in a nurs-
ery. After twentv months he went to Yuba
county and in Marysville engaged in carpenter
work, following this with a period of ranching
in Sutter county. He then went to ^lendocino
county and engaged in the logging business in
the Redwoods, and after one year, on the 20th
of Mav. 1876, he arrived in Los Angeles, where
he engaged at ranching and other pursuits in
the vicinity of Anaheim. A little later he ac-
cepted employment in the planing and grist mills
of this section, remaining thus occupied for two
years when he went to Chatsworth and engaged

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1557

in ranching for a time, finally disposing of these
interests because of dry seasons. After his
marriage in 1881 to ]\Iiss Hannah J. Johnson, a
native of Utah, he came to Los Angeles and en-
gaged in carpenter work and also worked on
the street cars. In 1894 he purchased his present
property, which consists of eleven acres of land
devoted principally to the raising of berries.
He has placed many improvements on the place
and by an intelligent cultivation also has added
to the value of the property.

Mr. and Mrs. Ahlstrom are the parents of
the following children : Arthur, Grace, Reuben,
Bertha, Lilian, Maie Corinne, Qiarles and Elea-
nor. In his fraternal relations Mr. Ahlstrom is
associated with the Independent Order of For-
esters of Los Angeles ; politically he takes an
active interest in the principles of the various
parties, but reserves the right to cast his ballot
for the man whom he considers best qualified
for public duties. With his family he belongs to
the Baptist Church. Mr. Ahlstrom is a man of
many admirable traits of character, faithful in
the discharge of all duties that fall to the lot
of a citizen, earnest in his efforts to advance the
best interests of the community, and as such a
man, citizen and neighbor he has won a large
number of friends who best appreciate the quali-
ties so demonstrated throughout his life.

DANIEL McINTOSH. Occupying a fore-
most position among the worthy and respected
citizens of the town of Ramona is Daniel Mc-
intosh, wdio has been a resident of this place
for thirty-five years, and during that time has
been actively identified with its best interests,
generously using his influence to promote its
prosperity. A man of rare judgment, honest
and true in all of his dealings, he has won the
confidence and esteem of old and young, and
holds a place of importance in the community.
A son of the late Neil Mcintosh, he was born,
July 22. 1838, in Nova Scotia, coming from
thrifty Scotch ancestry.

Born and reared on Cape Breton Island,
Nova Scotia, Neil Mcintosh was reared to
agricultural pursuits, and during his entire
life was engaged in general farming in Nova
Scotia. He married Margaret Pringle, who
was born in Scotland, and died in Nova Scotia,
at the early age of forty years. Eight children
v/ere born of their union, and all, with the ex-
ception of Daniel, are living in the land of
their birth.

Brought up near the Atlantic coast, almost
within sound of the ocean's roar, it is not
strange that Daniel Mcintosh was an enthu-
siastic lover of the sea from his boyhood days,
and that, on leaving school, he should choose

the life of a sailor rather than that of a farmer.
After coasting awhile in familiar waters, in
1S56 he came to the United States, and in
New York City, in the School for Navigators,
further fitted himself for a seafaring life.
Thus equipped, he made several voyages to
foreign ports, sailing as first officer on differ-
ent vessels, and during the fourteen years
that he was thus employed visited many of
the largest countries of the globe, making
trips to Australia, China, South America, Ja-
pan, the Philippines, and on his last voyage
sailing from San Francisco to Mediterranean
ports.

Retiring from the sea, Mr. Mcintosh lo-
cated in L.ower California, where he was for
a while connected with the salt works in
Scammon's Lagoon. In 1872 he came to San
Diego county to make a permanent settlement.
Taking up two government claims near Ra-
mona, he resumed the occupation with which
he became familiar while living on the parent-
al homestead, and in his agricultural labors
has met with undisputed success. His ranch
of four hundred and forty acres is under a
good state of cultivation, and with its many
valuable improvements is now one of the most
attractive and desirable in the neighborhood,
being a credit to his energy' and good man-
agement. He carries on general farming,
raising fruit, grain and stock, in each branch
being successful.

In 1871 Mr. Mcintosh married Romana
Murillo, who was born in Lower California, a
daughter of Leandro Murillo, a native of
!\lexico, and into their household seven chil-
dren have been born, namely : Daniel, Jr., liv-
ing on the home ranch ; Alexander, a mer-
chant in Santa Ysabel ; Rose, wife of J. E.
Bachelor, of Ramona ; Louisa, wife of H. C.
Doll, of Kern county ; Mary, at home, and
two sons, deceased, Joseph at sixteen years
and Andrew at six months. Politically Mr.
Mcintosh is a stanch advocate of the prin-
ciples of the Republican party. Mrs. Alcln-
tosh is a member of the Catholic Church, but
Mr. Mcintosh is not connected with any re-
ligious organization by membership, although
he was reared a Presbyterian, both of his par-
ents belonging to that denomination.

JA:\IES a. GARRISON. Noteworthy among
the esteemed residents of Rivera and its most
prominent business men is James A. Garrison,
a leading contractor and builder, who has con-
tributed largely toward making the town of his
adoption a desirable place of residence, both from
a social and from^a financial point of view. A
native of New York, he was born December 14.

1558

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1842, in Yates county. His father, Stephen
Garrison, was born in Westchester county, N.
Y., but after his mariage settled in Bellona, Yates
county, where he carried on a good business as a
carriage manufacturer until his death, at the age
of sixty-three years. His wife, whose maiden
name was Eleanor Brown, survived him, passing
away at the venerable age of eighty-three years.

The youngest child and only son in a family
of five children, James A. Garrison grew to man's
estate in Bellona, and there learned the trades
of carriage maker and contractor and builder,
becoming- familiar with the details. He followed
the carriage maker's trade in Geneva, N. Y. ;
after learning the details from his father, and
when twenty-two years of age learned the car-
penter's trade in Bellona from a New York City
contractor. He followed this trade around Yates
and Ontario counties until 1887, when he came
to the present site of Rivera, Cal., to fill a
contract for a man who had purchased a ranch
in the vicinity and was so pleased with the
country that he has never had any desire to
return to the east. He has followed his trade
all over Southern California and has met with
his share of success and patronage. He erected
his home in Rivera, two years after coming to
the state. He now controls a large part of
the building trade around Rivera, he and his
son, the junior partner of the firm, employing
many men in filling their large contracts for
building and plumbing, their business being ex-
tensive and' lucrative. Mr. Garrison has also
other financial interests, being agent for the Aer-
motor company, of Chicago, 111.

At the age of twenty-one years, in 1863, Mr.
Garrison married Sarah E. Dickinson, a native
of New York, being born in Starkey in 1846,
and they have one child living, Frank James
Garrison, of whom a sketch will be found else-
where; one son, Fred, died aged nine months.
Politically Mr. Garrison is a Democrat, and fra-
ternallv he is a member of Downev Lodge, No.
220, F. & A. M.

AUGUST PENKERT. The predominating
characteristics of the Teutonic race are pos-
sessed in large degree by Mr. Penkert, as is
evidenced in the care which he displays in
the cultivation of his ranch in Los Angeles
county, not far from the city of that name.
Altogether he owns twenty-five acres, all of which
is in alfalfa, a commodity which grows with ex-
ceptional rapidity and luxuriance under right con-
ditions, and these ]\Ir. Penkert possesses, for bv
means of the pumping plant which is located on
his ranch he is enabled to thoroughly irrigate the
land, and as a result harvests a crop which aver-
ages from eight tn ten tons per acre.

Born in Germany, October 16, 1858, August
Penkert is a son of Jeremiah and Annie (Han-
nel) Penkert, who were also natives of the
Fatherland, and there died when their son was
too young to realize his loss. Besides himself
there were two daughters in the family, but only
one of them is now living, and she also is a resi-
dent of California. Until he was about twelve
years old August Penkert was reared in the home
of an uncle, liut at that age he set out to make
his own livelihood. In the meantime he had re-
ceived a fair education in the schools near his
uncle's home and upon leaving the school he im-
mediately apprenticed himself to learn the brick-
mason's trade, which he accomplished in three
years, and thereafter he followed the trade in his
native country for nearly eight years. In view of
the possibilities which, according to reports,
awaited the young man of persevering qualities
on this side of the Atlantic, work at his trade be-
gan to be irksome to Mr. Penkert, and according-
ly, when he was just past twenty-two years of
age, he embarked for the new world, sailing from
Germany November 15, 1880, and landing in
New York January i, 1881. Before he reached
his destination, however, he was shipwrecked and
lost everything he had brought with him, even his
ticket, but in some way he was able to prove that
his passage had been paid as far as Pittsburg, Pa.,
and transportation was furnished him to that city
soon after anchoring in New York harbor. For
many weeks after reaching his destination he was
unable to work on account of illness. He worked
in the rolling mills of that city for a time, going
from there to Chicago, 111., where he obtained
work in a pipe factory, and later in the same year,
1881, removed still further west, going to Mis-
souri, where he resumed work at his trade. In
Nodaway county, that state, he was employed at
his trade in the erection of a large Catholic
church. Later he worked on a farm in that lo-
cality, and still later removed to St. Joseph, at
once taking up work at his trade. The desire to
get still further west was at last gratified when
before the close of 1883 he had located in Por-t-
land. Ore., where for one year he was emploved
in the harvest fields. The following year, 1884,
he came to Los Angeles, where for three years he
was in the employ of the Oregon Lumber Com-
pany, of whose plant he was foreman. A desire
to become a land owner led to the relinquishment
of this position and resulted in the purchase of
five acres near Los Angeles, and is a part of the
ranch which he now occupies. As his means
would permit he purchased adjoining land until
he now has twenty-five acres, all of which is cul-
tivated to the very best advantage. He erected
his own residence and otherwise added such im-
provements as are usually found upon a well-
regulated ranch.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1559

In 1893 Mr. Penkert was married to Miss
Annie Koppe, like himself a native of Germany,
and of their marriage five children have been
born, Albert, August, Annie, Theodore and Wil-
lie. The family are communicants of the Catho-
lic Church, in which faith the parents had been
trained from earliest years. Mr. Penkert is a
member of the St. Joseph Society of his parish
church in Los Angeles. In his political leanings
he is a Democrat.

FREDERIC AGGEN. It is an undisputed
fact that of all the foreign born citizens of
the United States those who come from the
Fatherland possess in a greater degree than all
others the thrift and fixedness of purpose for
which the Germans as a nation are noted.
Transplanting from one soil to another in no
way weakens these prime characteristics, but
rather enlarges their growth and usefulness, to
the end that wherever the German citizen may
go he inculcates in the less ambitious a desire
to get ahead in the world. The qualities above
mentioned are not lacking in the make-up of
Frederic Aggen, but on the other hand were his
chief asset when, at the age of twenty years, he
landed a stranger upon the shores of the New
World in 1869.

Born December 24, 1848, in the northern part
of Germany, Frederic Aggen is a son of Gerhard
and Abbie (Johnson) Aggen, both of whom were
also born in the Fatherland. Influenced no
doubt by the fact that their son Frederic had
come to this country two years previously the
year 1871 found the parents in Iowa, where
the father became the owner of a farm. After
nearly a quarter of a century spent in that lo-
cality his earth life was brought to a close by
his death in 1895, at the age of seventy-six
years and fifteen days. His wife had preceded
him by a number of years, dying in 1888, at
the age of seventy-six years, one month and
sixteen days. The only child of their union be-
sides Frederic, Hinrich, also died on his Iowa
farm. In their religious belief the parents were
members of the German Lutheran Church.

After landing in New York City Frederic
Aggen lost no time in making his way to Illi-
nois, where for about two years he worked as
a farm hand, at the same time, as opportunity
offered, continuing the studies in which he had
gained a good headway before leaving his na-
tive land. Going to Iowa two years later he
worked on his father's farm for a time, but in
1873 purchased a farm and made his home
there until 1895. the year of his advent in Cali-
fornia. Previous to locating here permanently,
however, he had satisfied himself as to the ad-
visability of taking up his abode here by visit-

ing the west and judging for himself of its
merits and demerits. The fact that before leav-
ing for his Iowa home he had invested in a
ranch speaks louder than can words of his opin-
ion of the west in general, and of \'entura coun-
tv in particular. To his original purchase of
eighty-four acres in 1894 he added adjoining
acreage in 1901, and now has altogether one
hundred and twenty-six acres devoted to lima
beans, which produce abundant crops, yielding
up to twenty-three sacks to the acre. He still
owns his farm in Cass county, Iowa, which coniT
prises one hundred and twenty acres.

While a resident of Iowa, in 1878, Mr. Ag-
gen was united in marriage with Miss Mar-
gret Qianey, a native of Ohio. The four chil-
dren who have been born to them are as fol-
lows: Frederic M., at home: May, who is the
wife of Frank Reed and resides at Somis ;
Amie and Charlie, both of whom are at home
with their parents. The family hold member-
ship in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Somis.
Politically Mr. Aggen is a Republican, and
while in Iowa served his party three terms as
township clerk, and since his residence in Ven-
tura county has been school trustee and clerk
of the board for six years. Personally Mr. Ag-
gen is a genial, companionable man, who has a
host of warm friends and associates in and
around Somis, and one whose life has been such
as to win for him the confidence of all.

JOHN E. SHANNON. One of the best-
known citizens of Arroyo Grande is John E.
Shannon, a fine gentleman to meet and one
who is noted for his sterling qualities of char-
acter. He is a firm believer in the growth of
San Luis Obispo beach property in value and
always stands ready to invest his means in en-
terprises which are organized for the promo-
tion of this section of the state. He makes his
home on a seventeen-acre ranch ^vhich he owns
and which is devoted to the cultivation of
vegetables, strawberries, dew berries, logan
berries, etc. Mr. Shannon was born in Pike
county. Pa., January 5, 1849, his father, Will-
iam Shannon being also a native of Pennsyl-
vania, where he died at the age of fifty years.
His mother, Betsy Everets before her mar-
riage, was born in New Jersey, and was sixty
years old at the time of her death. Tliere
were nine children in the family of which
the subject of this sketcli was a member. He
received his education through the medium
of the public schools of Pike county and when
lie grew to manhood decided to follow rail-
roading as an occupation. In carrying out this
decision he worked as a brakeman, fireman,
eno-incer and conductor in the seven vears

1560

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wliich he spent in service on the New York &
Erie Railroad. He was then seized with the
ambition to go west and take advantage of
some of the golden opportunities which the
states on this side of the Rocky mountains
hold out to industrious, wide awake young
men. Arriving at Reno, Nev., when that
town was in its infancy, he engaged in the
restaurant business, following this for four-
teen years. The nature of this business is such
that 'a man who engages in it becomes ac-
quainted with a very large circle of people, and
there are few of the old timers at Reno, or in
fact in the state of Nevada, who do not remem-
ber Mr. Shannon and speak well of him. In
1893 he sold out his business at Reno and
came further west into California, his objective
point being Arroyo Grande, and here he has
since been engaged in ranching and the real-
estate business, as well as in money lending,
for he accumulated a large fortune while at
Reno, and being possessed of that rare abil-
ity to take care of money as well as to make
it, he now has an independent fortune. Be-
sides having considerable property at Oceano
Beach he also o^vns town lots and business
property at Pismo. upon which he is erecting
several cottages and business blocks. His pol-
itical belief is represented by the platform of
the Republican party, which he gives his
hearty support.

The marriage of Mr. Shannon occurred in
1879. uniting him with ^liss Catherine Bren-
nan, who was born in Canada, and one son was
born to them, John. They have also an adopt-
ed son, Lester Leivre. Mrs. Shannon is a
member of the Catholic Church and ;\Ir. Shan-
non's religious affiliations are with the Baptist
denomination.

HYPOLITE ESCALLIER. One of the old-
est pioneers in Riverside county, Hypolite Es-
callier is now located on a forty-acre ranch one
mile south of Temecula, where he raises grain
and potato crops. He is also well known as the
mail carrier between Temecula and Warner's
ranch, having held the contract for this route
during the past eight years and has just re-
newed it for an additional term of four years.
He was born January 22, 1855, in Hautes-Alpes,
France, the son of Hypolite and Annie Rena
Escallier, both natives of that country and now
deceased. After securing a common school ed-
ucation in his native land ]\Ir. Escallier immi-
grated to the LTnited States in 1872, arriving at
the port of New York and coming from there
directly to San Francisco. Spending a few
months in the last-named city he came by boat to
Los Angeles, where he remained for three

years, later removing to Long Pine, then to
Bakersfield, returned to Los Angeles, and in
1876 removed to Temecula. After staying here
a short time he went to Old Mexico and re-
mained for two years. At the expiration of this
time he again took up his residence in Temecula
and has since made this his home.

Mr. Escallier 's marriage, which occurred in
Temecula. in Februarv, 1881, united him with
]\Iarie Cabaco, and they have become -the par-
ents of six children, namely : Brigela, Ellen,
Matilda, Louisa, Hypolite, Jr., and Arthur.
They are attendants of the Catholic Church and
exert their influence toward the upbuilding of the
community in which they reside. By his honest
dealings and integrity of character Mr. Escallier
has won the highest esteem of all with whom he
comes in contact and has a host of friends in
Riverside county, where he has resided so many
vears.

JOHN T^IAHAN. Few of the men now liv-
ing in Camarillo have been identified with the
history of California for a longer period than
has Mr. J\Iahan. He was one of the '49ers
who cast in their lot with the unknown west
at the time of the discovery of gold here, and
has since made his home in the state. The
wonderful improvements that have brought
this state to a foremost position among the
great commonwealths of America he has wit-
nessed and aided, and he deservedly occupies
a position among the public-spirited pioneers
to whose self-sacrificing efforts the organiza-
tion and development of the state may be at-
tributed. Although he was only about twenty-
two years old at the time he came to the state
he had spent a number of j-ears on the ocean
in the employ of trading vessels, and partici-
pated in the Mexican war, and the trip across
the plains in 1849 was made as an employe
of the government, as driver of a team in a
train bound for Oregon City. The sailing ves-
sel which brought him from Astoria to San
Francisco was six weeks in making the voj'-
age, landing its passengers in the latter city
November 16, 1S49.

As the name would indicate, ^Nlr. !Mahan
comes of Irish antecedents. Both of his par-
ents, Wilham and Helen (Driscoll) Mahan,
were born in the Emerald Isle, but while the}'
were still voung they came to the United
States, and made settlement in New York
state. There they both died, the father at the
early age of forty-five. Besides John they had
one daughter, IMary, who still makes her home
in the Empire state. Born in ]\Iadison county.
N. Y., July 5, 1827, John Mahan was educated
in the temple of learning known as the sub-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1563

scription school. Just what his reasons were
for leaving home are not stated, but it is
known that he went to New York City when
thirteen years of age Avith the intention of
going to sea. He first shipped on a whaling
vessel bound for New Bedford, Alass., and
when the harbor was reached left the crew
and went to Providence, R. I. From the lat-
ter port he sailed as one of the crew on a
small trading sloop, following the sea in all
about five years in this capacity. As surf
boatman he next was in the employ of the
United States during the Mexican war, serv-
ing throughout the entire conflict, and receiv-
ing his discharge in 1848, at St. Louis, i\Io.
Immediately thereafter, in 1849, he drove a
team across the plains for the government,
and upon reaching his destination, Oregon
City, made his way to Southern California.
From San Francisco he went to the mines in
the vicinity of Sacramento, but after three
years of rather uncertain and varying success
he established a store on Feather river which
he ran successfully until 1855. During this
time he had noted the success of agriculturists
and wished to try his luck as a tiller of the
soil. His first experience was in Yuba county
on Honcut creek, where he conducted a ranch
for two years, afterward going to Sonoma
county and carrying on a ranch for eleven
}"ears. His advent nito V^entura county dates
from the year 1868, at which time he took a
patent from the government for eighty acres
of land, but as it proved to be a Mexican grant
he finally lost the land as well as the improve-
ments which he had placed upon it. The one-
hundred-acre ranch upon which he now re-
sides was purchased in 1882, and the years
which have intervened have proven the value
of his previous experiences, all of which have
tended to make him the all-around agricultur-
ist which he is to-day. Aside from eighteen
acres devoted to walnuts, the entire ranch is
m beans, hay and barley, the harvests from
which bring him in handsome returns annu-
ally.

in 1853 Mr. Mahan was married to Rebecca
Blakeley, who was born in IMissouri, and of
the eight children born to them we mention
the following: W. S., the eldest child, mar-
ried Emma Sisson, and they make their home
in Santa Paula; George F. married Maggie
Johnson, but both are now deceased; Sterling
"p. is married and makes his home in Lbs An-
geles; Eva, the wife of Horace Crinklaw, also
lives in Los Angeles ; Henry L. married Miss
Nettie Benn. and they reside in the Simi val-
ley; Miles O., a miner, is married and resides
in' Colorado; and Grace and Rolley, the two
voungest, complete the family. In religious

belief the family are Baptists,' the parents and
the children at home attending the church of
that denomination at Camarillo. Although
nominally a Democrat Mr. Mahan votes ac-
cording to his conscience, under all circum-
stances voting for the man of highest prin-
ciples. He himself is a man of undoubted
worth in his community, and as school trustee
and a member of the Farmers' Grange has
rendered valuable assistance.

GEORGE W. PECK, M. D. One of the most
prominent and successful physicians of Saw-
telle is Dr. George W. Peck, who although he
has been in Sawtelle but two years, has in that
time built up a large and lucrative practice. He
is a native of Cedarville, N. J., and was born
March 8, 1841, His father. Rev. Simon Peck,
was born in New Hampshire, being a descendant
of those Huguenots who landed on the New
England coast in 1636. He received his edu-
cation at Princeton College, and spent his en-
tire life in the Presbyterian ministry in New
York, Ohio and Nebraska, and his death re-
moved a faithful and well beloved man. He
married Christina HoUinghead, who was born
in Princeton, N. J., a direct descendant of Will-
iam Wright, who served in the Revolutionary
war under George Washington and was one of
those who kept up the decoy fires on that mem-
orable night when Washington crossed the Dela-
ware and made the attack upon the British. His
service extended over a period of seven years.

It was in Findlay, Hancock county, Ohio, that
Dr. Peck spent his childhood days, and after
preliminary school work he entered Rush ]Medi-
cal College at Chicago in 1885, graduating in
1890. After securing his medical degree he
went to Omaha and practiced his profession for
ten years, and was an influential member of the
Medical Society of that city. Seeking a more
genial climate he came to California, arriving in
Los Angeles on May 21, 1900. After spending
two weeks there he went north and located in
the San Joaquin valley, practicing medicine be-
tween Fresno and Merced for three years. Later
he traveled over the greater part of the state
in his endeavor to find the most favorable cli-
mate, spending a part of one year in Petaluma,
Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, all in Sonoma coun-
ty : taking all things into consideration he chose
Sawtelle as the most desirable place. He arrived
here April 21, 1904, and after purchasing prop-
erty opened an office for the practice of his pro-
fession and rapidly built up a large and lucra-
tive practice. He is health officer of Sawtelle,
is a member of the California State Medical
Societv, the Los Angeles County Medical As-

1564

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sociation, and the American Medical Associa-
tion.

During the Civil war Dr. Peck served eleven
months in Company A, First Nebraska Cavalry.
He is an active member of the First Methodist
Episcopal Church of Sawtelle and president of
the board of trustees and he stands for all the
best and highest interests of society, be they
of a social or a financial character. His wife,
a native of New York state, is also an active
rriember of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

WALTER LOUIS DA\'ENPORT. Con-
spicuous among the energetic and enterprising
men who are active assistants in advancing the
manufacturing and shipping interests of Los .\n-
geles county is \\^alter Louis Davenport, of San
Pedro, secretary of the Lumber Surveyors' As-
sociation of Southern California. A native of
California, he was born, October 20, 1867, in
Soquel, Santa Cruz county. He comes of sturdy
New England ancestry, distinguished alike for
their morality, intelligence and industry, his
father, J. P. Davenport, having been born and
brought up in New Bedford, Mass., a descend-
ant of one of the earlier settlers of that part of
the country.

At the age of fourteen years, J. P. Daven-
port began his career as a sailor, going on a
whaling trip. Continuing his chosen occupa-
tion, he was promoted from rank to rank, at the
age of twenty-three years being master of a ves-
sel. Putting in at San Francisco in 1849, when
the gold excitement was at its height, he im-
mediately engaged in whaling, meeting with such
success that he went back to the Atlantic coast
for his family, returning with them to ]\Ion-
terey in 1852. Soon afterwards he bought the
schooner Caroline E. Foot, and for many years
was employed in whaling along the Pacific
coa.st. Giving up seafaring pursuits, he built
a wharf at Davenport's landing, fifteen miles
north of Santa Cruz, where he subsequently set-
tled, Vv'hile living there ser\'ing as justice of the
peace. His last days were spent in San Fran-
cisco, his death occurring in tliat city when he
was seventy-four years of age. His wife, whose
maiden name was Ellen Clark Smith, was bom
at Fairhavgn, Mass., and is now a resident of
San Francisco. Of the ten children born of
their union, five are living.

The sixth child of the parental household,
Walter Louis Davenport received a practical ed-
ucation in the public schools of Santa Cruz.
Beginning life for himself at the age of six-
teen, he was for a number of years employed in
a sawmill at Aptos, Santa Cruz county. Going
from there to San Francisco, he became clerk for
Polk & Talbot, of the Pacific Pine Company,

a position that he retained about twelve years.
Coming to San Pedro for a visit in 1903, his
services were very shortly called into requisi-
tion on account of a lack of inspectors in the
Lumber Surve_yors" Association, which he glad-
ly assisted for awhile before beginning his visit.
Deciding subsequently to locate permanently in
this city, he was made a member of the Lumber
Surveyors' Association of Southern California
in September, 1903, and in January, 1904, he
was elected to his present responsible position
as its secretary, and in addition to faithfully per-
forming his varied dutes in this capacity he is
agent for the association at East San Pedro.

March 26, 1902, at Valle Vista, Riverside
county, Mr. Davenport married ]\Iaude Saun-
ders, who was born in Mendocino county, Cal.
Amasa Saunders, her father, who was born and
reared in Dedham, jMe., came to California in
1852, and for a number of years was engaged
in lumbering, first in ^lendocino county, and
then in Riverside county. Subsequently turning
his attention to horticultural pursuits, he pur-
chased a large orange grove at Valle Vista,
where he was employed in fruit growing until
his death. He married Jane Phillips, who came
to California in 1858, and now resides in San
Pedro, making her home with Mr. and Mrs.
Davenport. Mrs. Davenport has inherited a
part of the Saunders ranch at Valle Vista, where
she has a fine bearing orange grove of forty
acres. Mr. and Mrs. Davenport have one child,
John Lloyd. Politically Mr. Davenport is a
Republican, and fraternallv he belongs to Santa
Cruz Parlor No. 90, N. S. G. W. ''He attends
the Congregational Church, of which his wife
is a member.

THEODORE G. SCHULZE. A wide-awake,
active business man, ever ready to take advan-
tage of favorable opportunities for advancing
his financial interests. T. G. Schulze is promi-
nently identified with the important industries of
Los Angeles county, being a member of the
Long Beach Realty Company. A native of
Texas, he was born in April, 1859. '" Freestone
county, coming from excellent German ancestry.
His parents, Hardwick and Caroline Schulze,
emigrated from Germany to the LTnited States
soon after their marriage and located in Texas,
where he followed his trade of butcher for many
years. He died of yellow fever, in Houston,
Tex., in 1867, at the early age of thirty-two
years, and she survives him, being now a resi-
dent of Los Angeles, Cal.

Having completed his earlv education in the
common schools of Texas. T. G. Schulze left
hom.e when fifteen years old. becoming an ap-
prentice at the butcher's trade, which he after-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1565

wards followed four years. Learning then the
blacksmith's trade, he was engaged in black-
smithing in Texas until his removal to Cali-
fornia. Coming to Los Angeles county in 1887
he located at Whittier on July 9, and there fol-
lowed his trade for two years. He was simi-
larly employed the succeeding two years in Los
Angeles, after which he settled in San Pedro,
where he lived eight years, carrying on general
blacksmithing, including a good deal of ship
work. His health failing, he established himself
as a butcher at Oceanside, San Diego county,
where he built up a prosperous business. Jan-
uary I, 1903, he purchased the interests of the
Long IBeach Ice Company, at Long Beach, and
for nearly three years carried on a substantial
business as a dealer in ice, also in ice cream and
soda water, his manufacturing plant being lo-
cated at No. 121 West First street, and in this
branch of industry he met with excellent suc-
cess. On November i, 1905, he disposed of his
interests in these various lines of business and
assisted in the organization of the Long Ileach
Realty Company, and in this connection is doing
a general real estate business.

On April 10, 1889, in Houston, Tex., Mr.
Schulze married Grace Davidson, a daughter of
L. P. and Caroline Davidson, of Louisiana.
]\Ir. Davidson died m 1888, at the age of forty-
seven years, and Mrs. Davidson now lives in
Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Schulze have one child,
Laclair Schulze. Politically Mr. Schulze sup-
ports the principles of the Democratic party by
voice and vote. He takes great interest in pub-
lic affairs, and while in San Pedro served for one
term as town trustee. Fraternally he belongs to
Long Beach Lodge No. 327, F'. & A. M. ; to
San Pedro Lodge No. 348, I. O. O. F. ; to Long
Beach Lodge No. 888, B. P. O. E. : to San Pedro
Lodge No. 126. K. of P.; and to Court Occi-
dent No. 467, I. O. F.

ALEXANDER McKIE. Among the active
and progressive agriculturists of Los Angeles
county is Alexander McKie, who has met with
no mean measure of success in his independent
calling. His home ranch, lying near Talms. con-
tains some fine farming land, and under his in-
telligent management has been highly cultivated
and improved, rendering it rich and productive.
Of thrifty Scotch stock, he was born in Wigton-
shire, Scotland, where his parents, James and
Janet (Hennay) McKie, spent their entire lives,
the father dying in 1885. The parents reared
five children, all of whom are residents of Cal-
ifornia, namely: Alexander, James. Charles,
\Mlliam and Jane Grace.

Reared by his wise parents to habits of in-
dustrv, economv and thrift, .Alexander McKie

assisted in the various duties connected with the
management of the little farm in Wigtonshire
during the days of his youth, obtaining a knowl-
edge and experience that have since been of
value to him. Immigrating to the United States,
he came at once from New York City to Cal-
ifornia in search of a favorable opening. He
located first as a farmer near Santa Monica, and
is still in the bottom lands. He has a finely im-
proved ranch of sixty-one acres, which is under
an excellent state of cultivation and is largely
devoted to the raising of alfalfa, although eight
acres of it are set out to walnut trees, from which
he reaps a satisfactory income annually.

Mr. ^IcKie married, in 1895, Henrietta Burg-
witz, and they are the parents of three children,
Lena Janet, Alexander Hennay and Grace Jane.
Politically Mr. McKie is a steadfast adherent of
the Republican party, and religiously he is a
member of the Presbyterian Church, and his
wife of the German Lutheran.

H. W. ROGERS. Three generations of the
Rogers family have lived and labored in South-
ern California, the subject of this review, H. W.
Rogers, being the only native son of the state,
his birth having occurred in Compton, Los An-
geles county, February 26, 1875. His grand-
father, Sylvester Rogers, brought his wife.
Martha, and their son, Henry, across the plains
from Missouri in an early period in the devel-
opment of the Pacific coast country and in South-
ern California spent the remainder of his life.
Henry Rogers married Ellen Watros, a native
of Ohio, and a daughter of William S. and Har-
riet B. Watros, who crossed the plains with ox-
teams in 1861, settling in San Jose, Cal., and
shortly aftenvard locating in Southern Cali-
fornia. Mrs. Rogers died in Santa Monica in
1903, at the age of forty-two years, survived by
her husband, who still makes his home in Comp-
ton.

The only child born to his parents, H. W.
Rogers spent the first years of his life in his
native town of Compton, where he received some
education, which was later supplemented by
study in the public schools of Santa Monica. In
young manhood he decided to learn the trade
of plumber, and accordingly spent some time in
the employ of J. S. Wilson, now a retired citizen
of Santa Monica. Upon the completion of his
apprenticeship he opened a shop for himself in
partnership with W. A. Penny, in Ocean Park.
In 1904. after three }ears in the work, he pur-
chased the interests of Mr. Penny and has since
continued in the business alone. It can truly
be said of him that success has accompanied his
efforts, for he is widely recognized as one of the
best workmen of his class, and enjoys not alone

1566

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the distinction of superior workmanship, but is
also held in high esteem for the reliable business
traits which he has always displayed. He has
done considerable work in the best buildings of
the city, among them the Casino, the Hammel
building, the Alyer and Zobelein building, and
others of equal note.

The marriage of j\lr. Rogers occurred in
Ocean Park and united him with Mrs. Lizzie B.
(Mitchell) JNIarvin, of Ohio, and they have since
established a pleasant and comfortalDle home in
this city. Mr. Rogers is identified with the Re-
publican party, and although not desirous of
official recognition, he takes a deep interest in
the affairs of his party. Fraternally he has been
a member of the Foresters of America for twelve
years and is prominent in the order. He is a
substantial and reliable citizen and holds a place
among the successful citizens of Ocean Park.

JOSEPH NEWTON COVERT. When Mr.
Covert came to Long Beach in 1901 he brought
with him an experience of over fourteen years
in the restaurant business, this alone explaining
the phenomenal success v.-hich has come to him
along this line during the past five years. Of
late,"however, he has given less attention to this
and concentrated his efforts more closely upon
his real-estate business, owning valuable prop-
erty in Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newport and
Oceantide.

Born in Franklin, Ind., September 13. 1862,
Joseph N. Covert is a son of Samuel H. Covert,
born near Hopewell, that state, where he carried
on farming throughout his entire life, his death
resulting from a fall from a tree. His marriage
was with Emily McCaslin, also a native of the
Hoosier state, and the daughter of Alexander
McCaslin. Though born in "Kentucky Mr. Mc-
Caslin was a descendant of Scotch ancestors, and
was one of the early pioneer settlers in Indiana.
Mrs. Covert is still living, and makes her home
with her only son, Joseph N. Her other child,
Mary I., is the wife of B. F. Crutchfield, and
resides at Lakeport, Cal. Until he was eighteen
years old Joseph N. Covert remained with his
parents on the farm in Indiana, in the mean-
time making the most of his opportunities from
an educational standpoint. In his home town of
Franklin he engaged in the picture business in
1880, the following year transferring his busi-
ness to North Vernon, that state, but owing to
the failure of his eyesight he was obliged to
discontinue this line of work. It was in the year
1884 that he took the initial step into the busi-
ness which was to bring him such remarkable
success, and from that time until 1898 he fol-
lowed the restaurant business, in North Vernon.
a period of fourteen years and one week.

As has been previously stated, it was with this
experience that Mr. Covert came to Long Beach
in October, 1901. For about one year, however,
he engaged in the real-estate business, but at
the end of this time purchased the Raymijud
cafe, Ocean Front, and ran it for nineteen
months. In the meantime he had leased the site
of the Palace cafe, which he opened, continuing
this until December, 1903, when he enlarged its
capacity by the erection of an addition demanded
by his large patronage, and at the time he sold
out in September, 1906, he controlled the largest
restaurant business in Long Beach. Prior to
this he had purchased the Pie lunch room and
is still interested in it, although his son-in-law,
Carl Ransdell, has charge of the details of man-
agement. His own time is given almost exclu-
sively to his real estate transactions, which are
numerous and important, and are confined en-
tirely to property which he himself owns, han-
dling none for outsiders.

While living in North Vernon, Ind., Mr.
Covert was married to Miss Zoe Grinstead, a
native of that place, and two children have been
born to them, Lucile, the wife of Carl Ransdell,
and Paul. In North Vernon Mr. Covert was
made a Mason in the local lodge, and since com-
ing to Long Beach he has transferred his mem-
bership to Long Beach Lodge No. 286. Other
fraternal orders also claim his membership,
among them the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks and Knight of Pythias, in which latter he
has attained the uniformed rank. He is also a
member of the Chamber of Commerce of Long
Beach, and politically is a Republican. Both
himself and wife have many friends who re-
spect them highly for their many comniendable
qualities.

WALTER D. HAMBLETON, D. D. S.
Prominent in professional circles is Walter D.
Hambleton, D. D. S., who has the distinction of
being the first dentist to open an office in Ocean
Park, where he has built up a large and remun-
erative practice, his natural talents and skill
being recognized and thoroughly appreciated by
those who need, as we all do at some period of
life, a judicious application of dental surgery.
A native of Iowa, he was born, July i, 1875, in
Davis county, in the same house, and in the same
room, in which the birth of his father. Elbert A.
Hambleton, occurred. His grandfather, Abra-
ham Hambleton, was a pioneer settler of Davis
county, Iowa, where he became a large property
owner and one of its most successful farmers.
In 1887 Elbert A. Hambleton migrated with his
family to the Pacific coast, and is now living, re-
tired from active pursuits, in Modesto, Cal.

Coming with his parents to California when

TiSX.lK^/.

CUyt^-\^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1569

a boy, Walter D. Hambleton completed the
course of study in the Modesto high school, after
which he entered the dental department of the
University of California, at Berkeley, where he
was graduated with the class of 1902. Immedi-
ately opening an office in Ocean Park, Dr. Ham-
bleton began the practice of his chosen profes-
sion, being the first dentist to locate in this vicin-
ity. The town was then in its infancy, and in
its upbuilding and rapid growth he took great
interest, making judicious investments in real
estate. As the population grew, the doctor's
patronage increased, his success as a dental sur-
geon being assured from the first, as was his
popularity in business and social circles.

Politically the doctor is a loyal Republican,
and fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks of Santa Monica.

HEXRY L. :\IcLAIX. Few of the men
now active in various occupations in the west
have reason to regret their decision in estab-
lishing their homes in this part of the country,
and certainly Mr. McLain is not among these
few citizens, for he has achieved a steadily in-
creasing success and has risen to a position
of prominence as one of the successful resi-
dents of San Bernardino county. The occu-
pation which he now so successfull}' follovVs
differs from that which engaged his attention
during the earlier years of manhood, for in early
life he studied architecture and for twenty-
years he devoted himself exclusively to that
occupation. As a boy he had lived on a farm
in Blair county. Pa., where he was born July
ig, 1845; however, agriculture did not attract
him sufficient!}- for him to select it for a life-
work, but instead he turned his attention to
the study of architecture. After having fol-
lowed this occupation about one-Cjuarter of a
century he can-.e to California in 1889 and
settled in Los Angeles, but two years later
removed to Highland, where since he has made
Inis home.

The purchase of tw';nty acres of the Lingo
claim gave Mr. McLain an unimpro\-ed tract
on which to concentrate his labors, and here
be erected a neat house and substantial barns.
Ten acres of the land he set out in lemon
trees and for a time devoted consideration to
lemon-culture, but the failure of the water
sui^ply obliged him to abandon the occupation.
Meanwhile he had begun in the poultry busi-
ness on a small scale and gradually developed
a large plant. On his place he has chicken-
yards neatly fenced and a complete equipment
ior the care of the fowls. At this writing
he has two thousand her.s of the single white-
comb Leghorn and barred Plymoutli Rock
74

varieties, and during the season of 1906 he
shipped twenty thousand eggs for setting pur-
poses, shipments being made to the various
cities and towns along the coast. On his farm
he utilizes incubators with a capacity of one
thousand eggs altogether, which enables him
to raise an enormus number of chickens each
season. Through careful attention to detail
and thoroughness of work he has developed
a ver}^ profitable industry and gained a wide
reputation as a poultry fancier.

In fraternal relations Mr. McLain formerly
took an active part in the Knights of Pythias,
but of recent years he has not been active in
any order. Interested in politics, he always
has been stanch in his allegiance to the Demo-
cratic party. Since 1894 he has been a member
of the Democratic county central committee
and since 1900 he has filled the office of road
overseer, both of which positions he has filled
^vith painstaking care and fidelity. However,
partisanship does not appeal to him, for he is
a citizen first, not a politician, and his devotion
to the welfare of county, state and nation has
been apparent in all of his acts. From Pitts-
burg, in 1863 he enlisted in the Fifth Penn-
sylvania Heavy Artillery, Company L., and
was assigned to the army of the Potomac,
taking part in its engagements. He is a mem-
ber of Cornman Post, G. A. R., of San Ben-
nardino. Though not identified with any
church, he contributes to religious activities,
and especially to the missionary enterprises of
the Methodist Episcopal denomination, with
which his family holds membership. His wife,
who shares with him the esteem of acquaint-
ances and the good-will of the community,
Avas Mary Dunlap Blood, a native of England,
but from an early age a resident of Pittsburg,
Pa., where she was educated in the public
schools. Their marriage was solemnized on
the 4th of July, 1869, and was blessed with two
children. The daughter, Mary Belle, is the
wife of E. L. Howell and resides in San Ber-
nardino. The son, Francis George, has made
liis home in Redlands for several years and
follows the trade of a builder, taking contracts
for tile erection of houses and other buildings.

D. ML'Xt;

rronnnent among the
active and enterprising Inisiness men nf [Nloor-
park is S. D. Munger. 'who in connection with,
his farming interests successfully managed the
Moorpark hotel, of which he was formerly the
proprietor. Industrious and energetic by nattire,
possessing great business ability and tact, he has
ever made the most of his opportunities, and for-
tune has evidently attended his everv effort.

1570

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

bringing him well deserved returns for his labors.
As a general farmer, he uses excellent judgment,
and as proprietor of the hotel was pleasant, agree-
able and accommodating, proving himself an ideal
host, and well worthy of the. extensive and lucra-
tive patronage which he built up. A son of
Dexter Munger, he ~\vas born, February 8. i860,
in Shiawassee county, Mich., where he received
his elementary education.

A native of Xew York state. Dexter Munger
migrated from there to Michigan when young,
and when the Civil war broke out offered his
services to his country. Enlisting in a Michigan
cavalry, he was in active duty for four years,
taking part in the many engagements in which
his company participated, and at the siege of
Petersburg being severely wounded. He spent
his last days in California, dying at the age of
sixty-three years in Santa Paula. He was a
member of the Grand Arm_\- of the Republic, in
which he took great interest. He married Jennie
Hall, who was born in Michigan, and died in
Tennessee, leaving two children.

But sixteen years old when he came to Ven-
tura county, S. D. Munger completed his early
education in the public schools of Xordhoff. Go-
ing then to Ojai valley, he followed ranching
for fifteen years in that locality, after which he
was engaged in grain and fruit raising at Santa
Alaria for ten years. The ensuing three years
he was a resident of Riverside county and one of
its prosperous agriculturists. Investing his
money then in ^Nloorpark property, he bought
farming land, village lots, and the A'loorpark
hotel, and has since been one of the busiest and
most active men of the place, carrying on general
farming and managing the hotel until disposing
of the latter.

In 1890 Mr. ]ilunger married Julia Robison,
a native of Texas, and they are the parents of
four children, namely : Ruby, thirteen years of
age ; Marion, ten years old ; Claude, five years
of age; and Leon, two years old. Politicalh' Mr.
Munger gives his cordial support to the Repub-
lican party; fraternally he belongs to Saticoy
Lodge No. 1419, I. O. F. ; and religiously he is
a .member of the Christian Church.

LOXG BEACH BUSINESS COLLEGE.
The Long Beach Business College is one of col-
leges owned by The Private Schools Company,
incorporated in 1905, of which R. S. Knudson
is president and \'. E. Nielson is secretary. The
college was founded and opened by Mr. Knudson
on September 8, 1902. and has grown until it has
become one of the largest and leading commercial
colleges in Southern California. In the fifth
year of its growth, there are enrolled over eight
hundred students. The college is located on First

street and American avenue and occupies two
floors of the Bartow building. It is modern and
conveniently arranged, has large, light and airy
classrooms and is equipped with roll-top desks
and overy fifty Smith Premier and Remington
typewriters. i3esides full business and short-
hand courses they have a Conservatory of Music,
Art and Elocution. Branch schools have re-
centlv been established at Ocean Park and San
Pedro.

Mr. Knudson is a Minnesotan, and is a grad-
uate of the Rochester Business University,
Rochester, N. Y., the Northwestern College of
Shorthand, Minneapolis, ]\Iinn., and the banking
department of the Metropolitan Business Col-
lege, Chicago, 111. He has been engaged in
school work for nearly twenty years.

Mr. Nielson is a native of Kansas. He is a
graduate of the Lincoln Center and of the
Great Western Business College. Concordia,
Kansas, and was a member of the faculty of the
Riverside Commercial College until August,
1903, when he became a member of the present
faculty. The two gentlemen, by their ability
and energy have made the college a success and
their efforts are appreciated by the people of the
ocean cities.

EDMOND LEONARD DORAN. An in-
teresting career has fallen to the lot of Edmond
Leonard Doran, one of the prominent business
men of Avalon. He was a resident of the great
plains country and worked on the large cattle
ranches at the time of the passing of the buffalo
and the subduing of the Indians, being engaged
in line riding at the time of the Geronimo cam-
paign in 1886. He is now greatly interested in
the wonderful glass bottomed boats which are
the source of more interest and admiration than
any other single attraction at Catalina, being
a member of the Meteor Boat Company at
Avalon. A history of these glass bottomed
boats contains much of interest. Lentil 1895
glass bottomed boxes were placed on the water
at the side of an ordinary boat when parties
were looking for abalones and viewing the sub-
marine gardens. In that year Alex O'Leary the
hermit of San Clemente island, who spent some
time at Avalon, suggested the construction of the
glass bottom boat, and acting upon this suggestion
Bill Condit and Charles Page proceeded to build
the first craft of the kind ever made, and in which
Mr. O'Leary was skipper for some time. The first
sidewheel glass bottom boat was built by Curious
& Tobin in Mathewson's boatyard, and after-
ward became the property of the ]\Ieteor Boat
Company, although it is now dismantled and
idle. The second large boat was Lady Lou, the
third Cleopatra, and the fourth and largest of

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1571

all is the Empress, which is the first one to be
jirovided with two rows of glass boxes, instead
of one as the others had, the capacity of the
Empress being one hundred and twenty people
— as large as it is considered practicable to build
a boat of this description. All of these boats
are now the property of the Meteor company.
Mr. Doran has spent many months on the dif-
ferent islands along the coast, has explored all
of them thoroughly, and owns a very large col-
lection of Indian relics from them, being with-
out doubt the best posted man in that line of
anyone now living.

October 14, 1864, Edmond Leonard Doran
was born in Ontario, near Montreal, the son of
Solomon, a native of the same place, and a
grandson of Samuel, who was a native of New
England and became a pioneer in Ontario, set-
tling near Montreal. A part of the Doran fam-
ily were L'nited Empire Loyalists, as different
members settled on each side of the St. Lawrence
river, thinking they were in Canada, the settle-
ment of the boundary question proving those
on the south side to l)e in the L'nited States,
however. The grandfather cleared and im-
proved lands imtil he had enough to provide each
of six children with one hundred acres, also
utilized the water power of the creek which
coursed through his possessions, established a
saw mill, and proceeded to manufacture lum-
ber. His death removed a man of considerable
prominence in that part of the countr\-. The
father owned a farm on Doran 's creek which he
later sold, removing to " Iroquois, where he en-
gaged in the merchandising business, building
the first large brick block at that place. He
subsequently took his oldest son as a partner and
together they were interested in many important
enterprises, building a wharf on the St. Lawrence
river, building a grist mill, and engaging in
traffic on the river. They also owned a lumber
yard ; they shipped eggs, to Boston by the whole-
sale, and their house was the first one to be fur-
nished with a base burner hard coal stove in that
locality. The senior Doran was captain of a local
company of militia, was prominent in politics, be-
ing at one time mayor of the city, and fraternally
belonged to the Masonic lodge. He died at the
age of fifty-three years. His wife was Margaret
Bailey before her marriage, a native of the L'nited
States, her people being also United Empire
Loyalists. She lived to the advanced age of
eighty-two years, her death occurring at the
old home in February, 1906. Of the nine chil-
dren in this family but three are now living, and
one brother, Edgar A., is a resident of Los An-
geles, being president of the Doran, Brouse &
Price Oil Company, and engaged in general
contracting.

The next to the youngest of the family Ed-

mond Leonard Doran was lirouglit u|i on the
farm in Ontario, where he attended tlie public
.schools as a boy, and in 1883 removed to Den-
ver, Col. where he remained through the winter
and in the spring of 1884 secured employment
on Dr. Tuttle's ranch, continuing on tlie ranch
four years. The spring of 1888 found Mr. Doran
in San Bernardino, Cal., where he engaged in
business, conducting a cigar and news stand in
the old Hotel Stewart. Later he became clerk
of the Stewart, under the proprietor, L G. Burt,
who had so many outside public interests that
the duties of a private secretar\- devolved upon
Mr. Doran until Mr. Burt's death in 1893, when
he came to Los Angeles. The following year
he slarted in the oil business, becoming the fifth
stockholder in the American Crude Oil Com-
i)any, which was the first prominently successful
company in Los Angeles. He was president of
that company at one time, and also held in-
terests in other companies, which jjaid him well.
In 1895 I'e first visited Catalina, and owned the
.Mascot, which was the onl\- launch at San Pedro
at that time except Captain Dufifv's. Mr. Doran
renamed his boat the Narod, which is his own
name spelled backwards. There is also a station on
the Southern Pacific and Salt Lake routes by
that name which was given in honor of Mr.
Doran. This same year he purchased other
launches and became interested in the Avalon
Boat Company, which was later consolidated with
the Meteor Boat Company, and incorporated
with him as vice-president and general manager.
He holds both a master's and an engineer's
license and can run anv of his hunches as skil-
fully as the best of his men. The other busi-
ness interests of Mr. Doran include the Doran,
Brouse & Price Company of Los .A.ngeles, being
a director of that incorporation : large land hold-
ings in Tulare county on the Kings river ; and
oil wells in Bakersfield.

The marriage of ^Tr. Doran occurred in San
Lorenzo, where he was united with Susanna,
daughter of William Meek, owner of the large
Meek tract at that place, comprising three thou-
sand acres. He crossed the plains in an early
day and settled at Llewell_\n. Ore., and broke
the first wagon road from that point to Cali-
fornia. Mrs. Doran is a woman of superior at-
tainments and fine education, being a graduate
of Mills College. They have a beautiful modern
residence on Breezy Point where Mr. and Mrs.
Doran live with their two children, Margaret
and Gertrude. Politically Mr. Doran is a strong
believer in the principles embraced in the plat-
form of the Republican party, and he is a mem-
ber of the L'nion League Oub of Los Angeles.
He is a man of generous disposition and liberal
princijjles, taking an active interest in all busi-

1572

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ness, social, and civic enterprises, and holds the
highest respect of all who have the pleasure of
his acquaintance.

WILLIS BURR McDonald. As a success-
ful business man Willis Burr McDonald is ad-
ding his influence to the growth and upbuilding
of the city of Redlands, where he has been lo-
cated since 1900 and engaged for the greater part
of the time in the management of the Palace
Livery, of which he is proprietor. He was born
in Waukon, Iowa, March 23, 1868, a son of
Judge C. W. McDonald, a native of Indiana and
a prominent citizen in whatever section of the
union he made his home. His father, C. B., was
a pioneer of Illinois, of Scotch descent, building
and owning the first flour mill in Peoria, \A'hence
he later removed to Indiana. C. W. !\IcDonald
located in New York City and there engaged as
foreman of a large daily, remaining so occupied
for some time, when he returned to the middle
west and in Sioux Falls established the Independ-
ent, which he conducted successfully. Later he
established the Wessington Springs (Dak.)
Herald, and at the same time entered land and
engaged in general farming. A man of erudition
and talent he was elected to the office of county
judge, which he filled satisfactorily. He is a
prominent Mason and well known in fraternal
circles. His wife, formerly Clara Burr, was a
member of the New York family of that name
and was a second cousin of Aaron Burr. She
died early in life, leaving but the one child, Willis
Burr McDonald, of this review.

Reared in Dakota and educated in the public
schools of Sioux Falls and Wessington Springs,
Willis Burr iMcDonald grew to young manhood
among the surroundings of a frontier home. He
followed the training received in the paternal
home and in )-oung manhood began farming and
stock-raising on a homestead which he took up
adjoining the town. In 1898 he disposed of these
interests and located in Boulder, Colo., where he
established a feed and fuel business, and also fol-
lowed farming to some extent, but because of the
extremely high altitude he was forced to leave
that place. Again disposing of his business in-
terests he located in Redlands and six months
later purchased the business of J. H. Kelley, who
was then proprietor of the Palace Livery Stable,
well located on Orange street, in a building 50X
120 feet in dimensions. He has built up a large
business and continues to hold a wide patronage.
He is a member of the Redlands Driving Associa-
tion, which company was formed for the purpose
of caring for the tourists that come annually to
the city.

In Wessington Springs, Mr. McDonald was
uniterl in marriage with Miss Floy Tofflemire, a

native of Illinois, and born of this union are the
following children : Burr, Lottie, Carl and Floy.
Fraternally Mr. McDonald is associated with the
Odd Fellows, having been made a member of the
organization in Boulder Lodge No. 7, and is now
a member in Redlands, and also belongs to the
Encampment and Canton. In religion he is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and
politically is a stanch advocate of the principles
embraced in the platform of the Republican
party. He is a member of the Board of Trade
and takes every interest in all movements calcu-
lated to advance the general welfare of the com-
munity.

CHARLES G. DAVIDSON. Numbered
among the practical, self-reliant and prosperous
young business men of Compton is Charles G.
Davidson, who is actively engaged in mercan-
tile pursuits, carrying in his store a full line of
general sporting goods, and likewise conduct-
ing a well-equipped bicycle repair shop. He
was born in Lafayette county, Mo., December
5, 1874, a son of the late G. C. Davidson.

Born and reared in Missouri, G. C David-
son became a land owner in that state, and for
a number of years was there employed in gen-
eral farming and stock-raising. Disposing of his
property there in 1875, he came to California
with his famil)-, locating in San Luis Obispo
count)-, where lie ran a dairy farm for a few
vears. Coming to Los Angeles county in 1882.
he bought land, and in addition to farming was
also engaged in business here as a blacksmith for
a time. Giving up his smithy' some time later,
he devoted himself to ranching altogether until his
death, in 1889, at the comparatively early age
of fifty-one years. He married Eliza Goodrich,
a native of Kentucky, and she survived him a
number of years, dying in Compton in May.
1902. Eight children were born of their union,
namely: Rebecca, wife of B. Aberle; Rosie, wife
of J. N. Brinkerhoff; Alice, wife of A. Mc-
Comas ; James, who married Minnie Ridgeway ;
Martha, wife of H. M. Dillon; Annie, wife of
Jesse Sutton ; Charles G., the subject of this
sketch ; and John, who married Lena Andrews.
Politically the father was a steadfast supporter
of the principles of the Republican, party, and
both he and his wife were faithful members of
the Baptist Church.

Coming with his parents to Compton when
about seven years of age, Qiarles G. Davidson
was here brought up and educated, attending the
public schools, and until after the death of his
father assisting in the labors incidental to farm
life. His widowed mother then bought property
in the village of Compton, and here spent the
remainder of her life. In 1898 Mr. Davidson

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1575

enlisted for service in the Spanish-American
war, becoming a member of Company C, Sev-
enth California Volunteer Infantry, which was
stationed for five months in San Francisco. Sub-
sequently, after a furlough, he went to Los An-
geles, where, in December, 1898, he was mus-
tered out of the army. Returning home, he was
for six months in the employ of S. F. Catey,
acting as engineer in well drilling. In 1899 he
started in business on his own account, opening
a store well stocked with sporting goods of all
kinds, and has since built up a substantial and
profitable trade in this line. He has in connec-
tion with this business a bicycle repair shop,
which is on a paying basis, being liberally pat-
ronzed.

A stanch adherent of the Republican party.
Air. Davidson is active in local affairs, and is
serving as a deputy sheriff, and as constable of
Compton. He is a man of upright principles, and
a member of the Baptist Church, and socially
belongs to the Fraternal Brotherhood.

SA:MUEL MUDGETT. Long association
with the agricultural interests of Santa Bar-
bara county and close identification with
movements for the upbuilding of the same
have made Mr. INIudgett one of the most prom-
inent figures in this part of the county, his
ranch of forty acres lying in close proximity
to Orcutt. A quarter of a century, lacking
only a few years, has elapsed since he cast in
his lot with the few settlers of this county and
began the task of developing a ranch from the
wild prairie soil. Age has not, weakened his
intellectual powers nor lessened his interest in
the prosperity of the county; on the other
hand, while the years have taken from him a
capacity for long physical endurance, they
have made a recompense in their accumulating
fund of experience and mental grasp.

For years antedating the Revolutionary war
the Mudgett family Jiad lived and labored in
the New England colonies, and it was while
the grandparents of Air. Mudgett were living in
New Hampshire, that their son Stephen was
born. By his marriage with J\lary Porter, also
of New England parentage, and a native of
Maine, eight children were born, but two of
them are now deceased. Two sons fought for
their country's cause in the Civil war, enlist-
ing in Company A, Eleventh Alaine Volun-
teers, and a daughter, .'Vnn Alary Hunter, now
makes her home in Alameda, this state. Both
parents lived to enjoy a ripe old age, their
earth life coming to a close amid the scenes
familiar to them throughout their long and
useful lives, both dying in Alaine. the father

when in his ninety-fifth year, and the mother
when eighty-six years of age.

Born in Penobscot county, Me., January 31,
1828, Samuel Aludgett passed his boyhood
years without much variation, for when he was
not attending the subscription school he was
generally to be found performing tasks upon
his father's farm. However, in later years he
did not confine himself to agriculture exclus-
ively, for in addition to managing a farm which
he had purchased near the home place he also
carried on a substantial lumbering business.
Notwithstanding the fact that he was succeed-
ing well from a financial standpoint he had
fallen a victim to the western fever, and all
who have been similarly affected will appre-
ciate Mr. Mudgett's paling interest in affairs
which had once held liis closest attention.
AAHien forty years of age, in 1868, he disposed
of his Maine farm and crossed the country as
far as Iowa, there purchasing a farm of eighty
acres in Buena Vista county. Then as now the
land was excellent for grain raising, and he
put his entire acreage in this commodity, corn
and wheat forming his largest crops. Eight
years in the Mississippi valley, however, had
made him desirous to reach out still further
toward the setting sun, and thus it was that in
1876 he made to the west a tour of inspection,
going direct to Nevada county, Cal., where he
established a lumbering business. After he
had been in the far west long enough to satisfy
himself that he would not care to live in the
cast again he decided to dispose of his Iowa
property, and returned to that state for the
purpose of settling up his affairs in the middle
west. Going back to Nevada county, he re-
mained there in all about three years, after
ivliich he made his home in Mono county.
this state, for two years. It was at this period
in his career that he came to Santa Barbara
county, at tlie same time (1882") purchasing
the ranch of forty acres upon which he has
since made his home. All of the acreage not
planted to apples, pe.nches or almonds is in
grain, all of which produce abundantly, and
while continued activity is no longer a neces-
sity Mr. Mudgett is not content to be idle, and
every dav finds him working among his chick-
ens, in the raising of which he has established
(|uite a paying business.

In t8.S4. while still a resident of his native
state. Air. Mudgett was married to Afiss Susan
Alansur. who was also born in Afaine, as was
also her father, Alvah Mansur. Alvah and
ATary Ann (Trast) Mansur. the latter a native
of New Hampshire, became the parents of
seven children, of whom one son died in the
Civil war (he having enlisted in Company .A,
Eleventh Alaine A^olunteers") and Airs. Alud-

1576

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

gett is the only one of the famih- in Cahfornia.
-\ir. Mansur died at the early age of forty
years, his wife, howex'er, surviving to reach
her sixty-seventh year. Six children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Mudgett, but all were
taken from them at an early age with one ex-
ception. C)rin died in infancy, as did also the
next child; Arthur died when two and a half
years old ; Frank when nine ; and Ernest at the
age of five and a half ^ears. The only surviv-
ing child is Laura A., who was born in 1855,
and is now the wife of Daniel Toy, and the
the mother of seven children. Though in the
twilight of their lives Mr. and Mrs. Mudgett
are cheerful and as young hearted as at the
beginning of their married life, and enjoy the
close companionship of their only living child,
Mrs. Toy and her family living on a ranch
near by. In i860, while still a resident of
Maine, Mr. Mudgett joined the Masonic order,
and he now holds membership in Hesperian
Lodge No. 341, F. & A. M.. at Santa Maria.
Diflfering from his father in his political belief
he is a stanch Democrat, and it was on this
ticket while a resident of Iowa that he was
elected one of the trustees of Grant township,
later becoming treasurer. Personally he is a
man of many fnne qualities, and with his wife
stands in the highest esteem in the community
which for nearly twenty-five years has been
their home. Both are members of the Presby-
terian Church at Santa INIaria.

JEAN BERDELIN LOUSTAU. Born in
Lescar, Basses-Pyrenees, France, .\ugust 12,
1865, Jean B. Loustau was the youngest of five
children born to Jean and Marie Lerfarger. He
spent his boyhood on the farm and was educated
in the public schools. He served one year in the
Fourth Company, Eighteenth Regiment of In-
fantry in the French army. In 189 1 he came to
Los .\ngeles, California, and in 1892 engaged in
farming on West JefTerson street. He was mar-
ried in Los Angeles June 17, 1893, to Miss Natali
Riviere, who was born in Los Angeles. She is the
daughter of Bertrand and Sacramenta (Rezi)
Riviere. The father was born in Haute Garonne,
France, in 1817, and came to California in 185a
via Cape Horn, being nine months and three da}s
on the sailer that landed him in San Francisco.
He followed mining until 1852 when he came to
Los Angeles and began the dairy business on
San Pedro near Seventh street. Then he pur-
chased twenty-five acres on the corner of South
Main and Washington, the present Schuttes Park.
He paid $1.25 per acre and a few years later sold
it for $25 per acre, which at that time was con-
sidered a big price. He then purchased one hun-
dred and sixty acres on what is now the corner

of West JetTerson and Santa Monica avenue for
$1.25 per acre. Later he bought adjoining land
so he had three hundred and eighty acres and was
a successful farmer. Some years later he sold
off several tracts, but retained one hundred and
twenty acres until his death in 1897. His wife
who was born in Los Angeles died in 1883. Of
their six children, Mrs. Clara Eschordiaz, Mrs.
Enez Berges, Francisco and Louis died in Los
Angeles. Jean Pierre is a grocer on West Jeffer-
son street; and Natali, the wife of our subject.

Mr. and Mrs. Loustau owns thirty-three acres
of very valuable land on West Jefferson and Santa
^lonica avenue which will soon have to be platted
as a part of the rapidly growing city. They have
four children : Hortense, Louis, Jean and Bert-
rand. Mr. Loustau is a member of the Independ-
ent Order of Foresters, is a Republican in politics,
and is a progressive man much esteemed b\- his
nianv friends.

DENIS .MULMHILL. One of the old set-
tlers of San Bernardino county and an enterpris-
ing and progressive horticulturist is Denis Mul-
vihill, who came to California in 1875 and has
since made this state his home. He was born in
County Kerry, Ireland, June i, 1849, ^ member
of one of the oldest and most prominent families
of that section, their ancestry being traced back
to the sixth century. His father was a farmer
who brought his family to the Isle of Guernsey,
where he engaged in the manufacture of cement
blocks. In 1871 he came to Brooklyn, N. Y.,
and five years later to California, his death oc-
curring in April, 1887, at the age of sixty-six
years, while on a visit to his son. The mother,
formerly Mary Lynch, was also a native of Coun-
ty Kerry, Ireland; she still survives and makes
her home in Los Angeles at the age of eighty-
four years. She became the mother of three
sons and three daughters, of whom one son and
two daughters are deceased. A son, Edmund J..
was roadmaster for the Southern Pacific Rail-
road for over twenty-four years, when he re-
signed and is now living retired in Los Angeles ;
the daughter, Catherine, is the wife of James
C. Mclnerny, of Los Angeles.

In infancy Denis Mulvihill was taken by his
parents to the Isle of Guernsey, and there at-
tended the public schools in pursuit of an edu-
cation. In 1868 he came to Brooklyn, N. Y.,
and there engaged in different lines until 1875.
when he came to California and entered the
employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, work-
ing in the freight house in Los Angeles and later
as section foreman. In 1876 he was sent to
Dry Camp on the desert, nine miles west of
Indio when that place was the terminus. He re-
mained there as foreman for the period of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1577

two years, when he went to El Casco as fore-
man of section 41. In the fall of 1880 he pur-
chased his present ranch, known as the old I^cter
Horton place, and in 1885 he resigned his ])osi-
tion as foreman to give his time and at-
tention to the improvement and cultivation
of his propert}'. This consists of ..one hun-
dred and twenty acres of rich land, all King
in the valley, three miles south of Red-
lands and adjoining its city limits, has a pipe
line for irrigation from Yucaipe creek, he own-
ing one-ninth of the water right. He has
ten acres in apricots, five acres in prunes, twelve
acres in oranges, ten acres in alfalfa, and the
remainder devoted to grain and stock. He has
built a comfortable and substantial resi<lence and
many other improvements which have placed his
ranch among the valuable ranches of the county.
In Los Angeles, in the old Plaza Oiurch. Mr.
Mulvihill was united in marriage with Miss
Margaret Hanrahan, who was also a native of
Isle of Guernsey, the ceremony being performed
by Peter \'erdeguer, who was made Bishop
of Brownsville, Texas, in 1878. They are the
parents of the following children : Mary Frances,
a graduate of the Redlands high school and
Stanford L^niversity. and now a teacher in the
Los Angeles Polytechnic high school ; Edmund.
a graduate of the Redlands high school, and en-
gaged with his father in the management of the
home ranch ; John H.. a graduate of Redlands
high school and a clerk in that city ; Margaret
Ellen, a graduate of the Redlands high school
and now a student in the San Diego Normal ;
and Frank G., attending the Redlands high
school. Mr. Mulvihill was school trustee for
twenty-one years and clerk of the board for
twenty years in the Railroad district. Fraternally
he is identified with the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks, of Redlands, and politically is a
stanch adherent of the principles advocated in
the platform of the Democratic party, having
served as a member of the Democratic County
Central Committee for the past eight years.
With his family he is a member of the Sacred
Heart Church of Redlands. and is one of its
most liberal supporters. He is liberal and
progressive and held in the highest esteem by
all who know him.

GEORGE EL]\1ER TRIGGS. Enterprising,
energetic and capable, George Elmer Triggs. of
Rivera, is a valuable member of the community
in which he resides, and as a skilled mechanic,
expert in all departments connected with lilack-
smithing is doing his part in promoting its in-
dustrial prosperity. A son of Thomas and Mary
Triggs. he was born in Marshall county. Kans..
where 1 ' , parents .settled soon after the close of

the Civil war. His father, a farmer, sub.se-
quently removed to Nebraska, and there spent his
last years, dying in Barnston, while his wife, who
survived him, died in Topeka, Kans.

Being taken by his parents to Nebraska when
a small child, George E. Triggs was then;
brought up, acquiring a practical education in the
district schools. After the death of his father
he went with the family to Topeka, Kans., where
he served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's
trade, which he subsequently followed for a time
in Douglas, Wyom. The Spanish-American war
breaking out while he was there, he enlisted in
Company F, First Wyoming \'olunteer Infantry,
in which he served as corporal for eighteen
months. For a year he was stationed in the
Philippine Islands, where he was an active par-
ticipant in twelve or more engagements. Re-
turning to California, he was mustered out of
service in San Francisco, receiving his honor-
able discharge. Going back then to Topeka,
Kans., he operated a blacksmith's shop there
for a year, meeting with good success. Com-
ing then to Los Angeles county, he was located
for six months at Whittier. From there he came
to Rivera, where he opened a well-equipped
blacksmith and machine shop, in which he is pre-
pared to do all kinds of work in his line with
promptness and ability.

In Rivera. Cal.. November 29. igo2. Mr. Triggs
married Belle Ellis, who had been postmaster
here for seven years, and they have one child.
Ira Ellis Triggs. Politically Mr. Triggs is a strong
Prohibitionist, and fraternally he belongs to the
Rivera Lodge of Good Templars, is a member of
Rivera Camp, M. W. A., the Red ;\Ien and the
Philip])ine \'eterans' Society.

J. CHARLES MACLAY. A wide-awake.
progressive, thorough-going business man, L
Charles iMacIay has for the past twenty years
been intimately associated with the mercantile in-
terests of Fernando, and has been an important
factor in advancing the welfare of the commun-
ity in which he has so long resided. The Maclay
Company, of which he is a member, is one of the
long-established firms of the place, and has built
up a large and lucrative trade in general mer-
chandise. He is distinguished as a native son
of California, his birth having occurred Januarv
20. 1860. in the city of Stockton, where liis fath-
er. Alexander Maclay. lived for a nuniber of
years.

I'ntil fourteen years of age J. C. Maclay lived
in the Santa Clara and San Joaquin valleys and
in April, 1874, came with the family to Fernando,
where he completed his public school education.
He subsequently farmed for a year, after which
he continued his studies for two vears at the l^tv-

].j7S

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

versit}- of Southern California, in Los Angeles.
Returning to Fernando at the end of that time,
he was employed in agricultural pursuits for a
season. Embarking then in mercantile trade, he
met with success from the first and now as a
member of the JMaclay Company is carrying on
a flourishing business as a general merchant, his
store being well stocked with a choice line of
groceries, dry goods and everything demanded
by the trade, his aim being to supply and satisfy
the wants of his numerous customers.

February 28, 1900, J\Ir. ^laclay married Isa-
bella Rice Granger, who was born and reared
in New York, and they have one child, Fredericka
Maclay. Politically Mr. jNIaclay is a steadfast
Republican. Fraternally he is a charter member
and past noble grand of Fernando Lodge No.
365, I. O. O. F., and a charter member of
Fernando Lodge No. 214, A. O. U. W., in which
he has passed all the chairs, and represented his
lodge at the Grand Lodge in 1892. Religiously
both Mr. and Mrs. Maclay attend the Presby-
terian Cburcli.

HENRY C. HUBBARD. Prominent among
the earl)- settlers of Fernando is Henry C. Hub-
bard, who came here upwards of thirty years
ago, when the post office and the little village
store were the only business establishments of
the place. In the development of this straggling
hamlet to a populous township, rich in its agri-
cultural and industrial resources, he has taken
an active part, watching its growth with genuine
pride and satisfaction. Of New England an-
cestry, he was born September 19, 1844, in Hart-
ford, Windsor county, Vt., but was brought up
and educated in New Hampshire, living there
until after attaining his majority.

In 1867, fired by the ambitions of youth, Mr.
Hubbard came from the Atlantic coast to the Pa-
cific shores, locating in Santa Cruz, Cal, where
he lived until 1875, working first for wages, and
afterwards as a lumber manufacturer and dealer.
Coming then to Fernando, he has since been an
honored resident of the place. Subsequently
forming a partnership with F. M. Wright, under
the firm name of Hubbard & Wright, he pur-
chased, in 1887, eleven hundred and twenty
acres of partly improved land, which was then
used as a sheep ranch, there having been at that
time one hundred and sixty thousand sheep in
the valley. He has placed the land under culti-
vation, devoting it entirely to grain, and every
year he and his partner raise excellent crops. In
the carrying on of their profitable occupation this
enterprising firm uses all of the latest improved
machinery and appliances, including steam plows
and steam harvesters, and are meeting with ex-
ceUent financial returns.

In 1884 Mr. Hubbard married Kate E. Maclay,.
a daughter of the late Hon. Charles Maclay, of
whom a sketch may be found on another page of
this biographical work. Two children have
blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard,
Catherine P. and M. Wright. Politically Mr.
Hubbard is a stanch Republican, and for four
years served as supervisor of Los Angeles covm-
ty. Fraternally he is one of the charter mem-
liers of Fernando Lodge No. 343, F. & A. M.,
and a charter member and past workman of San
Fernando Lodge No. 214, A. O. IJ. W.

J. EUCLID AIILES. The real-estate in-
terests of Santa jNIonica have an able representa-
tive in the above-named gentleman, who, al-
though he has been a resident only since 1902,
is a prominent factor in the material upbuild-
ing of the city. He is a native of ( )hio. his birth
having occurred in ]\Iorrow county. His father,
Enos Miles, was born in Chester\-ille, that coun-
ty, where he carried on a groce,j'y. In 1849 ^^
crossed the plains with ox-teams and came to
California, locating in JNIarysville, Yuba county,
where he engaged in placer mining, and was
also one of the builders of the Yuba river dam.
Having returned to the east in the mean time,
in 1853 he made a trip to the coast by way of
the Isthmus, and located once more in Marys-
ville. Subsequently he returned once more to
Ohio, and in Mansfield, that state, his death oc-
curred in 1888. His wife was in maidenhood
Margaret A. Claflin.

J. Euclid Miles grew to manhood in his native
state, receiving- his education in the common
schools near his home and also in Notre Dame
University and the Brothers School in Dayton,
Ohio. His first position was as a clerk in a busi-
ness house on Wall street. New York Cit}-, which
he accepted in 1872, but subsequently he re-
turned to Ohio and for a short time was en-
gaged in the book business with his father in
Mansfield. In 1873 he became an employe of
the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indiana-
polis Railroad, and after giving this up went to
Colorado, there securing a position in the motive
power department of the Denver & Rio Grande
which he held for a number of years. With the
means accumulated during that time he went
into business for himself in Pueblo, Colo., estab-
lishing a real-estate and insurance office at that
point. During the twent}'-two }'ears in which
he made that place his home and the scene of his
activities he rose to a position of prominence
among the citizens both socially and financially
and accumulated considerable valuable property.
Deciding to locate in Southern California, on
July 4, 1902, he came to Santa Monica and at
once organized the Santa JNIonica Investment

^^fc<>Z>w//^^

'/

-^^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1581

Company, one of the strongest real estate con-
cerns of this place. He is now acting as general
manager for the company, while Robert F. Jones
serves as president; Edwin Dike as vice-presi-
dent; Roy Jones, as secretary; and the Bank of
Santa Monica as treasurer. They conduct a
general business and have met with more than
the expected success.

Mr. Miles was married in New York City to
an accomplished lady, a native of Ireland', in
which country she received her education. In
his fraternal relations Mr. Miles is associated
with the Knights of Columbus, and the Benevo-
lent Protective Order of Elks, of which latter he
is treasurer. A man of ability and many ad-
mirable personal traits of character, he is held
in high esteem by all who know him and ac-
counted a representative citizen of his adopted
city.

DANIEL ilYERS. While there are many
people in Southern California engaged in the
poultry business, few devote themselves so
exclusively to the turkey raising branch of the
occupation as does Daniel Myers of Hemet.
He also carries on general ranching on a large
scale and has three hundred acres of land
planted to grain crops, a like area being used
for pasturage purposes. There are twenty-
five head of cattle, eighteen horses and a thou-
sand young turkeys on the place at the pres-
ent time. Mr. Myers was born August 4,
1843, i" Wayne county. Ohio, the son of
John and Mary (MiddlekauflF) Myers, the
father being a native of Pennsylvania, and the
mother of Maryland. Both parents settled in
Ohio when they were children, and Mr. My-
ers, who was occupied as a farmer in that
state, is now living there at the advanced age
of ninet\' \'ears. His wife died in Ohio in
1887.

It was in the public schools of his native
state that Daniel Myers was educated, his boy-
hood days being spent on his father's farm.
When twenty-one years of age, being of an
ambitious nature and desiring to see some-
thing of the world, he joined a party of emi-
grants coming to California in the spring of
1864, and after a trip occupying four months
and five days arri\-ed in Sacramento August
25 of that year. For the following twelve
months he secured employment by the month,
and then established himself in the turkey
business, raising twelve hundred the first year,
and during the following four years marketed
eight thousand eight hundred and fifty birds.
Poultry was high in those days and this busi-
ness was almost as good as a gold mine to Mr.
Myers. In 1870, desiring to make a change, he

disposed of his interests in Sacramento. Lo-
cating in the San Jacinto valley he purchased
an interest in the E.studillo grant and later
added to his possessions by acquiring one hun-
dred and eleven acres of government land,
upon which his home is now located. He built
substantial and commodious buildings and oth-
erwise improved the ranch. He engaged in
farming operations exclusively for six years,
then added turkey raising to his pursuits, and
has since that time built up the business to its
present extensive proportions.

In 1873, while in Ohio, Mr. Myers was unit-
ed in marriage with Amanda Shanklin, a na-
tive of that state, and they are the parents of
three children : Charles C] living at home : Ed-
win, engaged in mining in Alaska; and Etta,
the wife of Charles Slanker of Riverside. Fra-
ternally Mr. Myers is a member of Pomona
Lodge, I. O. F., and politically he affiliates
with the Democratic party. He takes a spe-
cial interest in educational matters and has
been trustee of his school district, also of the
Hemet high school for one term. He is a man
of progressive ideas and upright character and
exerts a salutary influence in the communitv.
the welfare of which he has alwavs had at
heart.

HORACE J. SEELY. Some years after the
fever heat of excitement over the discovery of
gold in California had subsided Horace J.
Seely was brought to the state by his parents,
Timothy and Mary (Love) Seely, natives of
Xew York and Ohio respectively, although
their married life up to that time had been
))assed in Michigan. Besides Horace J., who
was- born in Berrien county, Mich., September
2, 1850, there was one other child in the parent-
al family, Qiarles, who was born in Napa
county, Cal, September 27, 1859: he died of
cancer of the stomach March 21, 1906. From
Napa county, where the family first settled,
they removed to Solano and Contra Costa
counties respectively, remaining only a short
time in each, however, and in 1871 settled in
Arroyo (irande, San Luis Obispo county,
where the father spent the remainder of his
life. During a part of the twelve years which
Mr. Seely lived in Napa county he was a mem-
ber of the National Guards, and fraternally
lie belonged to the I\Iasonic order. His church
affiliations were with the Methodist Episcopal
denomination at Arroyo Grande, with which
body of believers his wife is still connected.
Air. Seely died at the age of seventv-seven
years, his death terminating a life filled with
noble and tm<;elfish deeds. His widow still

1582

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

survives and at the age of seventy-three years
enjoys her facuhies unimpaired.

As he was a lad of eight years at the time
the family left .Michigan to take up life in the
west Horace J. Seely was educated almost en-
tirely in the schools of Napa county, which
was his home for twelve years. Following the
fortunes of his parents he came to Arroyo
Grande in 1871, and for thirty-live years has
assisted in the march of progress in this flour-
ishing center of activity. His twenty-two and
a half acre ranch produces twenty-five sacks
of beans to the acre, besides which he raises
large quantities of beets.

In 1875, in Arroyo Grande, Mr. Seely was
united in marriage with Dora Casteele, a na-
tive of Missouri, and four children have been
born to them. The eldest born, W. J., is now
thirty years old and a resident of Santa Rita :
A'lary, who is twenty-eight years old, is the
wife of Fred Keller, of Santa Barbara county,
and the mother of one child; A. T. chose as
his wife Sarah Fillmore, and they have one
child : the youngest child of the family is Clara,
now in her seventeenth year. In his political
belief Mr. .Seely is a Republican, and his re-
ligious inclinations are tow^ard the Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which his wife is a mem-
ber, her membership being in the church at
Arroyo Gr-ande. The accumulation of exces-
sive wealth has at no time been the_ aim or
object of Mr. Seely's life, but rather to live
well and worthily, and that his life has been
above reproach is the universal acknowledg-
ment of those Avho have been associated with
him for the long period of thirty-five years.

ALFRED C. DRAKE. The western repre-
sentative of a fine old family of New York,' Al-
fred C. Drake is located in the vicinity of El
Monte and engaged in the management of a fine-
ly improved ranch of ten acres, in walnuts six-
teen years old, and also, a fifteen acre tract in
the Bassett district which is set to walnuts and
alfalfa. Born in St. Lawrence county, N. Y.,
March 10, 1873. he was a son of James and
Martha (Vincent) Drake, the former of whom
was a native of the same place and the latter of
Ontario, The grandfather, Francis Drake, was
a soldier in the Civil war, serving in a New York
regiment, after which he followed farming in
St. Lawrence county, where his son James was
engaged as a builder. The latter subsequently
removed to Franklin county, Iowa, and followed
his trade, and from there went to Minnesota and
North Dakota, finally coming to California. He
died in El Monte in 1898. at the age of forty-
eight years. His wife had previously died in
tlicir home in Iowa.

The on!}- child born to his parents, Alfred C.
Drake was reared in the different states where
his parents made their home, removing to Iowa
at the age of four years, thence to Minnesota at
seven, and at nine to Valley City, N. Dak., his
education being received in the public schools
and the St. Cloud ( Minn. ) Normal School. He
then attended a business college in Fargo and
in 1893. after his graduation, located in Phoenix,
Ariz. In the same year he came to El Monte,
where his father had purchased a ranch on the
Santa Anita road. He farmed this property for
a year and a half, when he bought a ranch in
the Puente district and when twenty-three years
of age he engaged in farming for himself. In
El Monte. March 10, 1896, "he married Miss
Myra Maxson, a native of Colusa county, Cal.,
and a daughter of B. F. Alaxson, whose name is
one well known in this section of Southern Cali-
fornia. (For more complete details concerning
his life refer to the sketch of his son, which ap-
pears elsewhere in this volume.) Mrs. Drake
traces her ancestry on the maternal side to Pris-
cilla Alden. She is a woman of excellent quali-
ties, well educated and highly cultured, and has
a wide circle of friends in El Monte and vicin-
ity. They have four children, namely : James
Merwin, Elizabeth Fay, Frederick Arthur and
Francis Maxson.

In 1904 Mr. Drake improved his property by
ihe erection of a new residence and also made
other improvements. Both himself and wife are
members of the Mountain View Presbyterian
Church, in which Mr. Drake officiates as chair-
man of the board of trustees. Fraternally he is
prominent, having been made a Mason in 1903
in Lexington Lodge No. 104, F. & A. M., of
El Monte, of which he is now serving ai master,
and both himself and wife are members of the
Order of Eastern Star, El Monte Giapter No.
172, of which he is Worthy Patron. He is also
identified with the Ancient Order of United
^^'orkmen, having served in his local lodge as
recorder for seven terms, and the Independent
Order of Good Templars. He is a Republican in
his political convictions, and actively supports his
party principles. Since its organization he has
been a member of the Mountain Mew Walnut
Growers' Association. In educational afifairs Mr.
Drake has always taken a prominent part, having
served for the past six years as a member of the
board of trustees of the Mountain View School
district.

EDWARD J. STE^^"ART. In the .selection
of Mr. Stewart as overseer of their pipe lines
the Los Posas Water Company of Somis have
secured the services of one who will guard the
interests of his superiors with the same care that

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RFXORD.

1583

his own affairs would receive. In the (Hstribii-
tion of water over the town and vicinity three
engines are kept in constant operation, besides
which four windmills are at all times adding to
the supply.

As a native son of the state Mr. Stewart was
born in \'entura county September 24, 1871, a
son of Oscar D. Stfiwart, a native of Michigan.
(For a more complete history of the Stewart
family the reader is referred to the .sketch of the
father, which will be found on another page of
this volume.) The common schools of this
county furnished the text-book knowledge which
Mr. Stewart was permitted to enjoy, but he has
never ceased to be a student, for by the reading
of carefully selected literature he has become
well informed, and all who know him speak of
him in the highest terms. His school days over,
his energetic disposition made immediate work
essential, and in the selection of ranching he
chose the work nearest at hand, for he was
reared on a farm and during his boyhood and
youth had assisted his father very materially in
the care and management of the home place.
He discontinued his agricultural enterprise, how-
ever, in November, 1905, at which time he ac-
cepted his present position with the Los Posas
Water Company. Though he has been with the
company little more than a year the time has
been all sufficient to prove his trustworthiness,
for lie believes that what is worth doing is worth
doing well.

In 1895 Mr. Stewart was married to Miss
Lucy Russell, who is of southern parentage,
born in Mississippi, the daughter of Henry and
Lucretia (Sheffield) Russell. The mother is de-
ceased, but the father still survives and is a resi-
dent of Ventura, being marshal of the town.
Two children have blessed the marriage of Mr.
and Mrs. Stewart, Lorraine and Russell. Mr.
-Stewart is proud of the privilege to claim mem-
bership in the organization known as the Native
Sons of the Golden West, which is his bv right of
birth in this state, and he affiliates with the par-
lor at Ventura. The only other order to which
he belongs is the Modern Woodmen of .America,
belonging to the camp at Somis. His political
sympathies are in accord with Democratic prin-
ciples, which he supports whenc\-er the occasion
arises.

GEORGE W. GLF.NN. The descendant of
a representative pioneer family, and a lifelong
resident of California, G. W. Glenn occupies
a prominent position among the thriving ag-
riculturists of Ventura county, his highly im-
proved and productive ranch being located
near Camarillo. A man of industry and sound
judgment, the success which has attended him

throughout his career has been brought about
by persistent energy, well-directed toil and
exceptional business ability on his part, and
he is in truth well deserving of the respect
and confidence in which he is everywhere held.
A son of the lale Joseph Glenn, he was born
January 5, 1857, in X'isalia, Tulare county,
and there and in Kern county he receix'ed his
early education.

A native of Tennessee, Joseph Glenn suc-
ceeded to the occupation of his ancestors, be-
coming a farmer. In 1852 he came to Califor-
nia, and for a while tried mining, but not
meeting with the anticipated success he re-
sumed his foruicr independent calling. Re-
moving from Kern county to Ventura county,
he first took up a government claim near
Hueneme. Later he spent some time as a
farmer in Los Angeles county, but in 1886 re-
turned to Ventura county, and was here em-
ployed as a tiller of the soil until his death
in 1891, at the age of seventy-two years. He
was a man liighly esteemed, and a stanch
Democrat in his political views. He married
Mary Grounds, a native of Arkansas, and she
is now living in Hueneme, a bright and active
woman of seventy-eight years, and a valued
member of the Presbyterian Church. Four-
teen children blessed their union, five of whom
are deceased, and of the nine that survive
seven are residents of California.

Brought up on a farm, G. W' . Glenn became
well versed in agricultural lore during the
days of his boyhood and youth, and started
out on his own account at an early age. Com-
ing to Ventura county, for si.x y^ears he car-
ried on general farming in Hueneme on rented
land. The ensuing four years he was similarly
employed in Los Angeles county, but not
being quite contented with the results of his
operations in that locality he returned to Ven-
tura county. Laboring earnestly and success-
fully, he made money, and in 1893 purchased
seventy-seven acres of his present home ranch,
which now comprises one hundred and fifty
acres. A part of his land he devotes to rais-
ing hay, but he makes a specialty of beans, his
land readily yielding about twelve sacks per
acre.

In 1880 Mr. Glenn married Catherine M.
Cawelti, a daughter of the late John Cawelti.
Mr. Cawelti was born January 26, 1828, in
Germany, and died at the age of sixty-three
years in Ventura county, Cal. He came with
his jiarents to this country when young, and
for many years was engaged in agricultural
pursuits in Ohio. In 1864 he migrated with
liis family- to Sonoma county, Cal., and in
1868 removed to Ventura county, where he ac-
quired a handsome property, becoming owner

1584

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of ten hundred and three acres of land in the
Santa Clara valley of the south. As a gen-
eral farmer he was exceedingly prosperous,
and as a man and a citizen was much respect-
ed. He was a Democrat in politics. While
living in Ohio he married Catherine M. Wag-
ner, who was born in Germany, and died in
Ventura county, at the age of seventy-three
years. She was a member of the Presbyterian
Church, and in that faith reared her nine chil-
dren, ail of whom are living in California, in
Pleasant Valley. Air. and Mrs. Glenn are the
parents of four children, Ethel, Lena, Clifford
and Edward. In his political affiliations Mr.
Glenn is a Democrat, and religiously he be-
longs to the Baptist Church. He is a mem-
ber of the Fraternal Brotherhood, an organi-
zation in which he takes great interest. Mr.
and ]\Irs. Glenn are known far and wide as
generous, hospitable people, and their pleas-
ant home is a center of social activity.

LEROY ARXOLD. Until his death Leroy
Arnold was one of the most prominent citizens
of \'entura county, where he settled in 1870.
He was born January 22, 1842, in DeKalb county,
III, his father, Cutler, being a native of Ohio,
born in 1818, and his mother, Emily Hough in
maidenhood, being a native of Illinois. Tliey
removed to California in 1852, coming by the
Panama route to Marysville, and from there
they went to Sierra count}', remaining there for
a time. The year 1857 found them in Lassen
county, where the father engaged in ranching
until 1868, when he came to Ventura county and
engaged in that business on a large scale. Both
parents continued to reside here until their
deaths, having spent their last days in the home
of their son Leroy. The father lived to be eighty-
two vears of age. Of the nine children born to
the parents six are still living.

In Lassen county. September 19, 1865, Leroy
Arnold was married to Miss Carrie F. Hill, a
native of Indiana and the daughter of William
R. and Sarah (Gragg) Hill, the former a native
of Xew York state and the latter born in Noble
county, Ind. William R. Hill, who was a farmer
and carpenter by trade, settled in Indiana prior
to his marriage. From there he removed to
Missouri and one year later settled in Iowa. In
1859 he started for Pike's Peak with his wife
anil seven children. He began the trip with
horses, but while on the way decided to come to
California instead and traded his horses for
oxen. His route followed the Sublet cut-oilf by
Harney Lake valley, Mr. Hill coming only a
few da>-s after the Shepard party, which was
massacred. He located on Lassen county and
engaged in contracting and building in ad-

dition to farming until 1865, when he removed
to a farm near Eugene, Lane county, Ore., re-
maining there for six years. After this he re-
turned to California, first to \'entura county, and
after a few years bought a home in Tulare
county. He died at the latter location in the
year 1884, and his wife in A'entura county in
1870. There were seven children in the family,
Mrs. .\rnold being next to the oldest.

In 1870 Mr. and ^Irs. Arnold removed to
Hueneme. j\Ir. Arnold rented a ranch for a
time, and then bought out the interest of his
brother Eugene in a one hundred and sixty acre
ranch and engaged in farming, in addition to
which he operated a thrashing machine and
raised thoroughbred horses. He took a promi-
nent interest in all public affairs of this section,
was an advocate of the principles of the Republi-
can party, and fraternally affiliated Avith the
Alasonic lodge. His death, which occurred
February 25, 1902, at the age of sixty years,
one month and three days, removed one of the
most successful men and highly respected citizens
of \'entura county. His wife and seven children
survive him, the youngest son, Dell, and Airs.
Arnold conducting the home ranch, which com-
prises over one hundred and twenty acres of
land devoted to beet growing. It is a well im-
proved piece of property and has a ten-inch well
located on the highest point, from which the
whole ranch may be irrigated. The other chil-
dren are: Effie, who married Arthur Smith, of
Hueneme; Afollie, now Mrs, W. T. Fulton, of
Camarillo ; Martha, the wife of J. E. Fulton, of
Oxnard : Olive, who married Walter Rowe, of
Hueneme ; and Roy and Alton, both residing in
Hueneme. Airs. Arnold adheres to the faith of
the Christian Science Church.

LAZARUS I^ETER CASXER. An active,
wide-awake man of versatile talents, broad
and progressive in his views, L. P. Casner
has had a varied career in life, and wherever
he has lived and labored has won for himself
an honored position in business circles. He
now has charge of the stage station on the
stage line route between Foster and Julian,
the station being located on the boundary line
of the Ballena and Ramona precincts, and in
this capaciLv is ably and faithfully performing
the duties devolving upon him, winning the
approval of his emplovers, and the esteem and
hearty good will of the traveling public. He
is a native of San Diego county, born Alay 14,
1873. a son of Alartin A^'an and Alary (Little-
page) Casner.

Endowed b\^ nature with those three char-
acteristics, energy, ability and push, which are
jire-eminent in all true born Americans, L. P.

IS^<L.(S,71AV.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1587

Casner started in life at the early age of
seventeen years, for two years being employed
on the Hurt stock ranch in Arizona. Return-
ing home, he learned the carpenter's trade,
which he followed for a while, after which he
was engaged in the cattle business on his own
account for five years. He subsequently
learned the trade of butcher, which he fol-
lowed in Monrovia, Los Angeles county, for
two years, during which time he joined the
Los Angeles Butchers' Union, to which he
still belongs. Going then to Lower California,
he ran a store there for a year. Returning to
Los Angeles, he was for five years connected
with a private detective force, and while thus
employed traveled extensively throughout the
west and northwest. Settling then in San
Diego county, he was for a few seasons em-
ployed in general ranching, and then accepted
his present position with Mr. Foster, and has
had full charge of the stage station, as above
mentioned, managing its business most suc-
cessfully and satisfactorily.

In 1898 Mr. Casner married Edith M. Clev-
enger, who was born in Chico, Butte county,
Cal., a daughter of J. K. P. Clevenger, and
they are the parents of three children, namely:
Charlotte C, Lorain and Violet Pearl. Mr.
Casner is a straightforward Republican in
politics.

LLOYD E. NOBLE. The impetus afford-
ed to all business enterprises through the rap-
idly growing popularity of Long Beach has
attracted to its citizenship a large number of
men directly or indirectly connected with the
real estate business and the building industry,
and among these men may be mentioned
Lloyd E. Noble, who has been interested in
the building for sale of modern cottages and
substantial residences, as well as doing a gen-
eral real estate business. Though familiar
with every detail connected with contract car-
pentering and himself the possessor of varied
experience in the occupation, he is yet a young
man, having been born December 8, 1881, and
is a native of Lake City, Calhoun county,
Iowa. His father, William M. Noble, was
born in Illinois and became interested in the
hardware and building business in Iowa,
where he became an extensive and successful
contractor at Lake City. On coming to Cali-
fornia in 1887 he took up work at his chosen
trade in Whittier and erected a number of
substantial structures in that locality, later
being similarly occupied in Santa Ana. For
some years he has made his liome in Los An-
geles, where he is financially interested in a
flourisliing industry. His first wife, who bore

the maiden name of Sarah Seaburn. died in
California August 6, 1892, at thirty-nine years
of age, and he remained a widower until Oc-
tober II, 1905, when he was united in mar-
riage with Jennie R. Kirby of Los Angeles.

When the family came to the Pacific coast
Lloyd E. Noble was less than six years of age,
hence his education has been secured almost
wholly in the west and principally in the
schools of Whittier. When fifteen years of
age he began to assist his father in carpenter-
ing and thus acquired an early and thorough
knowledge of the trade. At the age of
eighteen he became a partner of his father in
contracting and building and aided in the
erection of houses at Santa Ana and Long
Beach. In December, 1904, he became a part-
ner in the D. C. Lamb, Noble Grill Company
of Los Angeles, with which his father was as-
sociated, but at the expiration of six months
he sold his one-third interest. Subsequently
lie engaged in building houses in Long Beach,
his plan being to buy vacant property, im-
prove with modern dwellings and then sell.
Since January r, igo6, he has been engaged
independently in the general real estate and
investment business, also doing building to
improve his own properties.

Since coming to Long Beach Mr. Noble
has been connected with the Volunteer Fire
Company as a department officer, the com-
pany' having proved a distinct advantage and
source of protection to the city. Further he is
active in the California National Guard as a
'member of Company H, Seventh Regiment,
maintains affiliations with the Fraternal Aid
and the Modern Woodmen of America, in re-
ligion gives his support to the First Method-
ist Episcopal Church, and takes an active in-
terest in the Y. M. C. A. as chairman of the
membership committee from the First Meth-
odist Episcopal Church. In political affairs
he favors Republican principles in national is-
sues, but in local elections maintains an inde-
pendent attitude, favoring the men and meas-
ures best adapted to promote the progress of
city and coimt-\'.

HENRY DARIUS FREEMAN. Ranking
high among the active and thriving ranchers
of the Santa ^laria valley is H. D. Freeman, a
man of ability, intelligence and good business
capacity, whose ranch of two hundred acres lies
directly south of Santa Maria. ■ The greater
part of the tract is sown to grain, sixty acres
alone being given over to corn, which, though
not raised for commercial purposes direct, sup-
plies feed for his hennery, which is the largest

1588

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and one of the most flourishing industries of the
kind in the valley. At this writing (1906) he
has eighteen hundred laying hens and two thou-
sand young chickens, the latter produced by the
use of three incubators, which are kept in con-
stant operation. The incubators which are used
on the ranch are manufactured by Air. Free-
man's brother, Albert J., both being authorities
in the raising of chickens, and that their theo-
retical and practical knowledge produce un-
deniable results will be seen when it is stated
that during 1905 they sold in the San Francisco
market $3,300 wortli of eggs and $500 worth
of poultry.

A native son of the state, Henry D. Freeman
was born in Marin county August 8, 1859, ^
son of William D. and Mary (Halstead) Free-
man, of whom more facts are given in the sketch
of Albert J. Freeman. Mr. Freeman has known
no other home than his native state, and in
fact his life has been about equally divided be-
tween Marin and Santa Barbara counties. Edu-
cated in the common schools of Marin county.
while still a school boy he became interested in
the dairy business through association with his
older brother's dairy, and finally started in busi-
ness in the same line for himself. This con-
tinued for some time, but in the mean time he
had been making investigations along the line of
poultry raising, which in 1890 took tangible
form ijy the inauguration of his present ranch in
the Santa Maria valley. Having a thorough
understanding of poultry raising, in 1897 '""^ f""
gaged in the business on a large scale, and by
giving personal attention to details he has gained
a standing in the business communitv from a
financial standpoint of which he is well worthy.
and judging from his past record still greater
successes await him.

In 1878 Henry D. Freeman was united in
marriage with Miss Alary Lucas, a native of Alis-
souri, and the following children have been born
to them : Chester L., Ruth, Lulu, Emil, Joe, Nellie
and Lillian. Air. and Airs. Freeman are mem-
bers of the Christian Church, and are rearing
their children to lives of usefulness. PoHticall\-
Air. Freeman is a Republican, and fraternally
he belongs to the Good Templars and the Red
Alen, affiliating with the lodges at Santa A [aria.

EDW.\RD AlARIOX CHURCHILL.
Among the prosperous business men of Es-
condido E. Alarion Churchill, a hardware mer-
chant, holds a position of importance. He is
a man of recognized ability and worth, pos-
sesses keen judgment, and is enterprising and
progressive. .A. son of C. B. Churchill, he was
horn, Alarch 15. 1870. at Prairie City. lasper
count V, Iowa. His Grandfather Churchill, a

native of Xew York state, moved to ^^■iscon-
sin at an early day, being a pioneer farmer
of that state, and afterwards followed the
march of civilization still further westward,
locating in Iowa, where he resided until his
death.

Born in Erie county, X. Y.. C. B. Churchill
went with his parents to A\'isconsin. where he
followed farming for a niunber of years. Sub-
sequently settling at Prairie City. Iowa, he
improved a fine farm, and was profitably em-
ployed in agricultural pursuits for a number of
years. He kept abreast of the times in his la-
bors, using the most approved farm machin-
ery, and was one of the first to own a thresh-
ing machine in that state. In the fall of 1871
he moved to Butler county. Xeb., where he
purchased wild land and continued his opera-
tion.s as a farmer and stock-raiser. In 1883, '"
])artnership with his son. G. D. Churchill, he
embarked in business as a general merchant
at David Cit\% Xeb., where he remained a few
years. Selling his interest in the firm he re-
sumed farm.ing for awhile, and in 1893 locat-
ed in Escondido, where, in addition to general
ranching, he w?.s engaged in the milling bus-
iness until his retirement from active pursuits.
He married B. A. Stephens, who was born in
Erie county. Pa., a daughter of Sylvester
Stephens. 'who spent his last years on a ^^'is-
consin farm. She bore her husband six chil-
dren, of whom two sons and three daughters
are living, Edward Alarion. the subject of this
sketch, being the youngest child.

Brought up and educated in Xebraska, Ed-
ward Marion Churchill was graduated from
the David City high school, after wdiich'he took
a course of study at a business college in Des
AFoines. Iowa. Returning to Xebraska. he re-
mained at home until 1893. when he came
with the family to Escondido. where for two
years he assisted his father in improving a
ranch. Entering the flour mill then, he learned
the miller's trade, and changed the process of
manufacture of flour to the E. P. .\l!is bolting
system, bv which two hundred and sixty-five
]iounds of wheat were made to produce a bar-
rel of flour, inst-'-ad of three hundred and twen-
ty-five pounds, as formerlv required. Until
1899. he continued the management of the
plant, when, finding the location undesirable
for milling purposes, he gave up the business,
intending to go east for awhile. Changing his
mind, he bought a half interest with C. Young
in a bicycle business, paying $too for his share,
and ran the shop until October, 1900, w^hen
the plant, w^ith the exception of the repair
shop, was burned out. F"or $200 Air. Churchill
then purchased his partner's interest in the
Imsiness and the lot. md. moving into a new

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1589

building, dealt in bicycles and sporting goods
for a year, during which time he was robbed
one night of goods worth $150. In December,
1901, forming a copartnership with Prof. I. E.
Thomas, principal of the high school, Mr.
Churchill bought out the hardware business
of Arthur Jones, and has since been resident
manager of the store, in which he carries a
full line of hardware, agricultural implements,
bicycles and sporting goods. His store, which
he moved into in March, 1902, is 25.X80 feet,
and the warehouse is 50x120 feet. He han-
dles the Pope Alanufacturing goods, the J. I.
Case threshers and engines, Oliver chilled
plows, and the Studebaker's wagons and bug-
gies, carrying a fine assortment. He has ac-
quired considerable property, and on Iowa
street has erected a fine residence.

In David City, Neb., Mr. Churchill married
J. F. Lierle, who was born in Illinois, a daugh-
ter of \\'illiam Lierle, now a resident of Xor-
■>valk, Iowa, and they are the parents of three
children, namely: Arthur R., Ruth and Mil-
dred. Mr. Churchill is a member of the Escon-
dido Chamber cf Commerce, and for two years
rendered good service as city marshall and tax
collector. Politically he is a Republican.
Fraternally he was made a Mason in David
City, and is now a member and past master
of Consuelo Lodge, No. 325, F. & A. M., of
Escondido, which he joined at the time of its
organization ; is a member of the knights of
Pythias ; and both he and his wife belong to
the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Churchill
is a member of the Congregational Church,
towards the support of which he contributes
generously.

WILLIAM H. SMITH. To attain to so
honored a place in the community as has William
H. Smith is to live worthily and improve the
opportunities within reach of one's ability and in-
dustry. Without doubt the surroundings of his
youth had much to do with formulating those
principles of truth and honesty which are the
keynote of his character and which have helped
him in surmounting difficulties. A native of Wis-
consin, he was born in Lafayette county, No-
vember 15, 1847, ^ son of William and Sarah
(Davis) Smith, the former born in England, and
the latter a native of Illinois. When their son
William was a small child they left Wisconsin
and settled on a farm in Clay county. 111., re-
maining there until 1874, when they came to
California. The father died in Tulare county
when seventy-six years old, and the mother was
seventy-two at the time of her death. P>oth were
devout members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and throughout tlicir lives they exempli-

fied the teachings of the Master, who went about
doing good. Of the seven children Ijorn to them,
two are deceased.

Educated in the common schools of Clav coun-
ty, 111., William H. Smith interspersed with his
studies the duties that fall to the lot of the aver-
age farmer's son, and remained at home with
his parents until his twenty-fifth year. Upon*
coming to California in 1872 he went first to
Alameda county, working on a stock ranch there
for about two years, after which he went to Stan-
islaus county to take charge of a wheat ranch
as foreman. An experience of ten years there en-
abled him to lay by means with which to pur-
chase a ranch of his own. his choice of a location
taking him within a short distance of Pomona.
Five years later he disposed of the property and
came to \'entura county, here also continuing to
carry on a ranch, although it was not until about
i(j03 that he purchased and settled upon his pres-
ent property. With the exception of about twenty
acres of hay land the entire ranch, one hundred
and twenty-two and a half acres, is planted in
beans, his vines producing on an average fifteen
sacks to the acre. Although Mr. Smith may be
called a pioneer of Southern California, he is
comparatively speaking a newcomer to this im-
mediate vicinity. This fact, however, would not
be known from the appearance of his ranch, for
he has spared no means to supply himself with
the latest labor-saving devices and install im-
provements of a high order, with the result that
his ranch takes high rank among the best in \'cn-
tura county.

Air. Smith's marriage in 1884 united him witli
Aliss Belle Williams, a native of Kansas, and
the only child of their marriage is Raymond, who
is now a clerk in a store in Camarillo. The fam-
ily attend and support the Baptist Church, and
politically Mr. Smith is a believer in Republican
principles.

EDWARD T. HUGHES. The modern and
well-kept ranch which belongs to Edward T.
Hughes, bespeaks the ability and energy which
have characterized the eflfort put into the culti-
vation of the property. Camarillo, \'entura
county, is his postoffice. and Oxnard his market
town, where he finds a ready sale for the com-
modities produced on his ranch, which com-
prises beans and hay exclusively.

Richard \". and ' Elizabeth (Cullen) Hughes
were both natives of Pennsylvania, but prior to
the birth of their son Edward, they established
their home in Nebraska. There the father prac-
ticed his profession, becoming known as a law-
yer of exceptional talents and marked abilitv. a
fact which was emphasized liy his election to

1590

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the office of district judge. He died at the age
of fifty-nine years and his funeral was conducted
under the auspices of the Masonic and Odd Fel-
low fraternities, in both of which bodies he
had been an active member. The mother, who
is also deceased, passed away at the age of sixty-
eight years, leaving to mourn her loss many
friends who had worked side by side with her in
the various benevolent societies of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which she was an active
member.

Edward T. Hughes was born in Brownsville.
Neb., January 17, 1868, and received his educa-
tion in the common schools of his native village.
When he was a lad of only seven years his life
was saddened by the death of his father, and
early in life he began to assume duties which
but for this circumstance might have been avert-
ed until more mature years. After leaving school
he began to work on the neighboring fanns in
Nebraska, and at the age of twenty }-ears he had
acquired sufficient confidence in himself to strike
out in the world alone. Not content with the out-
look which he saw before him in his native state.
he came to California in 1888, locating first in Los
.■\ngeles, but finally came to Ventura county. To
one with less grit and determination the pros-
pects which confronted him would have seemed
dark indeed, but he was not daunted by the fact
that he was without money or friends, and phil-
osophically set about to find some honest em-
ployment. Farm work, the only thing with
which he was familiar, could be obtained with
ease, and for a number of years he \\nrked in the
employ of others. During this time, however.
the one thought paramount in his mind was to
lay by whatever could be spared after paying
his honest debts, in the hope of becoming a land-
owner himself at no far distant dav. His earn-
estness and frugalit}- were rewarded ^\-hc!i, in
1901, he became the owner of his present ranch
of one hundred acres. He has planted eighty
acres to beans, from which he reaps fifteen sacks
to the acre, and the remainder of the land is in
hay.

In 1891 Mr. Hughes formed domestic ties bv
his marriage with Miss Lulu Rice, who was born
in Kansas, a daughter of Benjamin and Marv
Rice. Mrs. Rice is still living, making her home
in Pomona, the death of her husband having oc-
curred in Pasadena. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes'have
a bright and interesting family of five" children,
named in the order of their birth as follows:
Herbert, Richard, Estella, Edna and Lottie. Like
his father before him Mr. Hughes is a Republi-
can in his political inclination, and like him, too,
he is a member of the Masonic fraternitv, holding
membership in Oxnard Lodge No. 341. Educa-
tional affairs have always been a matter of deep

interest to Mr. Hughes and he is now serving
as school trustee. His friends are not confined
to any age or class, but are drawn from all the
walks of life, for he is the same to all — high and
low, rich and poor — and all honor him for his
success and wish him many years of prosperity.
He has recently improved the appearance of his
property b}- the erection of new buildings
throuehout.

JOHN C. HARTMAN. Throughout the
neighborhood of Camarillo, Ventura county,
where he has made his home since 1874, j\Ir.
Hartman is known as an enterprising and efficient
rancher, few surpassing him in the output of beans
to which his ranch is devoted almost exclusively.
Immediately after coming to this place he pur-
chased his present ranch, comprising eighty-one
acres, and put it in vines, the venture proving so
successful that he later rented adjoining land un-
til he now has four hundred acres under his
control. With the exception of a few acres which
are in hay, all of the land is in beans, which
harvest from fifteen to eighteen sacks to the
acre.

An only child, John C. Hartman was born at
Mount Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa, May 26,
1858, a son of John and Belinda (Gray) Hart-
man, born in Ohio and Indiana respectively.
The greater part of their later life was passed
in Iowa, however, and it was there that the death
of the father occurred when he was only thirty-
six years of age. After this bereavement the
mother came to California, her death occurring
in Santa Barbara in 1896, when fifty-nine years
old. Both had been stanch members of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, and politically Mr. Hart-
man was a Republican. By the time he was
sixteen years old John C. Hartman had left
school and had entered the world of business.
Coming to California in 1874 he purchased the
ranch in Ventura county on which he now re-
sides, his energy and shrewd business methods
bringing him an early financial success.

January 2, 1881, Mr. Hartman was married to
Eliza A. Wilhite, a native of the Lone Star state
and a daughter of Rev. W. L. Wilhite, a minis-
ter in the Methodist Episcopal Church South, at
Santa Ana, where Mr. and Mrs. Wilhite make
their home. Four children have been born into
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hartman, Georgia,
Elmer, Jessie and Bertha, all of whom are receiv-
ing every educational advantage which their par-
ents can bestow. They are now attending the
schools of Los Angeles, in which city Mr. Hart-
man owns property, and for the time being the
family make their home there, although Mr.
Hartman's duties confine him very closely to

y^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1593

the ranch. JMrs. Hartman is an earnest member
of the Presbyterian Church, toward the support
of which Mr. Hartman gives Hberally. Through-
out his life he has kept in touch with the issues
before our government, has voted the Repubhcan
ticket, and upheld its principles whenever the op-
portunity has been offered. Accompanied by
his wife and one daughter Mr. Hartman re-
turned to the scene of his boyhood home in Iowa,
in 1904, after an absence of thirty years, from
there taking an extended trip throughout the
east and south. A fitting climax to this journey
was a visit to the World's Fair held in St. Louis.

GEORGE PALMER. During the twenty
years that George Palmer has been a resident
of Compton he has been industriously and
actively employed in advancing its agricult-
ural prosperity, and has his ranch well im-
proved and under a high state of cultivation.
His residence and outbuildings are neat, and
everything around him evinces the thrift and
care of its owner. A native of Indiana, he was
born November 23, 1839, of English ancestry.
His parents, William and Sarah (Bellamy)
Palmer, emigrated from England, their native
country, to the United States in 1835, locating
first in Indiana, from there going, in 1855, to
Marshall county. 111., where they spent the
remainder of their lives. Of the four children
that blessed their union, two are living, name-
ly: George, the special subject of this sketch;
and Mrs. Emily Litchfield, who was born in
England and is now living in Illinois. The
parents were people of sound religious prin-
ciples, and belonged to the Baptist Church.

Brought up in a rural district, two and one-
half miles from the nearest school, George
Palmer received limited educational advan-
tages, pursuing his studies in the winter
terms only. After removing with the family
to Illinois he assisted his father in the pio-
neer labor of improving a farm, and of this
homestead he ard his brother afterwards had
charge for a few years. Subsequently start-
ing in life for himself, Mr. Palmer purchased
land in Marshall county, 111., becoming own-
er of one hundred and twenty acres now in-
cluded within the limits of the city of Toluca.
Selling out, he went to Livingston county,
111., where he bought a half section of land, on
which he was successfully engaged in general
farming for several years. Disposing of that
estate in 1885, he came to Los Angeles coun-
ty, Cal., and having purchased his present
home ranch of sixty-two acres has since car-
ried on general farming with satisfactory re-
sults. The estate is now under the manage-
75

mcnt of liis s>.)ns, who make a specialty of rais-
ing alfalfa, for which the land is well adapted.
In 1864, in Illinois, Mr. Palmer married Isa-
bel Ruston, a native of Indiana, and of the
eleven children born of their union three died
in infancy, and eight are living, namely:
\Villiam R. ; George H. ; Eliza Belle, wife of
Frank \Valton ; Emily L. ; Anna Mary ; John
L. ; Jane E. ; and Robert L. Politically Mr.
Palmer is an uncompromising Democrat, and
when the town of Compton was incorporated
was elected to the office of town trustee. Fra-
ternally he is a member of Centennial Lodge
No. 247, I. O. O. F., and has been through all
of the chairs of the lodge with which he is
connected. Religiously he belongs to the old
school of Baptists, and is a faithful follower
of its creeds.

E. WRIGHT DAILY. An extensive and
prosperous agriculturist, now in the prime of life,
E. W. Daily is successfully engaged in his inde-
pendent vocation on one of the best and most
valuable homesteads in Ventura county. Located
near Oxnard, his ranch, with its comfortable and
convenient set of buildings and their neat and
tasteful surroundings, invariably attracts the at-
tention of the passerby, its general appearance
bearing evidence of the thrift and enterprise
which first established it, and by which it has
since been managed. A man of ability, industry
and intelligence, he has met with marked suc-
cess in his undertakings, and stands well in his
community, both from a social and a financial
point of view. A son of C. W. Daily, he was
born, May 10, i860, in Kansas, but was brought
up and educated in New York state.

A native of New York state, C. W. Daily be-
came a farmer from choice, and soon after his
marriage removed to Kansas, where for a few
seasons he was engaged in agricultural pursuits.
Returning to the Empire state in 1862, he enlist-
ed in the Fiftieth New York Engineer Corps, in
which he served two or more years. At the
close of the Civil war he resumed his chosen
occupation in New York, living there until 1892,
when he came to California. He is now retired
from active labor, and makes his home with his
son Charles. He is a Republican in politics, a
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and
belongs to the Masonic order. He married Ruth
(Fordham) Green, who was born in New York
state, and is now living there. Three childre*
were born of their union.

But two years of age when his parents re-
turned to New York state, E. W. Dailv there ob-
tained a common school education, and during the
days of his boyhood and youth acquired an ex-

1594

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

cellent knowledge of general farming. Coming
to California in 1884^ he located in \'entura
county, and for three years worked for wages
on the Patterson ranch. Pleased with the coun-
try and his prospects herein, he then, after a
brief visit at his old home in the east, purchased
three hundred acres of land, and by dint of hard
labor and good management has since improved
the ranch which he now occupies. As a tiller of
the soil, he has met with success, and is now de-
voting his time and attention to the raising of
beans and barley, making a specialty of beans,
which vield a good crop, averaging fifteen sacks
to the acre.

In 1889 Mr. Daily married Etta Crowley, who
was born and reared in New York state, and
they are the parents of four children, namely:
Nellie, Ruth, Bernice and Gladys. Politically Mr.
Daily is a warm advocate of the principles of the
Republican party, and for the past tw-elve years
has rendered srood service as school trustee.

HENRY BJORKMAN. A thorough knowl-
edge of the lumber industry in all its depart-
ments enables Mr. Bjorkman to discharge with
efficiency the duties connected with his chosen
occupation. Since the year 1895 he has made
San Pedro his home and has engaged in the
lumber business continuously, by careful in-
dustry gaining a thorough knowledge of its many
details. While he is a loyal American and a
patriotic Californian, his early years were spent
in the midst of scenes far different from those
that now surround him in the sunny west, for
in the cold and cheerless province of Finland his
eyes first opened upon a gray sombre world.
The home farm, which his father, John, cul-
tivated, was one with sterile soil scarce sufficing
to earn a livelihood for the family though all
combined in their efforts to eke out an exist-
ence from the barren acres. There were five
children in the family and of these Henry, the
third in order of birth, was born February 25,
1873, his birthplace being the homestead at
Nykarleby. Such advantages as were possible
his parents gave him, sending him to the public
schools of the town and training him to habits
of self-reliance and patient industry.

When nineteen years of age Mr. Bjorkman
came to the United States and sought employ-
ment in New Mexico, where he engaged for
eleven months in a sawmill at Qiama. Next he
worked at lumbering in the South Park of
Colorado and from there went to Nebraska near
Ogallala. where he worked in the employ of the
Union Pacific Railroad Company for eighteen
months. During 1895 he came to California,
since which time he has made San Pedro his

home. Securing emplojment in a humble ca-
pacity with the Southern California Lumber
Company, he learned the entire business thor-
oughly and proved himself an efficient workman.
September 29, 1903, he resigned to enter upon
business independently; since 1905 he has been
a member of the Lumber Surveyors" Association,
and is following as a business lumber surveyor.
During 1901 he erected on Second near Mesa
street a neat and comfortable residence, which
is presided over by his wife, formerly Alma
Sophia Newman, of Los Angeles. Mrs. Bjork-
man was born in the same part of Finland as
her husband, and both are sincere members of
the Lutheran Oiurch, in which faith they were
reared.

HENRY S. LANE. When the massacre of
St. Bartholomew's day forced many Huguenots
to flee from France and seek refuge in other
lands, the Lane family found a haven of safety
in England. The opening of the new world to
colonization gave them an opportunity to trans-
plant their race into a country where toleration
in religion might be anticipated, and they became
pioneers of Massachusetts, whence later genera-
tions scattered throughout the entire country.
Jonathan, son of Joseph Lane, was born at Or-
rington, Penobscot county. Me., became an archi-
tect and builder, and died at Bangor. The even
tenor of his life was broken by the outbreak of
the Civil war, in which he enlisted as a private
in the First Maine Heavy Artiller}-. At the ex-
piration of three years and six months he was
honorably discharged and immediately after-
ward raised a company which entered the Eight-
eenth Maine Infantrj'. Although he bofe a part
in many engagements the only wounds he re-
ceived were at Gettysburg : at all other times he
remained on the battlefield until the end of the
engagement, and bore a part in all the activities
of his regiment.

Born i"n Bangor, JNIe., July 8, 1861. Henry S.
Lane was an infant during the period of his
father's war service. As a boy he attended the
common schools of Bangor, and when he started
out to earn his own livelihood he went to Bos-
ton, three months later proceeding to Provi-
dence, R. I., where he served apprenticeship to
the jewelry trade. During' the year 1882 he en-
listed in the LTnited States army and was sent to
David's Island in New York harbor, and in the
same year was also sent to Salt Lake. Utah, as-
signed to Company E, Sixth LTnited States In-
fantry, under Col. Alexander McD. Cook. Later,
for eighteen months he was stationed at Fort
Washakie, ^^^■o., and then returned to Salt Lake
Citv. where he was mustered out January 9,
1887, after five years of service.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1595

Coming to Cailifornia and from San Francisco
to Los Angeles, Mr. Lane engaged in contract-
ing and building with a brother, W. E., for
more than two years. Next he was employed on
the Second street cable road until the failure of
the company operating the same, after which he
removed to Redondo, and for two and one-half
years was foreman with the Willamette Lumber
Company. Another year was spent with the
same company as salesman in Riverside and
San Bernardino counties, after which he bought
an interest in the old St. Charles hotel at San
Bernardino and operated the same for eighteen
months. On disposing of his interest in the ho-
tel he came to San Pedro in 1894 and entered
the employ of the Southern California Lumber
Company as yard foreman, since which time he
has continued in the same position. In point of
years of service he is the oldest employe of the
company. Few surpass him in accurate knowl-
edge of lumber and he has proved a reliable
man in his responsible place. At no time or
place has he been active in politics. Partisanship
spirit is foreign to his disposition and temper-
ament, and he takes no part in public affairs
aside from the casting of a Republican ticket at
general elections. Since coming to San Pedro
he has liecome identified with Masonry, having
been made a Mason in San Pedro Lodge No.
332. F. & A. j\r.. of which he is past master.

JOHN BENN. One of the many thrifty
ranches in the vicinity of Oxnard, \'entura coun-
ty, which elicits special notice is that occupied
b\- Tobn P.enn. In common with many in tliis part
of the county fie is interested exclusively in the
raising of beans, a commodity which seems par-
ticularly adapted to this soil and climate, and
from his tract of eighty acres ]\Ir. Benn gathers
on an average fifteen sacks per acre.

Although Mr. Benn is of English birth he has
has no personal knowledge of his native land,
for when he was only one year old his parents
immigrated to the United States to make their
permanent home. Landing in New York Citv in
1847, tlic "6^t year found them on the way to
Iowa, where the father, although a carpenter by
trade, carried on farming on a tract of land which
he had previously purchased there. \Vhile he was
fairly successful in the middle west, after four
years he determined to locate in the far west
and disposed of his Iowa farm. He reached
Salt Lake City. Utah, in the winter of 1852. and
on account of the difficulty of travel at that time
of the year decided to remain tliere until the
opening of spring. Again taking up the march
he got as far as Fillmore, l^tah, where the In-
dians were on the warpath. Being in sympathy

with the cause of the white settlers he took up
arms against the Indians and for three years
aided in subduing the dusky foe. ( )nce more re-
suming his westward journey he reached Santa
Barnardino in 1855, renmining in that cit>- one
winter, when he purchased a ranch and also took
up a claim not far from Montecito, Santa Barbara
county. His earth life was brought to a close on
the home ranch when he was in his eighty-eighth
year, while his wife passed away when she was
seventy-two years of age. Both were faithful
members of the Episcopal Church, and politically
Mr. Benn was a Democrat. The welfare of his
party was always of deep concern to him and his
constituents elected him a member of the city
council.

One of five children which comprised the par-
ental family, John Benn was born in Liverpool,
England, August 27, 1846, and was little more
than a child in arms when his parents landed on
the shores of the new world. He was about seven
years old at the time of the Indian war in Lftah,
and distinctly recalls the exciting times which the
family experienced prior to their removal to Cal-
ifornia. His school days began when the family
became established in Santa Barbara county, at-
tending first the city schools of Santa Barbara,
later the schools of Montecito. Until attaining
his majority he had taken an equal interest with
his father in the care of the home ranch, but at
the age of twenty-one he determined to strike out
in the world on his own behalf, his first inde-
pendent step being his marriage which occurred
in 1867, and united him with Mary E. Scull, who
was born and reared in Cincinnati, Ohio. After
his marriage he carried on a ranch in Santa Bar-
bara county until the year 1884, when he came
to Ventura county and bought forty acres of the
ranch on which he now resides. Subsequently
he was enabled to secure forty acres adjoining his
original purchase, and now has eighty acres de-
voted to the raising of beans exclusively. Suc-
cess has followed his persevering efforts and has
enabled him to accumulate some means, but his
personal gain has not been at the expense of prin-
ciple or honor, as is attested by his hearty en-
dorsement as a business man and neighbor from
all who are brought in contact with him either in
a business or social capacity.

Six children blessed the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Benn, whose names in order of birth are as
follows : Nettie A., now Mrs. Henry Mahan ;
Qiarles F.. Nellie, who died in infancy, Law-
rence D.. who died at the age of twenty-four
years: Mav, and .\gnes. who is now the wife
of John Riggs. .\lthough Mr. Benn is not
identified with any religious body he contrib-
utes to the maintenance of the Baptist Church,
of which his wife is a member, and may always

1596

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

be relied upon to lend a helping hand in any
cause that tends to further the good of the com-
munity. Nominally Mr. Benn is a Republican,
but strictly speaking he is independent in the
matter of casting his vote, invariably giving bis
ballot to the man who shows the highest prin-
ciples of honor and to the one best fitted for the
office in question.

MARTIN VAN CASNER. Distinguished
as an early pioneer of Southern California,
and as a substantial and prosperous farmer of
Ramona, M. Van Casner is eminently worthy
of representation in this volume. Settling in
Ballena valley nearly forty years ago, he put
his shoulder to the wheel, and, in common
with his neighbors, who were but few in num-
ber, toiled unceasingly and uncomplainingly
in his efforts to improve a homestead. Little
do the people of this day and generation real-
ize the hardships endured, the great ambition
required, and the physical effort demanded to
secure the homes established by the pioneers
for themselves and their descendants. How
well they succeeded is evident in the broad
expanse "of cultivated fields, the large fruit-
bearing orchards, and the productive vine-
3'ards that bespeak in no uncertain tones of
their courage, industry and thrift. In the up-
building and growth of Ramona and vicinity
he has ever evinced a warm interest, contrib-
uting his full share towards the establishment
of beneficial enterprises. A son of Martin
Casner, he was born October t, 1842, in Travis
countv. Tex., where he spent his early life.

Born in Alabcima. Martin Casner began his
business career in that state, and for many
years was influential in town and county af-
fairs, serving several terms as sheriff. Re-
moving from there to Texas, he bought large
tracts of land, some of which is still owned by
his descendants, and in- addition to being ex-
tensively engaged in the cattle business oper-
ated a s'awm'^ill'and a grist mill. Coming from
there to California, he bought one hundred
and sixty acres of land, and on the homestead
which he improved spent the remainder of his
life, passing away at the age 01 sixty-six years.
He married Jane Medford, who was born in
Alabama, coming from a family noted for its
inventive talent, and its mechanical skill and
ability. She survived him, dying at the ven-
erable age of eighty-seven years.

One of a family of nine children, M. Van
Casner was educated in the common schools
and under private tutors, receiving exceptional
advantages in that line. At the age of seven-
teen vears he enlisted in the Southern army,
ioining Company E, Texas Rangers, com-

manded by General McCord, and served for
four years. During three years of this time
he was doing frontier duty under General
VVatkins, being stationed at either Bankhead
or McGregor. After being mustered out, Mr.
Casner bought one hundred and sixty acres
of land near the three hundred and twenty-
acre ranch belonging to his father, and was
there employed as a tiller of the soil for about
three years. Coming to San Diego county in
1868, he took his Christmas dinner in Ballena
valley, and has since resided here. Taking
up a homestead claim of one hundred and
sixty acres, he immediately began clearing
the land, and by dint of persevering toil has
now a finely improved estate, which he de-
votes to the raising of fruit, grain and stock.
His vines, which are ten years old, yield on
an average of one ton per acre, of raisins, the
altitude of his vineyard being twenty-four
hundred feet. In his labors Mr. Casner has
met with acknowledged success, obtaining an
assured position among the prosperous and
substantial agriculturists of this part of the
county.

In 1865 Mr. Casner married Mary J. Little-
page, a native of ]Missouri, and they are the
parents of nine children, namely : Allie B.,
wife of O. D. Crothers, of Santa Barbara;
William D., of Orcut, Santa Barbara county,
who married Tillie Bergman; Effie J., wife of
Harry Hill, of El Cajon ; Lazarus P., of whom
a brief personal sketch may be found on an-
other page of this volume; Victor A., an en-
gineer: Vida, wife of J. C. Ouinn, of Hanford,
Kings comity; Amy, living at home; Grace,
attending the normal school; and Lillie, also a
pupil in the normal school. Politically ]\Tr.
Casner is a zealous supporter of the principles
of the Democratic party, and for two terms
served as constable. .Religiously he is a mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

LUCIUS B. PALMER. Among the men who
possess a strong faith in the future of Long
Beach and who give evidence of that faith
through their large business transactions and
extensive investments, mention properly belongs
to Lucius B. Palmer, member of the real-estate
firm of Palmer & Patterson, and identified with
the recent growth of this city. Mr. Palmer is
a native of Iowa and a son of A. B. Palmer,
whose settlement in that state dated back to the
davs of its territorial existence and witnessed
the gradual peopling of the commonwealth with
sturdy frontiersmen. For many years he rnade
Muscatine his trading point, but later resided
at Iowa Citv, Jefferson county, and it was in
that town that" the birth of Lucius B. Palmer

AcA>.P^^yt^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1599

occurred May 17, 1845. ^ few years later the
family moved to Illinois and about 185 1 settled
in Monmouth, where he received his primary
education in the public schools. Later he sup-
plemented his early studies by attendance at
Monmouth College for a short time.

When the Civil war began Lucius B. Palmer
was a stalwart youth of sixteen years, with all
the fiery enthusiasm of youth, deepened by an
intense devotion to the cause of the Union. Dur-
ing the first months of the war he offered his
services and was assigned to Company H, Sixty-
second Illinois Infantry, where he served for
four years and two months, although the orig-
inal period of his enlistment had been for three
_\ears only. With his regiment he bore a part
in a number of notable engagements, chief among
which was the battle of Shiloh. At the close of
the war he was honorably discharged while still
less than twenty-one years of age, with a record
of which he might well be proud.

The first independent venture in which j\Ir.
Palmer engaged was the management of a
mercantile establishment at Kewanee, 111., where
he remained for five years. At the expiration
of that time he removed to Iowa and took up
agricultural pursuits near Grinnell, where he
made his home for three years. During the early
part of his residence in Iowa, in 1870, he mar-
ried Lucinda M. Spooner, a native of Ohio.
While they were living on their Iowa farm a
daughter was born to them whom they named
Elsie, and who is now the wife of S. L. Wallis,
of Pasadena. In 1873 the family removed to
Nebraska, where Mr. Palmer took up a home-
stead claim in the vicinity of Hastings and later
became a resident of the town, engaging in busi-
ness as a hardware and furniture merchant and
also superintending his large tracts of farm
land. In Nebraska four children were born,
Grove M., Lilah B., Forest M. and Alta H., all
of whom are with their parents in Long Beach.

On coming to California in 1889 after dis-
posing of his interests in Nebraska, Mr. Palmer
made Pasadena his home for ten years and then
became a citizen of Long Beach, being attracted
to this city on account of it being a prohibition
town and also by reason of the locating of the
government breakwater. Arrived in Long
Beach, he was the first to enter upon real-estate
deals with office on the Ocean Front and in 1901
formed a partnership with J. W. Patterson, the
two now handling city property almost exclu-
sively. In politics he formerly affiliated with the
Republican party, but the evils of the liquor
traffic caused him to ally himself with the
Prohibitionists. In the various places of his
residence he has been an active supporter of
good schools. While in Nebraska he was not
only a member of the Hastings board of edu-

cation, but also for six years officiated as secre-
tary of Hastings College. In religion a Presby-
terian, he contributes to his own denomination
and also, with characteristic liberality, aids other
creeds and churches in the furtherance of their
work. Since coming to Long Beach he has been
an active worker in the Independent Order of
Good Templars. Other fraternities in which
he holds membership are the Grand Army of the
Republic, Order of Pendo, Modern Woodmen of
America and Ancient Order of United Work-

ANSON MAXWELL PETERS. During
the entire period of his residence in San Di-
ego county Mr. Peters has made his home
near Fallbrook, where in 1886 he bought the
tract of one hundred and fifty-four acres that
he still owns. Since it came into his posses-
sion he has erected a packing house and has
planted eleven acres in orange and lemon
trees. The neat appearance of the ranch
bears testimony to the thrifty disposition of
the owner, and those who know him state that
he is a substantial farmer. More than that, he
stands high as a large-hearted, liberal man,
generous to those in need, interested in all lo-
cal progressive movements, a contributor to
worthy enterprises, a warm friend and genial
companion, furnishing in his attributes the
highest type of citizenship.

The Peters family is of eastern ancestry.
Luard and Merinda (Cochran) Peters were
natives of Vermont, and there married and
remained for some years after their union. In
Grand Isle county, that state, their son, An-
son Maxwell, was born December 5, 1828.
The family became pioneers of Illinois in 1840
and settled in De Kalb county, w-here they
were pioneers and industrious farmers. Leav-
ing the locality in 1851, the parents settled in
Iowa and some years later they died
at Farmersburg, that state. It was im-
possilile for the son, A. M.. to attend school
regularly, for much of the time they lived re-
mote from any educational institution, and
even the crude log-cabin schoolhouse of front-
ier days was not always sufficiently near for
him to attend with any regularity. Hence the
knowledge he now possesses has been ac-
quired mostly by habits of close observation
and careful reading of the best periodicals and
other literature. When a mere boy he hired
out to work by the month and at the age of
twenty years he bought his time, so that he
was free to start out for himself.

Removing to low^a in 1850 Mr. Peters took
up government land in Clayton county and at
once entered upon the arduous task of put-

KiOO

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ting the soil into proper condition for cultiva-
tion. However, he was not long content to
remain there, but, hearing much concerning
the openings offered to 3'oung men b}- the re-
mote west, he determined to seek a home and
livelihood beyond the distant mountains and
beside the sunset sea. January 5, 1854, he was
a passenger on a vessel that sailed from New
York City for tlie Isthmus of Panama, from
which point he proceeded up the Pacific ocean,
landing in San Francisco about February 2.
Immediately afterward he proceeded to the
mines at Georgetown and for about fourteen
months he followed the adventurous life of a
miner, without, iiowever, meeting with any re-
markable success. .\ brief experience con-
vinced him that, while the climate of the west
was almost ideal, the occupation of mining
was not congenial to his tastes, so he returned
to Claj'ton county, Iowa, in April, 1855, and
resumed the quiet life of a farmer. For a con-
siderable period he remained in that county,
hut in 1868 he removed to Madison county,
Iowa, and secured a large tract of farm land.
During 1882 he came to California for the sec-
ond time and sett.led near Satico)', in Ventura
county, where he bought land and took up
general farm pursuits. Four years later he
disposed of his property in Ventura county
and came to the extreme southern part of the
state, where he has since lived in the vicinity
of Fallbrook.

The marriage of Mr. Peters took place in
Clayton county, Iowa, in December, 1855, and
united him with Jane Smith. Ten children
were born of their union, and one of these
died in infancy. The following attained ma-
ture years : Ella, wife of Thornas Gabbert, of
Ventura county, this state ; Dora, who mar-
ried William Bernett, and lives at Avery,
Cal. ; Herbert, living at Fallbrook ; Frankie,
who is the wife of Rev. Mr. Ashley, a Meth-
odist Episcopal preacher living at Garden
Grove ; Luard, who resides in Garvanza ; Su-
sie, Mrs. David Brown of Ventura county;
Millie, wife of Rev. Albert Embre, pastor of
the Methodist Episcopal Church at San Ja-
cinto; Mary, JNIrs. Albert Ross, who died at
Oxnard, Cal., at the age of twenty-five 3'ears ;
and Lloyd, who remains with his parents on
the home ranch. Interested in educational af-
fairs, Mr. Peters has served with fidelity and
tact as a member of the school board of his
district. In fraternal relations he holds mem-
bership with the blue lodge of Masons at
Fallbrook. Religion mingles with the other
elements that go to perfect his character. For
many years he has been an earnest member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church and a gen-
erous contributor to its charities and mission-

ary movements, as indeed he is to all philan-
thropic measures calculated to promote the
welfare of liumanitv.

JAMES P. WARD. Prior to the outbreak of
the war with England James Ward left Ireland
and sought the opportunities of the new world.
Settling m New Jersey he became a prominent
citizen of Leesburg, maintained a constant activ-
ity in civic affairs, and when the country ap-
pealed to its patriotic men for support in the
struggle with England he enthusiastically offered
his aid and assisted in equipping a company of
volunteers. Eventually he became a wealthy
shipbuilder and the owner of three marine rail-
ways at Leesburg, also a number of stores and
other properties, including farm lands. Until
shortly before his death at seventy-three years
he continued actively at the head of his extensive
business interests.

Among the children of the shipbuilder was a
son, John D., who was born near Cape May.
N. J., and before he died at forty-one years, built
up the largest coal and wood business in Phila-
delphia, occupying four wharves and two places
of business and receiving contracts to supply
fuel for the largest industries of the city, in
early manhood he married Margaret Sharp, who
was born at Shamokin, Pa., and at the age of
seventy-five years (1906) is now living in Los
Angeles. The family was founded in America
by her father, Patrick Sharp, who was born in
Ireland, but established himself in the United
States at an early age and became a prosperous
clothing merchant of Philadelphia, where he
died at fifty-five years of age.

During the residence of John D. and Margaret
Ward in Philadelphia their son, James P., was
born January 3, 1855, and there he was educated
in the Broad street military school and in La-
Salle College. Upon embarking in business pur-
suits he became a clerk to an uncle in the wood
and coal business, but after a clerkship of two
years he began in the same business for himself.
By arduous effort he laid the foundation of a
prosperous enterprise, but ill health deprived him
of enjoying the fruits of his labors, for at the
expiration of eighteen months he was obliged
to relinquish his business interests in Philadel-
phia and seek a more genial climate for the
benefit of his health. After having spent one
year in Texas he returned to Philadelphia with
health restored, and during the next fifteen
months he acted as city representative for a
wholesale soap company.

Coming to California in 1880 Mr. Ward set-
tled in Los Angeles and for two and one-half
years engaged with R. J. Hambrook in the manu-
facture of furniture by water power, but at the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1601

expiration of that period he disposed of his in-
terest in the factor}'. His next investment was
the purchase of sixty-live acres occupying the
present site of Hollywood, Los Angeles county,
and for two seasons he raised vegetables on that
land, shipping to the San Francisco markets.
On selling the tract he bought five hundred and
fifty acres, which is now embraced in the town
site of Lancaster, Los Angeles county. During
the "boom" period of the middle '80s he was
extensively engaged in farming, also followed
the lumber business and carried on a livery, but
the reaction following upon the bursting of die
boom caused him to close out many of his inter-
ests at a loss. The next enterprise which en-
gaged his attention was the opening of an install-
ment business in Los Angeles and also in Tuc-
son, Ariz. After leaving Tucson he managed
the United States hotel of Los Angeles for a
year and later acquired mining interests in Yuma
county, Ariz., and San Bernardino county, Cal.
Since 1898 he has made his home at P'alms and
now is engaged in the real-estate business, for
which his long experience admirably qualifies
him. He was the first to sell lots in Lancaster
on the installment plan and also has sold lots
in other parts of the county.

The marriage of Air. Ward in 1883 united him
with Miss Lizzie Winshank, daughter of An-
drew Winshank, of Los Angeles county. They
are the parents of eight children, namely: Mar-
gareta, Mary, John D., James, Andrew, Frank.
Elizabeth and Joseph, all of whom yet remain at
home. The family are identified with the Ro-
man Catholic Church. Mr. Ward is connected
with the Fraternal Aid and the Order of For-
esters, and politically has always stood stead-
fastly by the principles of the Democratic party.
Since coming to Palms he has held the position
of school trustee for two years, in which office
he not only showed his interest in educational
affairs as a citizen, but also proved himself well
adapted for the work, aiding materially in the
advancement of the schools and in the raising of
the standard of scholastic training.

BURT G. HURLBURT. Noteworthy among
the esteemed and influential citizens of Los An-
geles county is B. G. Hurlburt, one of the lead-
ing attorneys of Santa Monica, and a man of
wealth and prominence. He has lived in four of
the most prosperous states of the Union, and in
the different localities in which he has made his
home is well known, having been actively identi-
fied with the foremost industries of each. A son
of Henry Hurlburt, he was born, November 17,
1853, in Wyoming county, N. Y., the descendant
of an old and honored New England family. His
grandfather. Barzilla Hurlburt, a native of Con-

necticut, was a farmer by occupation, and be-
came one of the first settlers of western New
York, living on the homestead that he reclaimed
from the wilderness until his death at the re-
markable age of ninety-nine years.

The eighth child in a family of nine children,
Henry Hurlburt was born and reared in New
York, and there spent the seventy-six years of
his earthly life, being successfully employed as a
tiller of the soil. He married Arvilla Austin,
who died on the home farm, at the age of sixty-
seven years. They reared eight children, of
whom B. G. was the seventh child.

Having completed his early education by tak-
ing a commercial course of study at Pike Sem-
inary, B. G. Hurlburt went to Iowa, where he
taught school five terms, first in Adair, and then
in Guthrie Center. In 1872 he began the study
of telegraphy at Anita, Iowa, and in 1876 was
appointc.l operater at Stuart, where he remained
two years, becoming well known throughout
Guthrie county while in that capacity. Obtain-
ing in the meantime some political influence, he
then accepted the ofiice of deputy county treas-
urer, which he held four years. Embarking then
in mercantile pursuits, with a partner he bought
out a hardware establishment, which he managed
successfully for several years. In 1886 he set-
tled in Wallace county, Kans., which was then
but sparsely populated, and on April 13 he
opened the first grocery store established at
Sharon Springs, a newly-organized town. At ,
that time there were thirty young men in busi-
ness there, but no woman appeared in the place
for six weeks after his arrival, the first ones com-
ing in July.

in the upbuilding of the new town Mr. Hurl-
burt took a prominent part, encouraging, aiding
and promoting all enterprises conducive to the
growth and prosperity of the place, which sub-
sequently became the county seat. He became
one of the leading attorneys of Wallace county,
for ten years serving as county attorney. He
also filled other offices of importance, being a
member of the school board, and for eight years
being justice of the peace. Possessing excellent
business ability and good financial judgment, he
acquired considerable property, becoming owner
of a ranch containing forty-six hundred and
twenty acres adjoining Sharon Springs, which
he helped name, and of another valuable ranch
lying about ten miles south of the town. He
looked carefully after his agricultural aflfairs,
and as a stock raiser and dealer met with more
than ordinary success. Resigning his various
offices in July, 1903, he settled in Santa Monica,
Cal.. and has since won an enviable reputation
as a lawyer of ability, and has built up a fine
clientage, his ofiice being on Pier avenue. Ocean
Park. ■

1602

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

]\Ir. Hurlburt has been three times married.
In Grinnell, Iowa, he married Kate L. Dosh,
daughter of a prominent citizen of Davenport.
She died in 1886, leaving three children, namely:
Vida, who died at the age of twenty-one years;
Mrs. Mildred Leonhardt ; and Addie, wife of
Rev. Frederick R. Raby, of Kansas. Subse-
quently Mr. Hurlburt married Mrs. Ella Cook,
of Kansas, who died in California, leaving three
children, Abigail, Edith and Emmett. After the
death of his second wife Mr. Hurlburt married
Mrs. -Rebecca Bond Kempton, of Ocean Park,
a native of Philadelphia, Pa. Politically Mr.
Hurlburt is a Republican; fraternally he is an
Odd Fellow : and religiously he is a member, a
trustee and treasurer of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.

GEORGE E. BENNETT. A man who has
seen much of the world and has been very active
in local public life wherever he has lived is
George E. Bennett, who has been a resident of
Elsinore since 1887. He is of English descent,
and the first member of the famih' to come to
America was his grandfather, James S., who
was a wholesale and retail grocer in Bath, Me.,
owned a coasting vessel at that port, and served
this country in the second war with Great Britain
in 1812. His father, James H., was born at
Bath, and was a sailor and captain of a coast-
ing vessel until during the '6o's, when he re-
moved to West Branch, Iowa, remaining in that
place until 1886, and then came to California,
where he died at the age of eighty years. Mr.
Bennett's mother, who was Catherine Roach be-
fore her marriage, was of Scotch descent, born in
Vermont, and removed with her parents to Bath,
Me., where her father was engaged in the dry
goods business. He also served in the war of
1812. The mother is still living and makes her
home with her son in Elsinore, and although she
is eighty-six years old is very active and enjoys
good health. She was the mother of eight chil-
dren, George E. being the oldest son. One son,
James, was a member of Company B, Ninth Reg-
iment Maine A'olunteer Infantry, and died in
Iowa in 1868.

The birth of George E. Bennett occurred July
20, 1842. in Bath, Me., in which town he was
reared and received his education in the public
schools. \Vhile yet a youth he went on a trip
with his uncle. Captain Winthrop Bennett, to
Havre. France, and also to the West Indies,
shipping as cabin boy. Upon his return to Maine
he went to Brunswick and learned the shoemak-
ers' trade, continuing at that employment until
1861. when, in April of that year, he volunteered
for a three months' term in Company D, Fifth
IMaine A'ohmteer Tnfantrv. He saw active serv-

ice from the first and was engaged in the first
battle of Bull Run before the expiration of his
term in September, when, he was mustered out.
His was too patriotic a nature to remain impas-
sive while his country was calling for help, how-
ever, and almost immediately he re-enlisted, this
time becoming a soldier in Company B, of the
Ninth Infantry, in his native state. Among the
other engagements which found his regiment in
the firing line was the battle of Port Royal and
at Fernandina, Fla., and they also took part in
the siege of Fort Wagner. Mr. Bennett was then
transferred from the Ninth regiment to the
Tenth Army Corps and sent to the front at
Petersburg, where he was detailed as dispatch
carrier. While performing duties in this capacity
he and four companions were captured by rebels
on Amelia island and started on their way to the
Confederate camp by boat. Mr. Bennett, who
was a most unwilling prisoner, watched his
chance and suddenly jumped at one of the cap-
tors, tipped the boat over, precipitating the party
into the water and he and his comrades made
good their escape. The rebels, who were loaded
heavily with weapons and ammunition, were un-
able to swim ashore and it was afterwards learned
that they w-ere drowned. Later, while carrying
dispatches, ]\Ir. Bennett received a saber wound
on the left knee, which completely disabled him.
He was sent to the hospital and remained there
until able to move about on crutches, when he
returned to camp until he received an honorable
discharge in September, 1863. He has many in-
teresting stories to tell concerning his war ex-
periences, for he had many narrow escapes dur-
ing the years of his service.

For two years following his return home ]\Ir.
Bennett was obliged to use crutches and during
that time he plied his trade in Brunswick, Me. In
1865 he rem.oved to West Branch, Iowa, and en-
gaged in farming for a few years, but subse-
quently lived in Jasper and Shelby counties and
was variously employed in agricultural pursuits
and at the shoemaker's trade. In 1873. John
Long, the sherifif of Shelby county, appointed him
deputv sheriff and a little latter he was elected
constable, serving in that office for two years.
Long's successor also re-appointed him as deputy
and when the regularly elected sheriff' died dur-
ing his term of office Mr. Bennett was appointed
to fill the vacancy. He performed his official
duties with such ability and satisfaction that the
voters elected him to the office after the expira-
tion of his appointed term and he continued as
sheriff of that county until 1887. when he came
to California in search of a more healthful loca-
tion. After two months spent in Elsinore he felt
so much better that he decided to remain perma-
nently, and spent the vcars until 1890 in recu-
perating his strength. He then established a

(^.e..(/l/e^

eox-*-^^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1605

second-hand store, which he conducted for two
years, giving it up at the end of this time to
devote his whole time to the conduct of a shoe
and harness business, which he had been engaged
in simultaneous!)' with the second-hand business.
In Elsinore also J\Ir. Bennett has been active
in official life. In 1904 he was appointed by the
board of supervisors as justice of the peace and
city recorder, positions to which he was re-elected
in 1906, and has been a city trustee for four
years, half of which time he acted as president of
the board. Politically he is a stanch advocate of
the principles of the Republican party and is an
ex-member of the county central committee. He
has a nice residence in Elsinore, presided over by
his wife, who was formerly Miss Elsadia Coombs,
a native of Brunswick, Me. Their marriage oc-
curred in Maine, and they became the parents of
four children : Edward, who was a railway con-
ductor, was accidentally killed at Atlantic, Iowa;
Lewis H. is a fruit grower in Highgrove; Fred
E. Conducts a shoe and bicycle store at Santa
Ana, and Frank H. follows the painters' trade in
Elsinore. Mr. Bennett is a member of T. B.
Stevens Post No. 103, G. A. R., at Elsinore, be-
ing past commander of the post. Both he and his
wife are active members of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, he having served as a member of
the official board at one time.

PETER CARL PETERSEN. The sub-
stantial and well-to-do citizens of Wilmington
have no better representative than Peter C.
Petersen, a capable and progressive hardware
merchant, who has accumulated a goodly
share of this world's goods. Enterprising and
far-sighted, he has made judicious invest-
ments, and is the owner of much valuable res-
idence property, from the rental of which he
receives a fine annual income. A native of
Denmark, he was born in Copenhagen in 1836,
a son of Terkl Petersen. His parents spent
their entire lives in Denmark, both dying at a
comparatively early age.

Completing his studies in the city schools
of Copenhagen, Peter C. Petersen, who was
left an orphan when a small lad, began work-
ing for himself as a farm hand, continuing
thus employed a number of years. Immigrat-
ing to the United States in 1867, he stopped
for a few months in Philadelphia, and then
proceeded to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he en-
listed in the Fifth United- States Cavalry, in
which he served five years, when, at Camp
Grant, .\riz., he was honorably discharged.
Coming to California in 1872, he located in
Wilmington, and for six years thereafter was
in the employ of Banning Brothers and the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Invest-

ing his money then in land, he became the
owner of several ranches, which he improved,
making them among the most valuable farm-
ing estates to be found in this part of the
state. He also bought land in Wilmington,
and built several modern residences, wdiich he
rents, and in the spring of 1905 he erected, on
Canal street, the first modernly constructed
two-story building in the place. For the up-
building and improving of the place, Mr. Pe-
tersen lias done much, being an important fac-
tor in aiding the growth and material prosper-
ity of Wilmington, and takes great interest in
beautifying his own property, and adding to
the attractiveness of the town thereby.

In 1870, at Fort McPherson, Neb., 'Mr. Pe-
tersen married Alary J. Short, who died in
Wilrnington, Cal., March 28, 1903. Politically
he is a loyal supporter of the principles of the
Republican party, and religiously he is a faith-
ful member of the Presbvterian Church.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN LASSWELL. A
successful ranchman, B. F. Lasswell is located
three-quarters of a mile west of Compton, Los
Angeles county, where on his twenty acre ranch
he is extensively engaged in the raising of alfalfa
and the prosecution of his dairy interests. He
is a native of the middle west, his birth having
occurred in the southern part of Illinois, Febru-
ary 7, 1844, he being a son of the late Isaac
Lasswell, a native of Virginia, who removed to
the Prairie state and engaged in farming for a
livelihood. The father made his home in Illinois
for many years, engaging prominently in public
aflfairs, and as a Democrat was elected to the
office of sheriff, where he ably discharged the
duties incumbent upon him. After the death of
his wife, formerly Anna Norton, also a native
of Virginia, he came to California and followed
ranching pursuits in Lincoln, Placer county,
until his death. He was a Mason, and in religion
belonged to the Baptist Church.

B. F. Lasswell remained a member of the pa-
rental family until attaining his majority, receiv-
ing his education through an attendance of the
common school in the vicinity of his home, and
also ensaging with his father in general farm-
ing in Hamilton county. He finally engaged in-
dependentlv in the work, renting land in his
native state until 1868, in which year he was
married and came to California. He first located
in Marvsville, Yuba countv. where he remained
for a short time, when he became a rancher in
\'entura county and followed these pursuits for
nine or ten years ; coming to Compton at the
close of that period he nurchased his present
property, consisting of thirtv-two acres, holdincr
the same in his possession until about one year

1606

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ago, when he disposed of twelve acres. The
balance of the property is devoted to the raising
of alfalfa and dairy purposes. He is an es-
teemed citizen of this community, where he takes
a helpful interest in public affairs.

Mrs. Lasswell was formerly Anna Flynn, a
native of Ireland, whose parents brought her to
America during her childhood. They located hi
the east and spent the balance of their lives in
Boston, Mass. About six years ago Mrs. Lass-
well suffered a paralytic stroke, which has seri-
ously afifected her health. Mr. and Mrs. Lass-
well' belong to the Catholic Church and politic-
ally Mr. Lasswell is a stanch adherent of the
principles advocated in the platform of the Dem-
ocratic party.

P. S. VENABLE. The Venable family is of old
Virginia stock which was originally of English
descent a representative of the name later going
with Daniel Boone to Kentucky, where Judge
J. W., the father of P. S. Venable, was born in
"1831. At the age of sixteen years he served for
three months in the Mexican war and when
eighteen came around by the way of Cape Horn
to" California. When the ship on which he took
passage reached Lower California he, with three
companions, abandoned it and made the rest of
the journey to San Francisco by foot, reaching
their destination in the year 1849. He went to
Placer county and worked in the mines for several
years, after which he carried on ranching and
stock-raising for a long period. At one time he
owned the stock ranch where Oakland is now
located, and he was the first man to pilot a boat
up the Sacramento river to Red BlutT. He had
many interesting experiences during those early
year's, for at that time the countrs' was full of
Indians who were primitive enough to wear cow-
hides on their feet, having no moccasins. In 1869
he removed to Los Angeles and purchased a
ranch near Downey, engaging in horticultural
pursuits, and he still lives on this place at the
advanced age of seventy-four years. In 1852 he
was married to Angeline Garrett, who died in
i860, leaving him with one daughter, Elizabeth
Louise, who became the wife of Joseph Albright,
now of Redondo. His second wife was Annie
Elizabeth Tate, of Contra Costa county, and to
them the following children were born : Mrs.
Kennedy of Wilmington ; P.S.,of Redondo ; John,
a farmer near Redondo; J. W., Jr., also a farmer
near Redondo; Mrs. Grider, living near Holly-
wood ; Mollie ; James ; Thomas ; Mrs. Hall of
Redondo ; Mrs. Venable of Los Angeles ; George ;
and Mrs. Howards of Long Beach. The father
was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and was affiliated with the Masons frater-
nally, having served as master of the Downey

lodge for ten years. He was very active in
politics and was elected by the Democratic party,
which he supported, to numerous official positions,
among them being a member of the state as-
sembly, four years as assessor and eight years
as deputy assessor of Los Angeles county, and
four years as supervisor. While in Contra Costa
county he held the offices of justice of the peace
and associate justice.

It was on January 19, 1862, that P. S. A'enable
was born at ( )akland, Cal. When seven years
of age his father brought him to Los Angeles
county and the ranch upon which they settled
was then in tlie midst of a wild waste. He was
educated in the public schools and at Los Neitos
Military Institute, and when his schooling was
completed remained at home until twenty-two
years old. In 1884 he became foreman of a
ranch at Compton and in 1888 he secured the
contract for hauling the stone to be used in the
construction of the Los Angeles court house.
This kept him busy for three years, during which
time he used five and six teams and hauled stones
weighing' twenty-four thousand pounds. In 1890
he located in Redondo and engaged in farming
on the Norbone ranch of two thousand acres and
the Hellman ranch of one thousand, and has
operated these places ever since. Everything is
conducted on a very large scale and the most
modern machinery is in use in the cultivation and
harvesting of the crops, which consist principally
of wheat and barley. Twenty-five men are re-
quired to work this large acreage.

One year ago Mr. Venable built a residence
in Redondo on Catalina and Diamond streets.
In addition to the cement work which he has ex-
ecuted in Redondo he has paved Pacific, Benito
Guadaloupe and Ocean View avenues, Diamond,
Emerald, Commercial, Gertrude, Francisco and
Beryl streets. In Hermosa he graded Hermosa
and' Santa Fe avenues, and has completed much
satisfactory work in other places. He is also
heavily interested in various business enterprises
in other lines, having been one of the party that
built the mill and warehouses in Redondo and
is on the board of directors of both the Farmers'
and Merchants' Na4:ional Bank and the People's
Saving Bank of this city.

The remarkable development of this section of
the state can be realized somewhat when it is
known that Mr. Venable can himself remember
the first engine ever run in the county and re-
members the driving of the golden spike which
completed the railroad connecting Los Angeles
with San Francisco, when the tunnel this side
of San Fernando was cut through ; also remem-
bers when the railroad was built from Los
Angeles to Wilmington, where the government
barracks were located in the days when passen-
gers were carried in large stage coaches, and to

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1607

know that he has been so largely instrumental
in the building up of the community may well
be a source of pride and satisfaction to him. He
is an adherent of the Democratic party and has
been elected a trustee of the grammar school,
also a member of the high school board of which
he is clerk. He is an active member of the
Methodist Episcopal Qiurch, serving as a trustee
and as a member of the building committee. Fra-
ternally he affiliates with the Independent Order
of Foresters, the Royal Arcanum, and was made
a Alason in the Wilmington Lodge No. 198, F.
& A. M., becoming charter member of the Re-
dondo Lodge No. 328, of which he served as
master for two years. He is past patron of the
Order of Eastern Star and his wife is past ma-
tron of the same fraternity. His marriage to
Miss Susie Malott, a native of Platte county, the
dauqfhter of William Malott, an early settler in
California, occurred at Compton and they have
become the parents of five children, Hazel, Max,
Carrie, Helen and Mabel.

IT. H. ZILLGITT. Noteworthy among the
young, wide-awake business men of Los Angeles
county is H. H. Zillgitt, of Inglewood, one of the
active members of the Inglewood Mercantile
Company. Since becoming a resident of this
place he has identified himself thoroughly with
the best interests of his adopted city, and, by his
integrity and sterling character, has won the es-
teem of his fellowmcn and the confidence of the
community. A native of Fairmount, Richland
county, N. Dak., he was born Deceml>er 11, 1882,
a son of the late Frederick T. Zillgitt.

r.orn and reared in Germany, Frederick A.
Zillgitt immigrated to this country in early man-
hood, settling first at Lake City, TvTinn., apd then
at Fairmount, N. Dak., where he bought land
and improved a farm. Removing from there to
Vernonia, Ore., in 1889, he was for a number of
years successfully engaged in mercantile pur-
suits in that citv. Coming to Los Angeles county
in 1903, he resided in Inglewood until his death,
in February, 1904. He married Mary A. Seigne,
who was born in Wisconsin, of French ancestry,
and is now living in Inglewood. Six children,
five sons and one daughter, blessed their union,
and all are living, H. PL, the special subject of
this sketch, being the youngest child.

P.rought up in Richland county, N. Dak., H.
II. Zillgitt attended first the nublic school of Fair-
mount, after which he took a full commercial
course at the Red River Valley Ihiiversity, in
Wahpeton. In 1900 he came to California, and
for four years was employed as a clerk in the
store of his brother, Frank A. Zillgitt, one of the
leading merchants of Inglewood. In December,
,1904, in company with Lvman O. Calkins, of

whom a brief sketch may be found elsewhere, he
organized the Inglewood Mercantile Company,
and has since carried on a thriving business, hav-
ing built up a lucrative trade.

Politically Mr. Zillgitt is a steadfast Repub-
lican, and since 1900 has served as deputy post-
master. He takes great interest in the advance-
ment of the public welfare, and is one of the di-
rectors of the Citizens' Home Water Company.
He is a member and one of the directors of the
Inglewood Commercial Club, and is a member
and the clerk of the Woodmen of the World.

JOHN FRANKLIN TEDFORD. A self-
made man who has gained, while still young, the
degree of success that has crowned the eflforts
of John Franklin Tedford is always worthy of
the admiration and esteem of his fellow citizens.
His father died when he was but eight years of
age and it became necessary for him to early as-
sume the responsibility of his own support, and
he now leases six hundred acres of fertile hay
land in the Perris valley in Riverside county.
He is the son of Thomas J. and Anna Elizabeth
(Fickas) Tedford, natives of Texas and Mis-
souri, respectively. The family had many dis-
tressing experiences with the Indians in the
early days of their residence on the frontier. At
one time the Indians captured two of the father's
brothers and while one of them was saved the
other was taken away and has never been heard
from since. In 1849 the elder Tedford crossed
the plains with ox teams and located in California
at Bullwell Point and engaged in mining in San
Antonio canon. Later he took up ranching in
the Newport district and remained there until
his death in 1882. The mother is still living in
Sawtolle. Her father was an old settler of this
state, who arrived in the early '50s, and in 1867
located on a ranch in \'entura county, where he
remained until 1887, when he went to Santa
Ana then to the Powav valley in San Diego
county, living there until his death in T905.

The birth of John F. Tedford occurred in
January, 1874, in Orange county, Cnl.. and
since the age of fourteen he has supported him-
self. Fie commenced by engaging himself to the
ranchmen by the month at various locations, in-
cluding .Santa .Ana, Santa Fe .Springs, Lagona.
Florence and in the San Fernando vnllev. and
after a time went to Redondo and became a long-
shoreman and stevedore. Failing health com-
pelled him to change his occupation, however,
and he then went to Chino and worked in the
sugar factory there for about three years. After-
wards he went to San P>crnardino and resided at
that place until T905. when he came to Perris
valley, and located the ranch which he now
operates, and has since made it his home. He

1608

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was married at San Jacinto, November i, 1900,
to Miss Emma Easton, a daughter of George
Easton, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work.
They became the parents of one child, Nelva
lone. j\lr. Tedford is a member of the Red-
lands Lodge No. 319, A. O. U. W.. and also be-
longs to the Redlands Parlor, N. S. G. W. In
national politics he advocates the principles of
the Democratic party, but in local affairs re-
serves the right to vote for the man whom he
believes will most efficiently perform the duties
of his office. He is a man with many friends and
exerts an elevating influence upon all with
whom he comes in contact.

JOHN WILLIAM BLACK. Occupying an
assured position among the energetic, enterpris-
ing and valued residents of Ocean Park is J.
W. Black, who, in partnership with his brother,
J. W. C. Black, is carrying on an extensive and
prosperous business, being identified with the
industrial and mercantile interests of this part
of the county. A native of Iowa, he was born
in Indianola, Warren county, being one of the
six children of William and Mary (Culbertson)
Black, both of whom were born and brought up
in Illinois, near Monmouth. Grandfather Black
was a pioneer of Illinois, settling there when
young, and becoming a farmer of prominence.
William Black was an early settler of Warren
county, Iowa, where he was engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits until 1901, when he came with
his family to Los Angeles county, locating in
Santa Monica, where he is living retired.

After his graduation from the high school in
Indianola, Iowa, J. W. Black learned the
baker's trade in that city, and subsequently fol-
lowed it there and in neighboring places, meet-
ing with success. He traveled to some extent
while thus employed, coming to the Pacific coast,
and in December, 1903, located in Ocean Park,
and here, in partnership with his brother, who
attends the outside interests, he is conducting a
well-stocked store, devoting his entire attention
to his business. Politically Mr. Black is a stanch
supporter of the principles of the Republican
party, but he is not connected with any fraternal,
benevolent or social organization.

ADAM WASEM. To an unusual degree suc-
cess has crowned the intelligent and well-directed
efforts of Mr. Wasem, who, while still retaining
large and valuable landed interests in Iowa, has
also more recently acquired property in Long
Beach, where he erected and now owns a mod-
ern residence of nine rooms, situated on the
corner of Wasem avenue and Railroad streets,
two blocks from the ocean, and one and one-half

blocks east of Alamitos Park, on the line of the
Pacific electric railroad. At the time of erecting
this comfortable dwelling the neighborhood was
sparsely settled, but since then a number of ele-
gant residences have been erected in this portion
of the city and its popularity is growing with a
rapidity startling even to its warmest friends.

The far-famed city of Bingen-on-the-Rhine is
the native place of Adam Wasem, and JNIay 10,
1838, the date of his birth. His parents, Adam
and Anna Marie (Hirshman) Wasem, came to
the United States in 1856, and settled in Wright
county, Iowa, where they took up farm pursuits.
There the mother died in 1 861, at forty-eight
years of age, and was survived until 1882 by the
father, who passed away at eightj^-two years.
Their son, Adam, Jr., received an excellent edu-
cation in the gymnasiums of his native land.
After accompanying his parents to the LTnited
States he took up agricultural pursuits, for which
he early displayed an especial aptitude. From
the date of his settlement in the United States
he was always loyal to his adopted country and
a friend to its progressive enterprises. When the
Civil war began he was a stanch supporter of the
Union cause, and August 6, 1862, was accepted
as a member of Company B, First Missouri Light
Artillery, with which he marched to the south
and bore a part in various campaigns. The most
important engagements in which he participated
were those at Vicksburg and Fort Blakeley.
During the entire period of his service he was
wounded twice, once in the face and again in the
hip. but fortunately neither wound proved to be
of a serious nature. At the expiration of his
term of enlistment, in September, 1865. he was
honorably discharged and thereupon returned to
his Iowa farm.

Diu-ing the long period of his residence in
Webster county, Iowa, ]\Ir. Wasem enjoyed a
steadily growing success. From time to time he
added to his possessions until he acquired the title
to six hundred acres of land, as fine as the state
of Iowa contains, and this he still owns. i\Iuch
of his success was due to the wise prosecution of
the stock business, his greatest profits coming
from the breeding of black polled .\ugus cattle.
^^'hen finallv he had accumulated large holdings
and was in a position to seek recreation and rest,
he came to California, arriving at Long Beach.
February 10, 1904, and since then he has in-
vested about $27,000 in property at this place.
Included in his purchases were twenty-six acres
all of which, excepting nine and one-half acres,
he subdivided into town lots, and he also owned
the Alamitos Park tract of five acres. He owns
the IMira Mar tract of ten acres. Palm Island of
nine and one-half acres, besides a number of lots.

The marriage of Mr. Wasem was solemnized
at Fort Dodge, Iowa, October 6, 1866, and united

"^ajl/^^^^^^ ^i^^'^^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1611

him with Miss Henrietta Wise, a native of Ger-
many. Fourteen children were born of their
union, namely : Frederick, who died at twelve
years of age ; William, Henrietta, Charles, John,
Adam, Otto, Ella, Bertha, Carrie, Henry, Wal-
ter, Mary and Lena. Ella, Bertha and Carrie are
college graduates and formerly teachers in Iowa.
All of the sons are stockmen and are attaining a
gratifying degree of success in the occupation
which their father followed in former years. To
accommodate their large herds they have four
thousand acres of grazing land in Nebraska, be-
sides taking charge of the six hundred acres
owned by their father in Iowa.

While living in Iowa Mr. Wasem was an active
worker in Fort Donelson Post No. 236, G. A. R.,
at Fort Dodge, and also was an interested worker
m the German Refomid Church, and in politics
affiliated with the Republican party. For thirteen
years he held the office of township trustee and
during the greater part of his residence in Iowa
he officiated as a member of the school board, giv-
ing considerable time and thought to the develop-
ment of the rural schools of his district. Both in
the state, where for years he was an extensive
stockman, and in the more recent place of his
residence, he has proved himself a public-spirited
and progressive man, in sympathy with all for-
ward movements and a contributor to helpful
projects.

MADISON D. PUTMAN. Fair View fruit
farm lies in Spencer valley near the village of
Wynola and comprises one hundred and sixty
acres, whose care and cultivation occupy the
attention of the owner, Mr. Putman, giving in
return a satisfactory and increasing moneyed
recompense for his assiduous labors. When he
came to this valley in 1869 he secured a large
tract of land from the government and began to
make improvements on the raw land. Since then
he has erected a neat house and necessary out-
buildings, and has made other improvements on
his tract of one hundred and sixty acres, be-
sides which he has planted twenty acres in apples
of the choicest varieties, including the White
Winter, Pomerain, Eureka, Belleflower, Ben
Davis, Smith, Cider, Royal, Jeanette, Delaware
Reds, etc. The thrifty appearance of the
orchard proves him to be a man of tireless in-
dustry and wise judgment, while his pioneer
work in fruit-culture in this valley shows that
he possesses a genuine progressive spirit.

For a number of years Madison and Olivia
(Davidson) Putman, natives respectively of Ten-
nessee and Pennsylvania, made their home in
Alabama, where their son, ]\Iadison D., was born
Novemlier 15, 1841. From that state the family
removed to Texas about 1848 and settled in

Williamson county, later removing to Llano coun-
ty, where the father died in 1875, at the age of
sixty-three years. The mother survived him for
a considerable period and attained the age of
eighty-one years. During boyhood Madison D.
Putman had fewer opportunities to attend school
than fall to the lot of the average youth, for the
family were poor and it was necessary for him to
aid them in earning a livelihood. Yet, in spite of
lack of advantages, he has gained a broad fund
of information, for he possesses the faculty of
close observation and has always been fond of
reading. At the outbreak of the Civil war he
enlisted in McCord's Regiment and served on
the frontier, remaining in the army' until the
close of the struggle in 1865. While herding
some horses his horse fell on him and the ac-
cident resulted in the breaking of his leg.
Through all of his army service as well as in
private life he was known as a man of fearless
courage, and there are still living those who
tell of his valor in killing the noted Comanche
Indian. Big Foot, on the Llano river.

Coming to California in 1868, the following
year Mr. Putman secured his present farm from
the government and on this place he and his
wife have since improved a comfortable home-
stead. Mrs. Putman was bqrn and reared in
Texas and in that state in 1866 hecame his
wife, after which they remained in the old home
neighborhood for two years and then removed
to the Pacific coast. They are the parents of
five children, namely : John E., of Los Angeles ;
Callie C, wife of Theodore Yerrick : James R.,
of San Diego county; David R., living in New
Mexico: and Harvey D., who remains at home
and aids in the care of the property. The fam-
ily attend the Baptist Church, of which Mrs.
Putman was an earnest member and a liberal
contributor to its charities. She died February
18. 1906, aged sixty-one years. For a number
of years Mr. Putman filled the office of school
trustee, in which capacity he was helpful to the
educational interests of the district. With that
exception he has refused official positions and
lias taken no part whatever in politics aside from
the voting of the Democratic ticket at local and
general elections.

CHARLES E. CHAMBERS. One of the
most energetic and enterprising business men of
San Jacinto is Charles E. Chambers, who in com-
pany with H. S. Roach, is owner of the San
Jacinto electric light plant, and the sole proprietor
of the lumber yard, warehouse and feed mill in
that city. He was born May 24. 1868, in Polk
county. Iowa, the son of James S. and Isabella
(Fay) Chambers, the father being a native of
Scotland, who came to this country in 1838, and

1612

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

located in New York ; the mother claiming Ohio
as the place of her nativity. The elder Oiambers,
who was a coremaker by trade, removed to Illi-
nois when that couiitry was new, and ' located
at Freeport, in 1861 enlisting for service in the
Civil war in Company G, Forty-sixth Regiment
of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, later becoming a
member of the Eighth Regiment of Illinois
Cavalry. In the battle of Gettysburg he was
wounded in the leg and was discharged on ac-
count of disability. At the close of tlie war he
returned to Illinois and was there married, after
which he removed to Iowa, and later came to
California, arriving in Los Angeles in 1884. He
remained in that city for a short time only, go-
ing to San Jacinto and taking up a homestead
in that valley. He improved the place and added
to the acreage from time to time and the ranch
is now a large and valuable property. ^Ir.
Chambers died February 9, 1903, at the age of
sixty-nine years, and his wife, who is now sixty
years old, is still living on the old homestead.

It was in the public schools of Iowa and Los
Angeles that Charles E. Chambers received his
education, and when his studies were completed
he learned engineering, securing a position with
the Santa Fe Railroad, wdiich he held for two
years. Later he learned tlie machinist's trade
with the Baker Iron Works of Los Angeles, after
which he came to San Jacinto in 1898 and es-
tablished the electric light plant, buying a lot,
on which to erect a building for the installation
of tlieir own machinery, and from which plant
the company now furnishes to the people of that
section electricity for both light and power pur-
poses, the plant being modern in every way,
equipped with a one hundred and sixty horse
power Corliss engine.

In May, 1897, Mr. Chambers was united in
marriage with Nora Vines, of Phoenix, Ariz.,
and they have become the parents of two chil-
dren, Shirley and Geraldine. He is an advocate
of the principles embraced in the platform of the
Republican party, and is now filling the office of
deputy city marshal of San Jacinto. In all
matters of public interest to the community Mr.
Chambers takes a leading part and he is held
in the highest esteem by all who have the pleas-
ure of his acquaintance.

GAUDENZIO GARB AN I. One of the sub-
stantial ranchmen, who has many friends, is
Gaudenzio Garbani, who has a large ranch near
Winchester, in Riverside county. He was born
July 2, 1849, "1 Gresso. Switzerland, the son
of Giatomo and Rosa Garbani, both of whom
lived their entire lives and died in Switzerland.
Mr. Garbani received a good education in his na-
tive country and when the time came for him

to choose an occupation he adopted that of agri-
culturist and engaged in farming in his own
country until 1874, when he immigrated to Amer-
ica. Coming to California in that year he located
first in Sonoma county, which section was then
attracting many men of his nationality. He work-
ed on a ranch there for a short time and the
following year decided that Southern California
offered greater advantages, and came to Los
Angeles. After remaining here a few months he
settled in Temecula, living there for the succeed-
ing five years. In 1880 he took up a government
claim of one hundred and sixty acres, and later
bought a five hundred and sixty-acre tract where
he now lives. The land was entirely unimproved
when he came into possession and the house, barn
granaries, etc., which are now on the place were
built by Mr. Garbani. He has also brought the
soil into a high state of cultivation and raises
very fine grain crops. He has all necessary
modern machinery for use in planting, cultivat-
ing and harvesting, for the latter purpose using
a thirty-two horse power combined harvester.

The marriage of Mr. Garbani occurred in
Switzerland in 1873, uniting him with ]\Iary Ann
Speziali, a native of that country, and they are
now the parents of four children. Rose, Lena,
Elizabeth and Dolores. They are devout mem-
bers of the Catholic Church, and their influence
upon the community in which they live is an
elevatins: one.

BARTLEY F. PITTS. For many years Bart-
ley F. Pitts has been a resident of Hueneme,
where he fills the position of engineer and as-
sistant superintendent of the wharf. He is a
native of California, his birth having occurred in
Eldorado county, April 15, 1857. His father,
William O. Pitts, was born in Missouri and
crossed the plains about 1850, arriving in El-
dorado county, where for a time he engaged in
mining. From there he went to Mendocino
county, where he farmed and raised stock until
1875, when he removed to Hueneme and con-
ducted a livery business for the following twelve
years. He met with good financial success which
now enables him to live retired from active work,
his present age being seventy-two years. The
mother of Mr. Pitts was Isabel Burris before her
marriage. She came from her native home in
Keithsburg, 111., with her father, Shered Burris,
who settled as a farmer in Mendocino county,
Cai., where he died. The mother of Bartley F.
Pitts is still living.

There were nine children in the parental fam-
ily Bartley F., being the oldest. He received
his education in the public schools of Mendocino
countv and when his father brought the family

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1(313

to Hueneme and located on a ranch he remained
with him until he had reached the age of twenty-
two years. He then began an independent busi-
ness career, working on ranches for a time, and
in 1884 entered the employ of the Hueneme
Wharf Company as stationary engineer, being
later assigned to the position of assistant superin-
tendent in addition to that of engineer. Mr. Pitts
has succeeded in accumulating considerable prop-
erty and his holdings include a twenty-two acre
ranch near Hueneme, which is planted to beets
and on which he has a nice residence ; also a
six acre tract lying near the town.

Mr. Pitts was married in his home town to
Miss Ella C. Bacon, a native of Marysville, Cal.,
and a daughter of Qiarles W. Bacon, a pioneer
miner of this state. Politically he affiliates with
the Republican party, and fraternally holds mem-
bership in the Hueneme Camp No. 9591, M. W.
A., of which he is a past V. C. He was also a
member of the Hueneme Parlor, N. S. G. W.,
until its removal to Ventura. Mr. Pitts is a
highly respected man who has many warm
friends in the county where he has so long
resided.

FRANK WARNER PHELPS. Numbered
among the active and capable busines men of In-
glewood is Frank Warner Phelps, who is render-
ing excellent service as superintendent and secre-
tary of the Inglewood Domestic Water Company.
Well educated and progressive, he takes a genu-
ine interest in local matters, using his influence
to advance the welfare of the general public, and
as a man and a citizen has the respect and esteem
of the community in which he resides. A son of
I. W. Phelps,' he was born November 26, 1877,
at Ellsworth, Kans.

Born in New York state, I. W. Phelps spent
his early life in that part of the country, living
there until 1859, when he made an overland trip
to Colorado, where he engaged for awhile in min-
ing. As soon as news of the breaking out of the
Civil war reached him he started for the nearest
fort in order to offer his services to his countr\\
Enlisting in a Kansas regiment he seiwed eighteen
months in an independent company of scouts,
under command of Bill Cody, after which he
was commissary sergeant of his regiment until
the close: of the war. Subsequently settling in
Ellsworth, Kans.. he opened a store of general
merchandise, and there built up a large business,
having an extensive trade with the incoming
trailers. A man of good financial ability he was
one of the founders of the Ellsworth Bank, and
quite prominent in public affairs. Coming to
California in 1885 he established a large real es-
tate business in Los Angeles, and having pur-
chased much West Lake property, he improved

it, and is now living retired from active pursuits.
He is an active member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, and is a Knight of Pythias. He
married Rose M. Sternberg, who was born in New
York, a daughter of the late Rev. Levi Stern-
berg, a pioneer Lutheran minister of Ellsworth,
Kans., and a sister of Dr. George Sternberg, a
retired surgeon-general of the United States
army. Of the two sons and two daughters born
of their union, Frank Warner, the special sub-
ject of this sketch, is the second child in order of
birth.

But a young lad when he came with his par-
ents to California, Frank Warner Phelps was
educated in the public schools of Los Angeles, re-
ceiving his diploma from the high school in 1896.
He subsequently entered the University of Cali-
fornia, at Berkeley, from which he was gradu-
ated with the degree of B. S. in 1900. Engaging
then in the oil busines in Los Angeles, he was
secretary of the Lincoln Crude Oil Company for
a year, afterwards as manager of the Phelps &
Beveridge Oil Company, buying lands, putting
down wells in different places, and overseeing
the pumping, remaining as manager of the firm
until the closing of the works in 1904, the prop-
ertv not being sold until 1905. Coming to Ingle-
wood in 1903, Mr. Phelps was for a year super-
intendent of the Inglewood Water Company and
its property, but since that time has been super-
intendent of the Inglewood Domestic Water
Company, of wliich he is also secretary, filling
both positions most ably and satisfactorily. Feb-
ruary I, 1906. he was made president of the Ingle-
wood Realty Company, engaged in the general
real estate and brokerage business.

July I, 1903, in Los Angeles, Mr. Phelps mar-
ried Mabel Morton, who was born in San Fran-
cisco, Cal.. a daughter of William Morton, now
assistant city electrician at Los Angeles. She is
a woman of culture and a graduate of the Los
Angeles normal school. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps
have one child, Morton Warner Phelps. Politi-
cally Mr. Phelps is a stanch Republican, invaria-
bly casting his votes for his party's candidates.
He belongs to the Inglewood Commercial Club
and is a member of the Chi Psi fraternitv.

JAMES :\r. SHEPARD. Prominent among
the foremost business men of Los Angeles coun-
ty is J. M. Shepard, who is activelv associated
with two of the leading organizations of Comp-
ton, being vice-president of the First National
Bank of Compton, and of the mercantile firm in-
corporated under the name of the Ambrose
Shepard Company. A man of excellent execu-
tive and financial abilitv, he takes great interest
in the general welfare of town and county, and
in developing and advancing the industrial pros-

1614

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

perity of central California is doing his full share.
He was born in September, 1837, in Mason coun-
ty, Kentucky, which was also the birthplace of his
father, George Shepard, Jr. His paternal grand-
father, George Shepard, Sr., a native of Virginia,
was an officer of the Revolutionary army, serving
as sergeant of his company, and while at the
fort in Lexington, A'a., was married to a Miss
McDermott.

Born, reared and married in Kentucky, George
Shepard, Jr., remained in his native state until
the spring of 1856, being employed in agricult-
ural pursuits. Moving then to jNIissouri, he took
up land, but before he had made any improve-
ments on it he died, his death occurring August
26, 1856. His wife, whose maiden name was
Malida Davis, died a few months earlier, in No-
vember. 1855, in Kentucky.

Having obtained his rudimentary knowledge
of books in the common schools of his native
state, James M. Shepard completed his early edu-
cation in Alanchester, Ohio. In 1856 he went to
Missouri, where he entered upon a professional
career, teaching school there until 1861. In 1862
he located in Jacksonville, 111., and for several
years was a resident of that city, being engaged
in the general merchandise business, and also
being interested to some extent in agricultural
pursuits. Returning to Missouri in 1870, he fol-
lowed general farming for many years, first in
that state and then in Nebraska. Coming to Cali-
fornia in 1887, he spent six months in Pasadena,
and then, in partnership with his son. opened a
mercantile house in Compton. Building up a
large trade in general merchandise, this firm en-
larged its operations in 1896, incorporating the
business under its present firm name, the Am-
brose Shepard Company, with J. V. Shepard as
president ; J. M. Shepard. vice-president, and A.
J. Shepard, secretary and treasurer. This firm
is also connected with the Compton Water Com-
pany, and A. J. Shepard is secretary of the Home
Telephone Company. Although his business in-
terests are in Compton Mr. Shepard has for two
years resided in Los Angeles, his home being at
No. 807 Adams street.

August 18, 1862, in Jacksonville, III, Mr.
Shepard married Rebecca Van Winkle, a native
of Illinois, and they are the parents of five chil-
dren, all sons, namely : Samuel, cashier of the
Farmers' Bank, at Union Star, Mo. ; J. V., presi-
dent of the Ambrose Shepard Company, in
Compton ; A. J., secretary and treasurer of the
company; J. L., engaged in farming near Comp-
ton, and Charles Hubert, a graduate of the Le-
land Stanford, Jr., University, who has for the
past five years been chemist for the LTnion Iron
Works, in San Francisco. Politically Mr. Shep-
ard is a sound Republican, and while living in
Andrews countv, Missouri, served two terms as

county judge. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shepard are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at
Compton. Both come from substantial Revolu-
tionary stock, their paternal grandfathers having
fought for the independence of the colonies, and
both are eligible to membership in the Sons and
Daughters of the American Revolution.

GUSTAVUS LOUIS JUNOD. Prominent
among those who have given substantial assist-
ance in promoting the growth and upbuilding of
Long Beach is Gustavus Louis Junod, a real-
estate dealer, at the present time actively engaged
in the sale and transfer of city property. A native
of Switzerland, he was born, February 15, 1849,
in the canton of Vaud, which was likewise the
birthplace of his parents, August and Nannette
(Bornan) Junod.

A watchmaker by trade, August Junod im-
migrated with his family to the United States in
1849, settling in St. Louis, Mo., where, during
the same year, he died of cholera, being then but
twenty-nine years of age. His widow, a stranger
in a strange country, with five little children to
support, left St. Louis, settling on a farm about
thirty miles east of that city, near Highland,
III, where she reared her family, although she
spent the last years of her life in Sangamon
cou.nty, dying in Springfield. Of the five chil-
dren she bore her husband, four are living, Gusta-
vus L., the subject of this sketch, being the
youngest child. One of her sons, A. H. Junod,
of San Francisco, was employed in the United
States service at Benton Barracks during the
war. A son by another marriage, Julius Cuendet,
now a resident of Idaho, served as a musician
in the Twenty-second IlHnois Volunteer' Infantry
during the war.

An infant when brought to this country, Gus-
tavus Louis Junod was reared and educated in
Highland, III, obtaining his early education in
the district schools, and becoming familiar with
the various branches of agriculture while yet a
boy. He subsequently served an apprenticeship
at the carpenter's trade on his own account. Giv-
ing that up for a time, he carried on a general
mercantile business there for a few years, be-
ing quite successful. Going to Pawnee coun-
ty, Kans.. in 1892, he, bought a ranch at Earned,
where he established a very successful busi-
ness in raising, buying and shipping cattle.
Disposing of his interests in Kansas in 1903,
he came to Los Angeles county, and for
two years was employed as a contractor and
builder at Long Beach, building up both business
and residence property. In 1905, as head of the
firm of Junod & Scales, he embarked in his
present occupation, and in addition to buying and
selling city realty has laid out the Junod addition

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1617

to Long Beach. A man of sterling integrity,
courteous and genial, he is most pleasant to deal
with, and is conducting his extensive real-estate
transactions with great financial ability and suc-
cess.

In Madison county. 111., I\Ir. Junod married
Elizabeth Bosler, who was born in canton Aargau,
Switzerland, of German ancestry, and of the
children born of their union seven are living,
namely : E. H., of Springfield, 111., conductor on
a passenger train ; Annie, of Long Beach ; Mrs.
Ellen Converse, of Los Angeles; Mrs. Rosa
Colgin, of Los Angeles; ]\Irs. Nellie Burkhart,
of Long Beach ; and Flora and Minnie, of Long
Beach. In national politics Mr. Junod is a firm
supporter of the principles of the Republican
party, but in local affairs votes according to the
dictates of his conscience.

ANTOIXE REVOLON. The decadence
of the mining industry in California was fol-
lowed by the rapid development of stock-
raising and for years the vast ranges were
supposed to be worthless except for the pas-
turage of stock. It was during the stock-rais-
ing epoch of California's history that Mr. Re-
volon became a resident of the state, where
for years he was engaged extensively in the
raising of sheep, and experienced all the hard-
ships incident to the development o.f that in-
dustry in the midst of discouraging circum-
stances. Notwithstanding the obstacles he
encountered and the hardships he endured he
met with considerable success, and still retains
his large ranch holdings where once his sheep
v^-andered over the broad range. Since 1903,
however, the large ranch has been rented and
he has made his home in Los Angeles county,
where he owns twenty-five acres two miles
southwest of Palms, a well-improved home-
stead worth $600 per acre and improved with
a neat and adecjuate set of buildings.

A native of France, born August 15. 1847,
Antoine Revolon received a fair education in
his native tongue, and afterward served an
aj^prenticeship lo the trade of baker and con-
fectioner in Paris. In the fall of 1868 he ar-
rived at Boston, Mass.. from France, and at
once oroceeded to Chicago, where for six
months he was employed at his trade. How-
ever, it was his ambition to become a land-
owner, and with this object in view he left
Chicago for Kansas And pre-empted a home-
stead near Williamsburg. Franklin county.
After he had the title to the land he set about
making needed improvements and in time
]>laccd the land under cultivation and in ex-
cellent condition for profitable management.
Many conditions. liowe\-er. proved unsatis-

y6

factory, and, in the fall of 1874 he disposed of
the farm and came to California, settling near
Oxnard, in Ventura county. Immediately aft-
erward he became interested in the raising
of sheep and six years later he purchased a
sheep ranch of thirty-five hundred acres, the
larger part of which was in range and pasture-
land, although a portion was under cultiva-
tion. In 1884 he sold his flocks of sheep and
gave his attention wholly to general farming,
remaining on tlie Ventura county farm until
1903, when he rented the land to tenants and
removed to Los Angeles county.

The marriage of Mr. Revolon took ])lace
November 15, 1871, and united him Avith Miss
Catherine Gormont. who was born in Clear-
field county. Pa., June 4, 1841, being the
daughter of French parents. While still
quite small she accompanied other members
of the family to Kansas and there remained
until after her marriage to Mr. Revolon. They
are the parents of three daughters, one of
whom, Eugenie, remains with them at home.
The others are twins. Louise Antoinette and
Tvfarie Josephine, and they married brothers,
who are partners in business in Prescott,
.\riz., where tl-,ey are prominent citizens,
Louise A. being the wife of Floyd J. McCoy,
and Marie J., the wife of Lawrence B. Mc-
Coy. The family are earnest members of the
Roman Catholic Church and contribute to its
various charities. Since becoming a citizen
of the United States Mr. Revolon has voted
the Republican ticket at all elections and has
been a delegate to county conventions. When
it is remembered that he came to our country
without means, unfamiliar with the language
and unused to the customs of the people, his
])resent success cntitLs him to special praise
and proves that he is a man of ability and en-
terprise.

ALOXZO OSMOND HOUGHTON. Edu-
cational afi'airs of Norwalk have had in Mr.
Houghton one of its most earnest advocates, but
not to this upbuilding alone is he devoted, for
throughout his residence here he has proven him-
self a conservative and helpful business man in
whatever avenue the community has sought ad-
vancement. Mr. Houghton is a native of Hop-
kins county. Tex., his birth having occurred in
that section December 2, i860; his father. James
Houghton, died in Texas, after which the mother.
Nancy (Hastings) Houghton, came to Califor-
nia in 1868 across the plains with his paternal
grandparents. They first located in Stanislaus
county and remained for one year, when they
came south to Los .\ngeles county, where the
grandfather. W. L. Houghton, purchased land

1618

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and kept his grandson with him until his death.
The lad's mother died in California in 1871 when
about thirty-three years old. A. O. Houghton
received a common school education and after
the close of his schooldays worked with his
grandfather on the ranch. He was about twenty
years old when they passed away, and he then
began ranching for himself. In 1881 he pur-
chased his present property, which consists of
thirty-nine acres of land, and here he has erected
necessary buildings for the successful conduct
of his ranch, set out a fine family orchard of
various fruits, and devotes fifteen acres to hay
and barley. He also leases land and extends
his farming interests. In 1888 he married Miss
Ollie Day, a native of Mississippi, and a daugh-
ter of James Warren Day, who was born in
Mississippi. August 30, 1836. His wife,
Margurite C. Orman was born in ^ilississippi,
October 4, 1847. Her marriage to ]\Ir. Day
occurring October 26. 1862, in Tippah county.
Miss. They came to California in January, 1884
and located near Norwalk, where he engaged in
ranching until his death here in January, 1887.
The wife survives him and resides in Sher-
man, Cal.

Mr. and Mrs. Houghton are the parents of
four children of whom three are living, the second
daughter, Eula, having died at the age of thirteen
years ; Myrtle, Lena and Alta. Fraternally J\Ir.
Houghton is associated with the Independent
Order of Foresters, of Downey, and politically
is a stanch Democrat. He is serving as a mem-
ber of the boards of trustees for both the Little
Lake grammar and the Norwalk high schools
and is especially active in the advancement of
educational interests.

IS.\AC CLAY IJAMS. Those who are in-
terested in the study of heredity will find ample
support for their theory regarding the trans-
mission of traits and tendencies in the life of
Mr. Ijams and will admit unhesitatingly that he
comes of progenitors who were honorable and
high-minded. History records the pathetic fact
that when he was but one day old he was left
without a natural guardian, his father having
died three weeks before he was born, and his
mother passing away twenty-four hours after
his birth. Thus destined to never know parental
love and protection he was left to the mercy
of others who had little or no interest in his wel-
fare. And right here it must be noted that future
developments show that he certainly was a child
of noiole qualities. Until he was about four
years old he was brought up in the home of a
Mr. Leib, a relative on his mother's side, and
thereafter until he was fourteen years old lived
with a relative of his father. At that age he

decided to strike out in his own behalf and for
the following six years worked as a farm hand
in the neighborhood of his birthplace, Logan,
Hocking county, Ohio, his birth occurring Sep-
tember 2, 1840. Thus far in his life he had had
no advantages for an education, but from the
time he began to be self-supporting he diligently
laid aside from his small earnings such sums as
could be spared after providing the actual neces-
sities of life, with the intention of having this
apply towards an education. In i860, when he
was twenty years old. he went to Iowa City,
Iowa, and obtained three months' schooling, dur-
ing which time he also, became interested in the
patent rights business through his association
with an uncle on his father's side. He continued
with his relative until the breaking out of the
Civil war, when he decided to remove to the
west.

It was in 1862 that Mr. Ijams with a company
of others with like ambitions undertook the
journey across the plains, and just four months
to a day from the time they left Iowa City they
reached their destination. Auburn, Ore., after
a journey the hardships and dangers of which
cannot now be told. It was not accomplished
without hardships and great loss of life, how-
ever, for they had literally to fight their way
among the Snake and Banock Indians, through
whose territory their route led. While they
were crossing the Snake river on a raft fifteen
of their number were killed by the redmen with
one fell swoop, and a number of others were
killed singly. Mr. Ijams remained in Oregon
for about eighteen months and then returned to
Iowa City, where during the following winter
he recruited another party of emigrants for the
west. The train consisted of about one hundred
wagons, destined for Boise City, Idaho, which
they reached just three months from the time
of starting. With five others Mr. Ijams pur-
chased considerable land in that vicinity, he him-
self owning one hundred and sixty acres near
what is now Boise City, and in 1863 he had the
town site surveyed and laid out into lots. As he
had a half interest in the undertaking it was
with considerable pride that he watched the
growth of the new town, and during the three
years that he remained there he saw the strag-
gling village increase to a population of one
thousand, he himself building the first adobe
house in the settlement. It was about 1866 that
he left Idaho for Montana, where he hoped to
fined sudden wealth in the mines, but after pros-
pecting for some time with unsuccessful results
he finally gave up the search. His time and
cfl:"orts were not wholly lost, however, for he
gained a wonderful insight into the western part
of our country and he became noted as a scout
and guide to less experienced travelers. During

HISTORICL\L AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1619

his residence in Montana he made his headquar-
ters in Helena. Before coming further west he
went on a visit to Arizona and Utah, making
the trip on horseback. After spending the winter
in Fort Mojave he retraced his steps westward,
continuing on to Los Angeles. From there he
went to the mines of Kern county, later going
to San Diego county, and still later to Mexico,
during all of this time being interested in min-
ing. After spending one year in Mexico he
again went to San Diego county, and during the
year he was there was married. His identifica-
tion with California in reality dates from the
year 1885, at which time he located a govern-
ment claim of two hundred acres in Los An-
geles county not far from Toluca, which has
been his home ever since. As he took the land
from the government not a furrow had been
turned when it came into his possession and he
has literally carved out his own fortune, for to-
day he has one of the finest ranches in this part
of Los Angeles county. In 1899 he added td
his acreage by the purchase of one hundred and
five acres of partially improved land. Besides
building a commodious residence and ample
barns he has erected a windmill, this latter how-
ever being more for ornament than service, for
his ranch is so located that irrigation is unneces-
sary. He has about sixty acres set out to wal-
nuts and fruits, including peaches, pears, apples
and prunes, besides which he raises some stock,
having about twenty head of work horses and
fifteen head of cattle.

Mr. Ijams' marriage united him with Miss
Edith Shaw, a daughter of James and Elizabeth
(Sikes) Shaw, and of their marriage four chil-
dren were born. The eldest, Isaac Edwin, re-
sides with his father on the ranch ; Nettie
Cornelia grew to young womanhood and died
in Los Angeles county at the age of twenty
years ; Katie May became the wife of John Haas,
and with her husband lives in Calabasas, Los
Angeles county ; and William Frederick, who
with his older brother lives on the home ranch
and assists in its management.

While j\Ir. Ijams is the pioneer of Calabasas he
is also called the father of Toluca, a name to which
he is honestly entitled, for he was one of the
originial settlers in this part of the country, which
owes so much to his fostering care and valuable
hints along agricultural lines. It would be hard
to find anyone who has experienced more thrill-
ing adventures in this western country than has
Mr. Ijams. He has met face to face all of the
wild animals of the plains, and has partaken of
the flesh of all edible kinds. Many and hazardous
have been the trips which he has made across
the plains, and while he has been called upon
to bury many a comrade whose ready aim the
redskins has laid low, vet through it all he has

been mercifully spared, and there is probably
no one in this part of the country who can
depict more graphically than can he the life of
the frontiersmen, that vanguard of civilization
whose lives must inspire their followers with
gratitude and reverence for the conditions that
have been brought about. Besides his election
to minor offices within the gift of his fellow-
citizens he has twice been elected justice of the
peace, and is now filling that office. Inde-
pendent in politics and as generous in all other
matters he gives his religious affiliations to the
Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOHN R. ABBOTT. Living retired from ac-
tive business at his pleasant home in Long
Beach is John R. Abbott, who during his long
and useful life has labored wisely and well, and
is now enjoying a well-deserved reward. As a
young man, he was industrious, courageous and
progressive, and the success with which he met
during his. working career was brought about b\
persistent energy, well-directed toil and excep-
tional business ability. Since coming to this
country he has shown himself a man of honest
purpose and sterling integrity, well worthy of
the esteem and respect of the community. A
native of New York, he was born, February 23.
1829, in Saratoga county, a son of John C. and
Lydea (Hudson) Abbott. His father was a
life-long resident of New York state, while his
mother was born and reared in New Jersey,
and died in Portland, Mich.

Educated in the common schools, John R. Ab-
l)ott had as a boy few of the advantages granted
to the young of this generation. At an early age
he began working for a living, toiling early and
late. He subsequently learned the shoemaker's
trade, which he followed a few years in Led-
yard, Cayuga county. Going then across the
country to Michigan, he settled in Ionia county,
where he resided many years, obtaining a good
jxisition among the capable business men of his
conununity. From 1870 until 1880 he was post-
master at Hubbardston. He afterwards removed
to St. Johns, in Clinton county, and was there
one of the leading citizens for many years. Dur-
ing the time he made many visits to the Pa-
cific coast, coming first on a pleasure trip in
1882. In 1899, having made up his mind that
(!"alifornia was the only place for a man to live
and thoroughly enjoy himself, he located in
Long Beach, and has since made this his home.
He purchased a lot and erected a house soon
after coming here, and has since dealt to some
extent in real estate, having bought and sold a
number of city lots.

Mr. Abbott married first, in 1857, in Led-
yard, N. Y., Almira E. Deyo, who died at her

1620

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

home in r^Iichigan in 1889. He subsequently
married October 3, 1893. in St. Johns, Mich.,
Louisa AValdron, who was born in Bristol, Eng-
land, and came with her father, the late Will-
iam Waldron, tq the United States in 1871, lo-
cating in Zilichigan. Mr. Abbott has one daugh-
ter, Almira \\'." Abbott. In his political affilia-
tions Air. Abbott has been identified with the
Republican party since casting his vote for its
first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont.
Fraternally he was made a Alason in Hubbards-
ton, Mich., about thirty years ago, and since
coming to Long Beach has joined the Order of
the Eastern Star. While a resident of New
York state he was connected with the Indepen-
dent Order of Odd Fellows.

JOHN KUEBLER. The proprietor of the
Penny Arcade in Long Beach, John Kuebler
is a well known citizen here, and as a pioneer
settler in Orange county he has a large acquaint-
ance throughout this section of Southern Cali-
fornia. The family is of German origin and the
first meniber to come to this country was the
grandfather, George Kuebler, who was a native
of Wurtenberg. He first settled in Mary-
land and plied his trade as a weaver and later
removed to Pennsylvania, where he spent the
remainder of his life. John Kuebler, who was
born April 23, 1859, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
was the son of William and Margaret (Serena)
Kuebler, the former a native of western Alary-
land and the latter of Westmoreland county. Pa.
The father was engaged as a weaver in Pennsyl-
vania, and when he removed to Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, in 1854, superintended the building of the
first woolen mill in that city for Nick Brown and
conducted the plant for many years. At the
outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a pri-
vate in Company G, Twenty-fourth Regiment of
Iowa \"olunteer Infantry, and sacrificed his life
on the altar of his country's need, his death oc-
curring in ser\ace at Helena, Ark., in 1864. His
wife lived for manv vears and died in Anaheim,
Cal.

The youngest of a family of four children,
three of whom are residents of California, 'John
Kuebler was reared in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
where he attended the public schools until twelve
years of age, then finding it necessary to work
for his own support and that of his mother.
His first employment was secured on farms and
in brickyards and later he engaged in indepen-
dent farming operations near Cedar Rapids for
several years. During the years of 1880 and
1B81 he spent seven months in Colorado, after
which he returned to Iowa and in 1882 filed on
a homestead in Holt county. Neb., near O'Neill,
improved the place and the following four years

• was engaged in agricultural pursuits. His resi-
dence in California dates from 1886, when he
came to Anaheim and began farming on four
acres of land, and also engaged in the i' anu-
facture of asphalt pipes for sewers and .oad
crossings. In 1902 he disposed of his mter-
csts in Orange county and locating m Long
Beach established a confectionery business on
the wharf, becoming the pioneer business man
there. When the old pavilion was burned his
losses amounted to $2,350. After this he bought
and sold real estate, meeting with good success,
and now has a nice residence at No. 1334 Apple-
ton street. On July 4, 1906, he opened on the
wharf the most modern and complete Penny Ar-
cade in this state. It has three entrances from
the wharf and pavilion and covers a large space
in two rooms with dimensions respectively 20x
50 feet and 36x15 feet.

By his marriage in Holt county. Neb., Mr.
Kuebler was united with Aliss Martha Picker-
ing, a native of Wisconsin. She is a member
of the Ladies of the Maccabees Lodge, and Mr.
Kuebler is a member of the Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks. In politics he exercises
independence in the casting of his ballot, pre-
ferring to vote for the men whom he believes
will best fill the offices to which they are elected.
He is a citizen of progressive ideas, wnth energy
and business ability to carry them out, and in
every developing and upbuilding enterprise lends
an enthusiastic support.

M. T. OWENS. Although he has been a
resident of Long Beach but a few months M. T.
Owens has built up a large plumbing and steam
and gas fitting business and has a fine estab-
lishment located at No. 441 Pine street. Having
learned the trade in boyhood and followed it
continuously ever since, he has mastered the work
in every detail, as is fully proven by the numer-
ous satisfactory contracts he has completed in
this city. He was born July 30, 1864, in Liver-
pool, England, the son of John and- Mary
(Roberts") Owens, natives respectively of Eng-
land and Wales, and a grandson of John Owens,
who spent a portion of his life in America, but
returned to England and Wales, and spent his
remaining years on that side of the ocean.
Reared in Wales, the father learned the trade
of moulder, plying it in Liverpool until the time
of his death in that city, his wife having also
died there. They became the parents of fifteen
children and eleven of them grew to maturity.

Lentil fifteen years of age Mr. Owens attend-
ed the public schools of his native city, then be-
gan to learn the plumber's trade and upon the
completion of his apprenticeship followed that
occupation as a traveling journeyman for several

HISTORIOAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1623

years. In 1887 he came to the United States,
locating in Utica, N. Y., and subsequently
worked at his trade and traveled throughout the
states of New York, Michigan, Indiana, Illi-
nois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and again in New York,
after which he went to Toronto, Canada, for a
season, then to Iowa for a year, and in 1901
came to Los Angeles. He continued to work as
a plumber in that city until 1906, in the spring
of which year he located in Long Beach and
established his present business. His marriage
in Indiana united him with Miss Margaret E.
Nichol, a native of Toronto, Canada, and they are
the parents of one child, Elmer C. In national
politics Mr. Owens favors Republican principles.
He is a member of the Sons of St. George and
Canadian Workman Lodge, and belongs to the
Merchant Plumbers' Associetion of Long Beach.
Of high personal integrity, successful in busi-
ness, and progressive and public spirited as a
citizen he is held in high esteem by all wlio know
him.

AMLLARD G. PHILLIPS. Having come
to Southern California in' 18;^ Willard G.
Phillips is one of the oldest settlers in this
part of the state. In all of his business trans-
actions he has met with flattering success
and is now a large property holder and money
lender. His home ranch, which is located in
Valle Vista, comprises forty acres, the larger
part of it being devoted to the raising of na-
vel, blood and Valencia oranges. The eleva-
tion in this section being about eighteen hun-
dred feet makes it an ideal place for the culti-
vation of this fruit, and oranges of better qual-
ity and flavor cannot be grown anywhere. A
stock ranch which Air. Phillips owns on Smith
Mountain, San Diego county, comprises three
liundred and eighty acres, and upon this place
he has also a sawmill in which he manufact-
ures- lumber for his private use. This valua-
ble propertv has been in his possession since
1801.

The birth of Mr. Phillips occurred in 1850,
in the state of Maine, and his parents, Rich-
ard and Phoebe (Cowingl Phillips, both of
whom are now deceased, came to California in
1850 via Panama, when the gold excitement
\vas attracting so many people to this state
from all parts of the country. The father en-
gaged in mining in the Dutch Flat district for
eighteen months, after which he returned to
his old home in Maine and remained there the
rest of his days. The son, whose education
was received in the Maine public schools,
came to California in the fall of 1872, locating
first in Mendocino county, where he engaged
in lumbering until 1880. when he came to

Southern California and bought his present
ranch in the San Jacinto valley, the place be-
ing at chat time entirely unimproved. He
erected all of the buildings now located on the
land, set out the trees and hqs one of the best
cultivated groves in this part of the country.
Mr. Phillips is a man who is interested in
social and civic matters, the good government
of his community and the highest develop-
ment of the country at large, and is held in
the highest esteem by all who know him. He
was made a member of the Masonic order in
Ellsworth, Me.

PROF. HOMER F. PINNELL. Liberally
educated, well informed, and a man of excep-
tionally fine executive ability. Prof. Homer F.
Pinnell, supervising principal of the San Pedro
schools, and principal of its high school, is ably
discharging the duties devolving upon him in his
responsible position, giving good satisfaction to
all concerned. As a teacher he has had a prac-
tical experience in different grades, and has met
with eminent success, becoming known as one
of the most popular and efficient educators of
this part of the state. A son of Dr. Elijah A.
Pinnell, he was born, January 26, 1869, in La-
doga, Montgomery county, Ind. His grand-
father, George Pinnell, was a pioneer settler of
Indiana, where he spent the later years of his
life. He comes of French Huguenot extraction,
the emigrant ancestor, whose name in France
was spelled Pinel, having settled in South Caro-
lina in early colonial days.

Elijah A. Pinnell was born and reared in
Kentuck}-, but when a )'Oung man removed to
Illinois, and during the Civil war enlisted in an
Illinois .regiment, taking part in many serious
engagements. Preparing himself for a profes-
sional career, he subsequently settled as a physi-
cian in Ladoga, Ind., from there removing to
Bedford, Iowa, where he continued in practice
until his death. Dr. Pinnell married Mrs. Eliza-
beth (Britts) Byrd, who was born in old Vir-
ginia, and died in Indiana. She was of German
ancestry, her Grandfather Britts having been
born in Germany. Of her union with Dr. Pin-
nell liut (ine child was born. Homer F., the sub-
ject lit this sketch. Ry her first marriage she
had six children, one of whom, George Byrd,
is a successful attorney in Indianapolis, Ind., and
a man of prominence and influence, being an ex-
state senator, and the grand supreme secretary
and treasurer of the Grand Lodge of the Knights
and Ladies of Honor.

Brought up in Montgomery county, Ind.,
Homer F. Piimell received his elementarv edu-
cation in the public schools. .\s a boy lie was
a brilliant scholar, and when but thirteen vears

1624

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of age entered the Normal School at Ladoga.
The following year he began teaching in Clay
county, Ind., aiul taught tor six consecutive
years,' each summer pursuing his studies at the
Ladoga Normal School, from which he was
graduated in 1886. in i88y he entered DePauw
University, which he attended a year, and in
1890 came to California, locating in Los Ange-
les. The same year he entered the sophomore
class of the University of Southern California,
where, in addition to doing some junior work, he
was tutor in English.

Removing to Redlands in 1891, Air. Pinnell
started a nursery, but as a horticulturist was not
particularly successful. Resuming his profes-
sional labors, he taught in CaHco, San Bernar-
dino county, for a year, and then went to Beau-
mont, Riverside county, where he taught the
ensuing year. In 1894, when the high school
was established at San Jacinto, he assumed its
charge, and remained as its principal for two
\ears, being very successful in his work. For
a year he was afterwards principal of the Hemet
high school, and then for the same length of
time had charge of the grammar school at
Rialto. From 1898 until 1901, he taught in the
Pomona high school, as an instructor proving
very efficient. Resigning the position, he served
as principal of the high school at Santa Maria
for two years, when, on account of the ill health
of his wife, he went to Anaheim, where he had
charge of the high school for a year. In 1904
he accepted his present position of principal of
the San Pedro high school, which was organized
in 1903, and in addition to having charge of
this school is also supervising principal of the
grammar schools of the city. In his labors he
is meeting with eminent success, and is widely
known as one of the leading educators of South-
ern California. The new high school building
just completed cost, furnished, about $55,000,
and is one of the best in its appointments and
equipments of any in the county.

In Redlands, Cal., Professor Pinnell married
Bertha E, Coveney, who was born in Michigan,
and was educated at the Northern Indiana Nor-
mal School, at Valparaiso, Professor and Mrs.
Pinnell have three children, Vivian, Marion and
Aluriel, Politically the professor is a Repub-
lican in national affairs, but in local matters
casts his ballot for the men best suited for the
positions. He is a member of the Southern Cali-
fornia Teachers' Association, and both he and
his wife are valued members of the Methodist
Episcopal Qiurch

E\AN AIOSHER. Significant testimony
concerning the attractions of Long Beach as a
residence citv is offered bv the thousands of men

and women who have come hither from all parts
01 the United States and have established per-
manent homes within its limits. In the midst of
of an environment rendered picturesque by the
pro-ximity of the mountains and the ocean, and
surrounded by evidences of a cultured people
and a progressive citizenship, Air. Mosher lias
selected the place where he hopes to pass the
remaining years of his life and where, blessed
with the comforts rendered possible by long busi-
ness activity, he is enabled to retire from the
strenuous labors of the past. Of eastern birth
and parentage, descended from a long line of
eastern ancestry, he believes the east to be sur-
passed by the west in climate and fully equaled
m point of business opportunities.

A native of Jefferson county, N. Y,, born Au-
gust 4, 1840, Mr. Mosher is a son of Leonard
and Margaret (Strickland) Mosher, also na-
tives of that state, where the father died in 1884,
at seventy-live years of age, and the mother
passed away in 1891, also aged seventy-five
years. During all of their active years they re-
sided upon a farm and maintained agricultural
interests. Their son, Evan, was the recipient of
such advantag«s as country schools afforded, in
addition to which he had the privilege of attend-
ing the Wesleyan College at Gouverneur, N, Y,,
for about nine months. While he was yet making
his home with his parents the Civil war began
and from the first he was an ardent believer in
L'nion principle^. Offering his services to the
country, he was enrolled September 7, 1863, as
a private in Company C, Tenth New York Heavy
Artillery, and at once accompanied his regiment
to the front. Among his engagements were
those of the Shenandoah valley and Petersburg,
where he served under the gallant General Sheri-
dan, At the expiration of his time he was hon-
orably discharged June 2^, 1865, at Sacket Har-
bor, and from there returned to the home farm.

The first experience which Mr, Mosher gained
in business affairs was as a business man of
Gouverneur, N, Y., where he engaged in the
sale of books, stationery and wall paper. After
a brief connection with that line of activity he
embarlved in the furniture and undertaking- busi-
ness in the same town, and for twenty-five years
he remained proprietor of the same store, mean-
while winning the confidence of the people
through his reliable methods of transacting busi-
ness and his strict conformity to the highest rules
of honor. On retiring from business in that city
he closed out his interests in the east and re-
moved to California, arriving June i, 1891, in
the city of Pasadena, where he made his home
for a few years. From there in 1895 he moved
to Long Beach and for fourteen months en-
gaged in the furniture business, but at the ex-
piration of that time disposed of his interest

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1625

in the business to his partner, W. P. Wilson,
since which time he has had no business inter-
ests except the bu\ing and selHng of real es-
tate.

While living in New York Air. Mosher was
united in marriage, Alarch 20, 1867, with Miss
Ratherine ( )rmiston, a native of that state. Three
children were born to their union, and the heavi-
est bereavement of the married lives came in the
loss of the two eldest. The son, William L.,
died in 1877, when a boy of ten years, and Anna
M. died in 1884, at the age of eleven years. The
younger daughter, Katherine A., was spared to
bless their home with her cheerful presence. The
family are identified with the Presbyterian
Church, with which Mr. Mosher has been con-
nected as an active member since attaining the
age of sixteen years. When the Grand Army
of the Republic came into existence he affiliated
with the post at Gouverneur, N. Y., and is now-
associated with the Long Beach Post. Frater-
nally he was made a Master Mason in March,
1869, and three months later took the chapter
degree, at this writing being connected with
Long Beach Lodge No. 327, F. & A. M. (of
which he is secretary). Long Beach Chapter Xo.
84. R. A. M., and Long Beach Commandery No.
40, K. T. He is also secretary of the Masonic
Temple Association. In politics he supports Re-
publican principles. For years he has been a finu
believer in temperance work and by his influ-
ence has done much to bring to the attention
of public-spirited citizens the evils wrought by
the liquor traffic.

EDGAR R. REEL. .Conspicuous in the pres-
ent generation of the active and enterprising
citizens of Long Beach is Edgar R. Reel, a young
man of mark and of recognized worth, his busi-
ness ability being unquestioned and his charac-
ter above reproach. A son of James B. Reel,
he was born, February 26, 1879, '" Maryland,
where the first two years of his life were spent.

A native of Alaryland, James B. Reel lived
there until 1881, when he migrated with his
family to Page county, Iowa, where he followed
general farming for a few years. In 1887 he
came to the Pacific coast, locating first in Pasa-
dena, from there going subsequently to Los .An-
geles, where he lived retired from active busi-
ness. He married Josephine B. Reel, who was
also born and reared in ^Maryland. ■

Beginning his .school life in Page county, Iowa,
Edgar B. Reel completed his studies in the pub-
lic schools of Pasadena, Cal. At the age of
sixteen years he Ix^gan to be self-supporting, as
a farm laborer working in Hynes for ten years.
Industrious, ambitious and thirfty, he saved his
money, and in 1902 established himself in his

present business in Long Beach, becoming pro-
prietor of the Crown dairy, and as a dairy and
butter commissioner has an extensive and prof-
itable trade throughout Southern California, the
products of his dairy being widely and favorably
known.

In 1903 Mr. Reel married Bessie A. Anderson
who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and came
with the family to the United States in 1895.
Her father, John Anderson, a farmer by occupa-
tion, lived for nearly eleven years on a ranch in
Hynes, Los Angeles county, but is now a resi-
dent of Long Beach, being retired from active
pursuits. He married Janet Alston, who is the
mother of four living children. Mr. and Mrs.
Reel have one child, Dorothy Reel. Politically
Mr. Reel is a stanch Republican. He has met
with excellent success in business, and has built
for himself and family a nice home at Xo. 645
Pacific avenue.

EDWIX L. BARNARD. Occupying a posi-
tion of prominence among the foremost agricult-
urists of Southern California is Edwin L. Bar-
nard, of Ocean Park, who, as head of the firm
of Barnard & Oreb, is one of the founders and
proprietors of the Santa Monica pepper ranch,
the largest ranch of the kind in the United States.
Progressive, practical and enterprising, he uses
excellent judgment in his operations, and never
allows anything to escape his observation which
may improve his methods of farming or ad-
vance his business opportunities. A son of A. D.
Barnard, he was born in Corvallis, Ore., Novem-
ber 23, 1862, coming from substantial X'ew Eng-
land stock.

Born and reared in Maine, A. D. Barnard
came as a young man to California, journeying
by the Panama route, and for a time was suc-
cessfully employed in mining. Going thence to
Corvallis, Ore., he remained there several vears.
carrying on an extensive and remunerative trade
as a merchant. Returning to California in 1868.
he located in \'entura. where he was prosper-
ously engaged in the lumber and real-estate busi-
ness until his death, at the age of sixty-four
years, in 1895. Left an orphan when a boy, he
made his own way in the world, carving out his
own fortune. He was a Republican in politics,
and as a man and a citizen was honored and re-
spected by all. He married Sarah E. Lehman,
a native of Ohio, who now resides in Ventura,
Cal., at the age of sixty-six years.

But six years of age when he came with his
parents from Oregon to California, Edwin L.
Barnard was educated in Ventura, attending the
public schools and the commercial college. Re-
maining at home until attaining his majority, he
assisted his father on the ranch and later began

1626

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

farming on his own account in \'entura, his
father giying him financial assistance, and in
that county made quite a success of raising chiU
peppers. In 1901, forming a partnership with
Frank Oreb, of whom a brief sketch may be
found elsewhere in this volume, he came down to
Los Angeles county, locating not far from Santa
Monica, where he purchased the ranch now
owned by himself and Mr. Oreb, with whom he
had previously been associated in Ventura
county. Here these gentlemen are carrying on a
substantial business, raising lima beans and chili
peppers, making a specialty of the latter indus-
try. They have every convenience for success-
fully carrying on their work, having erected
dryers, and having all other modern appliances.
Their land is rich and fertile, and being well
improved and well cultivated is worth, at a con-
servative estimate, $1,000 per acre, making their
ranch of one hundred and eighty-five acres one
of the most valuable estates in this part of the
state.

In February, 1890, j\lr. Barnard married Hat-
tie Mandeville, a native of Qiico, Cal., and they
have one child, Austin Alandeville Barnard. Po-
litically JMr. Barnard is a Republican, and re-
ligiously he was reared in the Presbyterian faith,
but is not a membef of any church. He resides
in Ocean Park.

CHARLES A. FREEMAN. Very early in
the history of American colonization the Free-
man family became established in New England
and several successive generations lived and died
in that region. John, Jr., son of John Freeman,
Sr., was a native of Maine and spent his entire
active life as a farmer in that state, where he
passed away at the age of four score years. In-
terested in public matters and political affairs,
he was a local leader of the Whigs and accom-
plished much in the interests of his party in the
home neighborhood. In early manhood he mar-
ried Sarah Doe, who was born and reared in
^Maine and died there at the age of eighty-four
years. The genealogy of the Doe family is
traced to Scotland, whence Mrs. Freeman's
grandfather migrated to the new world. Little
is known of his history, but the family records
state that he was a man six feet and eight inches
tall, a giant in stature, and physically well pro-
portioned.

On the home farm in Kennebec county. Me.,
Charles A. Freeman was born August 10, 1841,
being a son of John and Sarah (Doe) Freeman.
AfteV having completed common-school and sem-
inary studies he gave his help to his father, whom
he aided in paying for the homestead and in
securing a competency. Then, starting out for
himself with $200 of borrowed money, he went
lo Montana, where he worked in the mines for

several years. On his return to jNIaine he be-
came interested in dealing in horses and in cul-
tivating the home farm, but after seven years
he again came to the western regions, this time
settling in Washington. For four years he en-
gaged in freighting from The Dalles, Ore., to
what is now EUensburg, and in that work he
utilized six horses which he owned. At the ex-
piration of four years he gave up the business
and in 1880 came to California, hoping that a
change of climate might prove of benefit to his
wife's health. Settling in Santa Monica, he car-
ried on a lumber yard for two years, and then
engaged in the transfer business for twenty
years, meeting with fair success, in the enterprise.
In 1901, his health preventing further continu-
ance in business, he removed to a ranch for
which in 1881 he had paid about $35 an acre,
and which is now valued at $500 per acre. This
property comprises fifty acres and is situated
near Palms, Los Angeles county.

The marriage of Mr. Freeman took place Oc-
tober 18, 1864, and united him with Laura B.
Bean, who was born in Maine and received her
education in the schools of that state. The chil-
dren born of their union are as follows : John
W., who is employed in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Annie
and Frederick, who died respectively at nineteen
and twenty years : Elliott, who died aged eight
months ; Edward, who owns the transfer busi-
ness at Santa Monica established by his father ;
Margaret, jNIrs. C. Olsen, a resident of Santa
Monica ; Marian, wife of Thomas Peterson, of
Santa Monica ; William Y. and Dwight,
both of whom are living in Santa Mo-
nica : and Frank, who resides with his pa-
rents near Palms. In addition to the home
place Mr. Freeman owns a residence and sev-
eral unimproved lots in Santa Monica. Wliile
living in Elaine, he was initiated into the blue
lodge of Masonry at Vassalboro. Kennebec
coimty, but has not been active in the order since
coming to the Pacific coast. In politics he has
been a warm adherent of the Republican party,
which he supports with his ballot and his influ-
ence.

THOMAS F. McLOUCxHLIN. Prominent
among the younger generation of agriculturists
in Ventura 'coun'ty is Thomas F. jNIcLoughlin,
who had wisely chosen to follow the occupation
to which he was reared, and is now actively and
prosperously employed in general farming. The
representative of one of the old and respected
pioneer families of the El Cajon valley, he is also
distinguished as a native-born son of California,
his birth having occurred, December 9, 1873, in
Ventura county, on the ranch owned by his father,
Mark INlcLoughlin. Further parental and an-

^.;tfe/^^w^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RF.CORD.

1(529

cestral history may be found elsewhere in this
vohime, on connection with the sketch of Mark
AIcLoughHn.

Thomas F. JNIcLoughlin received excellent ed-
ucational advantages when young, attending first
the public schools of his native county, after
which he entered the commercial department of
St. Vincent's College, at Los Angeles, where he
was graduated in 1892. Returning home, he has
since devoted his time and attention to general
ranching, and has proved himself a master of
his calling, being skilful, practical and progres-
sive, in every way capable of managing his busi-
ness affairs.

November 8, 1899, ]Mr JNIcLoughlin married
Anna Leidel, a daughter of Michael Leidel, and
they have four children, namely : Mark, Margaret,
Frances and Anna. Politically Mr. McLoughlin
is a democrat, and religiously he and his wife
are members of the Catholic Church at Oxnard.

Michael Leidel and his wife, Monica (iNIiller)
Leidel, were born, reared and married in Ger-
many. Immigrating to the United States, they
settled first in Iowa, from there coming, to Los
Angeles county in 1883. Taking up land near
Palms, Mr. Leidel has since been prosperously
employed in cultivating the soil, and is now liv-
ing on the ranch which he improved, being now
seventy-eight years old. His wife died on the
home farm, December 17, 1905, aged sixty-seven
years. She was a faithful member of the Catholic
Church, to which Mr. Leidel also belongs, and
towards the support of which he contributes
generously.

PETER F. SCHANIEL. As a member of
the board of public works and as president of
the Master Carpenters' Association, Mr. Schan-
iel for years has been intimately associated with
the material development of his home city of
San Diego and through his able service in both
capacities, as well as through his skill as a car-
penter and builder, he has been of the greatest
assistance to the building interests of the place.
His residence in San Diego he dates from Octo-
ber 7, 1887, and during much of the intervening
period he has engaged in taking contracts for
the erection of private residences and buildings
of a public nature for commercial, religious and
other purposes. For three years he engaged in
business with Thomas Jobbitt as a jjartner and
after thev had dissolved their connection he and
his brother, Nicholas, formed the firm of Schan-
iel Brothers, still engaged in the building busi-
ness. Among their contracts may l>e mentioned
those for the San Diego Congregational Church,
the Keating and Cole blocks, the Los Banos baths,
and a large number of residences.

The Schaniel family originated in Germany,
whence Peter Schaniel. Sr.. immigrated to the

Lnited States at the age of eighteen years and
settled in Wisconsin. Later he engaged in farm-
ing in Effingham county. 111., and from there re-
moved to Qiampaign and thence to Decatur,
same state, but in 1888 he removed to California
to spend his last days in the mild climate and
attractive surroundings of the coast. While still
making his home in Illinois, in 1878 his wife
died at Decatur, she was a native of Germany
and bore the maiden name of Annie Willcome.
Ten children were born of their union and seven
survive them, namely : Mary, living in San
Diego ; Anna, who remains in Illinois ; Susie, of
San Diego; Charles, who makes his home at
Trinidad, Colo., and Theresa and Peter F., and
Nicholas, all residents of San Diego.

While the family were living at Eden, Fond
du Lac county, Wis., Peter F. Schaniel was
born December 4, 1855, and from there he ac-
companied his parents to Illinois at the age of
eight years, settling in Effingham county. The
following year he went with the family to Cham-
paign, 111., and there completed the studies of
the grammar schools. When he was sixteen he
removed to Decatur and there ser\'ed an appren-
ticeship to the carpenter's trade, which he fol-
lowed in that town as a journeyman. A trip to
Florida in 1881 gave him an opportunity to fol-
low his trade in the south, but in 1882 he re-
turned to Decatur and resumed his trade in that
city, remaining there until he removed to Cali-
fornia during the fall of 1887. In the spring
of the following year he formed a partnership
with Thomas Jobbitt in contracting and three
years later, on dissolving that connection, he
became interested in the building business with
his younger brother. He has built a number of
houses for himself and has sold them as oppor-
tunity offered, and now owns and occupies the
property at No. 2358 Columbia street. With his
brother in 1901 he became interested in the Im-
perial country, where he owns three hundred and
twenty acres of land. W'hile he manages the build-
ing business his brother manages the ranch, mak-
ing his home there and superintending its im-
provement.

Under appointment by Mayor Sehon in the
fall of 1905 ]\Ir. Schaniel became a member of
the board of public works and has since rendered
efficient service in that position. In national poli-
tics he votes with the Democratic party. On the
organization of the ^ [aster Carpenters' Associa-
tion he l>ecanie a charter member and during the
greater part of the time since then he has held
riie office of president. Fraternally he holds mem-
bership with the Sons of Herman and the Wood-
men of the World, and is' a member of the board
of managers of the latter order in San Diego, be-
sides which he is an honorary member of the
^^■omcn of Woodcraft.

1630

HISTORICWL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

FRANK OREB. In no country are greater
opportunities afforded the poor man than in our
own free land, where many a foreign-born citizen
of industry, frugahty and enterprise has accumu-
lated wealth and attained a position of influence
and affluence in the community in which he set-
tles permanently. Prominent among this number
is Frank Oreb, one of the owners of the noted
Santa jMonica pepper ranch, and a partner of
Edwin L. Barnard, whose sketch appears on an-
other page of this work. Coming to this country
poor in pocket, but rich in ambitions, he has made
diligent use of his faculties, and is rapidly mak-
ing his way to the top of the ladder of attain-
ments. A native of Europe, he was born, Au-
gust 31, 1841, in Austria, where he grew to man-
hood, married, and lived for many years.

Immigrating with his family to the United
States, Mr. Oreb settled in Ventura, Cal., on
June 20, 1 89 1, and for some time thereafter ran
a lodging house and a restaurant in that city.
Having acquired a good knowledge of agri-
culture in his native land, he subsequently
formed a partnership with E. L. Barnard, and
in Ventura county began the business of raising
chili peppers. Succeeding beyond their expecta-
tions in their venture, Messrs. Barnard & Oreb
purchased their present ranch of one hundred
and eighty-five acres, lying neaT Santa Monica,
and have since continued their profitable busi-
ness. Their ranch is the largest of the kind in
the United States, and with its many improve-
ments of value is yielding large crops of chili
peppers, and also of lima beans.

January 7, 1878, Mr. Oreb married Antonia
Marcovich, also an Austrian by birth and breed-
ing, and they are the parents of three children,
namely : Frank, of Los Angeles ; and Peter and
Antonio, of San Francisco. Politically Mr. Oreb
is a Republican, and religiously he is a CathoHc.

FREDERICK E. SCHUEDDIG. The family
represented by this well-known manufacturer
and leading citizen of Los Angeles county comes
of German ancestry, and he himself is of Prus-
sian birth, born February 19, 1849. His father,
Frederick, a native of the same country, and a
confectioner by trade, served for twelve rears
in the Prussian army and during a part of that
time he filled the office of orderly sergeant. Ac-
companied by his family, in 1851 he came to the
United States and settled in St. Louis. ;Mo..
where he followed the confectioner's business.
Immediately after the outbreak of the Civil war
he assisted in organizi;ig the Fourth Missouri
\'olunteers and was chosen captain of Corapanv
C, with which he served until the expiration of
his time, three months. Later he enlisted in the
Sixteenth Illinois Cavalrv and was chosen first

lieutenant of Company I, with which he served
through the period of his service. Exposure
while in the army injured his vision and eventu-
ally caused the loss of his sight. The blind old
soldier is passing his last days in East Los An-
geles, and is now (1906) eighty-eight years of
age. For a time after the war he worked in the
quatermaster's department at Oak Hall under
the government employ, but the work proved too
trying for his eyes and he was obliged to re-
sign. In 1880 he came to California and since
has made Los Angeles his home. Fond of mili-
tary affairs, he enjoys in his old age recounting
the experiences of the past, when in the United
States army and also when serving in the army
of his native land.

The earliest recollections of the gentleman
whose name introduces this sketch are associated
with St. Louis, for he was only two years of age
when the family located in that city. He well
remembers the excitement occasioned by the out-
break of the Civil war and recalls the fact that
his father was one of the "Black Hunters." who
contributed their own arms, ammunition and
clothing, and wore uniforms distinguished by a
skull and cross-bones as an emblem and with
hats adorned with waving ostrich plumes. Later
the lad worked in the United States arsenal in
St. I,ouis, where he was the first to operate the
bullet gauge invented by a Mr. Ingalls. After
completing his education in the Jones Commer-
cial College of St. Louis he went to Franklin
county. Mo., with the home guards and for sev-
eral months engaged in helping to guard the
railroad bridges, his associates in the work being
men who were either too old or too young to
enlist in the army. Emulating the example of
his father in business as well as in military af-
fairs, he began to learn the trade of a confec-
tioner with one of the leading firms of that line
in St. Louis. The owner was a personal friend
of the youth and not only taught him the busi-
ness and helped him in acquiring his first knowl-
edge of chemistry, but also encouraged him to
endeavor to develop his talents. However, on
account of trouble with his eves he could not
follow the trade and later he took up frescoing
and paper-hanging in his home city.

Coming to Los Angeles in 1882. Mr. Schued-
dig followed his trade until 1893, when he be-
came deepiv interested in the eucalyptus oil.
After special and long-continued studv he pro-
duced a cjuality of oil that has never been sur-
passed, and this he manufactured in Los An-
peles until igoi. when he removed to Palms and
built a new plant for the manufacture of the
product. The sales of the oil have extended all
over the countrv as far north as Canada, as far
south as New Orleans, and as far east as New
York, and even to Europe, and without doubt

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1631

die business will have a steadily increasing de-
velopment, both in our own land and in foreign
countries. As an authority of eucalyptus trees
and oil, Mr. Schueddig has been called upon
frequently to prepare articles for magazines and
to lecture before chemical and medical associa-
tions. When he first embarked in the business,
it was necessary for him to plan all of the ma-
chinery to be used, for no one was able to tell
him how the machinery should be constructed
and he was obliged to depend upon his own
ingenuity and talents.

As is generally known, there are many adul-
terated oils on the market and some of these
have no medicinal value whatever. Often Mr.
Schueddig has been approached with solicitations
to adulterate his oil, the claim being made that
sales would be much larger if the oil were
cheaper, but he has insisted upon manufacturing
pure oil only, and has no difficulty in disposing
of the same, although obliged to ask higher prices
than the oils are sold for which contain adul-
terations of alcohol, turpentine, petroleum, etc.
The oil has many uses. In cases of burns, cuts
and bruises, it heals immediately. x\s an anti-
septic some claim that it is superior to carbolic
acid. Externally it is applied for chronic skin
affections. It has even been known to be suc-
cessfully used in cases of tapeworm. Many other
diseases yield readilv to treatment with the pure,
unadulterated oil, hence in the development of
the oil industry and in his rigid enforcement of
his decision regarding the manufacture of pure
oil only, Mr. Schueddig has been a benefactor
to the human race. In order to keep up the
source of supply he is making every effort to in-
duce holders of acreage to plant the trees.

The marriage of Mr. Schueddig took place
April 23, 1872, and united him with ]\Iiss Bar-
bara Zepp, who was born in St. Louis, Mo. Her
father. Philip Zepp, came from Bavaria to the
United States in 1830 and engaged in gardening
and dairying on the present site of Concordia
College in St. Louis, later serving in the Civil
war as a private in a company of artillery. The
two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Schueddig are Fred-
erick L. and William H., the former of whom is
employed as chemist with the Los Angeles Ice
and Cold Storage Company. The sons inherit
a love for military aft'airs and during the war with
Spain they enlisted in the Seventh Regiment,
but after they had been stationed for some time
in San Francisco, it developed that no more
troops would be needed in the Philippines, so
they were honorably discharged without seeing
active service. In politics Mr. Schueddig is a
Republican and votes that ticket in national elec-
tions, but in local aft'airs considers the man
rather than the party. Fraternally he is identi-
fied with the Maccabees and the Independent

Order of Odd Fellows, and has been an office-
holder in the latter lodge.

When it is considered that Mr. Schueddig lost
his mother when he was only nine years of age
and that he started out for himself when little
more than eleven years old, credit is due him for
the success he has gained and the high standing
he has achieved. Self-educated and self-disci-
plined, he was prepared for success in life by the
development of those self-reliant traits which
make toward a man's highest achievements, and
the fact that he now stands as a recognized au-
thority in his chosen occupation proves that the
active years of his life have been busily and
worthily passed.

HERMAN C. SCHMIDT, LL. B. A man of
fine education and thorough business methods is
Herman C. Schmidt, who is engaged in a mer-
cantile business at Hemet, Cal. He was born
December 5, 1873, in New Ulm, Minn., tiie son
of Carl M. and Sophie (Pankow) Schmidt, both
of whom were natives of Mecklenburg, Ger-
many, the father's birth having occurred in 1835.
Following the calling of his ancestors for many
generations back, he was a flour-miller by trade,
having a mill in Strelitz. He immigrated to
America in 1857, when a young man, and settled
at New Ulm, Alinn., following his trade, and
later building a mill of his own in New Ulm,
installing both burr and roller machinery. The
full roller process was ultimately adopted, how-
ever, and having formed a partnership with a
brother and two other men, business was con-
ducted under the name of the Empire Roller
Mill Company. Mr. Schmidt being the manager
until the time of his death in 1887. The plant
had a capacit}- of but fifty barrels daily when
first established, but grew to be a mill of two
hundred and fifty barrels capacity. In those
early days when the Schmidt family first became
residents of New Ulm the country' was infested
with Indians and they were in the famous Sioux
Indian massacre which occurred in 1862. The
town was besieged for several days and the set-
tlers who were barricaded in the brick buildings
fought oft' the savages until assistance arrived
from Mankato and St. Peter, one-half of the
town having been burned before help arrived.
Mr. Schmidt served in a militia company under
Capt. John Belm, which pursued the Indians
until they were captured. Mrs. Schmidt resides
at Hemet with her son Herman C, who is the
only one of her family now living.

The boyhood days of Mr. Schmidt were spent
in New Ulm, where he was educated in the pub-
lic schools and after completing the common
branches he entered the Shattuck Military School
at Faribault, attending that institution four

1632

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

years in pursuing a general course. He also
graduated from the Curtiss Business College at
St. Paul in 1892. Following his graduation he
clerked in a store at New Ulm for a time, and
later, returning to St. Paul, he secured a posi-
tion as bookkeeper for a fire insurance agency,
remaining there until 1895, then came to Los
Angeles to spend the succeeding winter. Re-
turning to Minnesota he took up the study of law
and in 1897 went to Chicago, spending a few
months with a law firm. In the fall he went to
Minneapolis, where he entered the law depart-
ment of the University of Minnesota, graduating
in 1900 with the degree of LL. B. Immediately
afterwards he came to California and was em-
ployed for a time in Senator Flint's office, later
going into the office of Lawler, Allen & Van
Dyke, then the attorneys for the Los Angeles
Board of Trade, remaining there until 1903, at
the same time practicing to some extent for him-
self. In October of 1903 he located in Hemet
and engaged in business with V. E. Peterson,
and subsequently with R. F. McKesson. In
March, 1906, he' became sole proprietor of the
merchandising business and has since been con-
ducting it. He carries a full line of dry goods,
notions, clothing, shoes, etc., and his store is
the largest of its kind in Hemet and vicinity.

Fraternally Mr. Schmidt is a member of East
Gate Lodge No. 290, F. & A. M., at Los An-
geles ; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
at Hemet; Riverside Lodge No. 643, B. P. O.
E. : and also of the Knights of Pythias lodge
of Los Angeles. Politically he affiliates with
the Republican party, but is independent in cast-
ins: his ballot in local affairs.

JOHN C. McMILLIN. .\mong the well-
known citizens of Long Beach is John C. McMil-
lin, who, as a member of the police force, has
been for a number of years in the employ of
the city, and in this capacity has been an im-
portant factor in enforcing the municipal laws
and in maintaining peace and order on the streets
and public highways. A son of the late J. B.
McMillin, he was born, September 13, 1862, in
Overton county, Ky., but was reared and edu-
cated in Illinois.

Coming from thrifty Scotch ancestors. J. B.
McMillin was born in Kentucky, where he lived
until after his marriage with Rebecca Peterson,
also a Kentuckian. He learned the carpenter's
trade when young, and followed it for a number
of years, although he was especially interested in
cabinet-making. Moving with his family to Ma-
coupin county. III, in 1864, he bought land in
Girard, and was there prosperously employed in
general farming until his death, in 1889, at the
age of seventy-six years. His wife survived

him, passing away in May, 1904, at Marion
Center, Kans., at the advanced age of ninety-two
years.

At the age of nineteen years, having acquired
a practical education in the public schools of
Girard, 111., John C. McMilhn began an appren-
ticeship at the blacksmith's trade, at which he
subsequently worked eight years. Going to Pea-
body, Kans., in 1889, he was there engaged in
the restaurant business for about eight months,
but not with sufficient success to continue long.
Coming to California in 1890, he located in An-
telope A^alley, where, on account of his wife's
health, he remained for a year and a half. Set-
tling then in Los Angeles county, he became
a resident of Long Beach, and in 1898 accepted
a position on the police force, with which, with
the exception of about four years, he has since
been connected. A man of strong personality,
honest, resolute and determined, he has proved
himself very efficient, and has rendered the city
most acceptable service in this capacity.

March 24, 1900, Mr. McMillin married, in
Santa Ana, Carrie Green, a native of Pennsyl-
vania. Politically Mr. I^IcMillin is a zealous
adherent of the Republican party, and frater-
nally he is a member of Long Beach Lodge No.
390, I. O. O. F., and of Aerie Lodge No. 791,
Order of Eagles, of Long Beach.

H. GEORGE COOLEY. The community of
Long Beach and vicinity has in H. George Cooley
a citizen of worth and abilit}-, and one who has
always made his personal effort lie parallel with
that for the advancement of the general wel-
fare. He is the junior member of the firm of
Paine & Cooley, one of the leading real-estate
firms in Long Beach. A native of Waverly,
N. Y., he was born January 12, 1862, and in the
vicinity of his birth remained until the year 1880,
attending the public schools in pursuit of a prim-
ary education. In the last-named year he became
a resident of Illinois, and in Jacksonville en-
tered Illinois College, where he continued his
studies for some years. Desiring to take up the
study of the ministry, he became a student in
the Chicago Theological Seminary, from which
mstitution he was graduated in 1891, having
worked his way through the course of four years.
As a minister of the Congregational Church he
accepted a pastorate in Minnesota, where he re-
mained for five years, and following this spent
a like period in the state of Iowa. On account
of his health he was compelled to give up his
labors in the states of the middle west and seek
a milder climate, and accordingly came to Cali-
fornia, reaching the state December 24, 1900.

After his removal to the west Mr. Cooley took
up work at the carpenter's trade, following this

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1635

for fifteen months at Ontario, Los Angeles
county, later in Los Angeles for a year, after
which he became a resident of Long Beach,
where he has since made his home. For a time
he engaged in contracting independently, later
becoming associated with Mr. Thompson, under
the firm name of Cooley & Thompson, and still
later the firm name was changed to Paine &
Cooley, its present title. They are meeting with
good success in their work and are among the
material upbuilders of the city. Mr. Cooley has
purchased and sold considerable real-estate in
and about the city of Long Beach, his home
being located at No. 1357 East Ocean avenue.
In 1905 he purchased the Rogers ranch at La-
guna, which he intends to subdivide, and besides
tiiis owns other valuable property in that vi-
cinity.

Mr. Cooley 's wife was formerly Margaret A.
Thompson, a native of Minnesota and the de-
scendant of Scotch ancestry. He is an active
member of Plymouth Congregational Church of
Long Beach, and politically casts his ballot for
the principles of the Republican party. He takes
an active interest in all movements which have
for their end the advancement of the best in-
terests of the city and community, being a mem-
ber of the Board of Trade, and has been a stanch
supporter of all benevolent enterprises for the up-
building of the city.

NATHANIEL D. ROBINSON. A suc-
cessful rancher of Los Angeles county, Na-
thaniel D. Robinson is located in the vicinity
of Artesia and engaged in the management of
his property. He was born in Summit county,
Ohio, July 17, 1840, a son of Leonard and
Irene (Moody) Robinson, natives of New
York. They located in Ohio at an early date
and engaged in farming, eventually remov-
ing to Wisconsin where the mother died, and
thence to Minnesota, where the father died.
They were the parents of five children, of
whom all but Nathaniel D. are living in the
east.

Taken to ^\'!sconsin when only five }'ears
old, Nathaniel D. Robinson received his edu-
cation in the public schools and Mt. Pleasant
College, Henry county, Iowa. His studies
were interrupted by the call to arms in the
cause of his country, enlisting July 11. 1862.
in Company B, Twenty-fifth Regiment Iowa
Infantry, and following participated in many
important engagements during a service last-
ing three years and six days. He was later
transferred to the Reserve Corps. In the siege
of Vicksburg his company participated for
forty-six days. After the close of his serv-
ice I\Ir. Robinson returned to Iowa, remain-

ing until the fall of 1866 when he came to
California and in San Joaquin county taught
school and later followed a similar occupa-
tion in Amador county. After a few years he
returned to Iowa via the Isthmus of Panama
and New York City and May 26, 1868, he was
united in marriage with Miss Amanda Allen,
a native of that state, and a daughter of George
and Nancy (Neal) Allen, both natives of
Pennsylvania. They became pioneers of Iowa
in 1846, where her father eno^aged as a hotel
keeper and farmer until his death, which oc-
curred at the age of seventy-five years, the
mother died at the age of eighty-four. They
had four children, of whom one sister is living
in Iowa.

After his marriage Mr. Robinson attended
Grinnell College about forty miles from Fort
Des Moines, graduating therefrom in 1871 in
the regular civil engineering and scientific
course. Coming to California in 1873 he lo-
cated in Los Angeles county in the vicinity of
Artesia. where he taught the first school in
this vicinity. His hearing being impaired he
took up farming and has since continued this
occupation, spending five years in Los Ange-
les for the sake of educational advantages for
his children. He has a family of three chil-
dren, namely: George Hershell, who married
Emma Stones, and has four children, their
home being at Watts: Thomas Shilling, who
married Esther Hineman, has one child, and
is now living in Oregon ; and Lucy Mabel,
who married S. T. Arkills, an engineer for the
Southern Pacific Railroad in .\rizona. Mr.
Robinson is a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, belonging to Stanton Post, of
Los Angeles. Politically he reserves the right
to cast his ballo+ for the candidate he consid-
ers best qualified for official position. In re-
ligion Mrs. Robinson is a member of the Sev-
enth Day Adventists Church. Mr. Robinson
is one of the best informed men of this section,
taking a keen interest in all contemporary af-
fairs, and although in the evening of his days
he is ever a student, reading with avidity ev-
erything he can obtain in classic and scientific
literature. Iiaving a fine library in his home.
He stands high in the estimation of his fellow
citizens, who appreciate the sterling traits of
character he has displayed during his long
residence in this section.

JOIIX MILTON F;RAZIER. a prominent
horticulturist of Riverside county is John Milton
Frazier of Ilemet. who has been a resident of
California since 1886. He was born December
27. 1864, near Rockville, Ind.. the son of Eli
and grandson of John Frazier. both of whom

1636

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

were natives of North Carolina, the family re-
moving later to Parke county, Ind., where they
engaged in agricultural pursuits. The father
subsequently went still further west and .settled
at Lawrence, Kans., where he remained until
1886. when he came to El Modena, Cal., where
his death occurred the .same year. His wife,
who was Martha Durham before her marriage,
was born in Indiana, of Quaker parents, and she
died a few years ago in \\'hittier. Of their
seven children only three are now living. John
Milton was ne.xt to the oldest and lived until
his sixteenth year in Indiana, where he received
his education through the medium of the pub-
lic schools. In 1880 he went with the family to
Kansas and assisted his father on the farm there
until the removal of the family to California.
After his father's death he took up the car-
penter's trade and followed it for three years at
El Modena, and at Santa Ana for two years.
From the latter place he moved to Redlands and
engaged in contracting and building there and
at Los Angeles for a time, after which he set-
tled at Whittier and continued the same em-
ployment for nine years, erecting both business
blocks and residences. He next worked a year
at Long Beach on the Salt Lake depot, and fol-
lowing that went to Pasadena, where he erected
buildings and sold them and also did general
contract work. In 1905 he came to Hemet. pur-
chased a twenty-five acre ranch and has since
been engaged in horticultural pursuits. Eigh-
teen acres are in peaches, three acres are planted
to alfalfa, and the remainder of the ground is
given over to the raising of potatoes. He built
a new residence upon the place and otherwise
improved it and has now one of the most attrac-
tive homes in this section of the country.

The marriage of Mr. Frazier took place in
Whittier, uniting him with Lena Jackson, who
was born in Ohio. The union has been blessed
by the birth of three children, Josephine. Alonzo
and Leota. Both parents are active members
of the Society of Friends and are supporters of
all influences tending to elevate the community
in which they reside. Fraternally Mr. Frazier
is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at
Whittier and of the Modern Woodmen of Amer-
ica at Pasadena. Politically he is a stanch be-
liever in the principles advocated by the Social-
ist party. A man of energy, enterprise and
liberalty he is held in the highest esteem by all
who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

PIERRE AGOURE. A successful farmer
and stockman, Pierre Agoure is named among
the representative citizens who have made South-
ern California the great section that it is to-
day in the state of California. As the name

would indicate he is of French birth and ancestry,
Basses-Pyrenees being the scene of his nativity,
and there he first saw the light of day May 15,
1853. His parents, Francisco and Marie (Mon-
dotte) Agoure, were both born in that section,
and there spent their entire lives, the father en-
gaged as a prosperous farmer and stockman.
They were the parents of the following chil-
dren : Pierre, of this review ; Jean, who died in
Bakersfield, Cal. ; J. P., who died in Los .\ngeles
four years ago, leaving a widow who is now the
wife of J. Apiou ; Joseph, in Wyoming ; Fran-
cisco, in France; Anna, wife of Joseph Luquette.
of Los Angeles ; and Marie, wife of A. Luquette,
also of Los Angeles.

Pierre Agoure was reared on the paternal
farm and received his education in the common
schools, and was but seventeen years old when
he set out for that mecca of all fortune hunters
— California. It was in 1871 that he arrived in
San Francisco, and two months later he came
to Southern California, landing at San Pedro,
and thence went to Los Angeles. Here he en-
tered the employ of a Mr. Rivierra, who owned
a sixty-acre farm on Western avenue, where he
conducted a dair\' and for assistance in this line
of work Mr. Agoure received as compensation
$25 per month. Later he herded sheep on the
Conejo. In 1873 lie began sheep raising on his
own account, first owning four hundred head
which he herded with the herds belonging to
Dr. Griffith on the Newhall ranch, and con-
tinuing to add to his own band until he would
have from twenty to twentv-five thousand at
a time. He purchased twelve thousand head
at one time from Bard and Perkins. During
the dry \ear of 1898 he lost about eight thousand
head. He later combined with sheep the raising
of cattle, and continued to add to his purchases
of land until to-day he owns a fifteen thousand
acre ranch at Calabasas, a part of the Simi ranch,
well improved, a part being cultivated to grain
and hay and the balance devoted to the raising
of Herefords and Shorthorns : he also owns a
fifteen hundred acre ranch near Moorpark, which
he leases ; a sixty acre ranch on Western avenue,
this being the first place he worked in Southern
California ; and three hundred and eighty acres
near Calabasas.

The home of Mr. Agoure is located on a nine-
tv foot lot at No. 723 South Olive street, Los
.Angeles, one of the valuable pieces of property
in this section of the city. This is presided over
by his wife, whom he married in Los .Angeles.
January, I, 1883. She was formerly Miss Kate
Smith, a native of California, having been born
September 26, i8q6, in Coloma, iust across the
river from Sutter's Mill. Her father. Dr. David
Steward Smith, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland,
educated in the Royal College of Surgeons, in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1637

Edinburgh. He was one of the pioneer physicians
in California, having come to San Francisco in
1848, eating his Oiristmas dinner that year in
the San Francisco harbor. He first practiced his
profession in San Francisco, then in Coloma,
and later in different parts of California, ac-
quiring a wide reputation because of the skill
he manifested in his work. He was a man of
fine physique, being six feet, one and a half
inches tall, and weighing three hundred pounds,
and was said to be the largest man in the state.
He was a prominent Mason fraternally and in-
terested in the workings of the organization. He
inherited considerable wealth as he was an only
child, owning five schooners that were engaged
in East Indian and Oiina trade, which he later
disposed of. His death occurred in San Fran-
cisco in 1875. His wife was formerly Amelia
Crofton. who was born in London, England, an
only child of Major Crofton, an officer in the
English army. She spent her last days with
Mr. Agoure and family, her death occurring in
1891. She was the mother of four children, of
whom two are living : Mrs. Amy Foster of Los
Angeles, and Mrs. Agoure, being second in order
of birth. She received her education in the
public schools of California, coming to the south-
ern part of the state in 1875. Mr. and Mrs.
Agoure are the parents of the following chil-
dren : Juliette, wife of Leo DeCelis, of Los An-
geles ; Angele ; Bijou : Beatrice ; Lester Pierre,
and Vivian. Mr. Agoure and his family are
members of the Cathedral of Los Angeles and
devoted to the support of its charities. Politi-
cally he is a true-blue Republican, and although
never desirous of personal recognition has never-
theless given time and energy to the advance-
ment of the principles he endorses. He is a
worthy and esteemed citizen in every particular,
appreciated for the high qualities of character
he has displayed during his long residence in
Southeni California.

WILLIAAI BENJA:MIN TRIPP is a na-
tive son of California, his birth having oc-
curred in San Bernardino February 15, 1861.
His education was received through the me-
dium of the public schools in San Jacinto and
Temecula, where he was reared to young man-
hood. He drove the stage from Julian to Col-
ton for three years (from 1879 to 1882), run-
ning from Julian to Warner's ranch, thence
to Oak Grove and Bergman, and on to Teme-
cula and San Jacinto, and thence to Colton, a
distance of one hundred and twenty miles.
Just about this time he took a position in a
store at Julian, remaining seventeen months,
then took the position occupied by ^Irs. Tick-
nor as teacher in the Indian schools, discharg-

ing the duties in this capacity until June, 1884,
a period of six months. In the meantime, in
1883, he had married Alice M. Hopkins, who
was born on a vessel in the Gulf of ^Mexico, a
daughter of F. M. Hopkins, an early settler
of Julian, and later a merchant in the country.
After giving up mercantile afifairs he lived re-
tired in Hemet until his death, which occurred
in November, 1906.

^ Following his resigr.ation as teacher Mr.
iripp prepared to establish a home near the
Cahuilla Indian village, -where he took up
seven hundred and twenty acres in partner-
ship with his brother, S. A., the property be-
coming known as tlio Tripp valley ranch.
Here they engaged in the raising of cattle on
a large scale, having several hundred head,
for which they had three brands, Mr. Tripp's
being a small letter "H" turned back, his
brother's the same with a bar above it, and the
company's an "O" with a half circle joining
it on the top of the letter. In 1886 Mr. Tripp
engaged in the meat business with his brother.
O. C. but later sold out his interest, and with
Mr. Hopkins established a similar enterprise
in San Jacinto, which is still a leading busi-
ness in that city. He opened a meat market
in Hemet in 1902 and conducted it success-
fully for a year and seven months, then giving
it over to his son, who, after having it in
charge for two years, turned it over to the
care of his father. In 1905 Mr. Tripp bought
out his brother, O. C. Tripp, who was con-
ducting a meat market, and with his partner.
Mr. Hopkins, established an extensive busi-
ness, having a cold storage plant, a slaughter
house in the vicinity of San Jacinto and a
'arge refrigerator at each market, with every
appurtenance for conducting a successful
business. At the same time he has remained
actively identified w-ith the raising of cattle,
which enterprise is looked after by his oldest
son and carried on in the San Jacinto moun-
tains. He has met with unusual success in
his work, has acquired a competence, and has
at the same time built ud for himself a place
in the esteem and confidence of those who
have known him throughout his entire busi-
ness career, which has been passed in this
section. He is respected for the qualities no-
ticeable in both his business and private life
and no citizen more deserves the esteem in
which he is held.

In 1902 Wt. Tripp established his home in
Hemet, where he has built a comfortable
house. Twelve children were born to himself
and wife and ten are living: Edith R. : Ar-
thur, encraged in the cattle business with his
father: Rose F. ; Roy M. : Alberta D. : Hester
A.: Annie L. ; Xava : Iris Devcda : and Naomi.

1638

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mr. Tripp was school trustee in Cahuilla for
sixteen years and has held other positions of
trust and responsibility, being an ex-member
of the county central committee for the Demo-
cratic partV; of which tenets he is a stanch
adherent. 'Fraternally he belongs to the Odd
Fellows' Lodge at Hemet and the Rebekahs
at San Jacinto: the Knights of the Maccabees
of Hemet; and the Fraternal Aid of the same
place. He takes a strong interest in all move-
ments tending- toward the advancement of his
home town, but is not narrow in his public
interests, supporting state and national issues
in a loyal and heartv manner.

W. CLIFFORD SMITH. As a merchant of
Long Beach W. Clififord Smith is active in the
upbuilding of the place, being located at Nos.
810-822 East Fourth street, where he carries
on a feed and fuel business. A native of Clarke
county, Ohio, born July 3, 1873, he is a son of
Oliver Smith, the latter a pioneer of Clarke
county and a farmer until compelled to seek a
milder climate on account of his health, when he
came to Long Beach, Cal, and spent the re-
mainder of his days. His wife, Margaret B.
(Negus) Smith, survives him and is now re-
siding in Long Beach at the age of seventy-two
years.

W. Clififord Smith was reared in his native
state, his preliminary education being received
in the public schools of Springfield. Subse-
quently his parents located in Emporia, Kans.,
where he attended and graduated from the high
school. After farming in Kansas for a time,
the father located in Denver, Colo., and engaged
in the insurance business. In that city W. C.
Smith attended and graduated from the Central
Business College in 1895, after which the famih
came to Long Beach, Cal, on account of the
father's health. Here he purchased the feed
business owned and conducted by John Wilson,
located at that time at No. 121 Pine street. As
the town grew the business was moved to First
and Locust streets, a lot being purchased in that
location and the old buildings moved upon it.
After three years he came to his present location.
For three years he was associated in business
with F. N. Lewis, during which time he took a
commercial course in the College of Commerce
of the State University at Berkeley. His busi-
ness has continued to grow in extent and he has
recently established a second office and ware-
house at Fourth and Alamitos streets. He has
taken an active part in the upbuilding of Long-
Beach, himself putting up two residences, one
of which, at No. 344 East Sixth street, he makes
his home and the other he rents.

In Springhill, Kans., in 1901, Mr. Smith was

united in marriage with Gladys L. Phillips, and
they have one son, W. Clififord, Jr. In his fra-
ternal relations Mr. Smith is a prominent Mason,
being a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter,
Commandery, Scottish -Rite and Shrine, all of
Long Beach. Politically he is a Republican and
a stanch advocate of the principles of this party,
although personally he has never cared for
official recognition, and in religion is a birth-
right member of the Friends Church. He has
been active in the growth of Long Beach, being
a stockholder in the new hotel, a member of the
Board of Trade, and a member and one of the
organizers of the Cosmopolitan Club, to which
he gave the name. He was also one of the
organizers of the city library, its secretary, and
for two years its president, and much is owed
to his efiforts in this line. He has established a
place of prominence for himself in this city and
is held in high esteem for the many qualities
which have distinguished his citizenship.

MARCUS CA-MPBELL. The work of
iMarcus Campbell has contributed materially to
the upbuilding of the best interests of Long
Beach, for in his business as contractor and
builder he gives conscientious effort along
architectural lines. A native of Racine Wis.,
born July i. 1868, he is a son of Stephen
P. and Eliza (Menzies) Campbell, both
of whom are living. The father brought the
family to California when his son was eight years
old and located in Solano county, near \^aca-
ville, where the latter attended the common
schools. In young manhood he returned to the
middle west, and in lola, Kans., served an ap-
prenticeship to learn the trade of locksmith and
machinist, after which he returned to \'acaville
and engaged in running threshers and engines
in various places. In 1888 he came to Southern
California and began farming, in which he con-
tinued for seven }-ears. Not meeting with the
desired success he branched out into other opera-
tions, one of which was, during the first oil
boom, to conduct an oil rig, which he owned.
This he later sold to the Actonia Oil Company.

In 1901 Mr. Campbell came to Long Beach to
follow the carpenter's trade, wdiich he under-
stood and which he had followed in Los Angeles
prior to his removal to this city. In 1903 he be-
gan contracting and in tlie meantime has put
up about one hundred buildings in Long Beach
and vicinity. Employing from eight to ten men
in his successful and constantly growing busi-
ness. He has bought a number of lots and put
up twelve houses, six of which he has sold, still
owning the remainder. His residence is located
at No. 434 West Eighth street, and is presided
over by his wife, formerly Katie A. Spencer,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1641

with whom he was united in marriage in Los
Angeles county. They are the parents of two
children, Edith V. and Edwin Marcus.

Fraternally J\lr. Campbell is a member of the
Masonic organization and is associated with both
the blue lodge and the chapter of Long Beach.
In religion he attends and supports the Plymouth
Congregational Church, and politically is a
stanch Republican. He takes an active interest
in the upbuilding of his home city, being a
stockholder in the Peoples' Bank of Long Beach,
and a member of the Board of Trade. In the
line of his work he is treasurer of the Car-
penters' Union. He has an abiding faith in the
future prosperity of this section of the country
and has invested his means in real estate.

W. F. SECHREST. A man of more than
average business capacity, and an authority on all
questions connected with the raising of fruit in
Southern California, W. F. Sechrest, of Escon-
dido, is well and favorably known as the owner
and manager of the Limken Lemon Company.
Public-spirited and enterprising, he is an able
factor in advancing tlie interests of Escondido
valley, encouraging and supporting the establish-
ment of all beneficial projects. A son of Joshua
Sechrest, now living in Oceanside, he was born
April 5, 1875, in Kansas City, Mo., where he
lived until seven years of age.

Born and reared in Kentucky, Joshua Sechrest
spent several years in Missouri, after which he
resided for a time in Kansas. At the breaking
out of the Civil war he offered his services as a
soldier, enlisting in the Union army and taking
part in many battles. At the engagement at
Lonejack, Mo., he was wounded and subsequently
in another engagement was captured, and there-
after confined until the close of the war. In his
political affiliations he is a strong Democrat. He
married Sarah ]\Iiles, who was born in Indiana,
and is now residing in Redlands, Cal, where
the familv settled when coming to this state in
1889.

Moving from Kansas City, Mo., to Kansas
when seven years of age, W. F. Sechrest ob-
tained the rudiments of his education in that
state. Completing his school life in Redlands.
Cal., he immediately began the study of fruit
growing and in working for different fruit firms
along the southern coast, became familiar with
the details of the business, and since, with
the exception of five years spent in the mill of
the De LaMar Mining Company, has been con-
nected with this industrv. Coming to Escondido
in 1902, he was engaged in ranching and fruit
growing on his own account for two years,
renting a ranch. The following year he was
secretary for the Limken Lemon Company, in

77

May, 1905, accepting the position of manager.
In the care of its ranch, which, aside from its
fruit orchards, contained five hundred acres of
land, part being devoted to grain and part to
grazing, he made many excellent improvements,
among others of note being the planning of the
large, fourteen-room residence which is of mod-
ern construction. Eight or nine years ago he
planted fifty acres of lemons, and from this mag-
nificent grove he gathered immense crops of
fruit, shipping by the carload to the principal
markets of die United States. In the care of this
ranch, he employed from fifteen to twenty men,
and from year to year steadily added to its pro-
ductive value. March i, 1906, he gave up the
management of the ranch and purchased the
packing business of which he is now the owner.
In 1900 Mr. Sechrest married Fannie Trout-
man, who was born in Arkansas, a daughter of
J. W. Troutman, now a resident of Colton, Cal.,
and they are the parents of two children : Malissa
and Ralph. Politically Mr. Sechrest is identified
with the Repubican party as one of its strongest
adherents, and while at Doble served as post-
master, and in Gold Mountain was notary pub-
lic. He was reared in the religious faith of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and has not de-
parted from the teachings of his youth.

ABEL ADAMS. Numbered among the
best known and most highly esteemed citizens
of Ramona is Abel Adams, who, as proprietor
of the Adams house, is popular with the trav-
eling public, his genial courtesy and evident
desire to please and accommodate his numer-
ous guests winning hini' a large and lucrative
patronage. An ambitious, energetic man, he
is also identified with other business interests,
besides which he owns a ranch and has the
care of considerable land. A son of the late
Elihu Adams, he was born October 25, 1853,
near Kempville, Canada, coming on the pa-
rental side from substantial English stock,
and on the material side from Holland-Dutch
ancestry.

Elihu A.dams was born in Canada, and was
there engaged in general farming during his
active life. On retiring from business, being
then a widower, he came to California, and
here spent his In.st days, making his home in
Ramona with his son, Abel Adams. He v^fas
a man of strong mental and physical vigor,
and, with the exception of being nearly blind,
was in robust health until about twelve days
before his death, which occurred at the ven-
erable age of eighty-six years, in 1903. He
was a man of depp religious faith, and a mem-
ber of tlie Episcopal Church. He married
Diana Dopencier. who spent her entire life in

1642

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Canada, and they became the parents of seven
children, three of whom, two sons and a
daughter, have passed to the life beyond.

After his graduation from the Kempville
high school, Abel Adams learned the trade of
a shoe and harness maker, and for six years
was in business in his native town. Coming
to California in 1880, he was similarly em-
ployed in Sonoma county for two years. Lo-
cating in San Diego in 1882, he was employed
as clerk in a shoe store for six years. Starting
in business for himself in Ramona in 1888, he
opened a shoe and harness shop, and very
soon afterward embarked in the hotel busi-
ness, buying the property which he now owns.
During the" eighteen years that he has been
engaged as "mine host"' he has met with un-
questioned success, his care and attention to
the wants and comforts of his many patrons
gaining for him a substantial business.

In .San Diego, January 31, 1884, Mr. Adams
mai-ried Carrie Rogers, a native of Philadel-
phia, and they became the parents of five chil-
dren, namely: Carrie Belle, who died at the
age of two vears and four months; Pearl
Irene ; Hazel Dell, wife of Doc Wilson, of San
Diego; Hubert Abel; and Harold W. Polit-
icallv Mr. Adams is a steadfast RepubHcan,
and "fraternally he is a member of San Diego
Lodge No. 28, K. P., and of the Ancient Order
of Foresters. The family are members of the
Episcopal Church.

PETER TRAUB. In 1877 the property now
owned by the widow was purchased by Peter
Traub, one of the early and substantial settlers
of the vicinity of Long Beach, Los Angeles
county, and a pioneer of that state, and since that
time the family have remained residents of this
section. PeterTraub was a native of Wittenberg,
Germany, born January 2, 1841, his parents,
Peter and Mary Traub, also being natives of
the same locality. He was reared among the
scenes of his childhood and after receiving an
education in the common schools of the country
became apprenticed to learn the trade of miller.
His apprenticeship completed, he remained in his
native country until 1866, when he decided to
emigrate, and accordingly cast in his lot with
those of his countrymen who were seeking homes
and broader opportunities in the western world.
He located in the city of Chicago upon his de-
barkation and there worked in a sash and door
factory. Later in Wliite county, 111., he engaged
in general fanning, in which occupation he con-
tinued until 1874. Taking up his residence in
California at that time, he was located in Ven-
tura county for three years, when he came to
Los Angeles county, and here purchased a farm

of forty-five acres upon which he made his home
until his death, which occurred December 20,
1896. He was a successful fanner and acquired
a competency and a place among the early citizens
of this community.

In Ventura county, Cal., April 15, 1877, ^^■
Traub was united in marriage with j\'Iargaret
Burkley, a daughter of Christ and Mary Burkley,
both natives of Germany. They became the
parents of the following children : Peter C, who,
October 12, 1904, married Emma Manger, a
native of Indiana; Mary, wife of John Shiesel,
of Los Angeles ; John G. ; Louise, who died at
the age of nine months and sixteen days ; August ;
Oiarles H. ; Albert A. ; and George Bl

JOSEPH I. KELLOGG. Industrious, en-
ergetic and practical, Joseph I. Kellogg has
for a number of years been engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits in Fallbrook, San Diego
county, and is here carrying on general farm-
ing with excellent results, year by year adding
to his wealth and to the value of his estate.
A native of Iowa, he was born, June 2, 1856,
in Clinton county, a son of Luther and De-
borah E. (Sherer) Kellogg, the former of
whom was born in Ohio, and the latter in
Pennsylvania. His parents are now living in
Santa Ana, Cal., being highly respected resi-
dents of that place, and members of the United
Presbyterian Church. The father was em-
ployed in ranching and cabinet-making dur-
ing his years of activity, and was a stanch
worker in the Republican ranks.

One of a family of nine children, five of
whom are living, Joseph I. Kellogg was
brought up on the home farm, acquiring his
early knowledge of books in the district
schools of his native county. Taking upon
himself the cares and responsibilities of a mar-
ried man soon after attaining his majority,
he embarked in farming on his own account,
raising grain, cattle and hogs on his farm of
eighty acres. In March, 1891, he made a
change of residence, going to Missouri, where
for one and one-half years he was identified
with the agricultural interests of that state.
Not entirely pleased with his prospects,_ how-
ever, he sold his farm and stock, and in the
spring of 1893 came to Fallbrook to make a
permanent settlement.- Buying one hundred
and sixty acres of land, he has since been
busily employed in general ranching, includ-
ing the raising of hay, grain, bees and chick-
ens, profitable industries, which yield him a
good income. A judicious worker and a good
manager, prosperity has seemingly smiled on
his every eflfort, and now, while yet in the
prime of life, he has secured a comfortable

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1643

competence and occupies an assured position
among the thrifty farmers of the community
in which he resides.

In Iowa, in 1878, Mr. Kellogg married
Fanny D. Whitaker, who was born in that
state, and they are the parents of two chil-
dren, namely: Edna Lillian, twenty-six years
of age; and RoUo M., seventeen years old.
In former years Mr. Kellogg was' identified
with the Republican party, but he is now a
Socialist. Religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Kel-
logg are consistent members of the United
Presbyterian Church, towards the support of
which they contribute liberally.

JEROME T. LAMB. One of the many
worthy citizens and capable and industrious agri-
culturists of Los Angeles county, Jerome T,
Lamb is the owner of a valuable little ranch,
pleasantly located near Palms. Here he is suc-
cessfully engaged in general ranching, exercising
great skill and excellent judgment in this pur-
suit. A son of the late James O. Lamb, he was
born, December 17, 1854, at Waukesha, Wis.

A native of Wethersfield, N. Y., James Owen
Lamb was born August 19, 1825, and was left
an orphan when a child. Subsequently he was
bound out to a neighbor who proved very unkind
to him. abusing him shamefully, overworking
him, and giving him such educational advantages
only as could be obtained in the short terms of
night schools. At the age of fourteen years
he ran away from his master, and with the as-
sistance of an uncle shipped as cabin boy on a
whaler, in New Bedford, Mass. He served in
that capacity and as deck hand for four years,
subsequently following the seas as second mate
for seven years. Returning home at the end of
that time, he visited first his mother, and then
his brother, who was living in Wisconsin. Re-
maining in that state, he took up a tract of wild
land and settled there as a householder, for two
years being engaged in general farming. In
1862 he started with a company of miners for
Oregon, taking the overland trail, and after
getting in Echo Canyon all of the stock belong-
ing to the little band of emigrants was stolen.
He therefore decided to remain where he was,
and for six year., .esided in Utah, being engaged
in freighting across the mountains. In the fall
of i866. with five companions, he came to Cali-
fornia, settling at San Bernardino, where he had
charge of a dairy for two years. The following
six years he was engaged in farming on his own
account, renting a tract of land near Los An-
geles. Coming then to Palms, he rented a ranch,
and in addition to managing it successfully was
road overseer of his district for twelve years.
Removing to Fallbrook, San Diego county, in

1900, he there lived retired until his death, June
17> 1905. at the advanced age of four score years.
He was a stanch Republican in politics, active
in county and state conventions, and when young
was a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. February 21, 1854, he married j\Iary
Jane Fillmore, who was born in New York state,
and is now living at Fallbrook, Cal. She was
a second cousin of Millard Fillmore, once presi-
dent of the United States, and her mother was
an own cousin of President Ulysses S. Grant.

The oldest of a family of eight children,
Jerome T. Lamb remained at home until about
twenty-two years old, when he began working
out, giving his wages to his parents. Three
years later he bought a small ranch at Lincoln
Park, near Pasadena, where he lived four years,
carrying on his own farm and working by the
day in addition. Selling out, he came to Palms,
purchasing twenty-five acres of land, and has
since been prosperously employed in ranching,
carrying on his own farm and renting other land
in this vicinity. He pays some attention to fruit
growing, having set out four acres of walnuts.
He has made many excellent improvements on
his place, which has increased in value ten fold
under his management, he having paid but $50
per acre for it, while now it is worth over $500
per acre.

November 13, 1879, Mr. Lamb married Clara
E. Short, who was born in Illinois, and came to
the Pacific coast in 1878. Two children blessed
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Lamb, namely : Mary
Edella, wife of E. W. Jonnas, of Los Angeles,
and the mother of two children, Helen Irene and
Thelma; and Walter T., a well-known surveyor.
Politically Mr. Lamb is an unswerving Repub-
lican, and a strong temperance man.

LORIN S. WARNER. During his ten years
of residence on his ranch, one mile north of Valle
Vista, Lorin S. Warner has taken an active in-
terest in the life of his community and made
many friends who hold him in the highest esteem.
He was born October 23, 1853, in Wayne county,
Ohio, the son of Joshua and Rebecca (Baker)
Warner, both of whom, were natives of the same
state. The father resided on a farm in Ohio until
1879, when he went to Jefferson county, Kansas,
remaining there until his death, in 1881, at the
age of fifty-four years. The mother removed
from Kansas to California in 1902, remained a
short time, returned to Kansas for a period, and
in 1904 went to San Diego to live, her death tak-
ing place in that city October 4, 1905, at the age
of seventy-four years.

The public schools of Ohio were the medium
through which Mr. Warner received his educa-
tion, and after the removal of the familv to

1644

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Kansas in 1879, he engaged in farming in that
state for a number of years, being also occupied
at the carpenter's trade a part of the time. Com-
ing to California in 1897 he located immediately
on the ranch where he now lives, the tract of ten
acres being devoted to apricots, peaches, pears,
etc. In 1904 he got another tract of ten acres,
which is devoted to alfalfa. By his marriage in
Ohio, October 12, 1876, Mr. Warner was united
with Sarah Shutt, a native of that state, and they
became the parents of four children, one of whom
died in infancy. The oldest son, George E., came
with the family to California, and his death oc-
curred December 10, 1899, at twenty-two years
of age ; L. L. is engaged in the real estate busi-
ness in Los Angeles, and Ossian R., who is mar-
ried and living at home, is engaged in teaming.
The family are adherents of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Fraternally Mr. Warner is
a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security
of Los Angeles, and takes an independent stand
in political matters, preferring to vote for men
rather than measures when casting his ballot.
That he takes an enthusiastic interest in educa-
tional matters is evidenced by his election to a
trusteeship on the high school board of Hemet,
a position which he filled for three years, and he
has also served on the school board of Valle
Vista.

JUAN JOSE CHAPMAN. A substantial and
a highly respected resident of Palms, Juan Jose
Chapman is specially deserving of mention in
this volume, being a direct descendant of one of
the first American settlers in this section of Cali-
fornia. A son of the late Jose Juan Chapman, he
was bom February 11, 1855, in Los Angeles. His
paternal, grandfather, Joseph Qiapman, an Eng-
lishman by birth, emigrated from his native land
to the United States when young coming over in
a vessel that was wrecked on the Pacific coast,
near the present port of San Pedro. He was
picked up on the beach by Andreas Machado,
who took him to the home of his father, Ignacio
Machado, owner of La Ballona rancho. Joseph
Chapman could speak no Spanish, and his res-
cuers could not understand English. He re-
mained with the Machados for some time, and
being handy with tools subsequently built several
houses in Los Angeles, and also erected the first
flouring mill in the county, where the Capitol
now stands. It was in Los Angeles that he be-
came acquainted with and married Guadalupe
Ortega. She was born in Santa Barbara, the de-
scendant of an old and prominent Spanish family,
and her father owned a large grant of land,
which included the site of present city of Santa
Barbara. Tlirough his wife Joseph Chapman in-

herited much valuable land. He died in the
prime of life, leaving eight children.

Born in Santa Barabara, Cal., Jose Juan Chap-
man inherited a portion of his parents' estate,
but, in common with many other descendants of
the early Spanish settlers of Southern California,
lost title to his landed possessions. ^Moving then
to Los Angeles he was engaged in agricultural
pursuits until his death, at the early age of forty-
five years. His wife, whose maiden name was
Josefa Villa, was born in San Jose, Cal., where
her father, a Spaniard by descent, was living. In
the early days he moved to Los Angeles county
and became owner of a large ranch, now known
as the Hamlin & Denker ranch, which the heirs
lost, being forced to give up on account of faulty
title. His wife, Mrs. Villa, owned at one time
land in the heart of the city of Los Angeles,
where the old postoffice stood, and this was sold,
many years ago. for a barrel of whiskey. She
also owned the land on which St. Charles hotel,
in Los Angeles, now stands. She died in that
city in 1862. Mrs. Jose J. Chapman died at
the Palms in 1881 leaving four children, of whom
Juan Jose, the subject of this sketch, is the
youngest child, and the only son.

Eleven years old when his father died, Juan
Jose Qiapman remained with his mother until
her death, during the later years of her life sup-
porting her. At the age of seventeen years he
began his agricultural career, working for others
at first and subsequently locating at Inglewood,
where he rented a large tract of land, four hun-
dred or five hundred acres, from Daniel Freeman.
While there he became active in public matters,
through the influence of Mr. Freeman being ap-
pointed road overseer of La Ballona district, a
position in which he served seven years. Com-
ing from Inglewood to Palms, he has served here
as road overseer for an equal length of time, and
for four years was deputy sheriff of the county,
during which time he also had charge of the
farm of his father-in-law.

In 1882 Mr Chapman married Maria C.
Hignera, who was born in Los Angeles county,
near Palms, a daughter of Francisco Higuera,
who owned about fifteen hundred acres of land
in this vicinity, his farm being called the Ranch
of the Oxen, or in Spanish. Rancho Rincon de
los Buyes. Of his estate his daughter, ]\Irs. Chap-
man, inherited about one hundred acres in the
Palms district, and this Mr. Qiapman carried on
successfully. They now own and manage about
seventy acres of land, forty acres of which are
valued at $1,000 per acre, while the remaining
thirty acres are worth at least $300 per acre. In
7900 Air. Chapman was appointed game warden
by the county board of supervisors, being the
only Democrat to receive an appointment by the
board, and was afterwards appointed deputy game

M/^_^4uxA^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

11)47

warden of the state, a position in which he
served faithfully for two years. For three terms
he was trustee of La Ballona school district,
rendering efficient service. In politics he is an
Independent Democrat, voting for the best men
and measures. Socially he is a member of
Pomona Parlor No. log, N. S. G. W., of Los
x\ngeles. Mr. and Airs. Chapman have four
children, namely: Jose D., Juanita E., Eva C.
and Frank J-

WILLIAM F. SHARP. To be designated
as one of the best-posted men on the sub-
ject of orange culture in a section in which
there are located as many experts engaged in
citrus fruit growing as there are in the coun-
try surrounding Colton is indeed an honor.
This distinction belongs to William F. Sharp,
manager of the Colton Fruit Exchange, which
handles an average of four hundred carloads
of fruit in a season, fifteen to twenty cars be-
ing lemons. A native of England, Mr. Sharp
was born Alarch 3, 1872, in Portsmouth, where
he lived until eighteen years of age. His par-
ents, Charles and Sarah (Rowe) Sharp, were
also natives of England, and now make their
home at North Havant. near Portsmouth.
The father was educated in the naval engineer-
ing school on H. M. S. Marlborough at Ports-
mouth and served in the English navy for
about forty years, acting as chief engineer in
the Sheerness and T'ortsmouth government
dock yards, a part of his duties being to ex-
amine the ships built by contractors for gov-
ernment service. He is now retired from ac-
tive life and enjoying the fruits of a well-spent
life. Mr. and ^Irs. Sharp became the par-
ents of thirteen children, eight of whom are
living, only one being in America. Two of
the sons are engineers in the employ of the
English government. The parents are mem-
bers of the AV'esleyan Methodist Episcopal
Church of England, and have always exerted
an elevating influence upon the community in
which they resided.

The early education (it ^^'illiam I". Sharp
was received in private schools in England,
where he finished with a special college course,
and after his graduation came to the American
continent, spending the first four years on a
cattle rancli in the Northwest Territory, Can-
ada. From there he went to Corinne, Utah,
where he became foreman of a three thousand
acre ranch owned by the Rear River Water &
Land Company, remaining in that position for
sixteen months. In 1895 he came to Colton and
immediately began to learn the orange busi-
ness. Determined to become thoroughly fa-

mdiar with all branches of the work from the
growing of the fruit to its marketing he first
secured employment on a ranch in San Ber-
nardino county and when he accepted a
position with the company with which
he is now connected he started at the
bottom and worked up to the managership
and has during the busy season as high as
forty-two women and fifteen men working un-
der him, the fruit being sorted and graded as
standard, choice and fancy quality. In his
ten years of service for the Colton Fruit Ex-
change he has proven his worth to the firm and
they regard him as one of their most valuable
men.

In 1899 occurred the marriage of Mr. Sharp
and Miss Minnie O. Robinson, who was born
in Te.xas. Her father died there several years
ago and her mother is at present living in
Los Angeles. Three children have blessed
this union, Charles, Winifred and Herbert.
The parents belong to the Christian Advent
Church, hberall}- supporting its various char-
.itable and benevolent enterprises, and Mr
Sharp is an adherent of Republican principles
He IS a member of the California Fruit Grow-
ers Exchange, and is also secretary of the
Colton Automatic Rotary Engine Company
He has always devoted a large share of his
tune to matters of public import and is re-
garded as one of the most progressive citizens
oi his community.

1'. h. HLBBERT. Among the enterprising
and progressive men who have assisted in de-
veloping the agricultural resources of San Diego
county 15. F. Hubbert holds a noteworthy po-
sition. ( )wning and occupying one of the' larg-
est and best ranches in the vicinity of Ocean-
side, he is carrying on general farming and
stock-raising with satisfactory results, giving
excellent care and attention to his extensive in-
terests. A man of sterling integrity and up-
right principles, he has won tiic confidence of
the community in which he resides, his word
.Ijcing universally recognized as good as his
liond, and is we'll wortliy of the esteem and re-
spect so heartily accorded him. A native of
Texas, he was born. Jnne 16. i8f)0. in San Saba
county, where he spent his childhood days. A
brief sketch of his parents may be found on an-
other jiage of this work, in connection with that
of his brother, Presley T. Hubbert.

At the age of thirteen years, B. F. Hubbert
came with his parents to California, locating in
San Diego county, where he completed his ear-
ly education, attending the district schools. He
subsc<|ueiitly assisted his father to some extent

1648

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in his mining operations at the Banner gold
mines, and was likewise interested in agricult-
ural pursuits. Deciding to confine his attention
entirely to the tilling of the soil, he located near
Oceanside, buying land that was in its virginal
condition. By dint of judicious labor and good
management he has since converted this tract
into a well-cultivated and highly productive
farm, and is now proprietor of a valuable ranch
of six hundred and four acres, which in its ap-
pointments and improvements compares fav-
orably with any in the neighborhood. Public-
spirited and energetic, he takes great interest in
the welfare of his adopted county, assisting the
many enterprises tending towards the advance-
ment of its interests, and for the past sixteen
years has held an official position in the com-
munitv, serving as constable of Oceanside.

May 6, 1886, Mr. Hubbert married Mary
Hicks, who was born in Cahfornia. a daughter
of H. B. and M. J. Hicks, early pioneers of this
state. Her parents were both born and reared
in Texas, living there until after their marriage.
Starting subsequently for the Pacific coast, they
had a hard trip across the plains, and after tak-
ing up their residence in California had a full
share of troubles and hardships to endure. Of
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hubbert two chil-
dren have been born, namely : Murray, now eight-
een years of age, and Ethel, attending school
Politically Mr. Hubbert is a stanch supporter
of the principles of the Democratic party, and
religiously Mrs. Hubbert is a member of the
Baptist Church.

GEORGE F. ALLEN. Whatever of success
has come into the life of George E. Allen, a
citizen of Somis, Ventura county, has been the
result entirely of his own efforts, as he was
earlv thrown upon his own resources with noth-
ing but courage and industry to presage the
worth of his future. Born in Madison county,
111., January 4, 1872. he was a son of George
W. and Jane (Renfrow) Allen, the latter of
whom died when her son was an infant. The
father was a farmer by occupation, following
agricultural pursuits in Missouri until his enlist-
ment for service in the Civil war, participating
in the engagements of three years. His death
occurred at Mt. Moriah. Mo.. April i, 1898.

George F. Allen received his education in the
public schools of Missouri, in which state his
boyhood and young manhood were passed, at the
age of nineteen years becoming dependent upon
his own resources. The opportunities of the west
attracted him to the Pacific coast and in the
vicinity of Portland. Ore., he found employment
on a ranch for a time. Following this, he \vas
located in the \^^!llamette valley, after which he

came to California and in Hueneme worked for
Senator Bard for the period of seven years. He
then engaged independently in ranching, at the
present writing renting one hundred acres and
cultivating thirty acres to beans, twenty acres to
apricots, the remainder of the land being in gen-
eral farm products. He has been successful in
his work and has accumulated some property,
owning a residence in Hueneme, while his yearly
crops bring him substantial financial returns. In
Hueneme, January 25, 1898, he was united in
marriage with Miss Elizabeth Susanna Dewar, a
native of Canada, and born of this union was
one child, now deceased. IMr. Allen is a member
of the Baptist Qiurch and a man of sound prin-
ciples, as a public spirited citizen seeking to ad-
vance the best interests of the community.

GEORGE J. WEIGLE. One of thV popu-
lar and successful German-American merchants
of Pomona is George J. Weigle, who was born in
Wurtemberg, near Stuttgart, February 6, 1865,
and is a son of Michael and Qiristina (Myers)
Weigle, also natives of Wurtemberg. In 1872
the family immigrated to the United States and
settled on a farm in Lenawee county, Mich.,
six miles from Adrian, which was the family
home for many years, or until the father dis-
posed of the property and removed to Pomona,
Cal., where he and his wife are still living.

Among the eight children born to his parents
seven are living and George J. Weigle is the
oldest of the number. As he was only about
seven years of age when he left his native land
the greater part of his education was received
in the school of Palmyra, Mich. When his
school life was over he took up farming in the
vicinity of his home, and in fact remained with
his parents until he was twenty-two years old,
when, in 1887, he came to California. As yet
he had no experience outside of agriculture and
on coming to the west he very naturally sought
employment along that line. During the same
year, 1887, he secured employment on the Qiino
ranch in San Bernardino county, working as a
butcher on this large stock ranch for three years.
Upon giving up this position in 1891 he came
to Pomona and bought out the stock and good
will of the proprietor of the West Second street
market. Under his management the business
grew to such proportions that larger quarters
were necessary and in 1894 he came to his pres-
ent location. No. 240 South Main street, pur-
chasing the property and opening his new busi-
ness under the name of the Central market.
However, he still owns and manages the orig-
inal m.arket on Second street. In connection
with his markets Mr. Weigle has erected a large
cold storage plant and refrigerator, in which

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1649

his meats are carefully preserved until required
to supply either his wholesale or retail trade.
His markets are supplied from stock which he
buys and feeds on his twenty-acre ranch two
miles south of Pomona. Here also he is erect-
ing a modern cold-storage plant to further facil-
itate his business. This will have a capacity of
about a carload of dressed beef, also pork and
mutton in proportion.

The home of Mr. Weigle at the corner of
Seventh and Main streets was erected accord-
ing to his own plans, and is considered one of
the most home-like residences in the city. His
wife was before her marriage Emma Hensler,
who was born in Niles, Mich., but was married
in Pomona. Three children have brightened
their home life, Hazel, Leola and Anita. Fra-
ternally he holds membership in the Knights of
Pythias, Foresters, the Fraternal Aid and the
Elks.

ROBERT LEE BRAND. The owner and
proprietor of the Seaside market, R. L. Brand is
one of the ablest men in his line not only in San
Pedro, but in this part of the county, having ac-
quired a success since his connection with this
business in 1895 which has placed him among the
prominent business men of this section. A na-
tive of West Virginia, he was born August 2,
1863, and is a son of Joseph L. and Delia
(Furby) Brand, the former being a physician
by profession. Giving up a lucrative practice in
West Virginia in 1869 he located the same year
in Balltown, Vernon county. Mo., and from that
time until a few years ago followed his profes-
sion in that town and vicinity. Upon relinquish-
ing his practice he removed to the adjoining
county on the north, Bates county, where he
owned a farm, and there followed an agricult-
ural life until called to his reward, August 14,
1905, at which time he was in his eighty-sixth
year. For twenty-five years he was deprived of
the love and companionship of his wife, her
death having occurred in 1880.

Up to the time he was six years old Robert
L. Brand made his home in the locality of his
birthplace, and vividlv recalls the scenes and in-
cidents connected with the removal of the family
from West Virginia to Balltown, Mo., in 1869.
His youth and early manhood were spent in the
latter state, first attending the common schools
in Balltown and later becoming interested in ag-
ricultural pursuits in that vicinity. _ Farming,
however, was not the occupation which destiny
had planned for his life work, for upon his "re-
moval to Visalia, Tulare county. Gal. in 1886.
he turned his attention to learning the butcher's
trade, a business which he has followed for near-
Iv twenty rears. During this time, however, he

spent two years in Montana, where he was en-
gaged in the lumber business, but upon giving
this up he returned to N'isalia and resumed work
at his trade. Another interruption occurred in
1894, at which time he returned to the old fam-
il_\- home in Bates county. Mo., and after manag-
ing its aft'airs for one year again came to the
Golden state, locating this time in San Pedro.
Once more resuming work at the butcher's trade
he clerked in the shop of George Hinds for a
short time and subsequently worked in the same
capacity for J. L. Griffin for one year, at the
end of which time he bought out his employer,
thus establishing himself in the business life of
San Pedro. Under his ownership and super-
vision the sales of the Seaside market have in-
creased to such an extent that three clerks and
a cashier are in constant service. Although ^Ir.
Brand commands a large local trade, he makes a
specialty of furnishing supplies in his line for
out-going ships, his location being especially
convenient to the docks.

After coming to San Pedro, in May, 1900,
Mr. Brand was united in marriage with Clara
L. Hansen, and one child, Clarence L., has
blessed their union. While Mr. Brand is deeply
interested in the prosecution of his private affairs
he is not so absorbed as to neglect his duties as
a citizen, but on the other hand is alive to the
well-being of his adopted home town and casts
his ballot for Democratic candidates. His fra-
ternal connections include membership in the
Masonic order. Eagles, Modern Woodmen of
America and Eastern Star, all of San Pedro, and
in all of which organizations he is known as a
helpful, agreeable member. Personally Mr.
Brand is a man of excellent character and genial
manners and one of the most prominent and suc-
cessful merchants of San Pedro.

CHARLES H. RUTLEDGE. The scenic
wonders, the luscious fruits and brilliant flowers,
and the genial climate of Southern California
have made this section of the state the mecca
for thousands of tourists and health-seekers
every year, the number of visitors increasing
each season. The lodging and entertaining of
these strangers has become an art and a science
in which many men of enterprise and progression
have become proficient, prominent among the
number being Oiarles H. Rutledge. widely and
favorably known as proprietor of the Casa Del-
Mar, at Ocean Park. Los .A.ngeles county. A
son of Lewis Rutledge. he was born at Kenton.
Hardin county. Ohio, where his ancestors on
both sides of the house settled in pioneer days.

Born and reared to agricultural pursuits.
Lewis Rutledge continued as a tiller of the soil
during his entire life of fiftj'-six years, dying

1650

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in Hardin county, Ohio. He married Jane Tidd,
who had the distinction of being the first white
child born in Hardin county, where she was a
Hfe-long resident, her death occurring when she
was about fifty-six years of age. Her brother
Charles, after whom the subject of this sketch
was named, still resides in that county, a ven-
erable and respected man of ninety-three years,
and during the sixty-one years that he and his
wife have lived together they have occupied the
same house.

Having completed his studies in the normal
school at Ada, Ohio, Charles H. Rutledge se-
cured a position and for seven years served as
deputy county auditor. Subsequently, his wife's
health demanding a change of climate, he came
to California, settling first in Los Angeles, where,
as a member of the De Van & Rutledge Com-
pany, he carried on a very successful brokerage
business for a few years. Removing then to
Riverside county, he embarked in the hotel busi-
ness, being first manager for two years of a
hotel in Idyllwild, and afterwards occupying a
similar position at Hemet for two years. Re-
turning then to Los Angeles, he owned and man-
aged the Beacon hotel for about two years.
Since that time he has devoted his time and
energies to the management of his present hotel,
the Casa Del-J\Iar, and has met with excellent
success, his patronage being large and lucrative.
Genial, courteous and accommodating, he makes
his house attractive to all, and is popular with
his guests.

In Ohio, Mr. Rutledge married Laura Hub-
ble, a daughter of R. G. Hubble, and into their
home two children have been born, namely :
Jessie, wife of L. L. Warner, manager of the
Smith Realty Company; and Harold Kenton.
Politically Mr. Rutledge is a stanch supporter
of the principles promulgated by the Republican
party, and fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias
and a member of the Independent Order of
Foresters.

HANNA SCOTT TURNER, M. D. _ A half
a century in the world's progress has witnessed
vast changes in customs, and whereas at one
time the association of women with any of the
professions would have been looked upon as an
intrusion, and, in many cases, perhaps, as un-
feminine, so general has her appearance become
in the professional and business life of the world
that she is now esteemed an essential element in
public life. The medical profession claims a
goodly share of the gentler persuasion and
among the number mention belongs to Dr. Tur-
ner, who since November of 1895 has been en-
gaged in the practice of her profession in
Pomona, with office in the Hansler-Rutan build-

ing, at the corner of Garey and Second streets.
In addition to caring for her large private prac-
tice, in which she makes a specialty of obstetrics,
she is also on the staff of Dr. Welbourn's hos-
pital in Los Angeles.

Hanna Scott was born in Glasgow, Scotland,
the daughter of Alexander Scott, a graduate of
Dublin College. Immigrating to the new world
with his family in 1853, h^ established his home
in New Philadelphia, Ohio, but did not long
survive to enjoy the benefits which awaited him,
for his death occurred three years later. His
wife, formerly Cecelia Sweeney, survived him
many years, her death occurring in Bowerston,
Ohio, in 1903. She became the mother of four
children, only two of whom are now living.
Miss Scott was reared principally in Leesville,
Carroll county, Ohio, having been brought to
the United States when quite a small child.
Her common-school training was supplemented
by a course in Hagerstown Academy, going from
there to the normal at Lebanon. From Lebanon
she went to Mattoon, III, where she was prin-
cipal of schools for three years, leaving this po-
sition at the end of that time to become an in-
structor in the high school of Des Moines, Iowa.
It was during her incumbency of this position,
in 1875, that she took up the study of medicine
under Dr. Dickinson, of the homeopathic school
of medicine. Three years later the failure of
her health made further study impossible at that
time and in 1878 she came to the west, settling
in Salinas, Cal., where for a time she followed
teaching. In 1879 she became the wife of
George Madison Turner, now a well-known hor-
ticulturist of Pomona, Cal. In the meantime, in
1878 and 1879, she had resumed her medical
studies, entering the College of Physiciatis and
Surgeons of the Pacific, and in 1885 and 1886
she took an eclectic course in the California
Medical College, graduating therefrom in 1887
with the degree of M. D. Immediately after-
ward she commenced the practice of her pro-
fession in Oakland, and eight years later, in No-
vember, 1895, she established her office in
Pomona, a change which from a material stand-
point to herself has been a wise one, for she has
a large, lucrative practice and on the other hand
Pomona has gained one more thoroughgoing
citizen. Professionally she is identified with the
National Eclectic Medical Association, State
Eclectic Medical Association (of which she was
at one time vice-president). Southern California
Eclectic Medical Association (of which she was
president in 1904), and the County Eclectic
Medical Society. Sociallv she is a well-known
member of the Ebell Club and the Pomona
Woman's Club, and is associated with the fol-
lowing secret orders : Order of the Eastern Star,
Fraternal Aid, Fraternal Brotherhood, Pendo..

MR. AND MRS. E. S. SHORT

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1653

Ladies of the Maccabees and the order of \\'ash-
ington. Her rehgious affihation is with the
Presbyterian Church.

George Madison Turner, a native of Greens-
burg, Ky., was a young lad when taken to Iowa,
and in that state he was reared and educated.
On attaining maturity he became identified with
commercial affairs, dealing in wholesale produce
in Burlington, Iowa. Later years found him
interested in mining in Montana, and still later
he was interested in the canning business with
the J. Lusk Canning Company, at Oakland, and
subsequently he was identified with a similar
business in Sacramento. In 1890 he located in
Chino, San Bernardino county, purchasing a ranch
in that county not far from Ontario upon which
he is successfully engaged as a horticulturist, al-
tiiough he makes his home in Pomona. Polit-
ically Mr. Turner is a Democrat, and his fra-
ternal associations include membership in
Pomona Lodge No. 246, F. & A. M., Pomona
Chapter No. 76, R. A. \I., Southern California
Commandery No. 37, K. T., and the Woodmen
■of the World.

JAMES SHURT. A native Californian,
Tames Short v/as born in San Bernardino Jan-
uary 7, 1865. a son of Elemelech S. and Sarah
Ann (]\[cGirr) Short. The father was the
representative of an old Virginia family, his
birth occurring in Howard county. Mo., June
28, 1826; the paternal grandfather, Zachariah
Morgan, was born in Kentucky and became an
early settler in Missouri, where he engaged in
the manufacture of boots and shoes, finally
going to Texas at the time of the war for
independence and serving under General Fan-
ning they were cut off by the Mexicans and
eventually all were taken prisoners, but two
escaping death, these a ]\Ir. Hudson and Mr.
White, returning and relating the story of the
massacre. His wife was in maidenhood Mary
Swearingen, a native of Kentucky and a
daughter of Samuel who was born in Holland,
a member of the Van Swerin family whose
name was later changed to Swearingen. He
served in the Revolutionary war and was a
factor in the upbuilding of the community in
v/hich he made his home. Mrs. Short died in
Missouri, leaving a family of five children, of
whom E. S. is the only one living. E. S.
Short was reared in Missouri and in 1848
when just past his eighteenth birthday he en-
listed for service in the Mexican war. He
served in the Howard county volunteers un-
der General Donothaus, and participated in
the battle of Hornada, San Jacinto, Guade-
loupe and the City of Mexico. After his hon-
orable discharge in Santa Fe in 1848 he re-

turned to -Missouri and remained in that state
until 1852, when he outfitted with ox-teams
and crossed the plains to California, via the
Carson route to the mines of the El Dorado
state. He followed mining for a time and
then farming in Sacramento and San Joaquin
counties, after which, in 1857, he made a trip
to Tucson, Ariz. There he was placed in
charge of the stage station at Butterfield, six-
ty miles we.st of Tucson, and there he remained
for the period of two years. He had many
exciting adventures, one of which was an at-
tempt of the Indians one night to steal his,
horses from the corral, and although thev
were not successful they killed eight of the
animals. In 1859 Mr. Short came to San Ber-
nardino county and engaged in farming on
the Base line, remaining in that location for
several years, when he took up a ranch on
Vucaipe Bench, where he has since resided
engaged in general farming. He was married
in San Joaquin county, January 16, 1857, to
-Miss Sarah Ann McGirr, a native of Rhode Ls-
land and a daughter of James and Ann ( Dough-
erty) McGirr, who came from Ireland to .Amer-
ica, locating first in Rhode Island and later in
Clay county. Mo., whence in 1852 they crossed
the plains to California by means of ox-teams
and located in San Joaquin county. Later
they came to San Bernardino county. Mr.
and Mrs. Short became the parents of ten
children, seven living, namely: John, a con-
tractor of Kern county ; James, of this review ;
Sylvester, of Yucaipe : Anna, Mrs. Merrilees,
of San Bernardino ; Rodolphus, of Kern coun-
ty ; Susan Belle, wife of Ed Burns, of Yucaipe
Bench : and Tlieodore. in Kern countv. Mr.
Short is identified with the Odd Fellows fra-
ternally, and both himself and wife are mem-
bers of the Pioneer Society of San Bernar-
dino. He is an entertaining companion, his
retentive memory bringing to mind forcibly
many interesting events of by-gone years, his
recollection remaining vivid of the crowning
of Queen Victoria, while he also remembers
having personally met General Jackson.

James Short was reared on the home farm
and educated in the public schools of San Ber-
nardino, and when sixteen years old went out
on the desert on a stock ranch, where he re-
mained for three years. He then sold out his
interests and engaged in teaming, hauling
lumber for the San Bernardino mills. In 1886
he .started farming on the Yucaipe homestead,
now owning one hundred and forty-nine acres
here, upon which he has built many improve-
ments, and al.sc owns one hundred and sev-
enty-two acres, upon which are running
springs from which water is piped to hishome-
stead. He leases land to enlarge liis farming

1654

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

operations, and carries on an extensive rais-
ing of grain and hay. He was married in San
Bernardino county to Miss Susan Warren, a
native of that section of Southern California,
and born of this union are three children, Ber-
tha, Sylvia Valentine and Sarah Eleanor. Fra-
ternally Mr. Short is identified with the Red-
lands Lodge Nc. 341, I. O. O. F., and also the
Woodmen of the World, of that city. Polit-
ically he casts his ballot in the interests of the
Democratic party. He purchased a place on
Stillman avenue and in 1907 erected a com-
fortable residence, where he has located his
family in order that his children should have
the advantages of a graded school.

WILLIAM SHUGG. As a prominent and
successful walnut grower, William Shugg holds
rank among the enterprising citizens of the
Mountain View district, his finely improved
ranch of nineteen acres being located within a
mile and a half of El Monte. Mr. Shugg is a
native Californian, his birth having occurred in
Alhambra November 26, 1863. His father,
James Shugg, was bora in Kelston, England, and
was there reared to young manhood, when he
engaged as a miner. He immigrated to America
and in ^Michigan worked in the copper mines in
the Lake Superior region, and while thus en-
gaged the great gold discovery of California
turned his attention toward the Pacific coast. He
immediately outfitted and set out across the plains
taking the extreme southern route which led him
through New Mexico and Sonora, Mexico,
whence he made his way to Los Angeles, then
only a pueblo. Deciding to remain in this section
he secured for his first employment work with
Nathan Kelley. Later he became foreman for
B. D. Wilson at Alhambra and there helped set
out orchards. With the thrift characteristic of
his countrymen he saved his earnings and was
thus able to finally purchase land, locating in the
vicinty of Rivera, where in 1869, he set out the
first walnut orchard of the section. From that
time until his death, which occurred in 1882,
he added to his property both as to acres and im-
provements, his sixty- acre ranch taking rank
among the finest of this section of Los Angeles
county. Up to the time of his death, at the age
of sixty-four years, he was hale and hearty, re-
taining his interests in all public matters, and vot-
ing the Democratic ticket. He was survived by
his wife, formerly Esther Graham, who was born
in Crawford county, and crossed the plains with
her father in 1852. She now resides in Rivera.
They were the parents of six children, namely :
Alyda, wife of Thomas Gooch, of Rivera : Mary.
wife of Joseph Stanley, of Los Angeles ; Joanna,
wife of William Story, of Rivera ; Thomas, who

died in El ;\Ionte in 1902 ; Alartha, wife of Jus-
tice Allison of Los Angeles, and William, of
this review.

The boyhood days of William Shugg were
passed on his father's farm near Alhambra, his
education being received in the public schools in
the vicinity of his home. He remained with his
father until the latter's death, after which he and
his brother Thomas engaged in the management
of the home farm until 1886. At that date he
purchased his present property and two years
later set out a walnut orchard, now owning nine-
teen acres upon which he has built a fine resi-
dence, substantial outbuildings, etc., making of it
one of the best ranches in this section. His
brother Thomas also engaged as a walnut grower
until his death in 1902.

In Alhambra, November 2, 1892, Mr. ' Shugg
married Miss Alice McCaig, who was born in
Downey, a daughter of George jNIcCaig, who was
brought by his father, John, from Arkansas in
1877. George McCaig engaged as a farmer in
Downey for several years, and now resides in
Puente following the same occupation. His wife
formerly Janey Hurst, was born in Arkansas and
died in Los Nietos in 1882. They had three chil-
dren, of whom Mrs. Shugg is the oldest. Mr.
and Mrs. Shugg are the parents of two children,
Mabel and Emery. ]\Ir. Shugg takes a deep in-
terest in educational work, and is now serving
as president of the school board. Fraternally he
is associated with the Ancient Order of United
Workmen, in which he is past master workman,
and both himself and wife are members of the
Degree of Honor, his wife being past chief. He
also belongs to the Modern Brotherhood. Politi-
cally he is a stanch Democrat. He is a charter
member of the Mountain View Walnut Growers'
Association, and is serving as a director and vice-
president.

EDSON A. BENEDICT. A man of enter-
prise, ability and strong personality, the late
Edson A. Benedict held a position of prominence
and influence among the early pioneers of Los
Angeles county, being one of the original settlers
and his the first white family in Benedict's
canyon. A man of keen discernment and excel-
lent business tact, he took an important part in
advancing the mercantile and agricultural pros-
perity of this part of the state, and throughout
the community was held in high esteem. A
native of New York, he was born October 8,
1819, in Elba, Genesee county, where he received
a public school and college education. He sub-
seque.ntly read law, and was admitted to the
bar of New York state, but never practiced his
profession to any extent.

Ambitious to enter upon a business career

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1655

when a young man, JNIr. Benedict went to Boon-
ville, Mo., where he was prosperously employed
as a general merchant for a number of years, ac-
quiring considerable wealth. In November,
1862, sailing from New York City on the Ariel,
he started for the Pacific coast,' and while en
route the vessel was captured by the Alabama,
near Kingston, and he and all on board were
held as prisoners for twenty-four hours. Con-
tinuing the journey at the end of that time,
Mr. Benedict came to California, and for four
years thereafter was engaged in mercantile pur-
suits in Los Angeles. During the war, in which
he took no active part, although his sympathies
were with the south, his goods were confiscated,
and he was left comparatively poor, having but
$10,000 when he came here. His health failing,
he then located in the canyon, near Sherman,
taking up a government claim of one hundred
and sixty acres, on which he made substantial
improvements, by good management enhancing
its value each season. He cultivated a part of
the land himself, renting the remainder of his
ranch on shares until his death, which occurred
at his home, March 30, 1886.

On December 5, 1855, Mr. Benedict married
Josephine Pierce, who was born June 3, 1832,
in Virginia, where she lived for five years. Her
father subsequent!)- removed as a pioneer to Mis-
souri, there becoming an extensive landholder
and the owner of many slaves, the greater num-
ber of whom refused to accept their freedom,
pleading to remain with their old master. Of
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Benedict three chil-
dren were born, all sons, namely : Edson Pierce,
engaged in agricultural pursuits near Sherman;
Frank Lee, of Los Angeles; and Angelo E., an
oil well driller. After the death of her hus-
band, Mrs. Benedict leased the home ranch until
very recently, when she sold it for $10,000, re-
serving the house and a half acre of land. She
also has property in Santa Monica, owning a
lot in the residence part of the city. She is_ a
woman of great intelligence and Christian vir-
tues, and a ""faithful member of the Presbyterian
Church.

JOHN KENNEDY. As a business man John
Kennedv has been located in Santa Monica for
a number of years, having established himself
as a butcher, at first in a very small wav, but
graduallv increasing his operations with his in-
crease of trade until to-day he is named among
the successful men of this community. Like the
great majority of the men who have been_ prime
movers in the development of this section of
California, Mr. Kennedy is not a native of the
state, his birth having occurred in Qeveland,
Ohio, where his parents, James and Mary J.

( Thornton) Kennedy, removed after their mar-
riage. His father is a native of Ireland, who
in youth was brought by his parents to Canada,
where he was reared and educated, while his
mother is of English birth. They are both liv-
ing and are residents of California, where they
located when their son was still a boy in years.

John Kennedy was educated principally in the
schools of California. Upon leaving school he
learned the trade of butcher in Santa Monica
(where his home was located, his father being
a rancher at tliat time, now retired), and in July,
1903, he opened a shop on his own responsibility.
He necessarily began business on a limited
scale, but it was not long before he was com-
pelled to increase his capacity to supply the de-
mands made upon his enterprise. He is now
named among the successful business men of this
city and bids fair to acquire financial returns
which shall adequately compensate him for his
efforts.

In 1895 Mr. Kennedy established home ties by
his marriage in Los Angeles to Nettie Marshall
Leeper, a native of Kansas, in which state she
attained womanhood. Mr. Keimedy is identified
fraternally with the Masonic organization, being
a member of the lodge of Santa Monica, while
in his political convictions he adheres to the
principles advocated in the platform of the Re-
publican party. He is a man of energy and
ability, takes an active interest in public affairs,
and can be counted upon to further any plan
for the advancement of the city's welfare.

ALBERT E. MEIGS. Noteworthy among
the men of prominence in Los Angeles county is
Albert E. ]\Ieigs, who, as the pioneer real estate
dealer at Ocean Park, has taken an active part
in the upbuilding of this section of the county
and has been a promoter of its industrial and
business prosperity. He evinces a deep interest
in public affairs, and as postmaster at Ocean
Park is giving able and satisfactory service. A
son of William and Julia (Austin) Meigs, he
was born in 1831, near Deposit, Broome county,
N. Y.

Attending first the district schools of his na-
tive district, Albert E. Meigs completed his ear-
ly education at the village academy in Deposit.
He afterwards learned the carpenter's trade in
Broome county and there followed it until his
removal with the family to Wisconsin in 1852.
In Dodge county he worked at both farming
and carpentering for a number of years, in the
meantime obtaining a good knowledge of bridge
building. In 1864 he enlisted in Company E.
Fiftieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and
served as quartermaster sereeant until his hon-
orable discharge, in the spring of 1866. Re-

1656

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

turning home, he soon afterwards removed to
Mower county, Minn., where he bought land and
engaged in agricultural pursuits for a time. Be-
ing subsequently appointed postmaster at Aus-
tin, the county seat, he served two terms under
the administration of President Grant. Moving
from there to Tennessee in 1877, he resumed
his mechanical labors, and for nine years was in
the employ of the Louisville and Nashville Rail-
road Company as a bridge builder.

Coming to California in 1886, Mr. Meigs en-
gaged in bridge building in Los Angeles county,
and when the boom was on in Los Angeles car-
ried on an extensive and lucrative business in
real estate, buying and selling freely. He sub-
sequently engaged in the nursery business there
for a few years, and at the same time was prom-
inent in public affairs, serving a number of
terms as deputy county and city assessor. In
1899 he established himself in Ocean Park, be-
coming the pioneer real estate dealer of this
place, as such being active and prominent in its
development. In 1902 he was appointed post-
master by President Roosevelt, and has served in
this capacity since November of that year.

In Fond du Lac, \\"is.. Mr. Meigs married
Mary P. Davis, and into their household four
children have been born, namely : Nellie A. ;
Bert H. ; Julia, wife of Linn McKinstry, of
Minneapolis, Minn. ; and Ernest. Politically,
Mr. Meigs cast his first presidential vote for
lohn C. Fremont, and has since been an earnest
supporter of the Republican party. Fraternally
he is an Odd Fellow, and belongs to Kenesaw
Post, G. A. R., of Los Angeles.

HENRY F. FRYER. When .Air. Fryer
purchased the ten-acre ranch on which he now
lives near Pomona he set it out to apricot
trees, but these were later replaced by walnut
trees. A native son of the state, he was born
January 4, 1855. at El Monte, Los Angeles
county, and is a son of Rev. R. C. and Caro-
line (Veazey) Fryer. The father was born in
Alabama in 1821. When he was eighteen
years old he made his first removal toward
the west, at that time going to Conway county,
Ark,, and settling on a farm. It was about
this time, too, that he formed domestic ties
by his marriage with JNIiss Caroline Veazey,
the ceremony being performed in Alabama in
1839. Thirteen years later Mr. Fryer con-
tinued his westward journey, coming over the
plains behind slow-plodding ox-teams, having
taken the southern route, which brought him
to Los A.ngeles county. Pleased with the ap-
pearance of the country he purchased a ranch
in the vicinity of what is now El ^lonte and
settled down to the life which he had ahvavs

followed. He had from early years been a
man of deep religious convictions, and it was
while on his ranch near El Monte that he re-
ceived the call to prepare for special service
in the Masters vineyard. In 1854 he was or-
dained a minister in the Baptist faith, he being
the first minister of this denomination or-
dained in Southern California. For many
years he devoted his time exclusively to the
missionary field m the southern part of the
state, and in fact the remainder of his life was
spent here. In 1867 he purchased two hun-
dred and fifty acres of land near Spadra, upon
which he made his home until 1888, when he
removed to Los Angeles, his death occurring
in that city the following year, when he was
in his sixty-ninth year. Some time after the
death of his first wife Mr. Fryer was united in
marriage with Mrs. Mattie ]\Iaston, and since
the death of her husband Mrs. Fryer has con-
tinued to make her home in Los Angeles. Fra-
ternally Mr. Fryer was a member of the Ma-
sonic Lodge, and was at one time master of
El Monte Lodge and also of Pomona Lodge.
After removing to Spadra, in 1870, he was
elected on the Democratic ticket to represent
his constituents in the state assembly, besides
which he filled many lesser offices within the
gift of his fellow-citizens, among them school
trustee. A man of considerable ability and
prominence, he Avielded a broad influence for
good wherever he was placed and all who
were associated with him in the pioneer days
revere his memory. Born of his first marriage
were eleven children, but of this number only
six are now living.

It was after the removal of the family to
California that Henry F. Fryer was born, his
birth occurring in El jNIonte, Los Angeles
countv. January 4, 1855. Such educational
advantages as the schools of that locality had
to offer Avere his. and of these he made the
most, thus giving him a foundation upon
which to build in later 3rears by reading and
observation. Lentil twenty-three years he re-
mained at home with his parents, and then
started out on his own behalf by renting a
ranch near El Monte. Some time later he
gave this up and w^ent to Spadra, same county,
where he was married to Miss Ella ]M. Arnett,
a native of Mendocino county and a daughter
of Robert S. Arnett, the latter coming of a
familv well known in the south. (For a more
detailed account of the family, refer to the
sketch of Robert S. Arnett, found elsewhere
in this volume.) Soon after his marriage ^Ir.
Fryer returned to El ]\Ionte and resumed ag-
ricultural life, renting a ranch upon which he
lived for about three years. It was in 1882
that he came to the vicinitv of Pomona and

^o.A^<-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1659

took up ranching:, and since 1892 he had made
his home on the ranch which he now occu-
pies, comprising ten acres of as fine land as is
to be found in the county. When it came into
his possession it was bare land, but he set out
apricots and for a time continued to raise this
commodity, but believing better returns would
be forthcoming if the land was planted to
walnuts he had the apricot trees taken up and
walnuts set out in their place.

One son blessed the marriage of J\fr. and
Mrs. Fryer, Wallace F., who married Miss
Grace Bottsford, who was born in Pomona.
Both Mr. and Mrs. H. F. Fryer are members
of the Baptist Church. Politically Mr. Fryer
is a believer in Democratic principles, and fra-
ternally he holds membership in the Fraternal
Aid.

REV. GEORGE D. STEVENS. As an in-
structor of youth in his early manhood and as
a minister of the Gospel in his mature years. Rev.
Mr. Stevens filled a sphere of distinct usefulness
in the localities whither duty called him, and as
he looks back over the past he may gather en-
couragement and happiness from the thought
that the days of his greatest physical and men-
tal activity were given to the spiritual and edu-
cational upbuilding of the race. In the quiet
routine of his self-sacrificing labors, helping the
needy, encouraging the despondent, uplifting the
fallen, teaching the erring and ignorant, he pass-
ed from the morning of life to its evening twilight
calm, yet he has not allowed his activities to be
diminished, having merely changed their form
of F.ervice. Since coming to California on his
retirement from the ministry he has made his
home in San Diego county, and is now a leading
citizen of Bonsall, where he has officiated as
postmaster, has served as notary public, has acted
as telephone agent and during the entire period
since 1893 has been proprietor of a general mer-
cantile store.

Farlv in the colonization of Massachusetts the
Stevens familv became identifitVl with its pioneers
and some of that name moved to Maine while it
was still a district of the old Bay state. Thomas
and Mahala (Bartlett) Stevens were natives of
Maine, the latter l>eing a descendant of a noble
and wealthv familv of England. In addition to
engaging in agricultural pursuits. Thomas
Stevens followed the trades of carpenter and har-
ness-maker. Prominent in local affairs, he filled
practicallv all of the offices of his township. Jn
earlv life he was a believer in Democratic prin-
ciples as enunciated bv Andrew Jackson, but
when the slaverv ouestion became the most se-
rious problem confronting the nation he changed
his affiliations to the Reiniblican partv. for he was

a thorough-going abolitionist in sentiment. His
father, Daniel, was a Revolutionary soldier and
he himself possessed the military instincts, but
the age limit prevented him from enlisting in the
Civil war. In religious faith both he and his wife
were Baptists and devoted to the progress of that
denomination. After his death, which occurred
in Maine at the age of sixty-four years, his widow
went to Wisconsin and there died when sixty-
eight years old.

In the family of Thomas Stevens there were
seven children, and of these four sons are now
living, among them being George D., who was
born at South Paris, Oxford county. Me., Sep-
tember 5, 1836, and received excellent educa-
tional advantages in the schools of the state.
After a preparatory course of study in Hebron
Academy he matriculated in Waterville College
and remained a student in that institution until
he was graduated with the class of 1863. Imme-
diately after completing his college course he
took up the work of teaching, spending a few
months in that occupation in New York, after
which he removed to Wisconsin and for seven
years acted as principal of the Richland Center
public schools. In addition he was honored with
the office of county superintendent of schools of
Richland county, to which position he was elected
on the Republican ticket. The work of an edu-
cator was relinquished for the duties attendant
upon a minister of the Gospel, and for twenty-
six years he was a patient, resourceful and
faithful preacher in the Baptist denomination,
holding a number of important pastorates in Wis-
consinand accomplishing much for the upbuild-
ing of the denomination and the cause of Qirist-
ianitv. Shortly after he had started out to make
his own wav in the world he established domestic
ties, being united with Miss Helen Wing in 1865
and some^ years after her death he married again,
in 1894 being united with Mrs. Linda (Wing)
Stevens, a native of Somerset county. Me., and
like himself a faithful member of the Baptist
Church.

THOMAS SCHULYER INGHAM. Al-
though far removed from the scene of his
birth and early training Mr. Ingham is, to
all intents and purposes, a native Californian,
his residence in the state dating from the year
1870, December of that years witnessing the
removal of his parents from the more thickly
settled east to the broad and promising west.
Born December 12. 1855, '''^ '*^ ^ ^on of War-
ren R. and Sarah Louise '(Schuyler) Ingham,
the latter still living at the age of seventy-
nine years. The death of the father, Alay 19,
1905. closed a long and useful career of eighty-
three years. Upon coining to the west in 1870

1660

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

he first located in Santa Barbara county, but
the following year he came to San Bernardino
county, and shortly afterward took np land
trom the government in section 33, the same
now being the site of the thriving village of
Highland. His waving fields of barley, to
which his land was first planted, in time gave
place to the cultivation of oranges, a decided
innovation in this locality, for to him is cred-
ited the planting of the first orange grove in
the vicinity of Highland.

While still an infant Thomas S. Ingham
was taken by his parents to Lockport, Ni-
agara county, N. Y., where he was educated
and v/here he received his initiation into the
world of business. Some time after coming
to the west with his parents he engaged in the
nursery business on land which is now in-
cluded in the corporate limits of Highland.
After making his home in Los Angeles for
several j^ears he returned in 1900 and pur-
chased the property upon Avhich he now re-
sides, consisting of fifty acres, thirty acres in
wine grapes, eight in oranges and four ;n al-
falfa, the remainder being in other fruits. The
previous owner had not been especiall)- suc-
cessful in his ranching efiforts, as was evi-
denced in the dilapidated condition of the
ranch when Mr. Ingham assumed its control.
His pioneer efiforts in the matter of irrigation
have practically been the making of the town,
and as the father of irrigation he bears the
esteem of its grateful citizens. His first at-
tempt dates back to the year 1887, before the
panic, and as early as 1884 he raised grain on
ground where now stands the depot and busi-
ness portion of the town. While in the nurs-
ery business during this time he sold over
$200,000 worth of orange trees in one year,
but as has been previously stated a turn in
the tide followed and resulted in the loss of
his business. Once more, however, he is on
the high road to success, and is conceded to
be one of the most prosperous ranchers in San
Bernardino countv.

LEWIS NATHANIEL SMITH. Very
early in the colonial history of America the
Smith family came from England and estab-
lished the name in New England, and the rec-
ords state that the great-great-grandfather of
L. N. Smith, Caleb Smith, was born in Need-
ham, Mass., and followed fanning in that state
throughout his active years. Among his chil-
dren was a son Barak, who was born in Ded-
ham, Mass., in 1755. The next in line of de-
scent was Jabez. who was born in Dover,
Mass., was subsequentlv in Connecticut for a
time, and still later established the familv in

Verm.ont, which was then practically a new
country, and he made his way to his destina-
tion in Windham county by means of ox-
teams, blazing a path through the forests. It
was while the family were residing in Connec-
ticut that Reuel Smith was born near Ash-
ford, that state, and he was still quite young
when his parents established the family home
in the Vermont wilderness. Near Wilming-
ton, that state, he improved a fine farm from
the heavy forest covered land and made his
home thereon the remainder of his life. He
died at the age of seventy-one years, cheered
and upheld by his faith in the Christian re-
ligion, having been a prominent member of
the Congregational Church for many years.
During his young manhood he chose as his
life companion Lucinda Adams, who was born
in Vermont, the daughter of Nathaniel Adams,
the latter being a native of Ashburnham,
Mass., and a pioneer farmer in Vermont. The
mother also died on the Vermont homestead,
and of the four children born to her two are
now living, Lewis N. and F. R., the latter a
farmer near Wilmington, Vt. One son, Will-
iam H., participated in the Civil war as a
member of the Eighth Vermont Regiment,
being made captain of his company. He was
wounded a number of times during Sheridan's
raid and the battle of New Orleans, and as a
result his death occurred soon afterward in
Chicago, 111.

The youngest of the four children in the
parental family was Lewis Nathaniel Smith,
who was born on the family homestead near
Wilmington, AVindham county, Vt., October
10, 1840. Brought up to an intimate .knowl-
edge of farm duties, until nineteen years of
age he was an invaluable assistant to his
father, and in the meantime he had attended
the district school and also taken a course in
Leland Gray Academy, in Townshend, Vt.
His experience thus far had taught him that
his tastes did not lie in the direction of a'gri-
culture and when nineteen years old he took
a position in a general store in Newfane, Vt.,
with the idea of learning the business. After
remaining six months with his employer in
that place he went to Chicopee, Mass.. and
later to Springfield, that state, in both of
which places he continued his interest in the
dry goods business. An interruption came
into his life during 1862-63, during which time
he had enlisted in the army, but he was re-
iected on account of his height. Thereafter
he removed to Troy, N. Y., where, from 1864
until 1873, he engaged in the dry goods busi-
ness, in the latter year removing to Worcester,
Mass., and continuing in the same line of
business for one year. For eight years there-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1661

after he carried on a grocery business in the
same location, and at the same time handled
and improved considerable real estate, finally
disposing of his grocery in order to devote his
entire time to the real estate business.

It was in 1898 that Lewis N. Smith severed
his connection with the east, so long his own
home as well as many generations of the fam-
ily, and established himself in California, in
November of the same year locating in Po-
mona. He purchased a ranch on San Antonio
and Central avenues, upon which he made a
specialty of raising oranges for about three
years, selling his ranch at the end of that time
and purchasing his present property in Clare-
mont, on Central avenue. Here he owns fif-
teen acres, twelve of which are in oranges and
three in lemons, and in 1902 he erected the
family residence on the corner of College ave-
nue and Seventh street. The ranch has an
excellent location, being a part of the Loop
tract, and is irrigated from the San Antonio
canon. The organization of the Citizens'
Light and Water Company of Claremont. in
1903, was largely the work of Mr. Smith, who
from the first was a director in the company.
From 1904 until January. 1907, he was its
president and manager, and since that date has
been its secretary and manager. He is also
a member of the Southern California Fruit
Exchange, and is president of Claremont Cit-
rus Lnion, which is a branch of the former
organization. Other enterprises in the town
outside of horticultural interests also benefit
by his broad knowledge and keen insight,
among which are the Claremont Lumber Com-
pany, of which he is president, and the State
Bank of Claremont. of which he was one of
the organizers and is now a director. He is
also amember of the board of selectmen of
Claremont. He finds his religious home in
the Congregational Qiurch, in which he is an
active worker as he is in everything else to
which he lends his name and influence. Since
1903 he has served as treasurer of the church.
He was made a Mason in Chicopee (Mass.)
Lodge, and subsequently transferred his mem-
bership to Athelstan Lodge, Worcester, that
state, and also belongs to the chapter in that
city. Politically he is a stanch supporter of
Republican principles.

Mr. Smith's marriage, March 14, 1866,
united him with Miss Elizabeth W. Wood,
the ceremonv being performed in Worcester,
Mass. The Wood family is one whose history
can be traced to the early settlement of New
England, the immigrant of the familv, Thomas
Wood, leaving his native England in 1654, at
the age of twentv. and establishing the family
in Massachusetts. Great-grandfather De.xter

Wood was a native of Uxbridge, Mass., and
from there enlisted his services in the Revolu-
tionary war. His son Samuel was also born
in Uxbridge, and throughout his active years
carried on farming in that vicinity; his wife,
before her marriage, was Rachel Albee.
Among the children born to Samuel and Ra-
chel Wood was Amos Wood, he too being a
native of U.xbridge, where he followed the
builder's trade throughout his active years.
His marriage to Miss Rozetta Storrs united
two old colonial families, and Mrs. Smith's
maternal great-grandfather. Major Joseph
Storrs, fought valiantly in the Revolutionary
war. He also donated one hundred and ten
acres to Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.
H. Mrs. Smith's maternal grandfather, Rev.
William Storrs, a native of Connecticut, was a
graduate of Dartmouth College, receiving his
diploma in 1788. As a minister in the Con-
gregational denomination he served as pastor
of the congregation at Westford, Conn., for
about thirty years and for a time was also
chaplain in the Revolutionary war. His wife
was formerly Abigail Hovey. Two children
were born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Lewis N. Smith. The son, William Lewis
Smith, who is a graduate of Worcester Poly-
technic Institute, is now assistant city en-
gineer in Worcester; and the daughter, Mary
E., died in infancv.

CHESTER B. LOOMIS. When a man with
mechanical talents secures not only a thorough
general education, but all of the scientific train-
ing available at the best engineering schools in
the United States, he is in a position to make
rapid strides in his profession when he pursues
it on practical lines. Chester B. Loomis. who is
superintending engineer of the Abbot Kinney
Company at Venice, Cal.. was born at Three Riv-
ers, Mich., a son of Elisha and Lucy (Brown)
Loomis, the former a native of New York and
the latter of Ohio. The father went to Ypsilanti
when a voung man and studied under some of
the best railroad engineers, and followed that oc-
cupation for many years. Later he became a
merchant in Ypsilanti. where he and his wife are
now living.

The preliminary education of Chester B.
Loomis was received in the Ypsilanti public
schools and after completing his work there he
entered the engineering department of the Uni-
versity of Michigan, graduating with the degree
of B. S. As he had previously had some years
of practical work in engineering lines he made
rapid strides in his profession after his gradua-
tion from college. His first position was with

1662

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the Western Electric Company of Chicago, then
he became a draughtsman and made estimates
for the Brooks Locomotive Works at Dunkirk, N.
Y., after which he went to Sparrows Point, Md.,
being employed as erecting engineer and assist-
ant chief engineer for the Maryland Steel Com-
pany. Following this he accepted the position as
chief engineer for the Rockhill Furnace Com-
pany at Rockhill Furnace, Pa. Resigning from
this place Mr. Loomis came to San Francisco and
became draughtsman and estimate man at the
Union Iron Works of that city. His first posi-
tion in Los Angeles was with the Edison Elec-
tric Company, which place he continued to oc-
cupy as their engineer until he became superin-
tending engineer for the Short Line Beach Com-
pany. After finishing their construction work he
accepted his present position.

Mr. Loomis is a thoroughly educated man and
an expert engineer, and in all of his business un-
dertakings he has met with remarkable success.
His devotion to his work does not prevent him
from taking an active interest in matters of pub-
lic import and he is recognized as a public spirit-
ed citizen, who is ready to lend a hand in every
progressive enterprise. His marriage to Miss
B. ll. Burck, a native of Texas, occurred in Los
Angeles.

HOWARD L. SEYMOUR. The planing
mill industry of Southern California has had in
Mr. Seymour one of its most enterprising ad-
vocates, his thorough knowledge of the business
and his splendid mechanical ability having mate-
rially augmented his success in this line. With
his brother, J. E., he is located in Redlands and
under the firm name of Seymour Brothers is
conducting an extensive enterprise, which in its
employment of men and its output of product
has proven one of the upbuilding factors of the
city and surrounding country. A native of
Oneonta, Otsego county, N. Y., he was born
January 26, 1849, being a son of Elias Chidsey
and Lucy (Loveland) Seymour, both natives
of Delaware county, same state. The father was
born in February, 1815, and in young manhood
learned the trade of cabinet maker. In 1852
he removed to Pennsylvania, following a similar
enterprise, and finally locating in Bradford coun-
ty, in the town of Tro\', he combined with it
the work of undertaker and also established a
planing mill. He is now a resident of Athens,
Pa., being in his ninety-second year. His wife
died in Pennsylvania some years since. They
had six children, namely : J. E., who served in
the First New York Veteran Cavalry during the
Civil war, and is now engaged with his brother
in Redlands : Frances N., Mrs. Mettler, of Wash-
ington ; E. C, who served in the Civil war and is

now located in Highland, Cal. ; H. L., of this
review ; Lucy, Mrs. Newman of Athens, Pa. ;
and Josephine, Mrs. Baker, of Canton, Pa.

Howard L. Seymour was reared in Bradford
county. Pa., from three years of age, and edu-
cated in its common schools and the Troy Acad-
emy. He learned the trade of cabinet maker
and the planing mill business, working as en-
gineer from young manhood, having been in the
shops from the age of fourteen years. He re-
mained with liis father until he was twenty-six,
when he went to Elmira, N. Y., spent five years
there and then came to Southern California and
in San Bernardino valley engaged in the plan-
ing mill business for Lenville & Son, and J. J.
Whitney, and also established an independent en-
terprise under the firm name of Pratt & Sey-
mour. L^pon the founding of Redlands he estab-
lished the first planing mill in partnership with
Al Pratt, the firm being Pratt & Seymour. They
engaged in the manufacture of lumber for six
months when Mr. Pratt purchased the entire
interest, and six months later Mr. Seymour
established another enterprise in partnership with
his brother, J. E. Seymour. The latter was born
in Bainbridge, N. Y., and in that place learned
the trade of cabinet maker. His work was in-
terrupted by the call to arms in 1861, when he
enlisted as a musician in the Twenty-seventh
Regiment New York Infantry, and served in
the Civil war until the mustering out of all
musicians. In 1863 he served in the Twenty-
sixth Pennsylvania Emergency Regiment ; in the
fall of that year he entered the First New York
^'eteran Cavalry as quartermaster sergeant, and
was located in the Shenandoah valley until the
close of the war. He received a wound at Wood-
stock, A^a., but was not long from the field.
After returning to civic life he engaged in the
milling business in the east until 1887, when he
came to California, locating first in San Ber-
nardino and a year later in Redlands, where he
has since been engaged with his brother in the
planing mill business. His marriage occurred
in Canton, Pa., and united him with Miss Martha
Newman, who was born in the Wyoming val-
ley. Pa., and they have two children, Carl, of
Redlands, and Emma, wife of F. Cryor. of Los
Ang-eles.

The Seymour Brothers built the second plan-
ing mill in Redlands in 1888, it being then a very
small affair about 16x20 feet in dimensions, and
since that time they have enlarged the enterprise,
putting up a building 80x100 feet, two stories
in height, and fully equipped with all modern
methods — electric and steam power, etc., — the
greater part of the wooden machinery being their
own inventions. They have carried on the
greater part of the business of the city for many

^^^^ (A,£jjryyL^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1665

years and are named among the strongest up-
building factors of the industries of the section.
Mr. Seymour was married in Elmira, New York,
to Miss OHve Merrill, a native of Rockford, III.
and they became the parents of the following
children: Sylva, Mrs. Everett, of San Bernar"^
dino; Nellie, Mrs. Rulin, of San Pedro; Grace,
Mrs. Kinzel, of East San Pedro: Olive, Mrs.
Rulin, of Kansas City, Mo. ; Etta, Rubv. Pearl
and Byron at home. Their home is 'in San
Bernardmo. Mrs. Seymour is a member of the
Seventh Day Adventist Church, and their sup-
port is liberally given to its charities. In politics
Mr. Seymour is a stanch advocate of the princi-
ples embraced in the platform of the Demo-
cratic party.

JOHN D. STONE. Southern lineage reach-
ing back to the early settlement of our country-
is represented in the genealogy of the Stone
family, whose members were intimately asso-
ciated with the development of Kentucky during
the nineteenth century. Coleman D. Stone, who
was born and reared in the Blue Grass state, be-
came an early settler of Missouri, moving there
at a period when land was cheap, settlers few
and the surroundings those of the frontier. Aft-
er establishing his home in the midst of such
environments he met and married Louise
Keithly, a native of that state, and they contin-
ued to reside there during the remainder of their
lives. Her death occurred in 1878, at the age of
sixty and two years later he passed away at the
age of seventy-four. While they were living in
Monroe county. Mo., their son, John D., was
born in 1841, and in that section of the state he
passed the years of youth. The first experience
he had of the world outside of his home locality
was gained by the journey across the plains to
California in 1863, when he traveled via team
and wagon with a party of emigrants, bringing
four hundred head of mules and fifty head of
horses.

After a tedious but uneventful journey of six-
ty-one days the party landed at Sacramento in
June of 1863, and soon afterward Mr. Stone se-
cured employment as a farm hand. During the
same year he went to Nevada and began to op-
erate a stage line, which he continued for six
years, and then worked in the quartz mills on
the Carson river. Returning to ]\Iissouri in
1869. he visited old friends for a time, and then
spent a few years in the Indian Territory and
Texas. It was not until 1882 that he returned
to California, at which time he settled in San
Diego, being led to come hither in the hope that
the equable climate might prove beneficial to his
failing health. Not only was this hope gratified
in the realization of restored health, but in addi-

tion he has prosperously engaged in ranch pur-
suits and has acquired a fine ranch of four hun-
dred and one acres near Mesa Grande. Almost
ever since coming to this locality he has officiated
as school trustee and his services have been help-
ful in the development of a satisfactory free-
school system.

After his return from California to his old
Missouri home Mr. Stone married Miss Lucv
H. Leach, who was born and educated in Mis-
souri and with whom he had been acquainted
prior to his first trip to the west. It was in
1870 that they established a home of their own
and twelve years later they became residents of
California, buying the ranch they now occupy.
They are the parents of four children, namely:
Carrie Belle, wife of Cleason Ambler, who re-
sides in Mesa Grande ; James H., also living in
Mesa Grande ; Imogene, a student in the San
Diego Normal School; and Arthur G., the
youngest of the family, who is yet at home with
his parents on the ranch and assists in the su-
pervision and care of the place. Habits of close
observation, wide travels and much reading have
given Mr. Stone a broad fund of information
upon all subjects of general importance and he
has formed decided opinions upon questions per-
taining to the general welfare, being politically
an adherent of the Socialistic party and a firm
believer in the doctrines of socialism.

SHASTA AUGUSTUS TRIPP. A ro-
mantic interest centers about the name and
fortunes of the Tripp family of Riverside
county, for it was on the ranch owned by a
member of the family that the scene for the
famous novel of Helen Hunt Jackson was laid,
the goats mentioned in the story belonging to
the subject of this review, whose father fig-
ured as Judge Wells in the book. The name
was established in Southern California at an
early date in the history of the state, the father
of the present generation, S. V. Tripp, having
located here in t86o and ever afterward proved
himself an important factor in the upbuilding
and development of this section of the coun-
try. For full particulars concerning his life
refer to his biogra])hy% which appears on an-
other page of this volume.

Shasta Augustus Tripp, the subject of this
review, was born in the city of Los Angeles,
December 22, i8s7: the family^ fortunes being
located in San Bernardino county three years
later, his education was received in the com-
mon schools of that place. In young man-
hood he was apprenticed to learn the trade of
blacksmith, and this occupation, combined
with bricklaying fwhich he learned with his

1666

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

father), has continued his principal employ-
ment up to the present time. He has been
successful in his work and has built up a repu-
tation for excellence in his line, both in River-
side and San Diego counties, having spent
considerable time in the latter section. His
home is now located in San Jacinto and is pre-
sided over by his wife, formerly Miss Viola
Covington ; they are the parents of eight chil-
dren, namely : Alay Etna, who married W. E.
Simpson and has one son, Joseph Augustus;
William C. and Charles H., twins ; Lillie,
Maude, Effie, Jesse H, and Frederick J. JNIr.
Tripp is held in high esteem for the qualities
of manhood which have been demonstrated
throughout his long residence in this section,
appreciated for his helpful characteristics in
both private and public life, for he is a citizen
who may always be depended upon to support
the best interests of the community, state or
nation.

CHESTER G. ARNOLD. One of the most
successful young men in the Santa Clara valley
is Chester 'G. Arnold, of Ventura county, who
farms his father's ranch of four hundred acres,
which is one of the best and most highly improved
properties in the state. He was born September
29, 1881, on the place where he now lives, the
son of :Mathew H. Arnold, a native of Illinois,
whose parents. Cutler and Emily (Hough)
Arnold, came to California in 1852 by the Panama
route. They ranched in the northern part of the
state for sixteen years before settling in A'entura
county. The father of Chester G. bought this
ranch in 1868 and now lives on a farm near
Ventura. He is sixty-three years old. has led
an active life, taking an interest in all matters
of public interest, and at one time served on the
board of supervisors of A'entura county. The
mother, who was Eliza Jane Perkins before her
marriage, is a native of JNlaine and is also living.

Of the four children in the familx", Chester G.
Arnold is next to the oldest. He received a pre-
liminary education in the public schools of \'en-
tura county, then graduated from the Ventura
Business College, after which he completed a
course in the "Woodbun- Business College of
Los Angeles. When his education was finished
in 1901 he returned to his home and took charge
of the ranch which he now condvtcts. His crops
are principally beets, beans and alfalfa. He is
interested in the raising of fine stock and has
on the place some fine hogs of the Poland-Qiina
and Berkshire breeds, while his standard-bred
horses, especially the G. W. McKinney and Silver
Coin colts, are his pride, for he is a great ad-
mirer and good judge of horse flesh. The ranch
has on it a splendid twelve-inch flowing well, and

is provided with all kinds of necessary buildings
and other modern improvements.

]\Ir. Arnold is a Republican politically, and
fraternally he affiliates with the Modern Wood-
men of America and Royal Neighbor lodges
of Hueneme. His marriage to Miss Daisy Emma
Korts, a native of Hueneme, occurred at Ocean
View. As a liberal and enterprising citizen he
takes a leading interest in all public matters of
social and economic interest and is now doing
his share in developing this section of the state.

CHARLES ENGEBRETSON. During the
period of his residence in San Diego Mr.
Engebretson has shared the city's experiences
of mingled adversity and prosperity, for not
only has his builder's trade proved more prof-
itable in times of local prosperity, but in addi-
tion his real estate investments have brought
him more satisfactory returns, ^^'hen he came
to San Diego in the fall of 1886 he found con-
ditions favorable for a carpenter, hence de-
cided to remain and work at his chosen occu-
pation. ^^"ith his earnings he made invest-
ments in property, but when the financial de-
pression depreciated land values throughout
all of Southern California he found himself
Si, 000 in debt with the passing of the
boom. Since then, however, he has not only
repaid all that he owed, but also has accumu-
lated a competency through unwearied appli-
cation to his business affairs.

Near the rock-bound shores of Norway,
where Bohus bay juts into the mainland, lies
the village of Skien, and there for years a
carpenter, Engebret, and his wife, Karen Jen-
sen, made their home and reared their family.
Of their eight children three sons and four
daughters are now living, and the youngest of
these, Charles, who was born at Skien, April
21, 1864, is the only one who settled in Cali-
fornia. ^^^^en he was j^et a small boy he
learned every detail of carpentering under his
father's oversight and at sixteen he began to
work for wages, soon gaining a local reputa-
tion for skilled work and devotion to duty.
On coming to the United States in 1883 he
secured employment in Chicago and remained
there for three years. -but in the spring of
1886 came to the Pacific coa.st to establish his
home. After six months in San Francisco he
settled in .San Diego, where he has since en-
gaged at his trade. AVith the exception of
three weeks during i88g, when he prospected
with little luck in Lower California, he has
continued uninterruptedly at carpentering and
contracting, having taken up the latter work
in J892. In addition he draws plans for build-
ings, when so desired. Among his contracts

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1667

may be mentioned those for the Sefton block,
Fox & Heller block, WilHams building, Coro-
nado pavilion, the residences of Mrs. Garrett-
son, Rev. Mr. Mills, Messrs. Hawley, Herbert,
Xason, Carroll, Heffelman, etc., besides a num-
ber of the buildings at Fort Rosecrans. At
various times he has built ten houses on his
own lots and seven of these he still owns, in-
cluding his family residence at No. 1120
Twenty-first street.

The first marriage of Air. Engebretson tuuk
place in Chicago and united him with Aliss
Dora Gundersen, who was born in Christian-
sand, in the southern part of Norway, and
died at San Diego, leaving three children, Es-
ther, Francis and Paul. In San Diego, De-
cember 6, 1894, occurred the marriage of Mr.
Engebretson and Miss Ida Carlson, who was
born in Smaland, Sweden. Two children bless
this union, Ralph and Carl. The father of
;yrs. Engebretson is Carl Carlson, a railroad
inspector, who with his wife still survives, as
do all of their seven children. One of the
sons, Axel, resides in New York, while two
of the family, Mrs. Engebretson and Gustav
Carlson, are making San Diego their home.
The famih' are identified with the Lutheran
Church and interested in its progress.

After coming to San Diego Air. Engebret-
son was initiated into the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and further has been actively
connected with the \A'oodmen of the World,
in addition to being a charter member of the
Scandinavian .Society, of which he now acts
as treasurer. The San Diego Chamber of
Commerce numbers him among its members.
On the organization of the Alaster Carpenters'
Association he became one of its charter mem-
bers and now is serving upon its board of
directors. Lo3'al to his adapted country, a
voter in the Republican party, a contributor
to local enterprises as his ability permits, so-
licitous for the development of his home town
and county, he represents that class of for-
eign-born residents wlio have added so mate-
rially to the progress and present standing of
California and have proved their progressive
spirit by their practical management of af-
fairs.

CHARLES P. LITTLEP.\GE. Occupy-
ing a picturesque location on a mountain in
San Diego county and affording a splendid
view of the surrounding country, the ranch
home of Mr. Littlciiage possesses unusual at-
tractions by reason of its unique environment.
The property has been in the possession of
the family foV a long term of years, their pat-
ent coming to them from the government.

/\.t the time it was acquired by its present
owner the homestead comprised only one hun-
dred and twenty acres, but he has added to the
original tract from time to time until now his
possessions aggregate seven hundred and sixty
ac»es. Owing to the mountainous character
of the farm it is well adapted to stock-raising,
and the owner's specialty is the raising of
grade cattle and the carrying on of a dairy
business with about twenty cows in the dairy.

The Littlepage family is of Virginian ex-
traction, and William \V. Littlepage left the
Old Dominion to seek a home in the then
frontier regions of Missouri, later going south
to Texas and eventually crossing the desert
and mountains to California. While making
his home in Blanco county, Tex., a son,
Charles P., was born February 4, 1864, and
at the time of coming west this son was only
four years of age ; hence Ids early recollections
cluster around the count}- of San Diego, where
the family were pioneer ranchers in Ballena
district. One cf his childhood's recollections
is that of the building of a house of hewed
logs in 1870. and he recalls how the logs were
hewed by the older members of the family
and then hauled by ox-teams to the site of
the home. The ijuilding was constructed in
a substantial maijner and its roof is as good
to-day as when put on nearly thirty-seven
years ago. For some years the house has
been used for the colonies of bees kept by the
owner.

When a boy Charles P. Littlepage was sent
to the Ballena school and acquired a knowl-
edge of the "three R's," but at the age of four-
teen years he was obliged to stop school and
take up the serious responsibilities of life.
This step was rendered necessary on account
of an accident to his father, who had fallen
from a scaffold and broken a leg. The
fourteen-year-old son was given charge of the
farm in order to meet the emergenc}', and
bravely he set himself about the task, which
he discharged with devotion, energy and wise
judgment. At the age of nineteen years he
bought out his father and acquired the prop-
erty, which forms the nucleus of jiis present
possessions. While working with arduous
and unflagging zeal in the care of his 4)Iace
he has neglected none of his duties of citizen-
ship, but on the other hand he has proved
him.sclf to be public-spirited, prompt to aid
all worthy movements, interested in enter-
prises for the benefit of the community, and
ardent in his devotion to the Democratic
partv. in whose faith he was reared from child-
hood. Educational matters command his
ready sympathy and generous aid. and since
1897 l^*" '^•'^ rendered efficient service as a

1668

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

member of the board of school trustees of his
district.

The marriage of Mr. Littlepage was sol-
emnized January 20, 1887, and united him with
jNIar}' Blanche Bergman. Though a native of
California, Mrs. Littlepage is of German par-
entage, her father, Jacob Bergman, having
been born in that country. When a small boy
he came to the United States and aided the
American cause at the time of the Mexican
war, serving as a private in the ranks. Later
he became one of the pioneer settlers in the
American occupancy of California, where at
an advanced age he died in Riverside county.
The family of^Mr. and Mrs. Littlepage con-
sists of the following children : Frank E., Ar-
thur M., Ethel Blanche. Eli S. and Omar L.,
all of whom yet remain beneath the home
roof.

HERMAN SETH PHILBROOK, farmer and
apiarist of Ocean View district, Ventura county,
■was born in Normal, 111., January 5, 1869, a son
of Ignatius Philbrook. The latter was a native
of Ohio, whence he located in McLean county,
111., and there conducted the Normal shoe store.
He came to California in 1878 and settled at
Duarte, Los Angeles county,, where he set out
an orange orchard; four years later he disposed
of this interest and in the Big Simi valley en-
gaged in bee culture, which occupied his atten-
tion for the ensuing ten years. He was next
located in Cone jo m the management of a hotel,
after a period of five years coming to Ventura
county and in Ocean View district purchased a
farm upon which he made his home for four
vears. In Mariposa county, engaged as a farmer,
he spent his last days, his death occurring in 1903.
He is survived bv his wife, formerly America
Morgan, a native of Indiana, whose home is now
in Ventura.

Of the eight children born to his parents, four
sons and three daughters now surviving, Her-
man Seth Philbrook was the sixth in order of
birth. From the age of nine years he was reared
in California, obtaining his education through
an attendance of the public schools of the state.
In Simi he secured his first knowledge of bee
culture and since his location, in Ocean View
■ district, Ventura county, about fifteen years ago,
he has combined that work with general ranching
pursuits. He owns a productive ranch five miles
east of Hueneme, consisting of one hundred and
fifty-seven acres devoted to the raising of beets,
barley and alfalfa, stock, and has two hundred
stands of bees in Bee canon, at the foot of the
old long grade on the Conejo road. He has met
with gratifying success in all his operations and
is accounted one of the most progressive citizens

of this section of Ventura county. In spite of
his engrossing personal interests he has still
found time to ally himself with fraternal and
social orders, being a member of the Modern
Woodmen of America, of Hueneme, while politi-
cally he adheres to the principles advocated in
the platfonn of the Republican party. Mr. Phil-
brook is best appreciated where best known, for
he is both a man of ability and integrity, and
stands high among the citizens of this section
of \'entura county.

EUGENE THEODORE ARNOLD. One of
the most interesting men of this state is Eugene
Theodore Arnold, of Ventura county, whose life
has been spent amid the stirring scenes of west-
ern life since the early fifties. He was born
April 3, 1848, in DeKalb county. 111., and when
a child of five years was brought by his mother
via Panama to JMarysville, Cal, where his father
was then located, he having crossed the plains
in 1849. The father engaged in various enter-
prises the first few years of his residence in this
state, includmg mining, storekeeping and in con-
ducting pack trains between Laporte and Good-
year Bar. Later he went to Contra Costa county,
located eight miles from Martinez, and engaged
in farming for a time, after which he removed
to Sacramento and became proprietor of the Old
Eagle hotel. From there he went to Marysville,
where .he had a pack train, later going to Rabbit
creek to conduct a hotel and store. In 1857 he
settled in Lassen county, at Susanville, where
he erected the third house in that town and en-
gaged in merchandising and the hotel business
until 1868. He then came to Southern California
and located successively near Hueneme, in Santa
Barbara county, and then in Ventura county.
He became a large land owner, having eleven
hundred and sixty acres three miles east of
Hueneme, upon which he engaged in grain grow-
ing and stock-raising. He had some of the best
standard and thoroughbred horses in that sec-
tion and owned the fastest trotter in the country
at that time. About fifteen years ago he also
owned a large ranch in Conejo. Mr. Arnold's
mother was Emily Hough in maidenhood, a
native of New York ; she died in California at
the age of seventy-three years. There were eight
children in the family, namely : Henry, deceased,
formerly postmaster at Hueneme ; Leroy, who
died at Ocean View ; Mathew H., residing near
Ventura: Edward F., a merchant in Hueneme;
Emma, the wife of Charles F. Pitcher of Ocean
View ; George G., a farmer in the San Fernando
Valley; Fannie, the wife of Joseph Baxter, of
Los Angeles; and Eugene T., the subject of this
sketch.

The education of Mr. Arnold was received in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1671

the public schools at Marj'sville and Susanville,
and during the winter of 1862 he attended Pro-
fessor Brighton's college. From 1864 until 1868
he engaged with his father in freighting in Idaho
and Nevada, after which he came to what is now
\"entura county and became a farmer and stock
raiser locating on a farm in Ucean \^ie\v. In
1878 he removed to Orange county and contin-
ued to farm for a time before going to Nevada
and engaging in stock ranching. In 1890 he
returned to California, locating on a homestead
in Los Angeles county near Calabasas, and re-
sided there for nine years before he received his
patent from the government. He improved it
with a residence and other buildings and rents
the land for a hay ranch. A natural spring
located on the place adds materially to its value.
Mr. Arnold has various property interests,
among them being some stock in mines located
near Prescott, Ariz. Politically he is a firm be-
liever in the principles advocated by the Republi-
can party and he served as a juror on the first
grand jury held in Southern California. While
the place which he calls home is Ventura county
he spends the greater part of his time traveling
and has seen much of the world. He is a man
of pleasing address and makes friends with all
with whom he comes in contact, either socially
or in a business way.

JOSEPH M. STUART. When reflectmg
concerning the changes wrought in the aspect
of Ventura county since he first identified himself
with the ranching interests of this part of Cali-
fornia, Mr. Stuart is reminded of the marvelous
transfonnation the years have brought to his
locality. It was not until 1884, twenty-two years
after he came to the Pacific coast, that he took up
a tract of government land in Fairview valley
forming his present homestead. His intention
was to devote himself to the management of an
apiary and with that object in view he brought
with him to the new place sixty-four stands of
bees, which he has increased to the present num-
ber of nearly five hundred stands. The surroumi-
ings were uninviting when he arrived here. The
land was covered with brush and to a casual ob-
server seemed worthless except for a sheep range,
the only purpose to which it had been pre-
viously devoted. With only one e.xception he
had no neighbor nearer than the hamlet of Somis,
seven miles away, and the nearest school being
there his children walked all that distance during
the school terms, while all of his water also was
hauled from that place. His postoffice town was
Santa Paula, twelve miles from his ranch, while
he did his trading at Ventura, a distance of
twenty-seven miles. Only those familiar with
the difficulties attendant upon isolation from

water, schools, mail facilities and stores can
realize the hardships of his lot in those pioneer
days, yet he and his family worked happily and
contentedly, -and few complaints were heard
from old or young. While many of the early
settlers have passed from the scene of their toils,
it has been his privilege to survive to witness
the development, prosperity and civilization of
the twentieth century, and to him together with
all of the other pioneers belongs much of the
credit for laying the foundation that rendered
possible the present fortunate condition.

From the far-away shores of Maine Mr. Stuart
came to Califomia ere yet he had attained his
majority. Born at Exeter, Penobscot county,
that state, September 30, 1844, he was a son of
Solomon and Sarah (McOrison) Stuart, also
natives of Maine. Both parents were lifelong
residents of tliat state. The father passed away
in 1881 at seventy years of age, having long sur-
vived his wife, who died in 1855, at the age of
fifty-six years. Their son, Joseph M., was only
about eleven years of age when death deprived
him of a mother's affectionate oversight. After-
ward he remained with his father and attended
the public schools of Medford, Me., from which
place in 1862 he started for California. The
journey by the Isthmus of Panama was made
without special event and he landed safely at
San Francisco in due course of time. From there .
he proceeded to Solano county. During 1864-65
he mined at Copperopolis, Calaveras county, and
at Eldorado. From 1870 until 1880 he was a
resident of Lake county, and during the latter
year removed to Ventura, whence in 1881 he
went to Santa Paula, and from there came to
his ranch in the Fairview valley during 1884.
Shortly after his arrival he set out twenty acres
in prunes, thirty acres in olives and thirty acres
in apricots, almonds, apples and other fruits. Be-
sides making these improvements he erected a
neat house and such other buildings as the needs
of the place demanded. At this writing he has
two hundred and twelve acres in apricots, olives,
and blackeye and lima beans, and gives his at-
tention to the care of these crops and to the
management of his apiary.

A few years after his arrival in California Mr.
Stuart established a home of his own. His mar-
riage was solemnized in Solano county on Christ-
mas Eve of 1866 and united him with Miss Lot-
tie V. Campbell, who like himself was born and
educated in Maine. Thev became the parents of
six children, namely : William H.. who follows
the carpenter's trade and makes his home at
Nordhoff, \'entura county: .'Solomon F.. also a
carpenter by trade, and now living at Buckhom,
\'cntura county : ^'ictor C. who died in 1900, at
the age of twenty-five years ; Joseph E., who is
carrying on a blacksmith's shop at Ventura ; Roy,

1672

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

who died at four years of age ; and May, who
resides on the ranch with her parents and is one
of the popular young ladies of the neighborhood.
The family hold membership in the Presbyterian
Church and contribute to its missionary and char-
itable work. While Mr. Stuart has at no time
consented to occupy positions of a political na-
ture his interest in school work led him to ac-
cept the office of trustee of the Fairview school,
in which capacity he proved himself to be pro-
gressive and intelligent, always alert to pro-
mote the interests of the school and the welfare
of the pupils.

ALBERT L. PFEILER was born in Oxnard,
Cal., January 7, 1877, a son of Louis and Caro-
line (Kaufman) Pfeiler, both of whom are still
living and make their home on a ranch near Ox-
nard. After completing his education in the public
.schools of Ventura county he took a three-year
course in Throop Polytechnic Institute of Pasa-
dena, making a specialtyy of cabinet work. He
remained at home with his parents until his mar-
riage in 1905 to Lydia Fricken, a native of this
county, his father at this time starting him in
business on the ranch he now occupies. Since
making his home on the ranch Mr. Pfeiler has
made many improvements to render it adequate
for his needs. One child has been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Pfeiler, a daughter, to whom they have
given the name of Florence. Politically Mr.
Pfeiler adheres to the principles of the Republican
party, belongs to the Knights of Columbus, and
is a commtmicant of the Catholic Church.

One of the most interesting men the visitor
meets at Oxnard is Albert L. Pfeiler, who i?
farming a hundred acre ranch devoted to the
cultivation of beets and beans, and the possessor
of one of the most scientific and up-to-date poul-
try ranches in the west. The poultry business
is conducted in connection with his other affairs
and for the pleasure it gives to one who loves
poultry and has studied their characteristics and
liabits so closely as to be able to appreciate to a
nicety the fine points of each individual fowl. An
intelligent consideration of the good points of the
various breeds has convinced Mr. Pfeiler that
the Black Orpington is the best all-purpose class
of poultry to be found, and on this ranch one finds
some of the finest specimens of that variety. It
is not as a fancier alone that he considers poultry,
but he recognizes that the commercial capabilities
are very important to the poultry grower and the
Black Orpington besides being one of the heav-
iest in weight of the various breeds (single birds
weighing as high as twelve pounds') is also a
very large egg producer. Mr. Pfeiler has brought
to his flock some expensive Ijirds purchased in
the east and has as near a ]5erfect foundation

stock as it is possible to get and witli these birds
to w^ork with, is by careful breeding succeeding
in creating a strain of egg producers that it will
be hard for anyone to beat, as he proposes to
get all out of his fowls that it is possible for fowls
to produce. His methods are highly scientific
and while it would require considerable space to
fully explain every detail in regard to the breed-
ing of poultry to eliminate from the stock all
weak and objectionable points and enhance all
strong and desirable ones, some of the more im-
portant points will be of interest.

The Black Orpington is an original combina-
tion of the Plymouth Rock, Black Langshange
and Black Minorcas, inheriting from them
qualities of superior merit, unexcelled beauty
and a strong constitution which enables them to
endure the strain of heavy egg production for
which the breed is noted. The one objection
which some raise against the Black Orpington is
its black pin feathers, but in Mr. Pfeiler's opinion
this is really an advantage, for since pin feathers
are not easy to see when white there is no excuse
for the black ones being found on the properly
dressed fowl. As to egg production he believes
that in this variety will be ultimately secured the
three-hundred-egg per year hen for which poul-
try breeders arc now striving. And this is what
Air. Pfeiler is working for with his strain, and,
by adopting the trapnests and carefully marking
each hen and keeping track of her record, he
knows that he is advancing toward that mark
rapidly, some of his hens having already passed
the two hundred mark. In Mr. Pfeiler's estima-
tion it does not pa\' to raise mongrel fowls, for it
costs much to keep them and the money value of
their production is only about a third as much as
that of the pure-bred fowl.

On his twentieth century poultry ranch every
convenience is found to facilitate the handling of
the mated fowds, and upon this one point of in-
telligent selection of hen and cock, and the most
careful consideration of the records of the fami-
lies from which each springs is hinged the suc-
cess of producing a "bred-to-lay" pullet. The
painstaking care is sure to bring its reward, how-
ever, as j\lr. Pfeiler has proven with entire satis-
faction to himself and to the admiration of the
numberless people who delight to visit his plant
and have explained to them the methods em-
ployed, for the owner takes just pride in the plant
and is always willing to pass on to those who may
be interested the valuable information which he
has gained in his years of poultry breeding. But
heavy egg producing qualities are not the only
thing to take into consideration ; the show room
must not be forgotten, and in requiring of the an-
cestors of both male and female birds egg rec-
ords, the standard marks must also lie in evi-
dence. Shape and color are important points

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1673

and also the vigor of the fowl ; for the hitter rea-
son too close inbreeding" must be avoided, so the
practice of line breeding is adopted. This is a
system of inbreeding, but brothers and sisters
are never mated, and in mating mother and son
the greatest care is taken to have the male bird
of strong constitution, for the female bird being
bred on her record as an egg producer must re-
ceive vig'or from the male in her offspring.
\\'hen the necessity for the introduction of abso-
lutely new blood into the flock is apparent it is
xhe best policy to secure male birds from other
rlocks which are of the same strain.

Like all up-to-date poultry raisers Mr. Tfeiler
uses incubators for hatching purposes and the
separating and marking of the chicks is in itself
no inconsiderable task. Heretofore he has not
entered his birds in the show room, for it is his
ambition to win blue ribbons with them from the
first exhibition he enters, and so he has patiently
waited until his flock has been brought up to the
very highest standard before entering them in
competition. Anyone who has noticed the beauti-
ful carriage and color and perfect markings of
his Black Orpingtons knows that other exhibit-
ors will find them hard to beat. Free alfalfa
range is given to the poultry on this ranch, and
while every beneficial contrivance in the equip-
ment of a modern poultry ranch that could be
found on the market has been purchased, JMr.
Pfeiler has found it to his advantage to invent
his own improvements on many of them and so
one observes here many contrivances which no
other establishment of a like nature could show.
JMr. Pfeiler is an affable gentleman to meet and
while he is very apt to "talk chickens" when one
is viewing his poultry and plant, he is fully in-
formed on all subjects of public interest and fills
an important place in the comnnmit\' in which
he lives.

JAMES DOCD. In Southern California are
many extensive and prosperous agriculturists
who bring to their calling rare business skill and
excellent judgment. Some of the most progres-
sive and enterprising of this class of men may
he found in Ventura county, and ranking high
among these is James Doud, whose fine and well-
cultivated ranch lies near Oxnard. He is a self-
made man in llie highest sense implied by the
term, has ever made the best of hi'; opportunities,
keeping his eyes open to what was going on
around him in the world, and these qualities, in
connection with his natural industry and perse-
verance, have been dominant factors in winning
for him success in life and placing him among
the substantial citizens of this valley. A native
of Ireland, he was born Marcli 24. 1873. in
Longford, where he spent his boyhood days. His

father, iMichael Doud, is still living in Ireland,
and there his mother, whose maiden name was
Ann Cloyne, spent her entire life, dying in 1878.

When fourteen years of age James Doud im-
migrated to the United States, an active, ener-
getic boy, full of ambition and enthusiasm. Ar-
riving in New York city he made his way
straight across the country to Los Angeles,
where he subsequently completed his education,
attending Woodbury College. Entering then the
employ of Donlon Brothers he worked near Ox-
nard for a number of seasons. Thrifty and eco-
nomical, he accumulated considerable money, and
m 1902 purchased his present home ranch and
built the residence which he now occupies. He
has two hundred acres of good land, and is rais-
ing beets and beans on an extensive scale, having
one hundred acres of each.

In Oxnard, April 29, 1903, JMr. Doud married
Josephine McGrath, a daughter of Dominick Mc-
Crath, of whom a brief sketch may be fourul else-
where in this volume. Mr. and Airs. Doud have
two bright and interesting little children, Robert
and Genevieve. Fraternally Mr. Doud is a mem-
ber of the Knights of Columbus, and religiously
both he and his v/ife are members of the CathoHc
Church.

PETER BURFEINDT. Energetic, industri-
ous and persevering, well equipped both mentally
and physically. Peter Burfeindt is a fine repre-
sentative of the rising young agriculturists of
Pleasant valley, being prosperously employed in
his chosen vocation near Camarillo. Thrown
upon his own resources early in life, he began
his battle with the world at the foot of the lad-
der of attainments, and by sturdy toil and
praiseworthy perseverance has steadily climbed
upward, by his own efforts earning an assured
position among the successful men of his com-
munity. He was born December 18, 1863, in
Germany, and in its common schools acquired
his early education. His parents. Claus and
Catherine (Wiebusch) Burfeindt, were life-
long residents of Germany, and there reared a
family of thirteen children, of whom Peter, the
subject of this sketch, and one daughter, are resi-
dents of California.

Becoming familiar with the many branches of
general farming in the Fatherland, Peter Bur-
feindt made up his mind while yet a lad that his
native country aft'orded but meagre opportuni-
ties for a poor man, and that in America only
could he rise to a position of affluence and com-
fort solely by his own efforts. Having arrived
at his conclusion, he left home at the age of sev-
enteen years, crossing the Atlantic to New York
City, where he was for a short time employed
as clerk in a grocery store. Coming from there

1674

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to Los Angeles he was for a number of years
associated with the N. \V. Stowell Company,
working on cement pipe. Receiving good wages,
he accumulated money, and in 1896, determin-
ing to make a change of occupation, he came to
Ventura county, where he has since been actively
and profitably employed in ranching. He now
operates two hundred and eighty-five acres of
leased land, one hundred and twenty acres being
planted to beans, one hundred acres to beets and
sixty acres to barley. In the management of his
farm he has all the requisite machinery and ap-
pliances, and keeps busily employed fourteen
head of work horses.

In 1888 Mr. Burfeindt married Lena Otte,
who was born in Germany, and they have one
child, Fritz, four years of age. In politics Mr.
Burfeindt earnestly supports the principles of
the Republican party, and in religion both he
and his good wife are faithful members of the
German Lutheran Church.

CHARLES H. JOHNSON. Conspicuous
among the industrious and enterprising men who
have been active and prominent in devel-
oping and advancing the agricultural resources
of \ entura county is Charles H. Johnson, of Ox-
nard. Purchasing a tract of land that was in
its pristine wiklness, he has labored persistently
and wisely, bring it to a condition of excellent
cultivation, and it stands today a monument to
his good management and business qualifications.
Besides his home ranch of fifty acres he owns
fifty acres of land lying one mile southward,
which he has acquired by the investment of his
surplus capital, and in addition to successfully op-
erating these two farms he rents another tract
of fifty acres, which he cultivates. A son of the
iate Henry B. Johnson, he was born, April 9,
1850, in Onondaga county, N. Y., where the
first two years of his life were passed.

About 1852 Henry B. Johnson removed with
his family to ^^'isconsin, locating at Rural. Wau-
paca county, where he was a pioneer farmer.
Going from there to Minnesota in 1863, he con-
tinued there as a farmer for about twenty years.
when, in 1883, he came to Ventura county, lo-
cating on the ranch now conducted bv his son,
Charles, and here resided until his death, at the
age of sixty-six years, in 1889. He married
Harriet H. Walker, who was born eighty years
ago, in New York state, and now makes her
home with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson.

Educated in the public schools of Wisconsin
and Minnesota, Charles H. Johnson earlv be-
came inured to the hardships of pioneer life, his
boyhood days being full of incident and danger.
In the new townships in which his parents set-
tled the families were widelv scattered, and the

Indians were plenty and oftentimes troublesome.
He assisted his father in improving a ranch from
the forest covered land, remaining at home until
1876. Coming then to California, he worked by
the month for five years, after which he began
farming on rented land. Meeting with encour-
aging success in his undertakings, in 1889, he
bought the farm which he now owns and occu-
pies. It was then a raw, uncultivated tract, with
no improvements. He has since brought the
land to an excellent state of tillage, erected a
substantial house and barn, and as a general
rancher is exceedingly prosperous. As time has
■passed he has bought additional land, and with
the fifty acres that he rents is carrying on an
extensive business in the raising of lima beans
and beets, an industry that is proving quite re-
munerative.

November 24, 1881, Mr. Johnson married
Minnie Alexander, who was born on California
soil, a daughter of the late Thomas Alexander.
A native of Ohio, Mr. Alexander was there born
in 1 819. At an early age he followed the trail
of the emigrant westward to Iowa, where he
engaged in the pioneer labor of improving a
farm. In April, 1853, he came with his family to
California, journeying with ox-teams across the
dreary plains. Arriving in Nevada county the
last of August, he located at Grass Valley, and
for some time was engaged in freighting from
San Francisco and Sacramento through north-
ern California and into Nevada. He subse-
quently built a sawmill just north of Nevada
City, where he was engaged for a number of
years in the manufacture of lumber. Removing
to Ventura county in 1870, Mr. Alexander lo-
cated north and west of Oxnard, buying land on
the Colona grant. Subsequently selling out, he
removed to near Compton, Los Angeles county,
still later selling his ranch and buving a home in
Garvanza, where he resided until his death, at
the age of sixty-nine years, in 1888. Mr. Alex-
ander married Sarah Shockley, who was born in
Ohio, in April, 1824, and is now living in Los
Angeles with her youngest daughter. Mrs. Cline.
Fifteen children were born of the union of Mr.
and Mrs. Alexander, nine of whom grew to
years of maturity, and seven are now living,
namely : Mary, wife of John Conrad, of the San-
ta Clara valley; William L., engaged in the real-
estate business at Los Angeles ; Celia I., wife of
John H. Thompson, living near San Luis Obis-
po ; Minnie, wife of Oiarles Johnson : Robert,
engaged in farming near Downey; Effie, wife
of William Rodgers. of Garvanza ; and Edna,
wife of William Cline, of the Los Angeles
Pioneer Carpet works.

Four children were born of the union of Mr.
and Mrs. Johnson, and of these but two. the
oldest child. Charles E.. and the youngest, Law-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1677

rence, are living. The death of the other two
children was a particularly sad incident in the
lives of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, who have borne
their affliction bravely. It occurred in 1890,
while they were crossing the Santa Clara river.
The wagon containing Mr. and Mrs. Johnson
and their three children was accidentally upset,
throwing all of the occupants into the stream.
Mr. Johnson succeeded in saving his wife and
eldest child, but the two little ones. Archie, two
years of age, and Ira, a babe of three months,
were drowned. In his political affiliations Mr.
Johnson is independent, voting for the best men
and measures, and religiously he is a member and
a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to
which Mrs. Johnson also belongs.

F. A. J. SHAFFER. The real estate interests
of Norwalk, Los Angeles county, have in Mr.
Shaffer one of their most earnest advocates,
whose efforts have been largely instrumental in
bringing the notice of people to this section of
the county and adding to its material upbuilding
and development. He was born in St. Louis,
Mo.. Febriiary 27, 1855, a son of Robert and
Elizabeth (Fonts) Shaffer, both natives of Penn-
sylvania; they are now residents of Iowa, aged
respectively seventy-four and seventy-three years.
The father served in Company H, Eight}-third
Regiment Illinois Infantry, then being trans-
ferred to Company J, Sixty-first Regiment Illi-
nois Infantry, during the Civil war. He is now
identified with the Grand Army of the Republic.
In religion he is a member of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, in which he has officiated as stew-
ard and class leader. They had six children, all
of whom are living, three being located in Iowa,
two in Washington and one in California.

F. A. J. Shaffer was taken to Illinois when
three months old, living in Fulton and Hancock
counties where he received his education through
the medium of the common schools. He also took
a brief college course, which further fitted him
for business life. He began to farm in Illinois
after leaving school, and continued there until
he was of age, when he went to Iowa, and from
there to Kansas, farming in both states, being
principally occupied in grain raising in the lat-
ter state. He was located for a short time in
Nebraska, then after returning to Kansas he went
to Oklahoma. A part of this time he had worked
as a carpenter and also in excavating. After
coming to California November 2, IQ02, he
worked on ranches for a time, and also conducted
the hotel in Norwalk. For the past three years
he has been established in his present enterprise,
operating in both Norwalk and Artesia. handling
citv lots and acreage. He has been very success-
ful and has accumulated means since coming to

the state, and he has also taken a strong interest
in the development of his adopted home.

Mr. Shaffer has traveled extensively and has
visited every state in the Union excepting three,
namely: Georgia, South Carolina and Florida,
and in comparison with all the places that he
has seen likes his present location best of all. He
is keenly interested in all measures for the pro-
motion of the community's welfare. Straightfor-
ward in business, he strives to make every trans-
action promotive of his customer's good as well
as a benefit to the locality. He is active in the
Woodmen, admires the principles of that organ-
ization. A lover of good horses, he was asso-
ciated with the A. H. T. A., a law and order
fraternal order, and for one year was organizer,
seeing its membership increase from a few indi-
viduals to thousands. He takes pride and pleas-
ure in telling of the capture and punishing of
thieves, and enforcing the law.

In 1876, Mr. Shaffer's first marriage, united
him with Miss Mattie Stoneking, daughter of
lames Stoneking; in 1881 he married Miss Emma
Guss, a native of Illinois. They are the parents
of the following children; Charles. Bessie and
Willie. Mr. Shaffer is prominently identified
with the Woodmen of the World, to which the
entire family also belong. He is a Republican
politically and through the influence of his party
has served as road overseer and school trustee.

SAMUEL NAUMANN. Few men are more
deserving of representation in a work of this
character than the late Samuel Naumann, of Ox-
nard, an industrious, hard-working man, who,
during the later years of his life, was actively
identified with the agricultural interests of this
part of Ventura county. He had a comparatively
long and busy career, rich with experiences, and
possessed in an eminent degree those sterling
qualities of character that greatly endeared him
to his family and gained for him the esteem of
the communitv and the confidence and good will
of all who knew him. He was born in February,
1836, in Magdeburg. Germany, and died in Ox-
nard township, on the home farm. jMarch 16,
1905.

Educated in the public schools of his native
land, Samuel Naumann subsequently learned the
trade of bricklayer in Magdeburg, and there fol-
lowed it for awhile. In 1873 he married Rosine
Wilke. and three years later he came across the
.\tlantic with jiis family, locating first in New
York City, from there going by boat to Galves-
ton, Tex., where he was ensfasred in farming for
several years. Coming to California in 1893, he
purchased land in Chino. San Bernardino county,
began the improvement of a ranch, and lived
there three years. Selling out in 1896 he rented

1678

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

land in Santa Clara county for five years, and then
came to Ventura county, settling on the ranch
now owned and occupied by his widow and chil-
dren. He bought two hundred and forty acres of
land, and with the energy and thrift character-
istic of his countrymen, at once began its im-
provement, in his labors meeting with well-
merited success. Since his death his sons have
continued the improvements previously inaugu-
rated, and are managing the home estate with
great ability, each year adding to its value and
productiveness.

Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Naumann seven
children were born : Herman, born in Germany
in 1874, is single and lives at home; ]\Irs. Louisa
Young, is a resident of Oxnard ; Emma is at
home ; Paul and Otto, twins, born November 4,
1879, are both at home; Gustavus, born May 12,
1884, is living at home, and Martha is also at
home. The family are all members of the Luth-
eran Church at Oxnard, in the building of which
Mr. Naumann took an active part, and of which
he served as a trustee until his death, when he
was succeeded by his son Herman. He was a
Republican, and his sons are all loyal to the po-
litical faith in which thev were reared.

CARL LUNDOUIST. That the Scandi-
navian element forms a most desirable ac-
quisition to American citizenship is every-
where conceded, and nowhere more than in
San Diego, some of whose most enterprising
and resourceful residents trace their lineage
to long lines of Scandinavian ancestry. Be-
longing to this class is Carl Lundquist, who
ranks among the pioneer business men of San
Diego and whose residence in this city dates
from October of 1887. A native of Sweden,
he was born in Goteborg, February 11, 1849,
and was the youngest child of John and Anna
Lundquist, the former at one time a property
owner of Goteborg, but now deceased. Sur-
viving him are seven of his eight children, two
being in California, namely: Carl, of San
Diego ; and Lorenz, a contracting painter of
Los Angeles.

After having received common-school ad-
vantages Carl Lundquist was apprenticed to
the painter's trade at the age of fourteen and
two years later he crossed the ocean to
America, in 1866 .settling in Chicago,
where he completed his trade and
later followed the occupation. For a consid-
erable period he worked in the employ of
others, but in 1878 he took up contract paint-
ing and opened a store on Hal.sted street,
where he car'-ied a line of wall-paper, paints,
oils, glass, etc. Ai length he decided to re-
move to a more desirable climate and in 1887

he disposed of his interests in Chicago, from
which city he crossed ihe continent to San
Diego. Shortly after his arrival he purchased
a lot on the corner of State and B streets and
erected a two-story building, 50x70 feet in di-
mensions. At this location he has since car-
ried a full line of paints and paper. \\'ithout
exception he has the oldest business of the
kind in San Diego, there being no other paint
store which has remained in the hands of the
same proprietor for eighteen years or more.
^Yhile carrying on the store he has taken con-
tracts for painting and has had charge of the
painting of many of the finest residences of
San Diego, also the Leland block, St. Joseph's
sanitarium, Pierce & Morse block, and other
structures. In addition he has been interest-
ed in buying and selling real estate and has
erected cottages on a mmiber of lots, later
selling the same.

During the period of his residence in Chi-
cago Mr. Lundquist married Miss Mary John-
son, who was born in Alvistad, Sweden, and
from there removed to Chicago in 1867. They
are the parents of three children, namely :
Helma, wife of A. G. Edwards, of San Diego ;
Elenora, who married Henry G. Jones, also
of San Diego ; and Carl Edward. The family
hold membership in the Lutheran Church and
Mr. Lundquist lias been a generous contribu-
tor to religious work and charitable move-
ments. While living in Chicago he joined
both the lodge and encampment of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and on his re-
moval to the west he transferred his member-
ship to Sunset Lodge in San Diego, with which
since then he has been connected. A .study of
the political issues of his adopted countr)' led
him to ally himself with the Republican party,
whose candidates and principles he supports
at all general elections.

SANFORD C. WING. One of the promi-
nent and highly esteemed citizens of High-
land Park is Sanford C. Wing, who was born
at Glens Falls, Warren county, N. Y., Jan-
uary I, 1867. The father was a native of the
same place and as a 3'oung man became a
clerk in a general merchandise store, but soon
established an independent business of his
own in Glens Falls, where he lived his entire
lifetime. The mother was also a native of
Glens Falls, and at the time of her death, Jan-
uary 23, 1906, was eighty-one years old. Of
their family of seven children one died in in-
fancy and the rest are still living. The oldest
daughter, Minnie D., has never married and
is now living at INIinneapolis, Minn. ; Lucy W.
DeForest lives at Fort Edward. N. "S'. : Fred

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1679

is purchasing agent for the Minneapolis and
St. Louis Railroad Company at Minneapolis ;
William H. is a traveling salesman for the St.
Joseph (Mo.) Wholesale Millinery Company,
and resides at St. Joseph ; George B. is man-
ager of the Security Warehouse Company of
New York City.

Sanford C. Wing is the youngest child and
the only member of the family living in Cali-
fornia. He recei^■ed his early education in the
common schools and at Glens Falls Academy
and after the completion of school work went
to Kansas City, Mo., where he secured a po-
sition as collector for the city vyater works
company. In a short time he was promoted
to the office of cashier and remained with the
company in that capacit}^ for ten years. He
then decided to come to California to locate
and organized the Foster-Wing Typewriter
& Supply Company, of Los .Angeles. Subse-
quently he sold his interest in the business and
became a bookkeeper in the LTnion Bank of
Savings, continuing as such for two years.
Following this he was general manager of the
United Typewriter Supply Company for a
like period, and then formed a partnership
with W. F. Poor in the real-estate business.
This was in 1902, and in the short period since
then they have established a large and profit-
able business at Highland Park and are con-
sidered one of the most reliable firms in the
business. The company is now incorporated
with a paid up capital of $25,000.

Before her marriage Mrs. Wing was Lila
B. Colby, a native of Cambridge, Mass. Two
children have been born to them : Harold, thir-
teen years of age, and Dorothy, nine, both of
whom are attending school. Both Mr. and
Airs. Wing are members of the Presbyterian
Church of Highland Park, of which Mr. Wing
is an elder, and >.Irs. Wing is active in social
and church matters, being a member of the
Ebell Club and treasurer of the Ladies' Aid
Society. Fraternally Mr. Wing is a member
of the Royal Arcanum, and politically he affili-
ates with the Republican party, in the prin-
ciples of which he is a firm believer.

L. A. LORBEER. Pomona is one of the most
active and enterprising towns of its size in
Southern California, its prosperity and growth
being due to the energy and ability of its early
settlers, who proved to be men of good judgment
and wise forethought. Prominent among these
early settlers were (). W. and J. B. Lorbecr, who
about 1888 came to Pomona and started the
nucleus of what in later years has become one
of the largest laundrv enterprises in the Pomona
vallcv. It was in i8qs that L. A. Lurheer added

his name and co-operation to the enterprise, and
ten years later, in 1905, the business was incor-
porated as the Lorbeer Brothers Company, O.
W. being president, L. A. vice-president, and J.
B. secretary and treasurer. The Lorbeer family
is of German origin and the grandfather, J. G.
Lorbeer, was the first to represent the name in
the new world. Among his children, was an-
other J. G., who accompanied his father to the
United States, and like his father he too was a
farmer by occupation. For many years the
father made his home in Iowa, owning a large
farm in Humboldt county, but he is now living
retired in Pomona, Cal. By his marriage with
Emma M. Wickes six sons and two daughters
were born, of whom four sons and the two
daughters are living, and with one exception all
of the sons are included in the firm of Lorbeer
Brothers. T. L. Lorbeer is a phvsician of Hemet.
Cal.

L. A. Lorbeer was born on the parental home-
stead in Humboldt county, Iowa, March 24, 1867,
and his entire early life was associated with that
locality. His education in the public schools was
supplemented by a course in Humboldt Acad-
emy, and thereafter he put his knowledge to
use by teaching school for two years. His iden-
tification with the west and with Pomona in par-
ticular dates from the year 1890, at which time
he established himself in the feed and fuel busi-
ness on Main street. Misfortune overtook him
twice by wa}' of disastrous fires, but each time
he rebuilt upon the ashes, having as his part-
ner in the enterprise George A. Carter, the firm
being known as Lorbeer & Carter. Finally, in
1895, he sold his interest to his partner, and as
has been previously stated, during the same vear
associated himself with his brothers, who were
proprietors of a thriving laundry industry in
this town. Fire had destroyed the plant in 1894,
but it was immediately rebuilt and new machin-
ery installed. In point of equipment it is uuex-
celled by any like enterprise in this part of the
country, and occupies two floors 50x165 feet.
Power is furnished by two seventy-five horse
power boilers and one seventy-five horse power
engine, and electric irons are used entirely. • All
of the water used in the business is furnished by
the company's water plant. A better idea of the
scope of the business carried on from the central
office, which is located at the corner of Palomares
and Bertie streets, may perhaps be gained when
it is said that eight teams are in constant service
and thtit a portion of their patronage conies
from Monrovia and Etiwanda. The firm also
have established laundries in Ocean Park, in
Santa Alonica, Ontario, and are interested in
the San Bernardino Steam Laundry Company.
In connection with their plant in Pomona they
have established a steam roller mill for the

1680

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

grinding of barley, an innovation which is great-
ly appreciated by neighboring ranchers, for whom
the enterprise was established, as they handle no
grain of their own.

In Pomona L. A. Lorbeer was married to Miss
JMay Snow, who was born in Illinois. She is a
devoted member of the Congregational Church
and one of its active workers, and toward the
support of its various benevolences her husband
contributes. Mr. Lorbeer is interested in a
ranch near Chino which is planted to alfalfa, and
is also superintendent of a ranch of one hun-
dred and sixty acres near San Dimas, which is
owned by the Laurlette Park Company, and
conducted as a pleasure resort. It is beautifully
located in the foothills, about eight miles from
Pomona, and has an abundant supply of the
purest mountain water. Mr. Lorbeer is also a
director in the Pomona Building and Loan As-
sociation and holds the same position in the
Home Telephone Company. He is a member of
the Board of Trade and politically is a Republi-
can, and belongs to the Woodmen of the World.

FREMONT LOVELAND. Among the
thriving, well-to-do agriculturists of Bonsai',
Fremont Loveland occupies a good position, and
as an enterprising and faithful citizen is per-
forming his full share in advancing the highest
interests of town and county. The son of an
early pioneer of California, he is a native and to
the manner born, his birth having occurred No-
vember 19, 1853, in Santa Qara county. Like
the majority of the business people of this state,
he comes of eastern stock, his father, Cyrus C.
Loveland, having been born, reared and edu-
cated in the Empire state, in Cooperstown, Ot-
sego county.

When old enough to choose a trade, Cyrus C.
Loveland was bound out to William M. Tweed,
later known in political circles as "Boss" Tweed,
and under his instructions learned, in New York
City, the trades of a painter and cabinet-maker.
He subsequently enlisted in Company K, First
New York Regiment, and during the progress
of the Mexican war came with his commander.
Colonel Stevenson, to California, sailing around
the Horn, and landing at San Francisco March 4,
1847. After serving as a soldier for two years
he was honorably discharged in 1849, and im-
mediately started for the mines, where he was
fortunate enough to strike a paying claim. Re-
turning east then by way of the Isthmus of Pan-
ama, he disembarked at New Orleans, from
there proceeding up the Mississippi river to Mis-
souri. Buying there a bunch of cattle and
horses, he came with his cattle across the plains
in 1850 and settled in Santa Clara county, where
he was afterwards for manv vears extensivelv

engaged in stock breeding and raising. Going
east on a visit in 1885, he died in New York.
He was a man of high character, honest and just
in his dealings, a member of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and a Republican in politics. He
married Catherine Davis, a native of ChiUicothe,
Ohio, and they became the parents of six chil-
dren, all of whom are living in California. The
mother died in May, 1905, m this state.

After leaving tlie grammar school, Fremont
Loveland received an excellent training in the
various branches of agriculture on the home
farm, thus becoming well fitted for his future
occupation. Starting in life on his own account
before attaining his majority, he continued in
the independent calling of his ancestors, and in
1877 bought a ranch in the San Luis Rey valley.
Subsequently selling that, he entered one hun-
dred and sixty acres of government land near
Bonsall, and has since been here profitably en-
gaged in ranching and dairying. At the present
time he keeps but six cows, although he has at
times a very much larger dairy. He raises hay
and grain, and as a general fanner is meeting
with marked success. He also runs the Bonsall
creamery, which was purchased in 1902, handling
now, in the dull season, about six hundred
pounds of milk daily, an amount which is in-
creased to two thousand pounds a day in busy
times, shipping the cream to San Diego.

In 1881 Air. Loveland married Lottie Sander-
son, who died April 18, 1901. Of their union
seven children were born, one of whom died in
infancy, and six are living, namelv : Ralph W.,
Ethel v., Arthur S., Florence R.,' Floyd F. and
Roswell P. Mrs. Loveland was a woman of fine
character, highly esteemed by all. and a valued
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Politically Mr. Loveland is a steadfast Repub-
lican, and fraternally was identified with the
Masonic order in by-gone days.

EDMUND C. ROBINSON. Probably one
of the most productive fruit belts in Southern
California is in the vicinity of Pomona, and
those who have bought land here and culti-
vated orchards are counted fortunate indeed.
Since 1892 Mr. Robinson has been engaged in
fruit raising on his twent3--acre ranch in this
vicinity and has recently purchased another
ranch of like size which he expects to set out
exclusively to oranges, to which the greater
part of his present ranch is devoted.

Mr. Robinson is a descendant of good old
New England ancestry, and on both sides of
the house his forefathers can be traced to the
historical Mayflower. During the residence
of his parents in Washington, D. C, Edmund
C. Robinson was born September 8, 1875.

ANTONIO J. SOUZA

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1683

When he was about four years old the family
removed to Texas, remaining there about six
and a half years at that time, thence going to
Fort Union, N. Mex. In the latter place Ed-
mund C. gained his first knowledge of books
at the post school, which was presided over
by a soldier teacher, and upon returning to
Texas two years later he attended the public
school at EI Paso. Further training was re-
ceived in the schools of Oakland, Cal., whither
his parents removed, later attended Throop
I'olytechnic Institute at Pasadena, and com-
pleted his school life in the high schools of
Pomona and Denver. Since i8g6 he has been
a permanent resident of Pomona and in the
years which have since passed marvelous
changes have taken place both in the town
and upon the ranch of which he is the pro-
prietor. As one of the live and progressive
ranchers of the Pomona valley he has done
considerable to promote the cause of horti-
culture in this section of country, and judging
from his past success much still is in store for
him, for he is a young man, with life as yet
before him. For the past eight years he has
been a director in the Indian Hill Citrus Union
and since 1905 he has been vice-president.
He is also a director in the San Antonio Fruit
Exchange of the Pom.ona Valley.

In 1902 Mr. Robinson was married to Miss
Myrtle Deck, a native of Kansas, and one
child, Margaret Estelle, has been born to them.-
Politically he is a Republican, and fraternally
he is a JMason, belonging to the blue lodge
and chapter of Pomona.

ANTONIO J. SOUZA. As one who is
maintaining a high standard of agricultural suc-
cess and among pleasant surroundings pursuing
his chosen calling, A. J. Souza represents the
stable and promising element in Santa Barbara
county, where his valuable ranch of three hun-
dred and fifty acres is located in the vicinity of
Santa Maria. In his prosperous neighborhood
Mr. Souza exerts an influence in common with
men who have risen from lowly conditions, and
who, in consequence, possess rational, practical
and useful ideas. He is especially prominent
among tlie Portuguese citizens, who place un-
questioned reliance upon his judgment and busi-
ness sagacity.

Mr. Souza was born in Flores. the westernmost
of the Azores or Western Islands. June 10, 1862,
a son of M. J. and Mary (Urcela) Souza, na-
tives of the mother country of Portugal. His
mother died when he was five years old. and his
father lived to be seventy-two years old. Five
of the eight children in the family are living,
and two are residents of California. A. J. re-

ceived a grannnar-school education in Flores,
and at the age of seventeen marked out his fu-
ture career as a landowner and agriculturist of
California. With him to plan was to accom-
plish, and upon arriving on the Pacific slope he
began to save money and store up experience as
an employe of ranchers in the Santa Maria val-
ley. Eight years later he invested his money in
his present ranch, which he has occupied for the
past ten years, and which has enabled him to
realize in large measure the ambition which led
him from the Azores. Two hundred and seventy
acres of his ranch are under cultivation and of
these two hundred acres are under beans, and
seventy acres under hay, corn and general pro-
duce. A variety of stock graze upon the eighty
acres of pasture. In adding to the improvement
of his ranch Mr. Souza has shown marked con-
sideration for the comfort of the dumb creatures
under his care, as well as practical forethought
for the protection and economic disposal of his
crops. He has introduced the finest labor saving
devices of the times, and on every hand are in-
dicated thrift and regard for the comforts and
refinements of existence.

The wife of Mr. Souza formerly was Mary
Concicao, a native also of the Azores, and their
marriage, which occurred November 29, 1888,
has resulted in the birth of eight children : Mary,
Joe, Manuel, Annie, Isabella, Ida, Tony and
Angelo. Mt. Souza has done much to foster
purity in local politics, and while professing no
partisanship, ranges his forces on the side of the
Republicans. As a member and clerk of the
school board he has helped to secure the best
possible instruction for the rising generation, and
to place every practical advantage at the disposal
of both teachers and pupils. His pronounced
social inchnations find an outlet in various fra-
ternal and other organizations, among them the
Portuguese Lodge, I. D. E. S.. of which he has
served as master and secretary. He also is iden-
tified with the Santa Maria Lodge, I. O. O. F..
the Guadaloupe Lodge No. 237, F. & A. M.. and
Santa Maria Chapter, R. A. M.. and the Eastern
Star. His wife is a member of the Catholic
Church. Mr. Souza is an exponent of the most
progressive and substantial element of this com-
munity and enjoys the respect and good will of
all who know him.

JOHX C. LYOX. The prime of his young
manhood was given by lohn C. Lyon to the
service of his country when her need arose in
the war between the North and South, but in
spite of the fact that these years were those in
which he would naturally have made a good
start in his business life, and when the war was
over he came back to a devastated countrv, Mr.

1684

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Lyon has made a success that many other men
who have started earher have not eqiiahed. He
now owns a ranch of twenty-one acres, planted to
beans, vegetables, strawberries and other small
fruit, and makes a very satisfactory income from
the sale of these crops. His parents, John and
Sarah (Canfield) Lyon, were born in New York
state, but removed to Iowa, where the father
died at the advanced age of eighty-seven years,
and the mother at sixty.

A member of a family of five children, John
C Lyon was born May 4, 1849, i" ^^" Buren
county, Iowa, where he received his education
through the medium of the common schools.
When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in
Company A, First Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, and
served two years, he having seen active service
at Little Rock, Ark., Perry Grove and at other
points. The greater part of the time he was
under the command of Gen. A. J. Smith, but
at the close of the war was under Gen.
George A. Custer as his private orderly. When
his military duties were over Mr. Lyon went
back to Iowa and engaged in farming. In 1870
he moved to Cowley county, Kans., and took up
a claim on the Osage Indian reserve, where he
remained two years. He then sold out and went
back to Iowa, bought a farm, sold it and again
removed to Kansas, buying three hundred and
twenty-eight acres of land there. After five
years he sold this ranch, went to Hebron, Neb.,
and there engaged in the livery business. While
there he was appointed deputy sheriff, a posi-
tion which he held for four years, and he also
served for two terras as constable. His identi-
fication with California dates from the year 1887,
when he located in Nipomo. Subsequently he
made his home for two years in Santa Maria,
and since 1901 he has been the owner of his
present ranch of twenty-one acres lying one mile
and a half north of Arroyo Grande.

In 1869 Mr. Lyon was married to Lavinia
Bucher, a native of Pennsylvania, and to them
have been born nine children : James F.. mar-
ried Marie Gambert, and is employed in the sur-
veyor-general's office at Sacramento: Rosa, who
lives at Manhattan, Kans., became the wife of
A. B. Heddington, and has a family of four chil-
dren ; Molly V. became the wife of Frank May,
by whom she had five children, and at the age
of twenty-nine years was accidentally burned to
death ; John C, a carpenter by trade, married
Mamie Hill, and thev with their two children live
in Los Angeles: Edward H., a motorman in
Stockton, chose as his wife Vera McClain ;
Lloyd O. is a barber in Eureka ; Roy is a con-
ductor on a street railroad in Sacramento :
Arthur and Glayds complete the family. Mr.
Lyon is a prominent member of Colonel Harper
Post No. 126, G. A. R., at Arrovo Grande, in

which he occupies the office of quartermaster, and
of which he has served as commander for four
years. Airs. Lyon was president of the Woman's
Relief Corps of the same name for two terms
and also served as department aid. Mr. Lyon
"is also a member of the Central California \'et-
erans' Association, holding the office of com-
mander in that organization. In politics he is
an ardent Republican and at one time served his
part}- as delegate to the Republican State Con-
vention, doing valuable work in that capacity.
His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.

JOHN Mac GILLI\'RAY. Representatives
of almost every country in the world by their
citizenship in California give to the state a cos-
mopolitan variety blended in an harmonious ele-
ment of loyalty and devotion to their adopted
land. Not the least conspicuous among the rug-
ged characters that have brought strength to the
citizenship may be mentioned the Scotch resi-
dents with their energy, thrift and irreproachable
integrity, and John MacGillivray is one of the
men possessing the attributes eminently charac-
teristic of the Scotch the world around. When
he came to the Pacific coast in early manhood he
settled in Santa Barbara county and now super-
intends seven thousand acres in Los Alamos val-
ley. Of his large ranch five hundred acres are
sown in grain, while the balance furnishes abun-
dant pasturage for the eight hundred head of
stock cattle kept on the farm as well as for the
horses raised for the market.

Born in the north of Scotland September 23,
1859, John MacGillivray is a son of a Scotch
farmer bearing the same name as himself. Both
the father and mother were natives of Scotland
and never left that country, where the former
died at seventy-three years and the latter at sIxt
ty-five years. They were the parents of si.x
children, of whom John was the fifth in order of
birth. Wlien a boy he attended the schools of
Scotland and early was trained to make himself
useful in the world by developing habits of per-
severance and industry. At the age of twenty
years he left the home farm and crossed the
ocean to Canada. A year later he removed from
that country to Pennsylvania, where he was em-
ployed in the oil business about twelve months.
During 1880 he came to California and settled
in Santa Barbara county, where he secured em-
ployment on the Laguna ranch under Dr. Shaw,
remaining in the same place for six years. From
that position he came to his present farm as
manager for John Wigmore & Sons, and about
1894 he started out independently, since which
time he has carried forward large agricultural
undertakings with a fair degree of success.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1GS5

Reared in tlie faith of tlie Presbyterian Church
and trained in its creed, Mr. MacGilHvray al-
ways has been devoted to its interests. Since
becoming a voting citizen of the Lnited' States
he has supported the RepubUcan party, but at
no time has he been a candidate for official hon-
ors. In fraternal connections he holds member-
ship with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient
Order of United VVorkmen at Los Alamos. With
his wife, who was Serena \'oogt, a native of
Ohio, and whom he married January 3, 1901,
he holds a high place in the esteem of the peo-
ple of his locality and is favorably known among
those who give character and integrity the high-
est value in the citizenship of the county. Prior
to his present marriage he had been married to
Miss Annie F. Henderson, who was born in
Scotland November, 1868, and died in California,
March, 1897, leaving three children, !Maryetta
Ann, Barbara M. and John F., all now living in
Los Alamos, Santa Barbara county. During the
year 1906, Mr. MacGillivray purchased seven
hundred acres at Los Olivos, called the Glen
Olivos ranch, where he intends to build a resi-
dence and make his home.

FRANK JAMES J^IARTIX. Early records
concerning the Martin family disclose the fact
that ancestors for several generations flourished
in the Quaker state, the name being- especially
well known in Jersey Shore, Lycoming count),
where the grandfather, James j^lartin, closed a
long and active career. There too occurred the
birth of his son, Richard Martin, a saddler by
trade, who in young manhood removed to what
was then considered the frontier, settling in Ris-
ing Sun, Ohio county. Lid. There as in I'cnnsyl-
vania the name was destined tn conic into
prominence through the large and varied busi-
ness undertakings of Richard Martin, who be-
came the proprietor of two harness shops and
a tannery, also owning a livery business in con-
nection with which he ran a line of omnibuses
He lived to see the frontier push its way to the
Pacific coast, but was content to remain in the
country that he had practically grown up with,
his death occurring in Rising Sun. His wife,
formerly Ann C. Turner, was also a native of
Pennsylvania, her ancestors also having been
early settlers in the vicinity of Jersey Shore,
Lycoming county. She too died in Indiana.

Five of the seven children born to his parents
are living, and of these Frank James Martin
is the oldest. He was born in Rising Sun, Ind.,
July 29. 1852, and as his parents appreciated the
value of an education no pains were spared to
give him the best opportunities that their means
would afford. An apt ])U])il. he made steady
progress in the common .schools of his home town

antl later pursued a business course in Indiana-
polis Commercial College. Subsequently he
returned to Rising Sun and began an apprentice-
ship at the saddler's trade under his father, and
after he had mastered it removed to \'evay, Ind.,
and established a harness shop of which he was
the proprietor for three and one half years.
Thereafter, having closed out his business in
\'evay, he returned once more to Rising Sun,
this time taking up farming, which he followed
continuously for nine years. In the mean time
plans had been formulating in his mind to come
to the Pacific coast country and in fact he had
begun to make preparations for the trip, but the
death of his father in 1875 brought them to a
sudden close, and instead he remained in Rising
Sun and looked after his father's varied interests
as well as continued the care of his own farm.
Twelve years later, however, he closed out his
affairs in Indiana and the year 1887 found him
in Pomona.

Purchasing the stock and accessories of Charles
Sollars Mr. Martin engaged in the ice and soda
manufacturing business on Main street, where
he carried on a wholesale and retail business
for about three years, when he sold the plant
to John Weber, and re-invested the proceeds in
the harness business then owned by J. C. Robert-
son, on the corner of Second ancl Main streets.
Subsequently he added a line of carriages. For
a time he continued at the original stand, but
finally, in February, 1903, removed to his present
commodious quarters. No. 160 South Main street,
which he owns. The building has a floor space
40.X65 feet, is two stories in height, and is in
every way suited to the business in which he is
engaged. All of the finest and most dependable
makes of the lighter road vehicles are carried
in his spacious repository, including the Brock-
way and Flint buggies.

In Vevay, Ind., Mr. Martin was married to
Miss Laura J. Rutherford, who was born in
that city, and one child, Helen A., has been bom
to them. Fraternally Mr. Martin belongs to
the Woodmen of the World and formerly to tlie
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His politi-
cal sympathies place him in the ranks of the
Republican party. As one of the oldest settlers
and business men of Pomona Mr. Martin is
secure in the esteem of the community in which
he lives, not alone for what he has accomplished
from a material standpoint, but ratlicr for the
high principles of honor and integrity which have
actuated all of his undertakings.

CH.\RLES SUMNER MERRI FIELD.
For more than twenty years Giarles Sumner
Merrifield has been identified with the business
interests of Elsinore and has taken an active

l(J8ti

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

part in the development of that section of River-
side county. He comes from old New England
stock, his parents, Augustin Washington and
Cordelia (Burnham) Merrifield, both having
been natives of Bangor, Me. The father, who
was a carpenter by trade, became an early set-
tler of Wisconsin and purchased and improved
a farm on the edge of the prairie near Janesville.
Later he removed to Fulton, Rock county, Wis.,
reared his family there, and there passed the re-
mainder of his lifetime. Both he and his wife
died there inany years ago.

The sixth in order of birth in a family of
twelve children, eleven of whom are still living,
Mr. Merrifield was born June 21, 1858, near
Janesville, Rock county. Wis. His boyhood was
"spent on the farm and his preliminary education
was received in the public schools of that county,
after which he attended Milton College. Upon
the completion of his studies he apprenticed him-
self to a Mr. Price, who lived in the vicinity of
his home, and learned the carpenter's trade. He
followed the occupation of builder and contract-
or for a time in his native state and in 1885 came
to Elsinore, Cal., and continued in pursuit of the
same industry. He built up a large business,
superintended the erection of the first Lake View
hotel, as well as many other building improve-
ments at that place, and has been continuously
active in this work ever since, with the exception
of two years which he spent in Los Angeles.
Business slackening up somewhat in 1898 he be-
gan carriage and wagon making, and gradually
worked himself into the blacksmithing trade and
now has a blacksmithing and carriage shop
which he conducts in addition to his business as
contractor and builder. He is also sole agent fo"-
the remedy known as Hanford's balsam myrrh
and has quite an extensive trade in that specific.

The first marriage of Mr. Merrifield occurred
in San Bernardino and united him with Miss
P.erdella M. Dewey, who was born in Delaware.
At her death in Elsinore she left one child, Al-
thea Berdella. His second wife was Miss Ida
Wall, a native of Ohio, and to this union two
children have been born, Zorah and Leslie. That
]\Ir. JMerrifield has always been especially inter-
ested in educational matters is evidenced bv the
fact that he has served as a member of the board
of school trustees for ten years, being at one
time clerk of that body ; is a member and ex-
clerk of the hiffh school board of trustees in El-
sinore, and is also a member of the city board of
trustees. Fraternally he affiliates with a num-
ber of orders, among them being the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows ; is a charter member
of the Knights of Pvthias, ser\nng as chief clerk
of that order four diflferent terms, also being past
district deputy : was made a Mason in Milton
Junction Lodge No. i6i. A. F. & A. M., and is

now a member of Elsinore Lodge No. 289, F. &
A. M. ; with his wife he belongs to the Order of
Eastern Star, of which he is now (1906) secre-
tary. He is a man of broad and independent
views on social and civic questions and in na-
tional politics votes the Socialist ticket. He has
been instrumental in securing many beneficial
enterprises in his town and was one of the chief
influences in securing the electric light plant here.
His position as president of the Elsinore Promo-
tion Club gives him prominence in all develop-
ment interests and as a public spirited citizen, as
well as an energetic and successful private busi-
ness man, he is held in the highest esteem by all
who know him.

THOMAS REECE McMICHAEL. In 1892
Mv. McMichael came to California and since
that time has acquired a position of financial
independence among the walnut growers of Los
Angeles county and at the same time has built
up for himself a place among the representative
citizens, respected alike for his personal and pub-
lic efforts in the upbuilding of the country. He
is a native of Bloomsburg, Columbia county.
Pa., born November 14, 1868. He is the fifth
in a family of six children, all of whom are liv-
ing, he being the only one in California. His
parents, J. K. and Elizabeth (White) Mc-
Michael, are both natives of Pennsylvania, the
former born of .Scotch ancestry, the latter of
German. The paternal grandfather. James Mc-
Michael, was the Scotch emigrant, who first lo-
cated in Pennsvlvania and later in Rock Island,
III, as did also his son, J. K. The latter laid
down his farming implements to answer the call
to arms in 1861. enlisting in a Pennsylvania regi-
ment. He and his wife are now living in Rock
Island, 111.

Thomas Reece McMichael received his edu-
cation in the public schools of Rock Island, after
which he took up the work of a stationary en-
gineer, following this until 1892, when he came
to California, and in Whittier entered the em-
ploy of the East Whittier Light & Water Com-
pany in a similar capacity. He later established
the plant for them at Bassett and pumped the
first water. In the meantime he had become in-
terested in the horticultural possibilities of the
section and had purchased a walnut grove, and
seven years later he resigned from his work as
engineer to look after these interests. He con-
tinued to add to his land until at the present
writing he owns thirty-five acres located a mile
and a half from El Monte, just off the San Ber-
nardino road, all devoted to walnuts. He has
built a comfortable residence, barns and out-

/^?^^J^^^^

^n^,:/yL —

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1689

buildings, and has surrounded his home with
every possible comfort and convenience.

In El Monte Mr. McMichael married Miss
Anna Maxson, a native of Santa Ana, Orange
county, where her father, B. F. Maxson, a pio-
neer, located in an early day. Subsequently he
made his home in the vicinity of El Monte,
where he set out the first walnut grove, and here
his death occurred. He participated in the Civil
war as a member of Company K, Thirteenth
Wisconsin Infantry. Mr. and Mrs. McMichael
are the parents of one child, George Dudley.
Mrs. McMichael is a member of the Presbyter-
ian Church, which Mr. McMichael liberally sup-
ports in all its charities. He is associated fra-
ternally with the Modern Woodmen of America,
politically is a stanch Republican. He belongs
to the Mountain Mew Walnut Growers' Asso-
ciation.

JACOB P. THOMPSON. The success
achieved by Jacob P. Thompson is entirely the
result of his own efforts, for with nothing but
his native qualities of courage, energy and
ability he faced the world and has won a com-
petence. His inherited traits of character are
from southern birth and lineage, his parents,
Robert S. and Margarette (Surbaugh) Thomp-
son, both being natives of West Virginia.
The}' eventually removed to Illinois, where the
father gave up his trade of tanner, which he
had hitherto followed to the exclusion of other
pursuits, and became interested in farming,
owning a fine farm where he spent his last
days. He died at the comparatively early age
of forty-five years, while the mother passed
away when about forty-three.

The fourth in a family of seven children, Ja-
cob P. Thompson was born in Greenbrier
county, W. Va., April 2, 1845, and while a
child was taken by his parents to Kane county,
111., where he received a common school edu-
cation. After the close of his schooldays he
learned the trade of gunsmith. All his plans
were interrupted in 1863 when he enlisted in
Company K, Fifteenth Regiment Illinois Caval-
ry, and served until the close of the Civil war,
participating in many important engagements
and with Sherman marching to the sea over
the necessarily devastated state of Georgia.
He was with the force that captured General
Johnston, after which they marched to Wash-
"ingon to participate in the Grand Review.
Mustered out at Louisville and honorably dis-
charged from seriace at Chicago, 111.. JMr.
Thompson returned to his old home in Kane
county, and there remained for a few subse-
quent vears. Going then to Plainfield, Bremer
c^unt^■, Iowa, he engaged in a general mer-

chandise enterprise, after two years sold out,
and in 1870 came to California for the first
time. He located in Gilroy, Santa Clara coun-
ty, and followed a mercantile business for the
period of six years, and in 1876 came to Santa
Ana, Orange county, and took up his old trade
of gunsmith, which he followed for seven
years. He came to the vicinity of Norwalk in
1883 and here purchased the property which
he now owns, consisting of one hundred and
thirty-two acres of entirely uncultivated, un-
improved land. He has since changed it into
one of the best ranches in this section, erecting
a fine residence, substantial barns and out-
buildings and every possible equipment for
successful ranching being added. He devotes
the land to alfalfa, hay and corn, and also has
a fine dair}^ herd of twenty cows, and also
raises cattle to some extent. He is a very suc-
cessful rancher and in the matter of progress
and enterprise has no superior throughout the
country.

In Santa Ana, in 1881, ^Ir. Thompson was
united in marriage with Miss Minnie J.
Brown, a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Set-
tle) Brown, natives of South Carolina. They
came to California in 1872 and eventually lo-
cated on a ranch adjoining Mr. Thompson.
Mrs. Thompson was the second eldest of seven
children. Their father died on the old home-
stead in 1888, at the age of sixty-four years,
the mother still surviving and making her
home with Mrs. Thompson. Mr. and Mrs.
Thompson have one son, Robert S., who is lo-
cated at Newport. Mr. Thompson liberally
supports the Methodist Episcopal Church
South, of which his wife is a member. Frater-
nally he is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge
at Gilroy, a member of the Knights of the
Maccabees at Artesia, and is associated with
the Grand Army of the Republic, holding
membership with the Dan Bidwell Post No.
140, at Norwalk. Politically he reserves the
right to cast his 1)allot for the candidate he
considers best qualified to discharge official
position. He has served as school trustee and
takes an active interest in the advancement of
educational affairs.

CHARLES EDWARD GREASER. Since
coming to Pomona in 1895 the record of the life
of Mr. Greaser has been intimately associated
with the history and development of the city.
For about ten years, or until he retired from
business in 1905, many sales and transfers of
city property were made through him, and he
also laid out a number of subdivisions. One of
these was the ten-acre high-school tract which
he subdivided and laid out into lots with S. N.

1690

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Curry. Aside from caring for his own property
he is no longer actively interested in the real-es"-
tate business, although he still retains his inter-
est in the Pomona Abstract and Trust Company,
m which he is a director and also in the Dei-
bert-Greaser Company (Inc.) of which he is
president. The latter is a furniture and under-
taking business in Ontario, San Bernardino
county, and as it is the leading business of the
kind in the town it is a financial success.

Mr. Greaser is a native of Ohio, born in
Enon, Clark county, the descendant of Ger-
man ancestors on the father's side. From Wur-
temberg, Germany, where he was born, Michael
Greaser came to the United States and settled
in Pennsylvania during young manhood, and
still later crossed over iijto the adjoining state
of Ohio and settled in Clark county on a farm.
In response to the country's call for able-bodied
men he became a member of Companv C. Six-
teenth Ohio Heavy Artillery, serving from 1861
until his discharge in 1864, during which time he
saw much hard service but was mercifully
spared from any serious injury. Returning once
more to his farm in Qark county, he continued
to farm there for a time and later removed to
Springfield, same county, and from there in
1869 he removed to Topeka, Kans. In the lat-
ter state as in Ohio he continued to carry on a
farm for a number of years, but finally retired
from active work altogether. Some time later
he removed to Denver, Colo., and there his
earth life came to a close when he was in his
sixty-seventh year. His war service made him
eligible to the Grand Army of the Republic, and
no comrade in Lincoln Post, of which he was
a member, was held in higher esteem than Mich-
ael Greaser. His widow, formerly Barbara
Baney, was born in Pennsylvania and now
makes her home in Florence, Colo.

Of the seven children originally comprising
the parental family six are now living and
Charles E. is next to the oldest. He was born
November 29, 1859, in Enon, Ohio, and was
therefore about ten years old when the family re-
moved to Kansas. After completing his educa-
tion in the schools of Topeka he apprenticed
himself to the carpenter's trade under ]\Iillard
Updyke and after mastering the trade secured a
position with the Santa F'e road, in the bridge
and building department.

From work at the carpenter's trade he latter
branched out into contracting and building, fol-
lowing this in Kansas until i88g, in which year
he located in Denver, Colo., and associated him-
self as supervising architect with the firm of
Coe Brothers. Owing to an injury which he
had received in a street-car accident he gave up
his position in the fall of 1895, and in the same
year he came to Pomona. When suflficientlv re-

covered he began to deal in realty and during
the ten years which he followed the real-es-
tate business was known as one of the most en-
ergetic and thoroughgoing business men in his
line in Pomona. Pie owns considerable valuable
property which he has accumulated from time
to time, and aside from looking after his own
interests in this line he is practically retired from
business.

The pleasaiit family home at No. 702 North
Garey street is graciously presided over by his
wife, formerly Ida Wizer, who was born near
Topeka, in which city their marriage was cele-
brated. Two children have been born to them,
Arthur L. and Helen. In Manhattan, Kans.,
Mr. Greaser was first married to Miss Alice
Kneeland, a native of Waitsfield, Vt., her death
occurring while on a visit to her old home in
that state. Mr. Greaser is a stanch inember of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, serving his
congregation as steward, and he is also a firm
believer in temperance principles. His mem-
bership in the Board of Trade is a proof of his
interest in his home city, and in the discussions
in that body his opinion carries considerable
weight. His fraternal affiliations ally him with
the Odd Fellows, belonging to both the lodge
and encampment, and also to the kindred order
of Rebekahs. Another organization of which
he is a member is the Heptosophs.

LYMAN O. CALKINS. Enterprising, prac-
tical and progressive, Lyman O. Calkins holds
an assured position among the leading merchants
of Inglewood, where he is carrying on a substan-
tial mercantile business and is also serving as
postmaster. A son of the late Nathan O. Cal-
kins, he was born August 8, 1877, i" Bagley,
Grant county, Wis., where his grandfather, Ly-
man Calkins, was a pioneer settler and a farmer
of prominence.

A native of New York state, Nathan O. Cal-
kins was but a child when he was taken by his
parents to Wisconsin, where he grew to man's
estate. Soon after the breaking out of the Civil
war he enlisted in Com.pany D, Thirty-third Wis-
consin Volunteer Infantry, and served until the
close of the conflict, being first lieutenant of his
company. He afterward followed farming in
Bagley, Wis., until 1878, when he removed with
his family to Elm Creek, Buffalo county. Neb.,
where he was employed in mercantile pursuits
for ten years. Going from, there to Kimball
county, that state, he was there engaged in busi-
ness as a furniture dealer for about seven years.
Coming to Los Angeles county in 1895, h^ was
engaged in farming at Inglewood. until his
death, in 1903. He was a man of sterling traits
of character, highly respected by all. In politics

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1691

he was a Republican, and socially he was a mem-
ber of the Grand Army of tlie Republic and of
the Masonic fraternity. His wife, whose maiden
name was Jennie C. Eastman, was born in Ohio,
and is now a resident of Inglewood. Her father,
Reuben R. Eastman, removed from Ohio to Wis-
consin, thence to Michigan, and is now living re-
tired from active pursuits in Inglewood.

The third child and oldest son in a family of
seven children, Lyman O. Calkins was but a
year old when his parents settled in Buffalo
county, Nebraska, where he acquired his rudi-
mentary education. He afterward attended the
Kimball county high school, from which he was
graduated in 1895. Coming very soon after that
important event to Los Angeles county, he fol-
lowed farming for about two years, subse-
quently serving three years as a clerk in the
store of Carr & Stevens, at Los Angeles. In
December, 1904, he, in partnership with H. H.
Zillgitt, engaged in business on his own account,
and as one of the proprietors of the Inglewood
Mercantile Comp.qny, has built up a substantial
and profitable trade. The building occupied by
this enterprising firm is 30x100 feet, and is well
stocked with a fine line of goods, the ambition of
Messrs. Calkins and Zillgitt being to supply the
demands and to please the tastes of their many
patrons. In January, 1905, Mr. Calkins was
commissioned by President Roosevelt postmaster
of Inglewood, and as such is performing the
duties devolving upon him with ability and fidel-
ity.

A stanch adherent of the Republican party
Mr. Calkins takes an intelligent interest in po-
litical matters, and is a generous supporter of all
beneficial projects. He belongs to the Inglewood
Commercial Club and is a member of the Wood-
men of the World.

ALFRED B. COMSTOCK. The family rep-
resented in Ventura county, Cal., by Alfred B.
Comstock, is one prominently named among the
substantial citizens of the middle west, a son of
A. J. and Adelaide (Binns) Comstock, the for-
mer residing on the farm that was entered from
the government by his father. A. J. Comstock
was born in Ohio, but was taken by his parents
to Iowa while still a lad in years, and in that
state he was married at Oskaloosa, his wife be-
ing a native of England, but was brought to
New York City when four years old, and finally
to the Hawkeye state. When only seventeen
years old A. J. Comstock manifested his loyalty
and patriotism to his country by enlisting for
service in the Mexican war, fighting gallantly
for one year; in 1862 he again gave his serv-
ices to his country, enlisting in Company C,
Thirty-third Iowa Infantry, and as captain

serving three years. At Tyler, Tex., he was se-
verely wounded and but for the devotion of one
of his men who stayed gallantly by him on the
field he would probably have died. The two
were taken prisoners and after three months'
incarceration Mr. Comstock was paroled and
later discharged, and on the home farm in Iowa
he once more resumed the duties of civic life.
Mr. Comstock is to be named, also, with the
pioneers of California, for in 1852 he came to
the Pacific coast by way of the Isthmus of Pana-
ma, and after landing in San Francisco went at
once to the mines in the vicinity of Sacramento,
Marysville, Dutch Flat, and Gold Hill, where
he remained for two years, when he returned to
Iowa. His father-in-law, Thomas Binns, also
crossed the plains to California in 1852, and in
San Francisco engaged at his trade of brick
mason, returning two years later with Mr. Com-
stock by way of the Isthmus of Panama.

Alfred B. Comstock was born in Mahaska
county, Iowa, August 3, 1854, and in the public
schools of Oskaloosa received his education.
Young manhood found him occupied as a hard-
ware merchant in Fremont, Iowa, where he re-
mained until 1886, in which year he disposed of
his interests and coming to the Pacific coast lo-
cated in Ventura county. In the city of Ven-
tura he engaged as clerk for one year, when he
purchased land on Ventura avenue and entered
upon ranching pursuits. He remauied in that lo-
cation for seven years, when he came to his
present property, eight hundred acres of raw
land, entirely devoid of cultivation or improve-
ments. He bent every energy and effort toward
the development of that which is today appro-
priately named among the most valuable ranches
in this section of Ventura county, adding a good
residence, comfortable and substantial barns and
outbuildings, good fences, and setting out a
large orchard of apricots and walnuts. He de-
votes considerable of his time to the raising of
stock, in which line he has met with uniform
success, for he combines with ability a steadfast-
ness of purpose and unlimited energy which
could only result in successful termination of
his plans. At the same time he has not allowed
his personal affairs to engross his attention en-
tirely, but has given thought and effort toward
the advancement of the best interests of the
community, being accounted one of the substan-
tial and enterprising citizens of Ventura county.

Mr. Comstock established home ties through
his marriage in Oskaloosa, Iowa, May 6, 1882,
with Miss Anna E. Ellis, a native of that state.
Mr. Comstock has served as school trustee and
in other like positions since residing in this com-
munity and takes a strong interest in educational
matters. He believes in advancement in what-
ever line a man engages, and holds that the de-

1692

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

velopment of one's own personal property is the
surest way to increase the value of property
throughout the section. He is at present con-
templating the sinking of an artesian well to be
five feet in diameter, and thirty feet deep before
any drilling is done, the supply of water to be
used for irrigation purposes. He has just com-
pleted a twelve-inch well and has also recently
added other valuable improvements to his ranch.
He breeds the best stock and works for the best
crops that can be produced in this section of
California, counting no effort lost that brings his
■work to a higher grade.

ROBERT B. EDMONDSON. The agri-
cultural interests of Ventura county are well rep-
resented by Robert B. Edmondson, one of the
most successful ranchers in the vicinity of Ox-
nard, and a man of public spirit and energy, who
is alive to the best interests of both state and
county, giving his best efforts to the advance-
ment of all movements of a progressive char-
acter. Descending from a long line of southern
ancestors, his immediate progenitors were of
good old Virginia stock, and he himself was
born in Virginia July 4, 1867.

On the old family homestead in Washington
county, Va., where his son was born on Inde-
pendence day, William B. Edmondson carried on
general farming until the close of his brief life
in 1876, when he was only thirty-seven years of
age. He was a son of Col. R. B. Edmondson,
who won his title for meritorious services in the
Revolutionary war. The wife of William B.
Edmondson, who before her marriage was Fan-
nie C. Dolin, is still living, and makes her home
in Saulsbury, Tenn.

The early boyhood years of Robert B. Ed-
mondson were closely associated with the pater-
nal farm in Washington county, Va., and in the
nearby public schools he was one of the most
diligent of students. He supplemented this train-
ing by a course in Emory and Henry College, lo-
cated in Emory, Va., and in fact has never
ceased to be a student, for the broad school of
experience has enlarged his scope of knowledge,
as well as the reading of carefully selected litera-
ture. After leaving college Mr. Edmondson car-
ried on farming in his native county for a time,
but he soon began to chafe under the restrictions
by which he was bound and longed for broader
fields upon which to develop his ideas along ag-
ricultural lines. Removing to California in 1887,
he came direct to the Santa Clara valley and for
four years lived on rented property. His resi-
dence near Oxnard. A''entura county, dates from
the year 1891. at which time he purchased his
present home ra:nch, comprising one hundred
and fortv-one and one-half acres. Seventv acres

of this are in a walnut orchard, of which thirty-
acres are in bearing condition, and in addition
he has one hundred acres in lima beans. He has
brought to bear in his ranching the habit of study
and penetration which has characterized every-
thing that he undertakes, and as a result he en-
joys a substantial income from the plentiful har-
vests yielded.

November 16, 1898, in Oxnard, Robert B.
Edmondson and Mrs. E. J. Crinklaw were unit-
ed in marriage, the latter being a native of North
Carolina. By her first husband, James L. Crink-
law, four children were born, Leslie, Charles,
Ruth and Mitford, and by her marriage with
M. Edmondson she become the mother of two
children, Fannie and Robert B., Jr. All of the
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and are identified with the congregation
at Oxnard. Mr. Edmondson's personal inter-
ests do not prevent him from enjoying the ameni-
ties of fraternal intercourse, and many of his
pleasantest hours are passed in the Masonic and
Odd Fellow lodges of which he is a member.

THOMAS TOMPKINS. One of the earliest
pioneers of the state of California was Thomas
Tompkins, now deceased, who arrived in San
Francisco in 1846 and in spite of the trials and
privations of a frontier existence had a long and
successful career in this state. He was of
English birth, the city of his nativity being Lin-
colnshire, where he was born August 15, 1817.
When but eleven years old he was brought by
his parents to America, the family settling in
New York state, where the mother's death oc-
curred shortly after their arrival, the father liv-
ing there until he had reached the advanced
age of eighty-four years, when his death oc-
curred. There were ten children in the family.
Thomas Tompkins received his education through
the medium of the public schools of New York,
his home being about nine miles from Rochester.
After school days he engaged in agricultural
pursuits in New York, and in that state occurred
his marriage to INIiss Jane Rollins, a young lady
of English parentage who came to America with
her father and mother on the same ship that
brought the Tompkins family, the vessel being
a sailing craft that required three months to
make this trip. Of this union were born two
children : Amanda who became the wife of B.
F. Garner of San Bernardino, and is now de-
ceased ; and Jane E., now Mrs. Hunter of Los
Angeles.

In 1846 Mr. Tompkins and his family boarded
the ship Brooklyn, which had been chartered
by three hundred IMormons. and was bound for
San Francisco via Cape Horn, visited the islands
on whicli Robinson Crusoe lived, and arrived at

/^t^#^..<v^._-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1695

its destination June 3, 1846. Soon after land-
ing he took up government land and engaged in
ranching, and when gold was discovered a couple
of vears later he was one of the few who kept
his head throughout the excitement, and instead
of rushing off to the mines he found his gold
mine in a hundred and fifty acres of potatoes
and other vegetables and grains which sold at
almost fabulous prices. He also owned and
operated the first threshing outfit that was ever
run in that part of the state. He with his fam-
ily made a visit and spent some six months on
the Society Islands. In 1852 Mr. Tompkins,
thinking there were still greater opportunities
for the ranchman in San Bernardino county,
brought his family here, purchasing the present
ranch which is a part of the original purchase
from the Mormon elders of Salt Lake City.
Later, in 1858 he sold out his holdings and re-
moved to Salt Lake City, but not being quite satis-
fied with the entire workings of the jNlormon faith
there he soon returned to San Bernardino county
and was fortunate in being able to buy back his
original purchase, and tliis place is now held by
his widow. His first wife died in San Bernardino
county and in 1865 he married Miss A. F. Perry,
a daughter of Jeremiah and Jane (Merrick)
Perry, all natives of Tennessee. When quite
young she was taken by her parents to Texas
where they died, and when thirteen }-ears old
she and her three sisters came to the northern
part of California, living in that section for a
number of years, later came to Los Angeles,
and finally in 1864 settled in San Bernardino.
By this union Mr. and Mrs. Tompkins became
the parents of seven children, namely: Perry,
married Miss Zora Avery, lives in Berkeley,
and has one child ; Henry, married Miss Lelia
Patton, lives in Los Angeles; Walter, married
Miss Lula Alexander, lives in San Bernardino;
Birdie ; Daisy ; Violet ; and ]\ label at home. Polit-
ically he was a strong advocate, of the principles
embraced in the platform of the Republican party.
His death in January, 1885, at the age of sixty-
six years, removed a most successful, honorable
and highly respected man. Mrs. Tompkins who
survives him is an active member and liberal
supporter of the benevolences of the Unitarian
Church. She owns a fine ranch of eighty-five
acres, devoted to the raising of hay and grain,
and lives in a verv comfortable home thereon.

JOSEPH PERRY SYLVA. In the United
States it is a matter of pride that a large por-
tion of the best and most prominent citizens in
the different walks of life have risen to distinc-
tion solely through their own efforts, unaided
by wealth, influential family or circumstances
over which they have no control. A notable in-

stance of tlie sterling worth which overcomes
obstacles and creates its own opportunities is
presented in the career of Joseph P. Sylva, for-
merly a merchant and the postmaster of Wilming-
ton, and one of the most honored men of the
county.

On the Isle of Pico, one of the Azores, which
belongs to Portugal, A'lanuel and Isabelle Sylva
were born, and there also they reared their fam-
ily and spent their entire lives, the father living
to reach his eighty-seventh year, while the moth-
er was in her seventy-fourth year at the time
of her death. Born on the Isle of Pico August
24, 1845, Joseph P. Sylva was reared under the
sunny skies of his native land until he reached
his nineteenth year, prior to which time he had
received a fair education in the common schools
of tliat country. At the age mentioned he left
home and friends and was a sailor on the high
seas for the following two years. Touching at
the port of San Francisco in 1866 he was so fav-
orably impressed with the prospects which he
foresaw that he determined to remain in the
United States. Before he could make much
headway in a strange country, however, it was
necessary for him to learn the language of his
adopted countrymen, and he therefore lost no
time in seeking out and joining a night school.
During the year thus spent in school he paid his
expenses by working at any honorable employ-
ment that he could find. July 27, 1867, marks
the date of his arrival in Wilmington, where
he first worked as a laborer. As he became more
familiar with the language and customs of the
country he naturally sought more responsible
and remunerative employment, and from the
time he became an employe of the Southern Pa-
cific Railroad Company his advance was steady
and well merited. During the years which he
was with the latter company he was enabled to
lav by considerable money, and on February i,
1877, he invested his means in a small grocery
store which had been established here, and with
the determination which had characterized all
of his former efforts set about to convert it into
one of the leading enterprises of the town. His
efforts met with success from the start, and it was
not long before he had built up a large trade.
Misfortune, however, overtook him in 1882, his
store and stock being totally destroyed by fire
that year. Phoenix-like he erected upon the
ashes of his former prosperity a substantial brick
store which stands today in the heart of the bus-
iness center of town. After conducting a gro-
cery in this building for about twenty-three years
he was obliged to give up business on account of
failing eyesight, and is now living retired, finding
sufficient occupation in caring for his property.
Besides the building just mentioned he owns two
buildings in San Pedro, which are up-to-date in

1696

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

every particular and bring him in a good in-
come.

Mr. Sylva was married in Los Angeles, No-
vember 7, 1870, to Francisca Villa, a lady of
Spanish antecedents, and six children came to
bless their union. Ida is the wife of John S.
Thomas, and they make their home in Wilming-
ton; Joseph, who is his father's namesake, is as-
sistant cashier in the State Bank of San Pedro;
Isabelle is principal of the schools at La Ballona ;
Martha is her father's housekeeper, the mother
having died October 20, 1897; Lillian is attend-
ing high school at Wilmington, and Carl is at
home. Ever since 1872 Mr. Sylva has given
his vote and support to the Republican party,
and was school trustee of Wilmington for seven
years, three years of this time being clerk of the
board. From 1897 until 1904 he served as post-
master of the town, giving entire satisfaction to
those who had secured his appointment, and is
now serving as one of the town trustees. Fra-
ternally he was made a Mason in Wilmington
Lodge No. 190, F. & A. M., and formerly be-
longed to the chapter at Los Angeles, but has
lately had his membership transferred to San
Pedro. He also belongs to Bohen Lodge No. 138
I. O. O. F., at San Pedro, and to Lodge No. 55,
A. O. U. W., at Los Angeles.

WILLIAM T. GILLIS. A man of excellent
financial and executive ability, progressive in
his ideas, with a strong personality, William T.
Gillis is one of the representative men of Los
Angeles county, holding a noteworthy position
in business, fraternal and social circles, his influ-
ence being felt through the community. Coming
from a long line of thrifty ancestors, he was born
and reared in Nova Scotia, receiving his educa-
tion in Pictou, graduating when young from the
Pictou Academy.

As a young man, Mr. Gillis began his active
career as a druggist, for three years owning a
store in Pictou. Coming to Santa Monica in
1887, just after the close of the great boom, he
opened a drug store, which he managed a num-
ber of years. Subsequently settling in Redlands,
he was there employed in the drug business for
six years, being successful in his operations.
Returning to Santa Monica in 1901, he has
since been a resident of this place. Becoming
identified with the Pacific Land Company in
September of that year as vice-president and
manager, he assisted in developing Sawtelle and
the surrounding country between that place and
Santa Monica. Recently this company has pur-
chased stock in the Santa Monica Land and
Water Company, which owns thirty thousand
acres of land in this vicinity, including Santa
Monica canon, and also owns the water svstem.

The company to v^hich Mr. Gillis belongs also
organized the Palisade Investment Company,
which recently acquired title to fifty acres of
most valuable land, known as the Palisade. Hav-
ing improved three-fourths of the tract, they
put it on the market, readily disposed of it at
advantageous prices, and the remaining fourth
has just been put on the market by the Alta
California Land Company, of which Roy Jones
is president.

Mr. Gillis is likewise identified with other en-
terprises, being vice-president of the Santa
Monica Investment Company, which during the
past year built thirty houses, varying in cost
from $1,000 to $4,000, for the special benefit of
the laboring class of people, who enjoy owning
their homes, but are unable to build tliem with-
out help. He is a stockholder and a director in
the Bank of Santa Monica, and is treasurer of
the Santa Monica Savings Bank, of which T. H.
Dudley is president. Mr. Gillis was one of the
organizers of the Sunset Brick and Tile Com-
pany, which was later merged into the Los An-
geles Pressed Brick Company, still retaining his
interest in the latter, and he is also identified
with the Southwest Warehouse Company, which
has a large warehouse in Santa Monica, on the
tracks of the Southern Pacific & Electric Rail-
way.

Politically Mr. Gillis is a straightforward Re-
publican. Fraternally he is prominent in Ma-
sonic circles, being a member and past master
of Santa Monica Lodge, F. & A. M. ; a member
of Los Angeles Commandery, K. T. ; and a mem-
ber of Al Malaikah Temple, Mystic Shrine, of
Los Angeles. He is likewise a member of Santa
JNIonica Lodge, B. P. O. E., of which he is past
exalted ruler, and from which he received a
handsome jewel as an appreciative token of serv-
ices that he rendered the organization ; and of
Redlands Lodge, K. of P. Mr. Gillis has one
son, Robert William Gillis.

ASHBY C. VICKERS. Conspicuously iden-
tified with the best interests of Ventura county
is Ashby. C. A'^ickers, an extensive and prosperous
ranchman, living on the Schiappa Pietra ranch.
•He owns one hundred and three acres of fine
land, and rents a large tract, being engaged
principally in the raising of beans. By industry,
energy and wise management he has improved
a good home, which, with its environments de-
notes the supervision of an intelligent farmer
and capable business man. At the same time
he has proved himself a useful member of the
community, and one well deserving the esteem
and confidence so generously accorded him by
the people. A son of William Vickers, he was
born, December 25, 1861, in Cape Girardeau,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1697

Mo., of Virginian ancestry. Born and brought
up in Virginia, William Vickers became a pioneer
settler of Missouri, living there until 1862, when
he removed to Sangamon county, 111., where he
spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1879,
at the age of fifty-six years. His wife, whose
maiden name was Martha Derry, was born in
Virginia seventy years ago, and is now a resident
of Illinois.

Educated in the public schools of the Prairie
state, Ashby C. Vickers remained in Illinois
until 1884, when he came to Ventura, Cal., where
he resided two years. He was subsequently en-
gaged in the livery business at different places,
being located Santa Paula a year, at Los
Angeles two years, at Pleasant Valley a year,
and at Hueneme two years. Purchasing then
one hundred and three acres of the Schiappa
Pietra ranch, he has since been actively employed
in ranching, at the present time renting adjoining
land, and making a specialty of cultivating beans
on about three hundred acres, an industry which
he is carrying on most successfully.

In May, 1888, at Santa Paula, Mr. Vickers
married Addie Holden, a daughter of Thomas
Holden, who, in 1876, came from Michigan to
California with his family, and is now a resident
of Los Angeles. Of tlie union of Mr. and Mrs.
Mckers four children have been born, namely:
Josephine M., Gladys G., Mattie E. and Vesta E.
in his political affiliaticns Mr. Vickers is a sound
Democrat, and fraternally he is a member of
Oxnard Lodge No. 341, F. & A. M., and of
Oxnard Chapter No. 86, R. A. M. He is liberal
in his religious beliefs, attending the Univer-
salist Church of Santa Paula, and is contributing
his full share toward advancing the intellectual
and moral progress of the community.

GUY W. MAHAN. Numbered among the
bright and enterprising young farmers of Ven-
tura county is Guy W. Mahan, who is located in
the vicinity of Somis and engaged in general
ranching pursuits which have been productive of
large financial returns. Inheriting the industry
and perseverance which have thus early distin-
guished his efforts, he was born of pioneer an-
cestry December 31, 1876, his parents, William
Samuel and Emma (Sisson) Mahan, both being
natives of California. The paternal grandfather,
John Mahan, who is written up at length in an-
other part of this volume, was one of the early
pioneers of the state and one of its upbuilders in
the locality in which he settled. Ventura county
has been the scene of all the efforts of Guy W.
?vlahan, his parents now residing near Somis, al-
though in his boyhood they lived on the Los
Posas ranch, where he attended the public school.
This preliminary education was supplemented

by a course in Kanard College, of Ventura, where
in the commercial department he received a prac-
tical training which has been of material assist-
ance since. The most important part of his
training having been along agricultural lines it
was but natural that he should seek this means
of a livelihood, although for a year he was occu-
pied with his brother, George Mahan, in a gro-
cery store in Santa Paula. He is now the owner
of one hundred and sixty acres of fine farm land,
upon which he has placed all the improvements,
and in addition to this property he rents three
hundred and thirty acres, of which two hundred
and fifty acres are devoted to the raising of
beans and hay. Thus far he has met with un-
qualified success in his work and bids fair to
rank among the representative farmers of this
section.

In Camarillo, Ventura county, j\Ir. Mahan was
united in marriage with Miss Ethel Glenn, on
the 23d of December, 1900. She is a daughter
of George Glenn, of Camarillo, for further in-
formation regarding whom refer to his biography
which appears on another page of this volume.
Mr. and Mrs. Mahan are the parents of two
children, Oris and Vivian. The Baptist Church
of Somis receives the support of Mr. Mahan in
both attendance and financial matters. Fraternal-
ly he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of
America, of Santa Paula, and Knights of Pythias
of the same place, and is also a member of the
Fraternal Brotherhood.

LOUIS FRANK DIEDRICH. The rich
agricultural resources of Ventura county have
been developed and advanced by the many live,
energetic and persevering farmers who have
labored industriously and are now meeting with
their due reward. Prominent among this num-
ber is Louis F. Diedrich, who lives near Oxnard,
where he owns a part of the old Schiappa Pietra
ranch, and also leases a large tract of land.
Beginning life with no other endowments than
strong hands and a courageous heart, he has
steadily worked his way upward, gaining ex-
perience and business ability as the years have
passed, and now, in manhood's prime, is exceed-
ingly prosperous. A native of Germany, he was
born, September 30, 1859, ^^ Hanover, where
he obtained a practical common school education.
His parents, Louis and Margaret (Bemeke)
Diedrich, spent their entire lives in Germany, the
mother dying in 1866, at the age of forty-seven
years, and the father in 1870, aged fifty-eight
years.

Living in the Fatherland until after attaining
his majority, Louis F. Diedrich became familiar
wath the many branches of agriculture on his
native soil. Immigrating to the United States

1698

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in 1882, lie spent a very brief time in New York
Cit}-, and then started for the Pacific coast, com-
ing by rail to Los Angeles, and from there to
Ventura coimty by stage. For several years he
was employed as a wage-earner. Enterprising
and thrifty, he saved his money, and having ac-
cumulated considerable capital purchased his
present ranch in 1901, and at once .began its
improvement. He owns one hundred and
twenty-four acres of good land, and on this he
has erected a modem house, an excellent set of
farm buildings, and these, with their attractive
surroundings, add materially to the appearance
of the estate, and to its value from a financial
point of view. He rents additional land, farm-
ing about three hundred and twenty acres, two
hundred and fifty acres being planted to beans,
and the remainder devoted to the raising of
barley.

February 20, 1887. Mr. Diedrich married Eliz-
abeth Reiman, who was born in Germany, came
to the United States in 1880 with her parents,
the late Joseph and Elizabeth (Schnider) Rei-
man. Her father diecl in 1903, and her mother
now lives near Oxnard. Mr. and ^Irs. Diedrich
are the parents of six children, namely: Louis,
Laura. Tillie, Robert, Mary and ]\Iorris. Politi-
cally Mr. Diedrich is an independent Democrat,
voting with the courage of his convictions for the
best men and measures. Religiously he and
his wife are members of the Catholic Church at
Oxnard.

J. ]. SUESS. The mercantile life of Redlands
has in J. J. Suess a prominent and upbuilding
factor and one who has made his efforts for a
personal success parallel with those for the up-
building of his adopted city. The sturdy qualities
of character he has displayed are an inheritance
from Swiss ancestry, his birth having occurred
in Zurich, Switzerland. August 22. 1862; his
father, John, was born there, as was also
his grandfather, John, the records of the family
tracing the ancestry back to 1532 and earlier.
John Suess, Jr., was a blacksmith and viti-
culturist, the farm he owned in Switzerland still
being a part of the family estate. He brought
his family to America in 1868 and located at
Fort Madison, Iowa, where he conducted a
blacksmith and carriage shop, later removing to
Webster county. Neb., and there improving a
farm until his death. He was a member of the
Reformed Church and a helpful and practical
citizen. His wife was formerly Susan Ulrich,
who was born in Zurich, her death occurring in
Iowa three months prior to that of her husband.
They were the parents of ten children, of whom
nine are living and six are in California.

The second in the family of his parents, J. J.

Suess was brought to Iowa when about six years
old, and in 1874 was taken to Nebraska, his
education being received through the medium
of the public schools of both states and a private
institution which he attended for a time. He
lost his parents at the age of sixteen years ; four
years later he decided to seek the broader op-
portunities of the Pacific coast and accordingly
came to California (this being in 1882) and lo-
cated in Los Angeles, then a city of twenty
thousand inhabitants. The following year he
went to Widmore City (now Long Beach),
where he conducted a small store through the
summer, thence locating in \'entura and later in
Nordhofi^, where he was employed in a general
merchandise business until 1890. In the fall of
that year he went to Lompoc and followed a
similar occupation until the summer of 1891,
when he located in Redlands, purchasing a one-
half interest in the grocery business of J. W.
Lewis, the firm name being Lewis & Suess. A
year later he purchased the remaining interest in
the business and has since continued the enter-
prise alone, building up and enlarging the busi-
ness, increasing his store room and stock, and
adding every equipment for the expeditious
managment of the constantly increasing custom.
His building, which is located at the corner of
State and Orange streets, is 40x120 in dimen-
sions, and to this he added a bakery in 1903,
now owning and conducting two bakeries, and
also has a branch store at Crafton. He conducts
the largest establishment of its kind in Redlands,
and by his business methods, his honesty, and
integrity in dealing with the public, has acquired
a wide reputation which has resulted in an in-
creased patronage. In addition to his mercan-
tile mterests he also owns an orange grove in
the vicinity of Redlands.

Mr. Suess has been twice married, his first
wife being Miss jNIattie Dewey, a native of Penn-
sylvania and a member of the New England
family of Deweys. She died in Redlands leav-
ing two children, Donald Ensign and Dorothea.
Later he was married here to Rliss Nellie West-
land, a native of Michigan. In 1904 JNIr. Suess
was elected a member of the board of trustees
of Redlands for a term of four years, and is
now serving as chairman of that body. He is
a director of the First National Bank of Red-
lands and active in the advancement of its in-
terests. Fraternally he is a prominent l\Iason,
having been made a member of the organization
in Redlands Lodge No. 300, of which he is now
past master ; and also belongs to Redlands
Qiapter No. yy, R. A. M. ; St. Bernard Com-
manderv No. 23. K. T., of San Bernardino; and
Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He
is also identified with the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks, of Redlands. Mr. Suess is a

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1701

member of the Unitarian Church, and politi-
cally is a stanch advocate of the principles em-
braced in the platform of the Republican party,
taking an active interest in the advancement of
his party's interest, and is now a member of the
Republican County Central Committee. He is
a charter member of the Board of Trade and has
served as director of the organization. Justly
he is accounted a citizen of worth, held in the
highest esteem for his splendid qualities of char-
acter, and in the midst of his busy efforts to-
ward a personal competence has proven himself
an important factor toward the upbuilding and
development of Southern California.

JAMES K. TRIPLETT. Throughout the
greater part of his life Mr. Triplett has been a
resident of California and during much of that
period he has made his home in Santa Barbara
county, where he has the distinction of being one
of the oldest surviving pioneers of the Santa
Maria valley. Shortly- after he first came to this
fertile region he purchased a tract included with-
in the Lagona ranch and since then he has bought
and sold a number of farms, while he still owns
the stock ranch of three hundred and twenty
acres in the valley and for a few years made
his home on that place. More recently (1902)
he purchased and since then has occupied and
operated a farm of fifty acres under cultivation
to grain and beans, and also utilized to some ex-
tent as a poultry ranch. The people of the val-
ley among whom he has lived for many years es-
teem him as a man of sterling worth, progressive
character and undoubted integrity.

The Triplett family is of southern ancestry.
Very early in the agricultural development of
Illinois there removed to it as pioneers A. J. and
Frances K. (Mews) Triplett, natives respectively
of Bourbon county, Ky., and Mrginia. Shortly
after their arrival in their frontier surroundings
they secured a homestead from the government
and engaged in transforming the soil from its
primeval condition into a farm of productive ca-
pacity and neat appearance. During the spring
of. 1864 they disposed of the Illinois property
and proceeded south and west to the Isthmus of
Panama, thence up the Pacific ocean to Califor-
nia, where they settled in Sonoma county. The
mother died at Salinas when forty-two years of
age, and the father passed away in Santa Barbara
county at the age of sixty-one years. Of their
ten children five died in infancy; Hairy lives in
Whitti'er, Cal., and S. D. is a resident of Kent,
in the state of Washington. Actively interested
in public affairs, the father remained an adherent
of the Democratic party as long as he lived,
while in religious connections he and his wife
were identified with the Qiristian Church.

The schools of Pike county, 111., (in which
county he was born November 4, 1848J, afforded
James K. Triplett the rudiments of a fair edu-
cation and subsequent habits of close observa-
tion and thoughtful reading have broadened his
fund of knowledge. When fifteen years of age he
accompanied the family to California and settled
witli them in Sonoma county, where he assisted
in the development of a ranch. For a time he
enjoyed the privilege of taking a general course
of study in Hesperian College at Woodland, and
after leaving the college he embarked in inde-
pendent ranching. For four years or more he
engaged in ranching near Salinas, Monterey
county, and in 1873 came to the Santa Maria
valley, where he has since become prominently
identified with the permanent development of the
ranching interests of the locality.

The marriage of Mr. Triplett took place in
1871 and united him with Miss Susan K. Rice,
one of the native daughters of California, and a
lady of estimable character, with him a sincere
member of the Christian Qiurch. Four children
blessed their union, but one son, John H., died
at the age of six years, and another, Francis, died
in infancy. William H., the only surviving son,
married Lydia Holland and has two children.
The only daughter, Bessie M., resides with her
parents on the ranch. For thirty-four years or
more Mr. Triplett has been actively connected
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of
Guadaloupe and Santa Maria and has been a con-
tributor to its charities. Reared in the Demo-
cratic faith, he has seen no reason to change his
political afiiliations and remains stanchly inter-
ested in local and general Democratic affairs.
While never a candidate for office, he consented
at one time to fill the office of high school trus-
tee and in that position rendered efficient service
in the interest of educational affairs in his dis-
trict.

BREEN BROTHERS. The name of the
Breen brothers, both collectively and individually,
is well known in Wilmington, where for the
past ten years they have carried on a general
merchandise store, besides owning a rolling mill
and dealing in grain extensively. On both sides
of the family they are of Irish descent, their par-
ents, James and Sarah (Synnott) Breen, com-
ing to the United States from the Emerald Isle
and locating in Vermont. Both the father and
mother are now deceased.

Fred F. Breen was born in Underbill, Chit-
tenden county, Vt., August 15, 1868, and his
lirother, Edward H., was born in the same place.
June 16, 1870. Nothing of unusual interest
transpired during their early lives to distinguish
them from those of other boys in their locality.

17U:;

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and when not attending the pubhc school at Un-
derhill they assisted their father in the care and
management of the home place. When twenty-
two years of age Fred F. Breen began farming
on his own account, but after five years of hard
work he gave it up and came to California, which
by that time had become known for its marvel-
ous agricultural possibilities. Coming to Wil-
mington, Los Angeles county, he carried on a
ranch in this vicinity from 1895 until 1901, giv-
ing it up in the latter year to engage in the gro-
cery business. To his original stock he has add-
ed a complete line of general commodities, from
which he is able to supply any and all household
demands. Interested with him in the enter-
prise is his brother Edward H., and they also are
associated in the buying and selling of grain,
which forms no small source of income.

In Wilmington, CaL, October 15, 1901, Fred
F. Breen was united in marriage with Myrtle
McMahon, who was born in Kansas, but has been
a resident of California since 1898, at which
time she located in Long Beach as a teacher in
the public school. Subsequently she taught in
Wilmington, and she has also served in the same
capacity in Washington and other states. Two
children have blessed their union, Fred and Bert.
Following in the training in which they were
both reared Mr. and Mrs. Breen are communi-
cants of the Catholic Church, and are rearing
their children in that faith. Possessing shrewd
business sense and a pronounced desire to please
their many customers the Breen brothers are also
discerning in the selection of their stock and as a
result are winning the patronage which their ef-
forts deserve.

EMIL SUESS. The business interests of
Redlands have in Emil Suess one of its most
enterprising men, his business interests being
as proprietor of the Club Stables, one of the
chief liveries of the city. Mr. Suess comes of
a fine old Swiss family, his father, John J-.
bringing the family to America a year after his
birth, which occurred October 10, 1869; their
home was located in Iowa and Nebraska, the
father engaging as a farmer in Webster county
of the latter state. For more complete details
concerning his life refer to the sketch of John
J. Suess, which appears elsewhere in this volume.
Emil Suess was educated in the public schools
of Webster county. Neb., where he made his
home until 1891, when he came to California,
locating first in Ventura county, where later
he homesteaded a ranch in the Ojai valley, near
Nordhofif. He improved this property and at
the same time drove the stage for the Oak Glen
Cottages for the period of three years. Coming
to Southern California in 1895 he located in

Redlands and engaged as a clerk in the Star
Grocery, then his brother's business establish-
ment, but not caring for the indoor work gave
it up after two years and entered the transfer
business. His association with this work in-
duced his purchase of an interest after six years
in the Redlands Livery, then owned by Mr.
Wilmot, and conducted on Central avenue. The
two continued in partnership for the period of
eighteen months, when Mr. Suess sold his in-
terest to Mr. Wilmot. He spent the ensuing
year in traveling, during which he visited the
St. Louis exposition and also his old home in
Nebraska. On his return he purchased in
September, 1904, the Qub Stables then con-
ducted by Singleton & Haskell. These were the
oldest stables in Redlands and, located at the
corner of Fourth and State streets, commanded
a large portion of the custom. He is located in
a substantial, three-story building, 80x300 feet
in dimensions and facing both streets, with a
second floor arranged for stalls, having a capacity
for one hundred and fifty head, and a third
floor for the storage of hay and grain, all
vehicles being on the first floor. Mr. Suess is
interested in the Redlands Driving Association,
formed for the purpose of caring for the tourists
who come to the city sightseeing, he being secre-
tary and manager.

Mr. Suess was married in Redlands to Miss
Martha Kindscher, a native of Iowa, and born
of this union is one daughter. Gladys. In his
fraternal relations Mr. Suess is identified with
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and
also the Odd Fellows, having been made a mem-
ber of this organization here and is now past
grand, and is also a member of the Encamp-
ment and Canton. Politically he is a stanch
advocate of the principles embraced in the plat-
form of the Republican party. He is a member
of the Board of Trade and active in its aflfairs.

JONATHAN F. FULKERSON, general
blacksmith and wagonmaker of Somis, Ventura
county, is a native of Illinois, his birth having
occurred in Pope county, February 17, 1867.
His father, William B. Fulkerson, now residing
in Graham county, Kans., is also a native of Illi-
nois, to which state his parents removed in the
early days of the northwest. He was a shoe-
maker by trade, but always followed agricultural
pursuits instead. In 1872 he removed to Rooks
county, Kans., from that point located in Graham
county, and he is now conducting a hotel in
Eogue. His wife, formerlv Mary Wliiteside.
was born in Illinois and died in Kansas in 1879,
at the age of thirtv-nine years.

Reared in Kansas, Jonathan F. Fulkerson re-
ceived his education in the public schools of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

170i

that state, after which in Webster, Kans., he was
apprenticed to learn the trade of blacksmith.
He was early attracted to the Pacific coast by the
more abundant opportunities held out to the am-
bitious, enterprisnig young man, and on the 23rd
of March, 1891, he located in Somis, Ventura
county, where for the past fifteen years he has
been engaged in the prosecution of his trade.
Step by step he has steadily advanced to a high
position in his work, winning the confidence
of those whose patronage he sought until to-day,
having owned his shop since January, 1900, he
has a large and lucrative trade. He has every
equipment for the conduct of a large business,
carrying a stock of the best iron and steel afforded
by shops of this character in the county, and mak-
ing a specialty of horse-shoeing and plow work
which gives universal satisfaction. He always
has a force of three men and for a part of the
time employes five.

]Mr. Fulkerson was married in Somis, Decem-
ber 25, 1902, to Miss Fannie G. Hughes, a
daughter of W. A. Hughes, of whom extended
mention is made in another part of this volume.
They have two daughters : Birdie Adell and Inez
Floyd. Mr. Fulkerson is associated fraternally
with the Masons, being a member of Oxnard
Lodge No. 341, F. &. A. M., and Oxnard Chap-
ter No. 86, R. A. M. ; and also affiliates with the
Modern Woodmen of America, being consul of
the Camp at Somis. He was the first postmaster
of Somis, being appointed to the position May 12,
1893, and discharging the duties in an able man-
ner for the period of two years. He is actively
interested in affairs concerning Somis and is
liberal and public spirited in his support of its
best interests. As a trustee of the Somis school
board he seeks the advancement of its educa-
tional interests. The qualities of his citizenship
have won for him the high position which he
holds in the esteem of his fellow-townsmen, who
count him among the men who uphold our civic
honor.

JOHN LOYNACHAN. One of the most
popular young men in the Lompoc valley is John
Loynachan, a progressive and enterprising
rancher, who has made a success in his business
enterprises and gained a host of friends. His
father, John Loynachan, Sr., was born in Scot-
land and immigrated to Canada, which latter
country was the birthplace of the mother. Seven
children comprised the parental family, the sub-
ject of this sketch being the only son. Of the
six daughters four still live in Canada, which
was the parental home, and one in Massa-
chusetts. The father was a ranchman in Can-
ada and lived there until his death, at the age
of sixtv-two vears. The mother was forty-nine
at the time of her death.

John Loynachan was born July 15, 1865, in
Canada, where he received his early education,
and when his school days were over imme-
diately engaged in ranching there, having as-
sumed charge of his father's farm when only
fourteen years old. At the age of twenty-seven
he decided to immigrate to California, and made
San Francisco his first objective point. He soon
went to the redwood lumber country, where he
worked for a time, and in the fall of 1893 ar-
rived in Lompoc, where he has been engaged in
ranching ever since. The twenty acres of land
which he owns is situated in the limits of the
town of Lompoc and it is his intention to erect
a fine home thereon in the fall of 1907. He is
now farming a rented ranch of three hundred
and fifty acres and raises hogs and cattle on the
two hundred acres of pasture land, farming the
remainder, which is planted to barley and beans,
and five acres is devoted to a Bellflower apple
orchard.

In 1893 Mr. Loynachan was married to Miss
Jeanette McAdam, a native Canadian, and to
them have been born three children: Gertrude
i\I., Bernice A. and J. Dean. The wife is a
member of the Baptist Church ; while in Canada
Mr. Loynachan gave his allegiance to the Pres-
byterian Church. Politically he affiliates with
the Republican party, and fraternally he holds
membership in the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows Lodge at Lompoc and belongs to the
Woodmen of the World.

N. H. HAMILTON, M. D. One of the most
prominent physicians of Southern California is
N. H. Hamilton, widely known and highly es-
teemed in Santa Monica, where he has engaged
in active practice since September, 1894, firmly
establishing himself among the medical fratern-
ity of this section. He has brought to bear in
his work a thorough knowledge broadened by
practical experience covering a period of over
thirty years, constantly increased by wide read-
ing (for he is an indefatigable student and
keeps thoroughly in touch with modern thought
and methods), and is also possessed of personal
qualities of character which enable him to come
in closer contact with his patients than is the
case with the average physician. He is a native
of the middle west, his birth having occurred at
Ann Arbor, Mich., February 17, 1852, but when
only two years old he w-as taken by his parents
to Winona, Minn., where he grew to manhood.
His preliminary education was received through
an attendance of the grammar and high schools
of the town in which he lived, after which he
returned to his birthplace and became a student
in the medical department of the University of
Michigan, having selected this profession for his

1704

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lifework. Later he entered Rush Medical Col-
lege of Chicago, from which institution he was
graduated with honors in 1877, thoroughly
equipped theoretically for the practice of his pro-
fession.

Following the westward trend of immigration,
Dr. Hamilton, immediately following his gradu-
ation, located in the then new town of Grafton,
N. Dak., and established himself as a practi-
tioner. Step by step he advanced to a place of
prominence in his profession, constantly increas-
ing his patronage and widening his influence
until he became known as a representative physi-
cian of that section. For seventeen years he
remained a resident of that place, and for four-
teen years of this time sen-ed as president of
the United States board of examining surgeons
for soldiers' pensions ; also, for a similar period,
served as county physician. For two years he
served as county coroner, for four years as a
member of the examining board for the insane,
and for nine years acted as secretary and super-
intendent of the county board of health. He
was the first vice-president of the North Dakota
State Medical Society, and served as district
surgeon for the Northern Pacific and Great
Northern Railroad Companies. Significant of
his ability, his standing as a physician and citi-
zen, were the honors which came to him un-
sought, and in which positions he faithfully and
efiiciently discharged all duties incumbent upon
him. Impaired health, however, caused by con-
stant application to his duties and the rigors
of the northern climate finally induced Dr. Ham-
ilton to leave Grafton, and in September, 1894,
he came to Southern California and established
his home in Santa Monica, where he has ever
since remained. Besides his private practice
he is district surgeon for the Southern Pacific
Railway ; is the medical examiner for all the old-
line insurance companies in Southern California ;
and also acts in the same capacity for four fra-
ternal societies. He is a director in the Santa
:\Ionica Bank and is actively connected with
other local enterprises, in the success of which
he is deeply interested. During the anti-saloon
movement in Santa Monica in March and April,
1900, he was one of five constituting the execu-
tive committee that rid the town of her ten
saloons. In 1906 he with others organized the
Santa Monica Bay Hospital Company, with a
capital stock of $100,000, he being made presi-
dent of the company. At a cost of about $40,000
the company has erected a building on the cor-
ner of Pacific and Fourth streets. Santa ^lonica.
overlooking the ocean.

Dr. Hamilton has taken a deep interest in
various medical societies of Southern California,
being a member of the Los Angeles County
Medical Association. California State IMedical

Society, and also belongs to the American IMed-
ical Association, which is the largest medical
association in the world. Despite his engross-
ing professional cares he has also taken an active
interest in fraternal organizations, in Grafton
having been made a JMason and there raised to
the degrees of Royal Arch and the Commandery,
and also became a member of the Mystic Shrine,
which he joined in Fargo, N. Dak. He secured
demits from these various lodges and is now
identified with Santa Monica Lodge No. 307.
F. & A. M., Chapter and Commandery, and Al
Alalaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Los
Angeles. He is also a member of the Uniformed
Rank, Knights of Pythias, in Santa Monica,
and the Independent Order of Foresters of the
same place. He is a director in the Western
Masons" I^Iutual Life Association of Los An-
geles, and maintains a deep interest in its wel-
fare. In his political affiliations he is a Repub-
lican, and believing in the active duties of a
citizen he has sought to advance the principles
he endorses. As a member of the Presbyterian
Church of Santa Monica he takes a deep interest
in forwarding all charitable and denominational
movements. Personally he is held in the high-
est esteem by all who have known him, either
professionally or socially, admiring and respect-
ing him for the sterling integrity of his char-
acter, for the personal honor he steadfastly main-
tains, and tlie practical demonstration of his be-
lief in the universal brotherhood of man.

The home of Dr. Hamilton, in Santa Monica,
is presided over by his wife, whom he married
October 21, 1887. She was formerly Miss
Bertha R. Crookston, a native of Ann Arbor,
Mich., and a woman of rare personal qualities
and grace of manner. In the years of their mar-
ried life she has proven a worthy helpmate to
her husband and has maintained through all
conditions her good cheer and Christian help-
fulness. Four daughters were born of their
union, three of whom are living, Helen, Clara
and Esther. The second daughter, Edith, died
October 16. 1900, after an unsuccessful opera-
tion for appendicitis. The Hamilton home is
a place of refinement and culture, and there also
true hospitality abounds. Both the doctor and
his wife hold a high place in the social life of
the citv and are universally esteemed.

BRUCE E. DOUGLAS. One of the many
active, enterprising and worthy citizens of Los
Angeles county is" Bruce E. Douglas, who until
recently, as proprietor of the Bay Mew Trans-
fer Company, carried on a thriving business in
Long Beach. Energetic, accommodating and
painstaking he met with much success in his oc-
cupation, being popular with his patrons. In 1906

64*Mts^ylU.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1707

he embarked in the real-estate business under the
name of the Riverside Real Estate Company. A
son of Cyrus Douglas, he was born in March,
184s, in Vermilion county, 111., being one of a
large family of children.

Born in 1792, in Vermont, Cyrus Douglas lived
there until 1820, when he migrated to Illinois,
becoming a pioneer farmer of Vermilion county.
He was a man of influence and patriotism, and
served as a soldier in the Black Hawk war, and
was afterwards engaged in agricultural pursuits
in Illinois until his death, in 1880, when nearly
ninety years of age. In 1822 he married Ruby
Bloss, they obtaining distinction by being the
first white couple married in Vermilion county.
She was born in 1800, and died in 1865. Thirteen
children, nine boys and four daughters, were bom
of their union, Bruce E., the subject of this
sketch, being the youngest child. Six of the
children are still living of the eleven that grew
to years of maturity. Of the two that died
young, one was killed accidentally on the ice, and
the other by being thrown from a horse. Three
of the sons served in the Civil war, Thomas en-
listing in the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, while Joseph and
Luther belonged to a Missouri regiment. Dor-
man, one of the older children, came to California
in company with several friends in 1849, ^^d
after mining two years with good success re-
turned to Illinois, and is still living there, being
now over eighty years of age. Three other sons
besides Bruce settled permanently in California,
namely: Cyrus, who came here in 1852, served
in the Indian war in Oregon, and subsequently
located in Lompoc, Santa Barbara county, resid-
ing there until his death : George, who has been
a resident of Lompoc since coming here in 1888;
and Joseph, who settled in Pomona in 1892, and
is now one of the city trustees.

On account of ill health when young, Bruce
E. Douglas was unable to attend school at all, so
that he is largely self-educated, having gleaned
his knowledge by reading and observation. At
the age of twenty-two years he left home,
and until September, 1887, was engaged in
farming for liimself in his native state. Com-
ing to California in that year he located in River-
side when the boom was at its height, purchased
an orange grove, but when the property depreci-
ated he lost everything. The following thirteen
years he carried on a good business in establishing
orange groves, setting out and budding trees,
after which he had charge of S. F. Herrick's
nursery for three years. January i. 1904, he
purchased the business of the Bay View Trans-
fer Company, which he managed successfully
until April, igo6.

In March, 1866. in Illinnis. Mr. Douglas mar-
ried Lucv Girard. of Ohio, and they are the

parents of three children, namely : Cyrus E.,
manager of the Bay View Transfer Company,
who is married and has one child ; Minnie, wife
of John L. Tummond, of Los Angeles ; and Clara,
wife of P. M. Ogden. of High Grove, Riverside
county. Politically Mr. Douglas is a loyal adher-
ent of the Republican party. Fraternally he was
made a Mason in Illinois in 1870, joining Fair-
mount Lodge No. 590, A. F. & A. M., and is
now a member of Long Beach Lodge No. 327,
F. & A. M. Religiously both he and his wife are
Christian Scientists.

AUSTIN WALSH. Conspicuous among
the earlier settlers of San Diego county is
Austin Walsh, who, with his twin brother,
Ambrose Walsh, located near Valley Center
upwards of thirty years ago, and has since
been a valued and useful member of the com-
munity. By his intelligent industry and wise
management he has built up one of the finest
homesteads along the western coast, and by
his sterling worth as a man and a citizen is
held in high esteem by his neighbors and
friends. He was born, January 29, 1845, i"
Atchison county. Mo., a son of -the late Walter
Walsh.

The birth of ^V^alter Walsh occurred on the
high seas, while his parents were crossing the
Atlantic ocean, en route to the L^nited States.
Reared and educated in ^Maine. he began life
there as a farmer. Wishing, however, to take
advantage of cheap lands . on the western
frontier, he subsequently migrated to Mis-
souri, taking un land that was in its virgin
wildness, and there improving a homestead.
Again .starting westward in 1854, he crossed
the plains with ox teams, following the noted
train in which all of its members were mas-
sacred, and during the long journey had much
trouble with the Indians. Purchasing one
hundred and eightv acres of land in Contra
Costa county, he lived there about sixteen
vears, when he sold out and moved to Mission
valley, San Diego county. Entering land at
Valley Center October 16, 1879. he began the
improvement of a ranch, on which he resided
until his death, in 1887, at the age of sixty-
nine years. He was a man of excellent charac-
ter, a Democrat in politics, a member of the
Masonic fraternity, and belonged to the Cath-
olic Church. In Maine he married Jane H.
Colby, a native of that state, and they became
the parents of eleven children, nine of whom
are living. His wife survived him, dying in
1888, aged sixty-five years.

Coming across the plains when a lad of nine
years, .\ustin Walsh was educated in the dis-
trict schools of Contra Co.sta countv. and until

17(

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

twenty-three years old lived with his parents,
assisting- in the care of the farm. Upon be-
ginning the battle of life for himself he entered
one hundred and sixt}' acres of land in San
Diego county and set to work as a farmer in
earnest. In his undertakings he has met with
some reverses, but his good fortunes have far
outnumbered his failures, and he is now the
owner of two valuable ranches in Valley Cen-
ter, one containing one hundred acres, and the
other forty-five acres. He is devoting himself
to general ranching, and is numbered among
the progressive and prosperous agriculturists
of the communitv.

]\'Iay 3. 1884, in Merced, Cal., Mr. Walsh
married Nancy C. Merrill, who was born in
this state, and died at Valley Center in 1901.
Seven children blessed the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Walsh, namely: Alice G., Anna, Norval
(who died in infancv"). Norman, Fannie, Mer-
rill and Paul W. "Politically :\Ir. Walsh is
identified with the Democratic party, and for
a number of years has served as clerk of the
Vespa school district.

THOMAS HAZEL STEWART. Now re-
tired from the active cares of life, Thomas H.
Stewart is enjoying the competency acquired by
him during the past busy years. He is of
southern birth and breeding, his grandfather,
Thomas Stewart of Scotland, having located the
family fortunes in North Carolina, where he en-
gaged as a farmer "and Baptist minister. One
of his sons, Charles Stewart, was also a Baptist
minister, who organized a church in Pickens
county, Ala., serving for forty years as its pastor
with the exception of the thirty-seventh year
when he took a vacation, Aaron Stewart, another
son, was born in North Carolina and in young
manhood became a farmer and millwright, erect-
ing water mills in Alabama and Mississippi. He
died m Winston county, jNIiss., after a life of
usefulness and helpfulness to those about him.
He was a patriot, serving in the war of 181 2 in
Colonel Alcom's regiment and Harpool's Com-
panv. He married Sarah Brock, who was torn
in Bedford county, Tenn.. a daughter of Isaac
Brock, also a native of the same state, and a
farmer throughout his entire life. Mrs. Stewart
also died in Mississippi. She was the mother of
thirteen children, of whom ten attained maturity
and six are now living.

Thomas Hazel Stewart was born in Pickens
county, Ala., June 7, 1828, the fourth in the
family of his parents. He was reared principally
in Mississippi in the vicinity of Louisville, and
received a meager education in a subscription
school, whose sessions were held in the primitive
log cabin of the age. The death of his father

occurring when he was only six years of age
necessitated his remaining at home to assist in
the management of the plantation. With the ex-
ception of a trip made to California in 1852 he
remained at home until he was twenty-seven
years old. His trip to California was made via
Nicaragua and upon his arrival in the state he
went to the mines on the American, Yuba and
Feather rivers, engaging in this occupation for
nearly two years. Returning east via the Isthmus
of Panama, he remained on the home farm until
1855, when he purchased land and improved
property of his own, also erecting a mill on the
Harshuqua river. In 1856 he married ]\Iiss
Anna L. Kirk, whose death occurred the same
year. In connection with his brother, he engaged
in the milling business, operating by water power
flour, corn, saw and cotton mills. They were suc-
cessful in their enterprises and with his ac-
cumulated means Mr. Stewart added to his land-
ed property until the breaking out of the Civil
war in 1861. Loyal to the cause of the "sunny
south" he enlisted in Company A, First Regi-
ment Mississippi Infantry, and after six months"
service assisted in the organization of Company
A, Forty-first Regiment Mississippi Infantn'.
For over a year he served as orderly sergeant
in that company, when the quartermaster de-
tailed him in charge of the transporting of the
regiment, later in transporting of the brigade,
then the division, and in battle was placed in
charge of the ambulance corps. He participated
until the close of the war. taking part in the
battles of Resaca. Atlanta, Chattahoochie, Frank-
lin, Nashville and many others. He was wounded
five times and at the close of his service was on
crutches, it being ten years before he . fully re-
covered from the effects of a wound received at
Nashville. He also had two brothers in the Civil
war, Qiarles J., who was killed at Gettysburg,
and Lieut. Robert C, killed at Stone River.

LTpon his return to civic pursuits Thomas H.
Stewart built a large steam saw-mill in Mont-
gomery county. Miss,, on Black river, and there
engaged in the manufacture of lumber for seven,
years. Disposing of these interests at the close
of this period he engaged in farming for several
years, in 1881 again making a trip to California.
He located near Saticoy, Ventura county, where
he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres.
shortly afterward improving the property by
the erection of a substantial residence, bam and
outbuildings. With the accumulating means he
bought adjoining property until he now owns
three hundred and twenty acres all in a high state
of cultivation. For many years he was known
as one of the extensive farmers in that section.
In .1904 he located in Long Beach, investing in
business property on Third street, where he
erected the Stewart buildins: in connection with

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1709

his son, Charles, and daughter, j\Irs. Hill. They
also erected Armory Hall, a building 40x80 feet
in dimensions.

In Mississippi J\Ir. Stewart was united in mar-
riage with i\iiss Mattie C. Dooley. a native of
Georgia, and born of this union are three chil-
dren : John of Long Beach ; Eloise, wife of R. L.
Hill, of Long Beach ; and Qiarles W., a real-
estate dealer of this city. INIr. Stewart is a mem-
ber of the Baptist Church in his religious affilia-
tions. Politically he adheres to the principles
embraced in the platform of the Democratic party.
He was made a Mason in Robert Burns Lodge
No. 177 in Kilmichael, J\liss.

HENRY THOMAS KORTNER. A wide-
awake rancher in Santa Barbara county is found
in Henry T. Kortner, brother of Christian Kort-
ner, one of the extensive agriculturists and stock
raisers of the vicinity of Santa Alaria. Mr.
Kortner was born in Norway September 9, i860,
and like his father followed the sea in the early
part of his life, leaving home at the age of four-
teen, and continuing upon the deep for nine years.
The last four and a half years of his sea-faring
life was spent along the Pacific coast. He first
located across the river in San Luis Obispo coun-
ty, where he started at the bottom round of the
ladder as a farm hand.

In 1891 Mr. Kortner rented the three hundred
acres of land upon which he still lives, and
where he is engaged principally in grain raising.
He is making a success of his chosen calling, and
is supplementing his practical work by study and
research along these lines. He is a bachelor, and
his home is presided over by his sister, Otelda
Kortner, who shares his ambitions and attends
to his comfort and well being. Mr. Kortner is
broad minded and liberal, a believer in education
and good government, and a supporter of the
Democratic party. While not aspiring to office,
he has served as road commissioner and has
held other offices within the gift of his fellow-
townsmen. Socially he is connected with the
Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order
of Foresters at Santa Maria. Industry and in-
tegritv are among the most valuable assets of
Mr. Kortner. and these, combined with intelli-
gence and good judgment, assure him a liberal
share of material prosperity.

JOHN P. CHRISTENSEN. a contractor
and builder of San Diego,, was born at Aal-
borg, Denmark, June S, 1827, being the young-
est of nine children, of whom only four sur-
vive. He received a common-school education,
studied architecture at tlie Architectural In-
stitute, and also learned the bricklayer's and

plasterer's trade, which he followed for a num-
ber of years.

In the spring of 1866 Air. Christensen left
Denmark, taking the steamer at Hamborg for
New York. Going to Chicago he found em-
ployment in the office of AI. Waskyer, an archi-
tect of that city, but later went to work at
his trade as bricklayer. In the fall he went
to New C>rleans, remaining there until the
spring of 1867, when he went to St. Louis and
there worked at his trade until the fall of 1869,
when he came to California, reaching San
Francisco in October. While there he read
about the different places, among them being
San Diego with its fine climate and excellent
harbor. He came to San Diego December 18,
1869, going to work at plastering for Van
Poser & Eraser. When the Horton house was
ready for bricklaying he went to work on that
under Henry Hamphill (the pioneer bricklay-
er) and after the Horton house was finished
he began contracting for himself in bricklay-
ing and plastering. He sent to San Francisco
for two barrels, of English Portland cement,
for which was paid $10 per barrel. That was
the first Portland cement which ever came in-
to San Diego. Having done considerable
cement work in the old country the trade was
not new to him and his architectural and prac-
tical training m.ade him well qualified to in-
troduce the innovation into San Diego, where
his satisfactory filling of such contracts did
much toward interesting people in the use of
cement. He is the pioneer manufacturer of
artificial stone in San Diego, as well as all
other kinds of plain and ornamental concrete
and cement work.

May 6, 1874, Mr. Christensen was married
to Mrs. Hannah Alarshall, a native of Bur-
lington, Iowa, and of their five children only
one daughter survives. She is a school teach-
er and a graduate of the Normal school at San
Diego. Mr. Christensen is a member of San
Diego Lodge of Odd Fellows, Veterans and
Encampment, and has always supported the
Republican party.

ALVAH DOWNEY. Mr. Downey's coming
to the west can in no way be traced to the
influence which brought the Argonauts hither
in 1849, for three years prior to this he had
set out on his m.arch toward the setting sun.
Leaving his parents in Illinois, in 1846 he came
overland as far as Salt Lake, and some years
later again took up the journey to the coast,
arriving in San Bernardino county in 1854.
Indians were numerous here at that time, but
as they were peaceable, gave little or no cause
for disquiet or fear on the part of the newcomer.

1710

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Wild game was also plentiful, and many a buf-
falo and deer fell before his unerring rifle, thus
furnishing the meat supply for the family. It
was his custom in the early days to go on an
expedition of this kind every fall, dressing and
drying the meat in the mountains, and later
bringing it down to the ranch.

A son of Calvin C. and Nancy (Meyers)
Downey, Alvah Downey was born in Canada,
September 29, 1828. When he was a lad of
ten years his parents came to the States, locat-
ing in Hancock county. III, near Carthage, and
there the father's earth life came to a close
fifteen years later, his death occurring in 1853.
The wife and mother also passed away there a
few years later. In the meantime Alvah Downey
had left the parental homestead and become
established on the Pacific coast. Upon first com-
ing to the county he purchased a number of
lots in San Bernardino, and later bought the
ranch upon which he now makes his home. This
originally included forty acres, but he has since
disposed of a portion of it and now has twenty-
five, admirably located one and one half miles
southwest of Highland. Probably no one in the
county who came here as early as he chd recalls
more vividly the transformation which has taken
place during the last half century. Excellent
roads have taken the place of the blazed trail,
telegraph and telephone wires cross and recross
the fields, and the daily service of the rural free
delivery adds immeasurably in distancing the
discomforts and isolation of former days.

After coming to the west, February 22, 1849,
Alvah Downey was united in marriage with
Elizabeth Hawes. and of the two children born
to them only one is now living, William A., a
resident of San Bernardino. " The daughter,
Mary E., died when one and a half years old.
Mrs. Elizabeth Downey passed away in 1876,
and the following year Mr. Downey married
Mary Benson, the daughter of Jerome Benson.
Three children were born of the second mar-
riage, as follows: Calvin H., who makes his
home with his parents on the home place ; Edna
E., who is the wife of Samuel Johnson and lives
in Oregon : and Jerome Henry, who lives near his
parents. ATr. Downey is now nearing the four-
score milestone of life, contented with his lot, at
peace with the world and enjoying life only as
one can who has lived well and worthily.

ERNST KOHLER. When Ernst Kohler
came to ^^entura county he had nothing but his
two hands and a determination to succeed to
enable him to achieve the success which is now
his, but they were enough, for he is now in com-
fortable circumstances and has a fine home on
his ranch near Oxnard. He is of German par-

entage, his birth having occurred March 26,
1858, in the province of Hanover, Germany,
where his father, Henry Kohler, owned a farm.
The son received his education through the
medium of the common schools of Hanover and
at the age of twenty-three decided to come to
America, landing in San Francisco and remaining
there two weeks to see the city and visit the
various places of interest there. He then came
to Ventura county and found employment on
ranches in the vicinity of Hueneme. He soon
decided to establish himself independently, how-
ever, and rented a piece of land in the Ocean
View district and commenced to raise grain and
stock. In 1892 he has accumulated sufficient
funds to enable him to purchase the land which
he had been renting and he now owns ninety
acres upon which he has put all of the fine im-
provements it boasts. His crops are principally
beets and beans, and in addition to farming his
own land he rents an adjoining tract of fifty
acres which is devoted to beets.

Mr. Kohler was married in Ventura county to
Miss Barbara Furrer, who was born in Switzer-
land, and they have become the parents of three
children : Francis Christopher, Dora Clara, and
Mary Hulda. They are members of the Roman
Catholic Church. Mr. Kohler is considered one
of the most reliable men of that vicinity and his
many admirable qualities have won for him the
highest respect and esteem of the citizens of
Wntura county.

NATT W. TILTON. Capable and in-
dustrious, with a remarkable degree of push and
energy, Natt W. Tilton holds a noteworthy
position among those who have contributed
liberally towards the growth and upbuilding of
San Pedro. For many years he has been promi-
nent as a city official, possessing in an eminent
degree the discretion, trustworthiness and force
of character which have made him so useful as
a member of the common council, a position
which he has filled acceptably to all for nearly
a decade. A son of John A. Tilton, he was
born September 17, 1857, in Fremont, Rocking-
ham county, N. FI., coming from a long line of
honored New England ancestry.

A native of Tilton, N. H.,'john A. Tilton
grew to manhood in his native town. In 1849,
lured by the thrilling stories concerning the dis-
covery of gold in California, he came around
the Horn to this state, but after mining a few
months with moderate recompensation for his
labors he returned to the rugged hills of New
Hampshire. In 1851 he made a second trip to
the mining regions, coming by way of the
Isthmus, and returning to New York by the
same route the following year. Locating then
in Fremont. N. H., he carried on general farm-

URIAH U. TYLER

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1713

ing for a number of seasons. During the Civil
war he enhsted in the Eleventh New Hamp-
shire Volunteer Infantry, was wounded in bat-
tle, and at the end of a year was honorably dis-
charged. In 1868 he removed to Chicago, 111.,
where he was employed for a few years as a
contractor and builder. Buying a farm in Reno,
Nev., in 1878, he was there engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits for about three years. Com-
ing to California in 1881, he settled first at
Stockton, then in Kern county, finally coming
to San Pedro, where he resided until his death,
at the age of seventy-eight years. He married
Sarah Ann Heath, who was born in New
Hampshire, a daughter of Nathaniel Heath, a
farmer, and of the eight children born of their
union, six survive. Two of the sons served in
the Civil war, both being members of the
Eleventh New Hampshire \'olunteer Infantry.
One of these, George A. Tilton, died from
wounds received at the battle of Gettysburg, the
other son, Edward D., served until the close of
the war, after which he came to California, and
for many years has not been heard from.

About eleven years old when his parents re-
moved to Chicago, Natt W. Tilton was edu-
cated principally in the public schools of that
city. Going from there to Reno, Nev., in 1875,
he followed farming and teaming until 1881,
when he settled in Stockton, Cal., where he con-
tinued as a teamster for five years. In 1886 he
took up a homestead claim of one hundred and
sixty acres in Delano, Kern county, where he
carried on general farming during the summer
seasons, spending his winters in Fresno, for four
years of the time superintending the construc-
tion of the Risden and Kirby canal. Coming to
San Pedro in 1893, he accepted the agency of
the Union Ice Company and here built up a
large and remunerative business for the firm.
He was likewise agent for three breweries, the
M. & Z. Brewery, the Los Angeles Brewing
Company and the Weiland Brewery. Under
his supervision ice houses were erected, and for
nine years, under the name of the San Pedro
Wholesale Company, he carried on a very large
'business. In 1902 he incorporated the business
under that name and served as its president and
manager until selling out his interests in the
concern in February, 1903. A man of great
financial and executive ability, far-seeing and
possessincT good judgment as an investor, he
has acquired a fine property. In company with
Air. 'Menburg he has established a large busi-
ness as a dealer in real estate under the title of
the San Pedro & Wilmington Realty Company,
with office in Wilmington. He has built a large
residence for himself and family in San Pedro,
and also owns a valuable farm of three hun-
dred and twenty acres near Calexico, San Diego

county, on which, in addition to raising alfalfa,
cattle and horses, he has a bearing vineyard of
five acres.

In Delano, Cal., j\lr. Tilton married Mattie
Meier, who was born at Cole Camp, Mo. Polit-
ically Mr. Tilton is an active adherent of the
Republican party, which he has served with
fidelity and ability in public affairs. In 1895
he was elected councilman, and served until he
moved outside of the city limits. Eighteen
months later that part of the town was taken
into the municipal limits and he was re-elected
to the same position, and has served continuously
ever since. Fraternally he is a member of the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and of
the Eagles.

URIAH URBAN TYLER. Though thirty-
five years have pas.'^ed since the death of Mr.
Tyler so indissolubly was his life associated
with the upbuilding of San Bernardino, where
he had made his home for twenty years, that
his name and deeds are alike imperishable.
Born November 13, 1826, in New York state,
at the age of twenty-one he came across the
plains as far as Salt Lake, remaining there
until the following year, when he completed
the journey to California. Coming the same
year to San Bernardino, which was then lit-
tle more than a hamlet, he entered heart and
soul into whatever project was started for its
upbuilding and for the part which he per-
formed in bringing about better conditions all
who remember him revere his memory. For a
number of years during the early days his
meat market was the only store of the kind in
town, and after he gave this up he engaged
in various lines of business. At the time John
C. Fremont was surveying for the base line
Mr. Tyler assisted in the work and also helped
to place the monument on the mountain.

In Salt Lake City. May 14, 1865. Mr. Tyler
\vas married to Rachael Aloore, who was born
•in Ft. Madison, Iowa, August 26, 1841. the
daughter of John Harvev and Clarissa (Droll)
Moore. Six children were born to ]\Ir. and
Mrs. Tyler, as follows: George W.. who lives
at home with his mother; Lizzie A., Mrs. R.
W. Colson. of Portland. Ore. : Emery B.. in
Nome. Alaska • ITrban A., living in San Ber-
nardino: John Hugh, also at home with his
mother; and Edward Guy. deceased.

Not only was Mr. Tyler a believer in Re-
publican principles, but he was a stanch sup-
porter of those principles and did his part in
gaining converts to his belief. As a candi-
date on his party's ticket he was elected the
first deputy sheriff in Los Angeles, later was
county clerk of San Bernardino countv. his

1714

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

election as assessor following still later. As
the first justice of the peace in San Bernar-
dino his position was no sinecure, for he fought
lawlessness and corruption to the bitter end,
with the result that he was a terror to evil-
doers and had the stanch support and good-
will of the better element. For over thirty
years he had been affiliated with the Alasonic
order, at the time of his death, July 4, 1871,
being a member of the lodge at San Bernar-
dino. In her declining years the widow is
blessed in the companionship of her eldest and
youngest sons, the three living together in
the family home on Second street, San Bernar-
dino.

JOSEPH WILEY WRIGHT. Since coming
to Long Beach in 1904 Mr. Wright has gained
considerable renown as a contractor, the initial
training in that line being among his boyhood
accomplishments at the carpenter's bench.
Among the larger structures which stand as
monuments to his handiwork are the Townsend
building and the Eastman block, while in the
residence district he has erected many of the
finest homes in the city. Contracting, however,
is only one of the lines in which he is engaged,
for he is equally well known as a reliable real-
estate dealer, and owns considerable valuable
property in the residence district particularly.

The ancestry of the Wright family is traceable
to Irish antecedents, for the grandfather, Joseph
Wright, who established the family in the United
States, was a native of the Emerald Isle. He
settled in Virginia, in Roanoke county, and there
his son, Chester B., was born in the town of that
name, as was also the grandson, our subject.
Besides following farming, a life to which he had
been trained from boyhood, he also was a mill-
wright, and it is safe to presume that he was
very successful in both lines of endeavor, for
he is now living retired on his Virginia farm,
where he and his wife had lived for so many
years and trained their eleven children. Before
her marriage Martha Sweeney, Mrs. Wright
was also born in Virginia, and her death oc-
curred on the home farm in 1905.

Of the eleven children born to his parents, J.
W. Wright was the eldest, his birth occurring
in Roanoke, October 15, 1877. From the public
schools of that place he matriculated in Norfolk
college, there as well as in the common schools
acquitting himself nobly. During his boyhood
and youth he had applied himself to mastering
the carpenter's trade whenever he could spare
the time from his studies, so that when he was
little more than a boy he had a knowledge of
the business which justified him in starting out
on his own behalf in 1896. Going to Lincoln,

Logan county, 111., he followed his trade there
for about one year, during which time he erected
the Spitley hotel, one of the finest buildings in
that city. Returning to \'irginia at the end of
that time, he engaged in millwrighting, besides
which he also worked at his regular trade. The
years 1897-98 were spent in West A'irginia,
where he made a specialty of dealing in lumber
and building mills, and during this time he also
bought a farm and erected a mill upon it. Once
more he returned to old Virginia, there follow-
ing the lumber business until his removal to
Dayton, Ohio, remaining in the latter place
seven months. His coming to the west dates
from the year 1902, at which time he went to
Whittier, following his trade there for two
years, at the end of that time locating in Long
Beach, where he has become well known as one
of the leading contractors and builders as well
as reliable real-estate dealers in the city.

]\Ir. Wright has a very pleasant and com-
modious residence at the corner of Lemon and
Alamitos streets, his home being presided over
by his wife, who, before her marriage, was Miss
Sallie Light, she also being a native of the Old
Dominion. Two children have blessed their
marriage, Clarence B. and Alta May. Mr.
Wright is a valued member of numerous fra-
ternal organizations, among them the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows (being high priest of
the encampment branch of his lodge, and is also
serving as vice-grand of the subordinate branch).
Modern Woodmen of America, Modern Broth-
erhood, Rebekahs and the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks.

GEORGE H. MARSH. Since taking up his
residence in Pomona in 1897 Mr. Jilarsh has sub-
stantially impressed his merit upon the com-
munity. Among the busy enterprises of this
thriving town due mention belongs to his man-
ufactory at the corner of Cypress and Sixth
streets, where he makes a specialty of manu-
facturing ladders and screens. Among the for-
mer are the Acme extension ladder, the tripod
fruit-picking ladder, and the painter's extension
ladder. The plant is supplied with modern con-
veniences and appliances, and a ten-horse pow-
er gas engine furnishes the motive power for
the planers, saws and lathes.

Mr. Marsh is of English birth and ancestry,
and was born in Kent, November 3, 1859, the
son of William Henry and Emma (Crow) Marsh.
The father now makes his home in Pasadena,
his wife having died in England. George H.
Marsh was educated in the public schools of
Seven Oaks, Kent, England, and when he had
reached his seventeenth year had definite plans
as to his future business career. Going to Bris-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1715

tol, England, he apprenticed himself to learn
parlor-organ building and such was his applica-
tion and interest in the work that it was not long
before he had established a factory of his own
in the same city in which he had learned his
trade, his plant being known as the Temple
Organ works. After a number of years' close
application to the business he took a deserved
respite in the year 1891 and came to the United
States, visiting Santa Rosa, Gal., among other
places. Returning to England he once more
took up the work of organ-building and for
two years carried it on with apparent content.
His visit to California, however, had made a
lasting impression on his mind, and his object
in disposing of his business in 1896 was to take
up his permanent residence in the Land of Sun-
shine and Flowers. For about a year after
coming to Southern California he was interested
in the furniture business in Los Angeles, and
the following year he came to Pomona and estab-
lished himself as a manufacturer of ladders and
screens, his plant being the only one of the kind
in town, hence the rapid growth of his business.
The products of his factory are well known
commodities throughout this part of the country.
Not only is Mr. Marsh a manufacturer, but
he is an inventor as well, having originated the
bolted step used in the ladders of his manu-
facture, as well as the patent lock.

Mr. Marsh was married in England to Miss
Nellie Sewell, who was a native of that country
also, and two children, William Gordon and
Louisa have been born to them. The family
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and in their daily living exemplify the teaching
they profess. Public-spirited and enterprising,
Mr. Marsh is one who is not content to live
for himself alone, but is happiest when giving
joy or comfort to others, which makes it super-
fluous to sav that he has friends innumerable.

JOHN BJORKMAN. A man of sterling
worth and integrity, industrious, energetic and
progressive, John Bjorkman is numbered
among the valued citizens of San Pedro, where
for one year he served as treasurer of the Lum-
ber Surveyors' Association of Southern Cali-
fornia, one of its most important business or-
ganizations. A native of Finland, he was born,
May 4, 1871, in Nyacarleby, where his parents,
John Frederick and Sophia (Harold) Bjork-
man, spent their entire lives, being engaged in
agricultural pursuits. He is one of a family
consisting of eight children, five of whom are
living, namely: Carl, of Los Angeles: John,
the special subject of this sketch ; Mary, of Los
Angeles : Henry, of San Pedro ; and Mrs. Louise
Gustason, of Nyacarleby, Finland.

Brought up on the home farm, John Bjork-
man received his elementary education in the
common schools. Immigrating to America in
1889, he came directly in San Pedro, which was
then but a comparatively small place, and for
about four months worked on a farm. Entering
then the employ of the San Pedro Lumber Com-
pany, he began in a humble capacity, and grad-
ually worked his way upward, becoming lumber
inspector for that firm. Resigning that position
in 1895, he established himself as a lumber sur-
veyor, working for different companies as tally-
man, and meeting with excellent success. In
1901 he assisted in organizing the Lumber
Surveyors' Association of Southern California,
of which he has since been an active and promi-
nent member, and for one year was its treas-
urer. Mr. Bjorkman is a man of good financial
ability, and in addition to accumulating other
property has a fine residence at No. 119 Orizaba
street.

September 4, 1902, Mr. Bjorkman married
Hannah Sisbacka, a native of Purmo, Finland,
from which she emigrated in 1902, coming from
there to San Pedro, arriving in this city on July
12 of that year. In religion, Mr. and Mrs.
Bjorkman are Lutherans.

CHARLES L. MULLHOLAND. In 1884
Mr. Mullholand came to California and since that
time has succeeded in building up for himself a
competence, proving himself a pioneer farmer in
the peet lands and successfully establishing his
claim that these lands could be profitably culti-
vated. Mr. Mullholand is a native of Wyandot
county, Ohio, his birth having occurred in Carey
June 25, 1864; his father, William, was also
born in Ohio, near McCutchenville, while his
grandfather, Hugh, was born in Ireland and be-
came a pioneer farmer of Ohio, where he died.
William Mullholand engaged as a farmer in
Ohio until his retirement from active life, when
he located in Adrian, Ohio. His wife, formerly
Lucinda Long, was born in Pennsylvania, and
she also survives. They were the parents of ten
children, of whom seven are now living.

The fifth child in the family, Charles'" L. Mull-
holand, was reared on the paternal farm in Ohio,
receiving an education in the district school in
the vicinity of his home. At the age of thirteen
years he became dependent upon his own re-
sources, inheriting the sturdy spirit of his ances-
tors. He worked on various farms throughout
the country, his last five years in Ohio being
spent on the farm of David Straw. In 1884 'le
came to Los Angeles, thence went to Colton. and
from there to the Greenlead mines, after which
he mined in the Holcomb valley for two years.
Going to San Diego he was employed for two

1716

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

months in the building- of the No. 2 tunnel, after
which he returned to Colton and entered the em-
ploy of J. V. Suman. In 1889 he came to Los
Angeles county and made a contract with Rich-
ard Garvey to run a tunnel into the hills. This
he did, at a cost of $8,000. He was then em-
ployed on the Ripatti ranch, working for Hell-
man, Newmark and Bicknell, and while in their
employ ran a nine hundred foot tunnel for them.
He then did two thousand feet of work on the
Titus ranch for Bradbury and Bicknell. In the
meantime he had purchased ten acres of swamp
land, which he now began to improve and in
1892 purchased another ten acres and improved
it, his horses having to wear peet shoes when
he ditched and tiled the land. In 1896 he pur-
chased another ten acres adjoining, which he
ditched and improved, and the next year planted
seven acres in potatoes, from which he obtained
three hundred sacks per acre. He sold at a profit
of $450 per acre, this being the first large yield
in the vicinity. He continued his farming enter-
prise and finally bought the old Bolton place
near the Durfee ranch, where he made many im-
provements and began general farming and gar-
dening. The first ten acres he purchased he has
now set to walnuts, apples and peaches, and on
this has erected his home residence, owning in all
thirty acres ; besides which he owns property in
Adrian, Ohio, where his father still lives. He
has taken a prominent part in matters of public
import and has served efficiently as school trus-
tee in the Puente district. Politically he is a
stanch adherent of Democratic principles.

ALBERT SLACK. A native son of the
state, Albert Slack was born near El Monte, Los
Angeles county, July 14, 1868, a son of Will-
iam Slack, a well remembered pioneer of South-
ern California and one of its prominent citizens,
whose history will be found elsewhere in this
volume. He was next to the youngest in a
family of ten children, all of whom are now liv-
ing. Reared on the paternal farm near El
Monte, he received his education in the public
schools of this place, after which, at the age
of nineteen years, he engaged as a clerk in a
general merchandise establishment here. In
Monrovia, January 12, 1890, he was united in
marriage with Miss Eva Irene Durfee, born on
her father's homestead near El Monte. James
Devine Durfee was one of the earliest pioneers
of this section, locating here in 1859, and grad-
ually rising to a position of affluence and in-
fluence in Southern California. More complete
details concerning his career are given in his
personal biography, which appears elsewhere in
this volume. Immediately following their mar-
riage ]\Tr. and Mrs. Slack located on a farm near

El Alonte, upon which Air. Slack engaged in
general farming with financial success, which
enabled him in 1902 to purchase his present
property. This consists of a portion of the old
Allen property, located two and a half miles
south of El Monte, ten acres having been set
out in walnuts, while twenty acres of peet land
is rented for celery and general gardening pur-
poses. Mr. Slack has one of the finest ranches
in this section, well improved and highly culti-
vated, and which brings him in large financial
returns. In addition to his farming enterprises
he is also interested in teaming and as a whole-
sale dealer in hay, grain and wood, furnishing
the first named commodity to South Pasadena.
Mr. and Mrs. Slack have three children, Howard
Albert, Perry Durfee and Majorie Diantha.
Politically Mr. Slack is a stanch Republican.

OLIVER PERRY THORNE. The fact that
Oliver Perrv Thome is a new resident of Long
Beach does not in any sense signify that he
is new at the cement business, for he has
been engaged in this work all of his life and
has a thorough, practical knowledge of it
in all its details, which accounts in a large
measure for the success of the Ornamen-
tal Stone and Brick Company, of which he
has been manager since acquiring an interest
in the firm in Alay. 1906. A member of a family
of seven children, six of whom are now living,
Mr. Thome was born Alarch 5, 1871, in Win-
chester, Ind., the son of D. M. and Lucy
(Keever) Thorne, both natives of Indiana. The
father was a prominent business man of Win-
chester,' and a large landowner, and was an
influential citizen who took an active interest
in the public life of the community, at one
time serving on the board of county com-
missioners from his district. During the Civil
war he served in the Fifth Regiment of Indiana
\'olunteer Infantry as a first lieutenant, fought
valiantly for his country, and during the remain-
der of his life carried scars from wounds re-
ceived in battle. His death in Indiana removed
a man who had many friends and was held in the
highest respect and esteem by all who knew him.

After completing his studies in the public
and high schools of his native state Mr. Tliorne
learned the carpenter's trade and followed it
for two years, after which for a like period he
was employed by T. J. Lyst & Son, large cement
contractors of Anderson, Ind., working for them
as foreman in various parts of Indiana and Ohio.
Following this he established himself in a cement-
contracting business in Winchester, where he
owned one of the first cement block machines
brought into that city. His business at this time
also embraced general street contracting, and in

SAMUEL WARNOCK

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1719

all he met with excellent success. It was in the
fall of 1905 that he located in Long Beach and
engaged in cement contracting for a few months
before buying an interest in his present business.
The Ornamental Stone and Brick Company
manufacture ornamental stone and cement pressed
brick, using two Wingate cement block machines
and one Jackson cement pressed brick machine.
They also do a general contracting business
in heavy cement and re-enforced concrete work
and have furnished materials for many public
and business buildings in the city, giving entire
satisfaction to their patrons.

Mr. Thome's marriage, which occurred in
Lynn, Ind., united him with Miss Mattie Norton,
a native of that place. Fraternally he is connected
with a number of the more prominent organiza-
tions, having been made a Mason in Lynn Lodge
No. 223, A. F. & A. M. ; is a member of Lynn
Lodge No. 294, I. O. O. F., belonging also to
the Encampment of Lynn and the canton at
Winchester, Ind. ; and holds membership in the
Knights of Pythias Lodge at Lynn. Politically
he is an advocate of Republican principles. As
a public spirited citizen, an enterprising business
man, and one whose well-rounded interests give
him broad and liberal views he is accorded a
high place in the esteem of all with whom he
comes in contact.

SAMUEL WARNOCK. The changing
destinies of military service established the
Warnock family in Southern California, the
first to found the race on this soil having been
Samuel Warnock. a native of the north of Ire-
land and a soldier in the United States army.
While in the early dawn of manhood he enlist-
ed in the army and in 1849 was sent to Cali-
fornia as a member of Company I, Second In-
fantry of Major Heintzelman's command.
When the discovery of gold in the far west
attracted emigrants by the thousands the gov-
ernment found it necessary to establish mili-
tary posts along the route of travel in order
to protect the defenseless gold-seekers from
the hostility of the Indians. For this purpose
the secretary of war ordered Alajor Heintzel-
man with several companies of the Second In-
fantry to establish posts at various points
along the western coast and on the lonely des-
erts. Among other posts the major estab-
lished was that on the right bank of the Col-
orado river at its junction with the Gila, and
this he named Fort Yuma. The location was
an exceedingly important one, for the emi-
grants, having fought their way down the
Gila, had previous to the coming of the sol-
diers fallen an easy prey to the red man.

Concerning the .experiences of the soldiers

at Fort Yuma in those early days Joseph Swy-
caffer, an old comrade of Samuel VVarnock, has
given this statement: "Although the establish-
ment of the post at Fort Yuma was a benefit
to the emigrant it was a death trap to many a
soldier. It was one of the most forbidding and
desolate places at that time on the continent
of America ; there was no rest for the wicked
and no peace for the righteous. The red men
were always on the alert to surprise the camp
and murder the occupants. This was in 1850,
and they were then particularly active in their
eiTorts to destroy the camp. The year before
they were successful in their raid on the
Clanton party near the same place, destroying
the entire party of over forty people, not one
escaping to tell the tale.

"Thus it was that the soldiers were always
on duty and slept on their arms, if sleep they
could, with the thermometer ranging any-
where from one hundred and twelve to one
hundred and thirty-two degrees, with swarms
of gnats and flies by day and myriads of mos-
quitoes by night. The soldiers' rations were
of the poorest kind and no vegetables of any
sort whatever — old army stores that perhaps
had been lying in warehouses since the com-
mencement of the Mexican war, then shipped
to California for the troops in service here.
The rations were five or six months at sea in
a ship's hold before reaching Benicia, thence
to San Diego, thence across the mountains
and desert to Fort Yuma, about a year in
transit. Under such conditions disease broke
out and it did not take long to start a grave-
vard under the hill at Fort Yuma. It will
readily be seen that the available force of the
camp was soon greatly reduced and that the
lives of all depended entirely upon the bravery
and endurance of a few hardy men whom
neither climate, red men or other productions
of this 'hell hole' (as it was called) could
swerve from duty. One of those brave boys
was the comrade who has heard and answered
the last bugle call. He had the entire confi-
dence of his officers and if there was any dan-
gerous or confidential duty to be done, Sam-
uel Warnock was always on the detail. He
completed his service in 1854, and was honor-
ably discharged, with character good."

After leaving the army Mr. Warnock was
engaged by the quartermaster's department at
Fort Yuma to carry the mail to that point
from San Diego. The work was one of ex-
ceeding difficulty and taxed the powers of en-
durance of even a hardy man, while none but
the bravest would attempt the work. It was
felt by all that he was the man for the place.
Not only was he the possessor of fearless cour-
age which no peril could daunt, but in addition

1720

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

he had a thorough knowledge of the desert and
the mountains and hence could find his way
over the trackless stretch of sands and barren
wastes. For three years he pursued this haz-
ardous undertaking and then resigned in order
to take up ranching.

The distinction of having been the first
farmer in Ballena valley, San Diego county,
belonged to Samuel Warnock. It was he who
in 1855 turned the first furrows and sowed the
first seed in the rich virgin soil of the valley,
and for years afterward he was intimately as-
sociated with the agricultural development of
the region. As newcomers began to be at-
tracted to the district they came to him for ad-
vice as to land and from the first he wielded a
large influence among his fellow-workers. In
all business transactions he was the soul of
honor, and never was known to dispute a debt
nor to owe a dollar he did not pay. Often
strangers came to his door in search of lodging
and food, and none was refused shelter and
the hospitality of the table, although most of
these were unable to make any return for the
kindness. He was ever ready to help others,
even those who had been unfriendly to him
were treated with the same generous spirit
shown toward his friends. A citizen of irre-
proachable life and kindly heart, he was
mourned when death ended his labors, No-
vember 9, 1905, and it was felt throughout the
entire valley that one of its greatest men was
gone from among the people. His marriage
united him with Maria Bradley, who was born
in the north of Ireland.

The old homestead of four hundred and
twenty acres, which forms one of the finest
ranches in the valle}', is now owned by the
family and operated by the three sons of the
former owner, all of whom were born in San
Diego, the dates of their births being as fol-
lows: Robert, February 26, 1876; Samuel H.,
October 20, 1877 ; and James B., Christmas
day of 1879. The only daughter now living,
Elizabeth Ann, was born April 11, 1883. The
young men have been life long residents of
San Diego county and are familiar with its ag-
ricultural conditions. As yet none of the three
has married, but they remain together, work-
ing in partnership the tract inherited from the
estate. At this writing they have two hun--
dred acres in grain and much of the remain-
ing acres are in pasturage, affording facilities
for the care of a large number of head of stock.
In the management of the land they display
energy and wise judgment, and already they
rank among the capable agriculturists of the
vallev.

JAMES L. DOUGHERTY. A pioneer of
tlie state and one of its most successful ranchers
and dair>'men, James L. Dougherty, of Norwalk,
has succeeded in establishing for himself a posi-
tion of high esteem among the citizens of this
section of Los Angeles county. He is of south-
ern birth and lineage, his birth having occurred
in Grayson county, Va., June 17, 1847 ; his
parents, Charles and Rosamond (Hale) Dougher-
ty, were natives respectively of North Carolina
and Virginia. In 1868 they came to California
with their son and located in Los Angeles county,
living first at El Monte and then at Azusa,
where the death of the father occurred after an
active career as a farmer, which pursuit he
followed throughout his entire life. His wife
survives him and makes her home in Pomona,
Cal. Mr. Dougherty was identified with the
Odd Fellows fraternally and politically was a
stanch advocate of Democratic principles. Both
himself and wife were members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church South. Of their seven chil-
dren, one son is deceased, and the remaining
dfildren are living in California.

The family removing to Texas when James
L. Dougherty was but four years old, he received
his education in the common schools of that
state. He was a very youthful recruit when he
enlisted in Captain White"s company, Gittings
Battalion, under General Ford's command for
service in the Civil war, but no more faithful or
courageous soldier was found than he during
the three years in which he acted in various
capacities in the cause he loved. After the close
of the war he remained in Texas until 1866,
when he set out for California, only reaching
San Antonio, however, before he turned back
to the old home place and began raising 'cotton.
He finally sold out and with his parents in 1868
made the trip overland with mule-teams to the
El Dorado state, from San Bernardino journey-
ing to El Monte, where they passed the ensu-
ing two years. Mr. Dougherty then engaged in
ranching and finally went to Azusa, where he
purchased a tract of thirty acres and later set
it out in fruit of various kinds. He remained
in that section for about fifteen years and during
this time was compelled to fight for his land,
which was a part of a Spanish grant; he won
the suit, however, and retained the property.
Disposing of his interests in Azusa he came to
the vicinity of Artesia, purchased thirty-five acres,
later sold it, and bought his present ranch of
one hundred and sixty acres. This is devoted
to grain and alfalfa, while much of his time is
given over to the management of a dairy, which
is supplied by thirty-five cows of fine stock, the
product being shipped to Los Angeles. He has
improved his property by the erection of a com-
fortable residence, barns and outbuilding and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1721

all necessar_v equipment for conducting a suc-
cessful ranching enterprise.

In Texas, in 1868, Mr. Dougherty was united
in marriage with JNIiss Lorinda C. Barling, a
native of Missouri, and born in McDonald county
in 1851. Her father, Henry A. Barling, was
born in Baltimore, Md., and reared in Fort
Smith, Ark., while the mother, Sarah Price
in maidenhood, was a native of Missouri.
The mother died when her daughter (who
was one of seven children, four of whom
are living) was but a small child ; later tiie
family removed to Texas, where the father passed
away. Mr. and Mrs. Dougherty became the
parents of the followang children : S_vbil, who
died at the age of three years ; Qiarles, at home ;
and Frank H., who died June 20, 1900, while
on a trip to Taliiti Island for his health, and was
buried at sea. He left a widow, formerly Esther
Lowenstein, and two children, one of whom has
since died at the age of five years. Fraternally
jAIr. Dougherty is a meinber of the Knights of
the Maccabees, of Artesia, and politically is a
lifelong Democrat. He supports the Methodist
Episcopal Church South of which his wife is
a member. Mr. Dougherty is highly esteemed
throughout this section and merits the position of
general respect which he enjoys.

BERNHARD MAIER. So closely allied is
the name of Bernhard Maier with that of the
Greater Los Angeles Realty Company, that to
mention one immediately suggests the other. The
company has been in existence since September.
1905, at which time Bernhard Maier, Henry
Kahn, Samuel J. Harris and Samuel Waktor
united their efforts under the name of the Greater
Los Angeles Realty Company and have since
carried on an immense business in their line,
operating in Los Angeles and the adjoining
country, principally, although they also buy and
sell improved and unimproved property in other
parts of the country.

Bernhard Maier 'is of German nativity and
was born in the town of Reckendorf, Bavaria,
April 8, 1869, the son of Hirsch and Fannie
(Raiss) Maier, they too being natives of the
Fatherland. The public schools of his home
town furnished him with the only training he
was destined to receive in that line, for when he
was scarcely more than a primary student he
bad formulated plans whereby the remainder of
his life was to be associated with the New World.
In 1886, when a lad of seventeen years of age,
he debarked from the German port of Bremen
and nine days later had passed inspection at
Castle Garden, New York City. Without loss
of time in the east he immediately made his way
overland to Los Angeles, Cal.,. reaching this city

August ID, 1886. Though unfamiliar with our
customs and language he proved so apt a scholar
in both that these disadvantages were only tem-
])orary handicaps. Going to Norwalk, Cal., he
secured a clerkship in the general merchandise
establishment of Speier & Swigart, a position
which he held for eig'ht years, having served his
employer well and faithfully during that time.
The national characteristic of thrift had been
generously bestowed upon him by a long line
of German ancestors, as was demonstrated dur-
ing the eight years just mentioned. So frugally
had he saved his earnings and so carefully had
he noted and studied the details of the business,
that upon leaving his first position he felt him-
self qualified to start in business for himself.
Going to Rincon, Riverside county, in February,
1894, he established a merchandise business which
he managed with good financial results for six
years. In the meantime he had been appointed
postmaster of the town, serving for four years
in this capacity under the presidency of Grover
Cleveland, besides which he also acted as agent
for the Santa Fe Railroad for about one year.
In 1899, after selling his stock and good- will to
L. Wells & Son, he went to Benson, Ariz., and
again established a general merchandise busi-
ness, which he conducted personally for five
years and ten months, after which he turned
its management over to his brother, L. Maier,
and Henry Waktor, although Mr. Maier himself
still owns tlie business. As the stock carried is
first-class in every way, and always has been
from the time the store was established, an
immense and dependable patronage has been the
result, goods being handled both in wholesale
and retail quantities. In order to carry out a
business undertaking which had been under con-
sideration for some time Mr. Maier found it*
necessary to give the entire management of this
large business into the care of others, and since
September of 1905, his own time has been given
entirely to the new company then organized and
known as die Greater Los Angeles Realty Com-
pany, with offices in the Huntington building,
Los Angeles.

Mr. Maier's home at No. 1610 Union avenue,
Los Angeles, is carefully presided over by his
wife, to whom he was married in tliis city May
12, 1895. and who before her marriage was
Frieda Fichtelberger, a daughter of Moses and
Minnie (Stern) Fichtelberger. Of the two chil-
dren born of this marriage Louis, born in Rin-
con, Cal., December 5, 1897, is the only one liv-
ing. The other child. Norma, born in Benson,
Ariz., May 31, 1901, was taken from them by
death September 10, 1904. Mr. Maier's busi-
ness duties consume the greater part of his time
and thought, but not bowev-er to the exclusion
of his fraternal obligations, which are numerous

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and varied. He was initiated into the Benev-
olent Trotective Order of Elks in Lodge No.
671 in Bisbee, Ariz., and is now a member of
Westgate Lodge No. 335 of Los Angeles. He
also belongs to Artesia Tent No. 10, K. O. T. M.,
of Artesia, Cal. : and Circle City Lodge L O. F.,
of Corona, Cal., of which latter lodge he had
held the position of financial secretary- for three
years. His initiation into the order of Foresters
occurred in Norwalk, Cal., he being one of the
charter members of his lodge. Fraternally Mr.
Maier is a believer in Republican principles.

ADOLPH iNIULLER. The late Adolph
Aluller is remembered as one of the prominent
citizens of San Pedro, where he was located for
many years prior to his death, which occurred
in June, 1904, at the age of sixty-nine years.
He was a native of Germany, his birth having
occurred in Breton Hebein where his ancestors
had been located for generations. He was reared
to young manhood in his native country and was
apprenticed to learn the trade of ship carpenter,
which he mastered. He spent a large portion of
his young manhood on the sea and in the course
of his travels came to the coast of California.
Landing at San Francisco he decided to settle
here permanently and engage in building, which
occupation he followed for some time. In 1882
he came to Los Angeles in the employ of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, thence com-
ing to San Pedro and following the same work
until his retirement.

Mr. Muller was twice married, his first wife
being Annetta Wyllie, who was born in Los
Angeles and died in San Pedro. In San Ber-
nardino, he was united in marriage with Marie
Pico, who was born near San Diego, Cal., a
daughter of Jose Antonio Pico, a brother of
Governor Pio Pico and of Gen. Andreas Pico,
all of whom were sons of Jose Marie Pico. The
elder man, an officer under the Mexican govern-
ment, located in San Diego, Cal., and later settled
in San Gabriel, where his death occurred. Jose
Antonio Pico, who was born in San Diego county,
became a military man and as a lieutenant served
for many years in the army located in various
parts of California, from the extreme southern
portion to Benicia, Solano county. About the
time of the American occupation of the state
he was retired, making his home on the Santa
Margarita ranch, in San Diego county, of which
he was part owner. He married Magdalena
Baca, a native of Santa Fe, N. Mex., and a
daughter of Manuel Baca, an early settler of
Solano county, where he became an extensive
land owner. He was a man of fine character,
tracing his descent to the Bacas of Castile. Spain.
He became a prominent man and citizen in So-

lano county, taking an active part in its develop-
ment and upbuilding, the town of Vacaville be-
ing named for him. Mrs. Pico died in San
Bernardino, Cal., leaving the following children:
Francisco, engaged in the cattle business in San
Jacinto ; Pio, a farmer near Tucson, Ariz. ; Jose,
located in San Juan Capistrano; Francisca, of
San Bernardino; Andreas, a farmer at Ocean-
side, Cal. ; Manuel, located in San Jacinto ; Marie ;
Rudecinda, wife of M. Aguirre, of San Jacinto;
and Dolores, Mrs. Huzzalla, of San Bernardino.
Marie Pico was reared in San Jacinto, River-
side county, Cal., where her father was then en-
gaged in stock-raising, their home being known
as Casa Louia, which interpreted means "House
on the Hill". She received her education in St.
Catherine's Academy and in young womanhood
became the wife of Mr. Aluller, since whose
death she has continued to make her home in
San Pedro. She is a devout member of the
Catholic Church, in which faith she was reared.
Her husband was associated fraternally with the
Knights of Pythias, serving as treasurer of the
lodge of which he was a member.

SCHUYLER COLE. Since becoming a resi-
dent of Colegrove and a promoter of its financial,
commercial and landed development, Mr. Cole
has accomplished much in behalf of local prog-
ress. During the year 1902 he opened a branch
of the Bank of Santa j\Ionica at Sawtelle of which
he was manager for several years, and still holds
the position of assistant cashier in the Bank of
Santa Monica. Besides being a close student of
the financial world and a discriminating judge of
banking affairs, he has an expert knowledge of
real estate values in the region lying between
Los Angeles and the ocean. As a member of the
real estate firm of Loomis & Cole, he was inter-
ested in the opening of the Artesian tract of one
hundred acres adjoining Sawtelle on the west,
which was platted into residence lots and has
proved a successful investment for all parties
concerned. With the addition of anotlier partner
and under the title of Health, Loomis & Cole, the
firm carries on a real estate brokerage business
at Ocean Park and acts as selling agents for the
Santa Monica Land and Water Company.

A son of Senator Cornelius Cole, a native of
Lodi, Seneca county, N. Y., and for years a lead-
ing man of affairs in California, Schuyler Cole
was born in Schuyler county, N. Y., February 4,
1865, and received a fair education in the gram-
mar and high schools of San Francisco, preparing
for admission to Cornell LTniversity. but obliged
to forego higher educational advantages on ac-
count of poor health. In company with his
brother, Seward Cole, in 1880 he came to his
father's ranch at Colegrove, Los Angeles county.

Uji.^ WUu^^

HISTORICAL AND BlOGRAPillCAL RECORD.

and here engaged in raising wheat and barle\'
on an extensive scale. For a long period he re-
mained on the ranch, but in 1898 he left in
order to become superintendent and general man-
ager of the Cold Bug mine near Grant's Pass in
Oregon, a well-known and rich quartz mine with
a stamp mill and full equipment. During the
four years in which he had charge of the mine he
gained a practical knowledge of mining as con-
ducted in Oregon and proved successful as a
superintendent. On the sale of the mine in 1902
he returned to Colegrove, where he has since
made his home. October i, 1906, he organized
die Occident Motor Car Company, of which he
is president and manager, and which has the Pa-
cific coast agency for the Cartercar.

At Santa Monica in December of 1896, Mr.
Cole was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth
Gorham, who was born in Ohio and is niece of
Senator Jones of Santa Monica. Possessing
genial companionable traits, an affable manner
and uniform courtesy of demeanor. Mr. Cole en-
joys a high standing in society and is a prominent
member of the Jonathan Club of Los Angeles.
Supplementing these traits which contribute to
his personal popularity, he possesses keen judg-
ment and mitiring energy in the prosecution of
business aii'airs, and is therefore able to maintain
the highest standing among men of commerce.
Though not a partisan in political views, he
stanchly advocates the principles of the Republi-
can party and invariably gives his support to
the party's candidates in national elections.

WILLIAM A/'OLKMOR. The substantial
and well-to-do citizens of Whittier have no
better respresentative than William Volkmor,
who is actively identified with the industrial
interests of this part of the county, and stands
high among the keen, progressive business men
of the place. A man of strong individuality,
possessing excellent executive ability, and an
expert mechanic, he served for many years
as foreman of the blacksmithing department
at the state school, where his personal influ-
ence was felt and appreciated. A son of Levi
Volkmor, he was born. August 30, 1864, in
Massillon, Stark county. Ohio, of German an-
cestry.

A native of Germany. Levi Volkmor immi-
grated to the United States when a young
man. locating in Ohio, where for a few years
he ran the tow-boat from Cleveland to Cin-
cinnati. Settling then in ATassillon. Stark
county, he entered the Russell machine shops,
where he had charge of the department in
which threshing machines were manufactured
for twentv-two consecutive rears. On retir-

ing from that position he purchased a farm of
one hundred and sixty acres in Stark county,
and having made excellent improvements up-
on it is now devoting himself to its manage-
ment, meeting with good success as an agri-
culturist. His wife, whose maiden name was
Mary Ertle, has resided in Stark county dur-
ing her entire life.

Having completed his early education in the
public schools, William Volkmor learned the
trade of a horse-shoer. serving an apprentice-
ship of four years with his uncle. Adam Volk-
mor. Coming then with his brother Adam to
California, he arrived in Los Angeles in No-
vember, 1888, just at the time the great land
boom collapsed, and the people were nearly
discouraged, the city being in a rather demoral-
ized condition. However, he was fortunate
enough to secure work on the day of his ar-
rival, but three weeks later his brother died,
and he returned with his body to their old
home in Massillon. Coming back before very
long to Los Angeles, Mr. Volkmor worked
at his trade for three years, being employed
for six months by one man, and working on
the east side for another blacksmith for two
and one-half y^ears.

Being then appointed foreman of the black-
smithing department in the state school at
Whittier, j\Tr. Volkmor retained the position
for twelve years, three months and fifteen
days, giving good satisfaction. Serving
through various administrations, he had boys
from twelve to fifteen years of age under his
instruction, and as a teacher was very suc-
cessful, his moral influence in the schools be-
ing good, his pupils becoming expert work-
men, and honest, upright citizens. Resigning
from the school. Mr. Volkmor opened a shop
at the corner of College and Greenleaf streets,
\\niittier. where he has since been busily em-
ployed as a general blacksmith, horse-shoer
and horse-clipper, doing an annual business
that amounts to from $8,000 to $10,000, keep-
ing two. or three men to assist him in his work.
When he arrived in L.os .\ngeles he had but
$40, and that same day he lost his money and
everything that he possessed excepting the
clothes that he wore. Beginning then at the
\-ery foot of the ladder of success, he has
steadily mounted, rung by rung, and is well
entitled to hi.s present fine position among the
self-made men of our day.

In Whittier, ]\Tr. \'olkmor married Sarah
King, who was born in Michigan, a daughter
of Michael King, and into their household three
children have been born. Hilda Afarv, ]\Iildred
Barbara and Charles Walter. Mr.' Volkmor.
true to the religious f.-iith in which he was
reared, is a member of the Catholic Church.

1726

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

J. R. ABBOT. Associated with agricultural
development of Los Angeles county, J. R. Abbot
occupies a prominent place among the represen-
tative citizens of this section, where he has
been located since 1893 and engaged in the cul-
tivation of a twenty-five acre ranch. He was
born in Lansing, Mich., jMarch 30, 1865, the rep-
resentative of an old eastern family established
on American soil in the colonial days of our
history. His grandfather was a noted lawyer
and representative to the legislature which met
in Boston, before the separation of ]\Iaine from
the Boston Bay colony. His fatlier, Theophilis
C. Abbot, was a Congregational clergyman who
was born in Vassalboro, Me. ; he was the first
professor of the Ann Arbor high school, which
position he retained for about three years, when
in 1857 he accepted a call to the Lansing State
Agricultural College, and the following year
was elected president of the same institution.
Thirty years later impaired health compelled his
resignation from this position but he still held
an important chair until his death, which occurred '
in his sixty-sixth year. His devoted zeal and
enthusiasm in the upbuilding of this institution
won him commendation among those who rec-
ognized his endeavors ; for with others he en-
dured the hardships of maintaining this school
as it was the first agricultural college established
in the United States and was necessarily forced
to combat the prejudice of many who failed to
see the need of scientific education along this line.
In his political convictions the Rev. Mr. Abbot
was always a stanch Republican. In Ann Arbor,
Mich., he was married to Miss Sarah Merrylees,
who was born in Lerwick, on the Shetland Isles,
and she is still surviving and making her home
with her son on his California ranch and enjoy-
ing good health at the age of seventy-eight
years. She had one other child, a daughter.
Mary M., who became the wife of C. M. Moore
and died in 1902 leaving one daughter. ]\Iargaret.
J. R. Abbot received his preliminary education
in the public schools of Lansing, after which he
attended Lansing State Agricultural College and
graduated therefrom in tlie class of 1884. Upon
leaving the college work he received an appoint-
ment in the state library of Michigan, which posi-
tion he held for the period of two years. At
the expiration of that time he went into the lum-
ber camps of the state to learn the lumber busi-
ness, and later had charge of a part of the mill
work of a lumber company of Saginaw, one of
the largest concerns of that section. He engaged
in this occupation for about seven years, when
he severed his connections and coming to Cali-
fornia purchased the ranch which he now owns,
consisting of twenty-five acres, of which six
are devoted to oranges and the balance in grain
and pasture. He has thirty head of Jersey

cattle and conducts a dairy, now supplying
Alhambra with dairy products, his wagons mak-
ing daily trips to that town. He is unusually
successful in his work, having brought to bear
the knowledge and science acquired during his
years of study in preparatory work, and prov-
ing beyond doubt the "advantage of such a course.
Politically he is like his father a stanch Republi-
can, and although never desirous of official rec-
ognition he still takes an active interest in the
advancement of the principles he endorses. He
is a member of the Congregational Church, as
is also his mother, who keeps his home for him.
He is public spirited and progressive, interested
in matters of public import, a worthy citizen
and friend, and is looked upon as one of the
representative men of this section.

LESLIE A. MILLER. San Pedro is the
center of an extensive lumber trade, which has
been built up through the sagacity and foresight
of men of enterprise and ability, prominent
among the number to whom credit for advanc-
ing this profitable industry is due being Leslie
A. Miller, superintendent of the National Lum-
ber Company. Possessing a wide knowledge of
the business in all of its details, he devotes his
energies to the promotion of the business in
which he is employed, and is meeting with
marked success in his operations. Of excellent
New England ancestry, he was born. May 9,
1869, in ^^'hitneyville, Washington county, Me.,
which was also the birthplace of his parents,
Albion and Maria Helen (Lowell) Miller. His
father removed with his family to Minneapolis,
Minn., in 1876, and there built up a large and
profitable lumber business, becoming head of the
Albion Miller Lumber Company. He was a man
of strong personality, a stanch Republican in
politics, and a member of the Masonic fraternity.

The youngest child in a family of which three
sons and two daughters survive, Leslie A. Mil-
ler was graduated from the Minneapolis high
school when young, and for two years thereafter
was in the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee
& St. Paul Railroad Company, first as a clerk,
and then as foreman of the freight department.
Beginning then to learn the lumber business
with his father, he remained in his employ until
1896, when he went to Seattle. Wash., where
he became connected with Cosh-Murray Com-
pany as .commercial salesman, traveling through
Washington with a good line of cigars and
tobacco. Coming to San Pedro in 1902. he en-
tered the employ of the Whiting Lumber and
Supply Company, and as its superintendent had
charge of opening and building all of its yards.
March 29, 1905, the name of the firm was
changed to its present name, the National Lum-

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1727

bcr Company, with Perry Whiting as manager,
H. W. .NIcLeod treasurer, and Mr. JMiller as
superintendent, a responsible position which he
is filling with credit to himself and to the entire
satisfaction of the company and its patrons.

In Minneapolis, Minn., Mr. jNIiller married
Minnie Campbell, who was born in Sioux City,
Iowa, and they have one child, Lois M. Miller.
Politically Mr. Miller is true to tKe faith in
which he was reared, and is a loyal supporter
of the principles of the Republican party. Fra-
ternallv he is a member of the Elks of Long
Beach.'

PETER J. EILANC, Sr. The death of
Peter J. Filanc in 1896 closed a career which
extended over a period of seventy-seven years.
Of this nearly a quarter of a century had been
spent on his ranch near Colton, San Bernardino
county, the same on which his son and name-
sake now resides. The elder Mr. Filanc was
a native of southern France, born November 3,
1818, the oldest child in his parents' family.
During young manhood he went to Africa,
where for nine years he engaged in the slave
trade, a business which required considerable
travel. In 1845 ^^^ sailed from Mecca, Arabia,
to China, from there taking slaves to Salem,
Mass. After following the sea many years in
the interests of this business he gave it up in

1848, with the determination to make his future
home in America. From New York he made
his way b}' water to New Orleans, thence went
up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers as far
as Council Bluft's, Iowa. Winter overtaking
him at that point he spent several months
there and the following spring crossed the
plains with ox-teams to Salt Lake City. The
winter of that year was spent in Utah and
with the opening of spring he joined a party
consisting of fifty-two wagons under the lead-
ership of Captain Foote. The journey was a
fortunate one, for none of the large band was
seriously ill and no mishaps befell them. They
arrived in San Bernardino in September of

1849, ^^ which time there was only one fort in
the place.

It was during the same year that ^Ir. Filanc
purchased two hundred and twenty-five acres
of land in this county not far from what has
since sprung up and been known as the town
of Colton. By adding to the tract from time
to time he finally had one thousand acres under
his control and ownership, for which he paid
$5 per acre. Over this vast tract his large
bands of sheep roamed at will, sheep-raising
forming his .principal occupation for many
years, a business which netted him a good
income. In later years, however, lie gave it

up and stocked his ranch for dairy purposes.
It was while carrying on this latter industry
that he met his sudden death, being gored by
a bull. Before his death he had disposed of
considerable of his land, the ranch now com-
prising two hundred and thirty acres, upon
which a specialty is now made of cattle-raisinq-.
besides growing large crops of hay and alfalfa.
In 1859 Peter J. Filanc was united in mar-
riage with Miss Elizabeth Lughan, a native
of Los Angeles and a daughter of Joseph and
Mary Lughan, who were born respectivel}^ in
Spain and California. Mr. Lughan came to
the state in a very early day and was one of
the first settlers in Los Angeles. At his death
in 1881 he left a family of ten children, of
whom Elizabeth was the third in order of
birth. She is still living, at the age of sixty
years, and makes her home with her son. Of
the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Filanc
the eldest, Louisa, is now the wife of Samuel
Lambert, of Redondo, and the mother of four
children; the next child, Aeneas, died at the
age of thirty years ; by his marriage with Josie
Salsar one child was born, the widow and child
now residing in Arizona; the youngest child.
Peter J., his father's namesake, now has charge
of the homestead ranch, in the management of
which he is having the same success that made
his father a well-to-do and substantial citizen.

JOHN H. STEWART. For many years a
well-known and successful farmer of Ventura
county and now a business man of Long Beach,
John H. Stewart is widely known in this sec-
tion of Southern California, and has won a large
circle of friends. Born of a southern family
of prominence, and inheriting the qualities of
his Scottish forefathers, Mr. Stewart first saw
the light of day July 19, 1858, in Macon, Miss.
His father, Thomas H. Stewart, is one of the
prominent citizens of Long Beach, where he is
now retired from the active cares of life. A
complete history of the family will be found on
another page of this volume.

Reared to young manhood in his native state.
Mr. Stewart received his education in the pub-
lic schools and later accepted for his life work
the occupation to which he had early been
trained, engaging in farming in Lafayette coun-
ty. Miss. In 1882 he followed his' father to
California, locating in Ventura county, where
he homestcaded one hundred and sixty acres,
four miles east of Saticoy. He made all of the
improvements upon his property, which he
brouglit to a high state of cultivation, being a
pioneer in many lines in farming activity. He
was the first farmer to plant and raise corn in
the Los Posas vallev and also the first to raise

1728

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

beans in that section. He remained in that
location until November. 1903. when he sold out
and located in Long Beach, engaging in the feed
and fuel business. He is located at No. 321
East Anaheim road, near American avenue,
where he deals in hay, grain, wood and coal,
also the buying and selling of horses and mules.
He built this property and also owns a residence
at No. 1314 American avenue. He was mar-
ried in New Orleans in 1880 to Miss Sarah
Todd, a native of Louisiana, and born of this
union are the following children : Celena, wife
of Theo. Sanchez, of Long Beach ; Claude, en-
gaged in teaming in Long Beach ; Minnie, wife
of Henry Steplar, of Long Beach ; Lorena and
Alice at home. In 1898 ^Ir. Stewart made a
trip to Alaska, and in February of that year
crossed Chilcoot Pass and reached Lake Bennet
about the time of the "great slide," when he
made one of the party which dug out the buried
prospectors. Later he went on to Dawson City
and engaged in prospecting and mining until
December. 1898, when he returned to his home
in California. ^Ir. Stewart is a Democrat in
his political affiliations, although he endorses
the present administration, and is liberal and en-
terprising and an all around business man.

JOHN R. HEINRICH. No country con-
tributes more valuable citizens to the United
States than does Germany and those industrious
and well educated young men whose ambitions
prompt them to come to this country where so
many opportunities await them are heartily wel-
comed to whatever community they may choose
as their new home. They are quick to see and
take advantage of openings which promise good
returns for the labor expended, and are almost
invariably flatteringly successful in their under-
takings. John R. Heinrich, the subject of this
sketch, is one of those young men about whom
all of the foregoing is true, and while he has
been in the L'nited States only three years, two
of which have been spent in this state, he is
very enthusiastic about evervthing concerning
California, speaks the English language fluent-
ly and is highly spoken of by all who kncnv him.

It was on October 20, 1877, that John R.
Heinrich was born in Germany, where his
father, Carl Heinrich, died several years ago,
and where his mother, witli the remaining five
children of the family, still resides. He received
his education in the high school of his native
town and upon his arrival at New York in 1903
he secured a position at John Wanamaker's
store, which is one of the largest and most promi-
nent in the metropolis. After working there
for one year he came to Arroyo Grande, Cal.,
where he has since resided. Immediately upon

his arrival here he bought the place which he
now occupies, he himself putting on the im-
provements, which consist of a very fine large
house and buildings to accommodate fifteen
hundred chickens, for his eight acres of land
is given over entirely to his chicken ranch. He
now has four hundred laying hens and one thou-
sand young chickens, which yield hnn a hand-
some income.

In 1904 Mr. Heinrich was married to JNIiss
Helen Thiele, a native German, and both are
members of the German Presbyterian Gmrch,
and contribute generously to the support of all
benevolent and charitable interests of that de-
nomination.

JAMES B. RIDDICK. Considerably more
than one-half a century ago the Riddick family
became connected with the agricultural develop-
ment of the United States; their race being
founded in this country by Joseph B. Riddick, a
native of Glasgow, Scotland, and an immigrant
of 1846. From the time of his arrival in the
LTnited States until his death, which occurred in
October, 1891, at the age of seventy-one years, he
engaged in agricultural pursuits in \'ermont,
owning and cultivating a farm in Chittenden
county, near Milton. When he crossed the ocean
he was a young man without domestic ties, but a
few years later he established a home, being
united in marriage with Mary A. Blair, who was
born in Maine, and later became a resident of Ver-
mont, where she remained until her death on the
home place in 1872, at the age of forty -one }'ears.

Among three sons and five daughters compris-
ing the parental family and of whom seven are
now living, James B. Riddick is the second in
order of birth, and was born in Alilton, Vt., De-
cember 28, 1852. On the completion of his
studies taught in the country schools, he entered
Georgia academy in Vermont, where he finished
his education. Afterward he secured employ-
ment on a farm, remaining in Vermont until
1872, when he removed to New Hampshire and
began to work in a cotton mill at ]\Ianchester.
During the year 1877 he removed to Lowell,
Mass., and was similarly employed in that city
until 1884. The following year found him as far
west as Minnesota and for two years he made
his headquarters in Minneapolis, meanwhile trav-
eling through \Msconsin and Illinois in the in-
terest of a rubber-stamp business. Late in the
year 1883 he went back to Lowell, and from there
traveled to Florida, where he remained until the
spring of 1886, and then again went to Minne-
apolis, soon, however, proceeding to Kansas City,
Mo., where he was employed for j brief period.

It was during the fall of 1887 that James B.
Riddick came to California and secured a posi-

Qyi.0i.Q4^u;6D,.<^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1731

tion as letter carrier connected with the Los An-
geles postoffice, continuing in that capacity until
April of 1903, when he resigned in order to take
up the real-estate business. For a year he had
his offices at No. 2602 Downey avenue, Los An-
geles, and he still owns property in that city.
Some years ago his attention was called to
Long Beach as affording a profitable field for in-
vestment, and in 1900 he erected ten cottages on
First street between American avenue and Elm
streets. The interests of his property led him to
remove to I.X)ng Beach in March, 1904, and he
now has a real-estate office at No. 343 East First
street, where he manages the details of his real-
estate holdings and is in a position to consult
with would-be investors as to desirable property.
After coming to California he married Miss Mary
A. Collins, who was born in Malone, Franklin
county, N. Y., and has been a resident of the
Pacific coast since 1889. They are the parents
of three sons, Arthur. Joseph and James. The
family are identified with the Long Beach Con-
gregational Church, in which Mr. Riddick is a
member of the board of deacons and one of the
most liberal contributors and influential workers.
A stanch opponent of the liquor traffic, he has
given his support to the cause of prohibition and
for years has advocated the theory that the in-
discriminate sale of intoxicants should be sup-
pressed in the interests of the prosperity of our
country and the happiness of its people. The
only fraternal organization with which he has
identified himself is the Independent Order of
Foresters at Los Angeles, in which he remained
an active worker during the period of his resi-
dence in that citv.

M. N. WESTOVER. Upon coming to the
state in 1889 Mr. Westover was attracted to
the extreme southern section as offering the
greatest number of opportunities, and it is
reasonable to suppose that his expectations
have been realized, for at no time in the in-
tervening years has he contemplated remov-
ing from hi.s original location. Coming to the
west from the extreme east, where the farms
are necessarily much smaller than in any other
portion of the country, he purchased a ranch
of one hundred and fifty acres in San Diego
county, not far from the village of Mesa
Crande, and here inaugurated a stock and
grain ranch in addition to establishing a dairy
business. He now has twenty-five cows, and
it is his intention to give more attention to
the latter industry in the future, relinquishing
the stock-raising and grain interests as the
growth of his dairy warrants.

A native of Minnesota. Mr. Westover was
born in Blue Earth conntv Mav 13, t8=;8, a

son of Orlin J. Westover. The latter was
born in the Empire state, but during his early
manhood went to Minnesota, and there es-
tablished domestic ties by his marriage with
Mary J- Britton, a native of Missouri. Two
children were born of this marriage, Calvin
E. and M. N., but while they were quite
young they were deprived of the love and care
of their mother, who passed away in 1863,
when only twenty-eight years of age. This
calamity to both husband and children result-
ed in their removal to the east, the children be-
ing placed in the public schools of Oxford, N.
Y., while the father joined the regular army
and at once entered upon active duty in be-
half of the Union. Six months after enter-
ing the service he was taken prisoner and con-
fined in the loathsome dungeon at Anderson-
ville, and although he v,'as later removed, did
not long survive, his death being the result of
privations and im.proper treatment. By trade
he Avas an experienced 'lurveyor, following this
to a considerable extent in addition to carry-
ing on farming.

His school da^'s over AI. N. Westover found
employment on neighboring farms in Chen-
ango county, and before he had attained his
majority had established a home of his own.
After his marriage with Clara N. Beardsley,
a native of New York state, he carried on a
farm in that state for ten years, giving it up
St the end of that time to settle in the west.
While Mr. Westover is the gainer by larger op-
portunities as a result of the change. San Diego
county is also reaping a benefit from his en-
terprising spirit, his ranch ranking among the
most prosperous and productive in the vicin-
ity of Mesa Grande.

The marriage of Mr. Westover and Clara N.
Beardsley resulted in the birth of two chil-
dren, Alice D. and Mary Estella, the latter the
wife of T. O. Fewel, of AVarner .Springs, San
Diego county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Westover
are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and politically the former is a Re-
publican.

JEAN APIOU. The pioneer element of
Southern California has in Mr. Apiou one of its
well educated and informed gentlemen who has
made a personal success and at the same time has
acquired a position of prominence among the
citizens of this section. He was born in Lescun.
Basses-Pyrenees, France, Februarv 6. 1852, the
fourth in a family of five children born to his
parents, Jean and Elizabeth (Casau) Apiou.
natives of the same place, where they passed their
entire lives. Jean Apiou was reared on the pater-
nal farm and educated in the public and private

1732

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

schools of his native land. November i8, 1868,
he left Havre, France, bound for America, and
after landing in New York City took passage
via the Isthmus of Panama for San Francisco,
which he reached January 4, 1869. His first
employment was on a farm in that vicinity,
where he remained until November of following
year, when he came to Los Angeles and found
a like occupation here until 1874. At this date
he purchased a herd of sheep in partnership
with a cousin, Pierre Beilhes, and with this
herd of twelve hundred began an independent ef-
fort in sheep raising. In 1876 they located in
San Bernardino county and there in 1879 Mr.
Apiou purchased his partner's interest and con-
tinued alone for two years. Disposing of the
business at the expiration of that time because
of impaired health, he took a trip to France and
at Vichy Springs took treatments which restored
his health. Returning to California in 1889, the
following year he again embarked in the sheep
business, retaining his herd for three months,
when he sold out, and since that time has acted
as business agent for his countrymen occupied in
this work. He acts occasionally as interperter
for both French and Spanish in the courts of
Los Angeles, where he is most widely and favor-
ably known.

In Los Angeles, Alay 19, 1906, jNIr. Apiou
was united; in marriage with Mrs. Jeannette
Agoure, also a native of France, and a daughter
of Jean Pierre Higue, formerly a farmer in
France and a town official, and now a resident
of Los Angeles. Her first marriage united her
with Jean Pierre Agoure, a native of France,
who came to America in 1873 and engaged in
the sheep business until his retirement, when he
located in Los Angeles and spent the remainder
of his days, his death occurring February 25,
1903. They had three children, Emma, Annie
and Theresa. Mr. Apiou is a member of the
French Benevolent Society of San Francisco,
and politically leans toward the principles of the
Democratic party, although he is too broad to
be bound to cast his ballot for any set of men,
reserving the right to interest himself for the
man whom he considers best qualified for public
service. Mr. Apiou is broad minded and liberal
in his ideas, and as a progressive citizen has done
much for the material upbuilding of Los Angeles.

FR.\NK A. BORCHARD. Descended from
a family that was represented among the pioneers
in the early days of the American occupancy of
California and that has since given to the state
citizens of worth and intelligence, Frank A.
Borchard has passed his life within the imme-
diate vicinity of his present home, and was born
November 7, 1876, on a ranch within two miles

of where Oxnard now stands. The first of the
name to settle on the Pacific coast was his grand-
father. Christian Borchard, a native of Germany,
and during early manhood a resident of Iowa.
Attracted by reports concerning the discovery of
gold in California he closed out his interests in
Iowa and accompanied by his family and such
supplies as were necessary, he started upon the
long and dangerous trip across the plains through
a region inhabited only by hostile Indians. Ar-
riving safely on the western coast, he took up
farm work near Antioch and later moved to
Ventura county, where he died about 1903, at
an advanced age. It was his privilege to be
spared to witness the remarkable growth of the
state to which he came when it was sparsely set-
tled and comparatively unknown, and he was
wont to contrast the hardships of pioneer days
with the improvements and conveniences of the
twentieth century.

In the family of Christian Borchard was a son.
J. E., who was born in Iowa and was eighteen
months old when the family crossed the plains to
Contra Costa county, Cal., and later he came with
them to Ventura county, where he was one of
the earliest settlers on this side of the river.
After he had removed to this locality he mar-
ried Miss Alary Kaufman, who was born in
Alinnesota and came across the plains with her
father, Michael Kaufman, settling among the
pioneers of the Sacramento valley, but later re-
moving to the Santa Clara valley, Ventura coun-
ty, where Mr. Kaufman remained until death.
Both J. E. and Mrs. Borchard are living and nine
of their twelve children survive, Frank A. being
third in order of birth. Reared on the home
farm, he was given the advantages of local
schools, supplemented by attendance at St. Vin-
cent's College in Los Angeles and Throop In-
stitute in Pasadena.

Upon starting out for himself Mr. Borchard
engaged in raising beets on a ranch near Ox-
nard. During the dry years it was necessary to
irrigate the land. For that purpose he bought
a gasoline engine, installed the same and operated
it with success, finding that it proved a valuable
acquisition for a rancher. During May of 1900
he assisted in the organization of the Oxnard
Implement Company, of which he was chosen
assistant manager. On the incorporation of the
com.pany he continued to act as assistant manager
and in addition held the office of vice-president.
The company owns the largest implement house
in Ventura county and he still retains stock in
the enterprise. In August of 1903 he bought
the stationery and news business owned by H.
A. Thatcher, and about the same time was ap-
pointed agent at Oxnard for the Wells-Fargo
Express Companv. At the store on the corner
of Fifth and B streets, on the Plaza, he carried a

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1733

full line of stationery, and handled all of the
Los Angeles papers in addition to the San Pran-
clsco Clironicle, Call, Examiner and Bulletin.
In 1906 he disposed of the business in order to
engage in the selling and setting up of g'asoiine
engines of the Fairbanks-JMorse type, varying in
horse power from two to one hundred and fifty,
these being especially adapted for the purposes
of the farmers of this locality. In May, 1906,
he purchased an interest in the Oxnard Furniture
and Plumbing establishment. Mr. Borchard's
home in Oxnard is presided over by his wife,
who was formerly Miss Millie AIcLaughlin, and
is a native of this valley, receiving her education
in local schools. For some years Mr. Borchard
has been identified with the Citizens Club of Ox-
nard and he further holds membership with the
Knights of Columbus and the Fraternal Brother-
hood.

CHRIS N. OHRE. On the rugged coast
of Norway, near where the tempestuous waves
of the Skager Rack and Cattegat merge into
the calmer waters of Bohus bay, there lies the
seaport town of Tonsberg, whose inhabitants
are principally of the seafaring class. Gen-
eration after generation of the Ohre family
sailed the high seas and the smaller bodies of
water skirting the shores of Scandinavia, and
not a few of the name rose to the command of
ships of considerable importance. Amid the
sights and scenes familiar to all maritime en-
vironments Nils Ohre passed the years of
boyhood in Tonsberg, his native village, and
under the influence of his father, who was a
sea captain, he early learned to love the life of
a sailor, and eventually he rose to be captain
of a brig engaged in the lumber trade on the
Norwegian coast. Both he and his wife, Mar-
tina, died in their native village, Tonsberg,
and they are survived by six of their eight
children, Chris N. being the youngest of the
number.

The village of Tonsberg is the native town
of Mr. Ohre and May 24, 1855, the date of his
birth. As a boy he became familiar with sail-
ing and when fifteen he went to sea in his
father's brig under a brother, Anton, as cap-
tain. After two years on that brig he left to
accept a position on another vessel and there-
after was connected at different times with
various barges and brigs sailing the waters of
the Baltic and North seas. Later he obtained
a captain's certificate and for years sailed to
New Orleans, Philadelphia and New York,
making perhaps twenty trips in all. Eventual-
ly he left his ship, the Sir John Lawrence, in
New York in 1883 and gave up a seafaring
life for that of a landsman. For some years

he was employed in a wholesale farm ma-
chinery house in Minneapolis, but in 1887 he
came to San Diego, and here since then he
has made his home. From the time of his ar-
rival until 1893 he \wrs connected with a
wholesale commission business, but since the
latter date he has devoted his attention to the
poultry business and other enterprises.

At the time of purchasing the property at
No. 4057 Eighth street, San Diego, Mr. Ohre
secured two-thirds of an acre covered with
sage totally unimproved. On that unpromis-
ing site he now owns a comfortable modern
residence surrounded by a beautiful lawn and
fruit trees of all kinds, besides all of the equip-
ment necessary for the poultry industry.
Among his six breeds of poultry he is making
a specialty of Buff Cochins, Plymouth Rocks
and Leghorns, and has altogether about two
hundred and fifty hens. In addition he has
nine high-grade Jersey cows and delivers milk
to customers in the city. The enterprise is
conducted under the title of the Scandia dairy
and poultry yards, the name being given in hon-
or of his old Scandinavian home. In his work
he has the able and cheerful co-operation of
his wife, who was Miss Mathilda Olson, a na-
tive of Sweden, but resident of San Diego
from girlhood. Four bright sons bless their
union. Mauritz, Clarence, Oscar and Albert.
Since becoming a citizen of the United States
Mr. Ohre has been a stanch adherent of the
Republican party, and in fraternal afifiliations
has been connected with the Order of For-
esters.

E. FRANCIS CONRAD. The farming re-
gions lying in the vicinity of Arroyo Grande are
among the most fertile of San Luis Obispo coun-
ty and present fair opportunities for gratifying
returns to those willing to devote time, thought,
energies and untiring industry to their develop-
ment. Coming to this neighborhood in the fall
of 1876 Mr. Conrad rented the farm which he
later purchased and on which he since has made
his home. The ranch comprises three hundred
and seventy acres, of which two hundred acres
are in grain and pasture, forty-five acres in hill
pasture, while seventy acres of leased land are
devoted to the raising of seed. With his brother,
W. A. Conrad, as partner he owns a walnut or-
chard of sixteen acres of bearing trees, and the
profits from the orchard are a considerable por-
tion of his annual revenues.

Born in North Carolina. November 21, i8-|8,
Frank Conrad is a son of E. and Sarah (Holder)
Conrad, also natives of that state, and pioneers
of 1864 in California. As early as the middle
of the nineteenth centurv the familv left the

1734

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

south and became pioneers of Iowa, and from
there started across the plains in 1863. The
winter season set in before they reached the
last range of mountains, so they spent some
months in Nevada and arrived in California early
in 1864. For a time they remained in Nevada
county and for four years engaged in grain farm-
ing in Sonoma county, after which they spent
two years in Stanislaus county, but each year
the weather conditions were such as to cause
a failure of their crops. In search of a better
location they removed as far north as Tehama
county, where they took up ranch pursuits. Later
they carried on a ranch in Shasta county for
three years. In the fall of 1873 they settled at
Guadaloupe, Santa Barbara county, and engaged
in ranching in the Santa Maria valley for three
years. On coming to the present homestead in
the fall of 1876 tliey rented the land, and here
the father died at eight>'-nine years and the moth-
er when eighty-seven. Of their seven chil-
dren four still survive. The parents were earnest
members of the Presbyterian Church and in
politics the father advocated the cause of prohi-
bition.

The farm formerly occupied by his parents is
now the home and property of E. F. Conrad,
who in addition to engaging in ranch pursuits
has been identified with the ministry of the Cum-
berland Presbyterian Church for a long period
and has given his services freely to the work
of preaching the Gospel. In this responsible
service he has labored without financial returns,
but wholly from love of the ministry and from
a desire to extend the kingdom of Clirist in the
world. Mainly through his unaided exertions
he acquired a broad education and is particularly
well versed in the Scriptures. As a speaker
he is both interesting and instructive, while in
the pulpit, when depicting to his hearers the
value of Christian service, he is especially earn-
est and eloquent. For seven years he gave his
entire time to the ministry, during the greater
part of his active life he has earned a livelihood
from the cultivation of the soil and has engaged
in religious work gratuitously, without expecta-
tion of reimbursement.

In 1876 occurred the marriage of E. F. Conrad
and Mary Frances Bryan, who was Ixjrn and
educated in California. They are the parents of
the following children : Edna May, who married
-A.. C. Haskin and lives in San Francisco ; Clara
Belle, Mrs. J. R. Reinike, of Arroyo Grande;
Howard F.. who married Georgia Plieonix and
resides in Arroyo Grande ; Edwin A., who mar-
ried Chrystal Tully ; Nellie C, Marion McGrady,
Leila I., Laura Grace, Merle M. and Landreth
Bryan. The importance of the suppression of
the liquor traffic appeals to Mr. Conrad with such
force that he has for years supported Prohibi-

tion principles at the jxjils, and both by precept
and example he has given his support to the
cause of temperance. Interested in educational
matters, he served as trustee of the Arrovo
Grande high school and in other ways has aided
the cause of free schools in his countv.

ABNER D. JACOBS. Conspicuous among
the pioneer residents of California is Abner D.
Jacobs, now living on a farm in the Belvidere
district, Los Angeles county, retired from tine
activities of life. Coming here when the coun-
try was in its original wildness, ere the dusky
savage had fled before the advancing -steps of
civilization, he has taken an important part in
developing the resources of this wonderful coun-
try, and by his sagacity and foresight has at
the same time been enabled to accumulate a
goodly estate. A son of John Jacobs, he was
born in 1838 in Arnheim, Brown county, Ohio,
and was there brought up until fifteen years old.

Engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout
his life, John Jacobs cleared and improved a
farm in Ohio. He was a man of strong patriotic
principles, and in the war of 1812 offered his
services to his country. He took part in several
engagements, and fought under General Jack-
son in the battle of New Orleans, when General
Pakenham, the British commander, was killed.
He married Maria Devore, a daughter of Abner
Devore, a native of Ohio, who, in 1844. made a
trip to western Texas, and on his return trip, a
few months later, was murdered at Fort Leaven-
worth, Kans. Of the children born of their
union, all grew to years of maturity, namely : El-
len, Rebecca. Abner D., Elsie and Benjamin
Franklin. Enlisting at the beginning of the
Civil war, Benjamin Franklin, served as a sol-
dier in an Ohio regiment, continuing until the
close of the conflict. He is now living in Ken-
tucky.

Remaining with his parents on the home farm
until 1852, Abner D. Jacobs then went to Illi-
nois, intending to settle there. Meeting with
friends who were on their way to Missouri, he
accompanied them to that state, but as he was
dissatisfied with the prospects in that locality he
returned to Hancock county. 111., where he re-
sided two years. In 1854 he started for the Pa-
cific coast with Dr. T. L. Barnes, crossing the
plains with ox-teams, the trip taking six months.
He began life here as a miner in Eldorado coun-
ty, and while thus employed went to Coloma,
Eldorado county, to see four desperadoes exe-
cuted. After two years of prospecting he went to
Petaluma, Sonoma county, where he remained for
a time, and from there going to Mendocino coun-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1737

t}-, where he was for many years engaged in the
timber business. Subsequently purcliasing land
east of Redondo, Los Angeles count}', he has
improved a fine ranch, on wliich he is living free
from the cares of active business, enjoying to the
utmost the fruits of his many years ot toil. Not
far from him is the home of one of his early
playmates and schoolmates, and they take solid
pleasure and comfort in each other's society,
meeting frequently and talking over the events
of their boyhood days.

in 1868, in Mendocino county, 2\lr. Jacobs
married Aiartha Jane Pound, who had the dis-
tinction of being the first white girl born in
Uakdale, the site of the present populous city
of Oakland. She died March 22, 1885, leaving
four children, namely: John F., Charles Ji.,
Ida i\I., and Violet. Politically Mr. Jacobs is a
Republican, and fraternally he is a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

JOHN XAVIER WOODS. Conspicuous
among the public-spirited, progressive men,
who by their energy, wealth and keen fore-
sight have done much towards building up
Southern California, and were among the fore-
most in developing and advancing its many
and varied interests, was J. X. Woods, a well-
known resident of Oceanside, and president
of the Bank of Oceanside. A son of the late
F. X. Woods, he was born, December 28, 1844,
in Ottawa, Canada, on a farm.

Born, reared and married in Canada, F. X.
Woods lived in his native land until 1865,
when he settled in Ohio. Subsequently re-
moving to Missouri, he resided in St. Louis
until his death, in 1878. His wife, whose
maiden name was ^lary Daze, was born in
Canada, and died in 1874 in Oakland, Cal.
Both were members of the Catholic Church.
Of their large family of children, ten grew to
years of maturity.

Having acquired a good common school ed-
ucation in Ottawa, Canada, J. X. Woods
worked on his father's farm until about twen-
ty years old. Going to Cleveland, Ohio, in
1864, he began life as a railroad man, working
in the motor department of the New York,
Pennsylvania &- Ohio Railroad for five years.
Removing to Kansas in 1869, he secured a po-
sition on the .St. Joseph & Denver Railroad,
running a locomotive and train for three years.
From 1872 until 1874 he was employed in the
motor department of the Missouri Pacific
Railroad, after which he went to Terre Haute,
Ind., where he had charge of a locomotive on
the Vandalia Railway for five years. Going
from there to Colorado in 1879, 'i^ invested his
money in mining property, and losing all of

81

his capital he resumed railroad work, being
employed in the motor department of the
ianta i-e Railroad until 1882, when he as-
sumed charge of that company's shops at
Winslow, Ariz., a position that he retained
hve years. Becoming interested in stock rais-
ing, he then resigned his position with the
Santa Fe Company and turned his attention to
the cattle business, in which he continued un-
til the hard times of 1892 and 1893, when he
again entered the railroad service. While liv-
ing in Winslow, Ariz., Mr. Woods became
prominent in public life, and for six years
served as supervisor of Navajo county. He
was also elected to the upper house of the
territorial legislature, and by the governor was
appointed a member of the territorial board of
equalization, a position which he held up to
six months prior to his death, which occurred
September 17, 1906.

Forced to leave Arizona on account of ill
health, Air. Woods came to Oceanside, where
he took up his residence and became actively
identified with many of the leading interests
of town and county. He was one of the pro-
prietors of the Bank of Oceanside ; and besides
owning real estate in this locality was finan-
cially interested in the local electric light
plant.

In 1874 Mr. Woods married Alary Curvin of
Illinois. She and their infant child died a few
years later, and he then went to Colorado. Re-
turning to Illinois he married for his second
wife Emma Anderson, who was also a native
of the Prairie state, and of this union three
children were born, Selma P., Pauline and
Francis. Politically Mr. Woods was a true-
blue Republican, active in party matters, and
while in Arizona v/as one of the six delegates
sent to the national convention in Chicago,
where he assisted in nominating Theodore
Roosevelt for president. Fraternally he was a
member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive
luigineers, and belonged to the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks. He was a member
of the Catholic Church at Oceanside, and also
attended the Mission, and Mrs. Woods is a
communicant of the same church.

HUMPHREY G. SULLIVAN has been a
resident of California for more than a quarter of
a century and has identified himself prominently
with the upbuilding of the state and especially
San Luis Obispo county, where he has resided
continuously since 1882. This section of the
state has undergone many changes since Mr.
Sullivan first settled here, and from a wild and
uncultivated region dotted here and there with
small shanties has emerged into one of the finest

1738

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and most highly developed farming sections in
the state, the scattering homes having multi-
plied many fold, and tlie crude shanties made
way for large modern residences, the pride of
their owners. Mr. Sullivan's ranch comprises
one hundred and two acres of fertile land which
is devoted to the growing of corn and beans and
some vegetables and orange and lemon trees.

County Kerry, Ireland, was the place of the
birth of Humphrey G. Sullivan, and August 6,
1850, the date. He is a son of Peter and Mary
(Gallivan) Sullivan, both of Irish nativity, and
a member of a family of six children." He re-
ceived his education in Ireland and after his
school days were over engaged in farming there
until he was thirty years of age. Immigrating
to California in 1880, he landed first in Alame-
da county, where he remained about two years.
From there he came directly to San Luis
Obispo county and for twelve years worked for
Dr. Hayes, who lived near San Luis Obispo, be-
ing engaged as foreman of his vineyard. He
then decided to purchase a ranch of his own and
bought the place in Verde Canyon which is now
his home. In 1897 occurred the marriage of
Mr. Sullivan to Sidney Clark, who was born in
Ireland, and to them have been born two sons,
Lester and George. He is an ardent Republi-
can in politics and has always taken a prominent
interest in matters of interest to the public at
large, while for several j'ears he has done active
service on the school board of his district and
has filled the obligations of his trusteeship with
entire credit to himself and satisfaction to the
patrons of the schools. His election to the office
was also in recognition of the intelligent and en-
thusiastic interest he has always displayed in
matters of educational importance.

JAMES C. COLE. One of the oldest pioneers
of San Bernardino county and a man who has

prominently identified himself with the improve-
ment of that section of Southern California is
James C. Cole, by occupation a farmer and of-
ficially a member of the city council of San
Bernardino. He was born September 3, 1853,
in Spring^'ille, Utah, the son of James Alfred
and Elizabeth (Kelley) Cole; the father a native
of Dayton. Ohio, and the mother born, educated
and reared to womanhood in the same state. In
1849 '^'"'s father removed his family to Utah,
settling on a farm near Springville. where he
resided until 1857 when he journeyed still farther
west and settled in San Bernardino, locating in
the old town at the Mission. He purchased a
farm of five hundred acres and engaged in farm-
ing and stock raising until the time of his death
in 1888. The mother still lives on the old home-
stead at the advanced age of seventy-six years.

There were eight sons and two daughters in
the family of which James C. Cole was a mem-
ber. He attended school at the old Mission until
fifteen years of age, when he secured employ-
ment on a ranch for a time, but being ambitious
to acquire an independent business he went to
Nevada and started in the stock raising. Those
were years of great excitement in the western
country and Mr. Cole had his share of the thril-
ling times during his sojourn in the sage-brush
state. In 1874 he returned to San Bernardino,
purchased sixty-five acres of the best land in
that section and turned his attention to its culti-
vation. A part of the place is now within the
corporate limits of the city and upon that he
has placed good buildings. His principal crops
are grain and alfalfa.

In 1875 Mr. Cole was married to Abbie, the
oldest daughter of William and Mary (Noble)
Davis, who became pioneers of San Bernardino
county in 1852. This union has been blessed with
the birth of four children: Laura, a graduate
nurse of Los Angeles ; Ira residing at San Jose ;
Jessie and James W., both of whom are at home.
Mr. Cole has taken an especial interest in polit-
ical matters and stands high in the councils of
the Republican party. He has repeatedly
served as delegate to the county and state con-
ventions and is now serving a term as council-
man from the first ward of the city of San Ber-
nardino. Fraternallv he affiliates with the
Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 2~.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PATTERSON.
Closely identified with the industrial and finan-
cial advancement of Glendale, a thriving town
in Los Angeles county, is Benjamin F. Patterson,
v.-ho has been one of the foremost in establishing
beneficial enterprises since he first assisted, more
than twenty years ago. in laying out the place.
Energetic, far-sighted, with keen perceptive
faculties, he has attained a high position in the
business community, and is held in high esteem
as a man and as a citizen. A native of Ohio, he
was born in ]Mount ^^ernon. Knox county, De-
cember 9, 1845, ^ son of Robert Patterson. His
grandfather, James Patterson, was a farmer by
occupation, owning land in Pennsylvania.

Born and reared on the paternal homestead in
Pennsylvania. Robert Patterson lived in his na-
tive state until becoming of age. when he settled
in Ohio, where, for several seasons, he followed
the independent occupation to which he was
reared. Migrating with his family to Musca-
tine county. Iowa, in 1850. he became a pioneer
farmer of that county, until his death, at the age
of forty-seven years, he was one of its leading
men, serving as supervisor, county commissioner
and countv clerk. His wife, whose maiden name

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RFXOKD.

1739

was Laura Nye, survived him, passing away at
the age of sixty-seven years.

On July 25, 1862, then a boy of sixteen years,
Benjamin F. Patterson enhsted in Company E,
Twentieth Iowa Vohmteer Infantry, with which
he served until the close of the war. He took an
active part in many of the important engage-
ments that followed, and before celebrating" the
seventeenth anniversary of his birth, was badly
wounded, at the battle of Perry Grove, Ark., re-
ceiving three buckshots in the calf of his right
leg. Subsequently, on June 26, 1863, during the
siege of Vicksburg, while under the command of
General Grant, he received a severe scalp wound.
With his regiment, under Captain Barney, head
of his company, and Col. William McE. Dye,
he saw hard service, both in field and camp. He
received his discharge in July, 1865.

Subsequently returning to Iowa Mr. Patterson
was for a number of years prosperously employed
in farming and stock-raising. Coming with his
family to California in 1882, he erected two resi-
dences in Los Angeles, which he sold advanta-
geously. In 1884 he purchased fifty-two acres of
land, which he improved and cultivated and
which now constitutes part of the townsite of
Glendale. He soon became prominent in local
aft'airs, and as a member of the Verdugo Springs
Water Company, which consisted of Capt. C. 'E.
Thom, E. M. Ross, E. T. Byram and himself,
laid out the town in 1886, at the beginning of
the boom. These gentlemen, with optimistic
vision, erected the Glendale hotel, and built the
narrow gauge railroad between Glendale and Los
Angeles, a line of railway now owned by the .Salt
Lake Railway Company. After the boom Mr.
Patterson and the remaining members of the
company paid up the indebtedness and it was
found that this railroad was the only one out of
seventeen that was not put into the hands of a
receiver, a fact that reflected great credit upon
the owners of it.

After the boom collapsed ]\Ir. Patterson again
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and
leased a ranch of four hundred acres, which he
devoted to grain, and for three years was suc-
cessfully employed in tilling the soil, being ably
assisted by his two older sons, William and
Eldon. I-Ie is now an influential citizen of Glen-
dale. and in every way a representative man. He
owns considerable property of value, and, with
others, established the Bank of Glendale, the
leading financial institution of the place.

In 1868, in Iowa. Mr. Patterson married iMary
Keen, a native of New Jersey, nnd thev became
the parents of five children. William .\lhert died
at the age of eighteen years: Eldon. residing in
Glendale, served in the Philippines as a soldier,
and is now serving as citv marshal ; Mabel,
Jessie and Bertlia complete the family. In his

political views Mr. Patterson is independent, vot-
ing for the best man and measures without party
restrictions. He is a man of patriotic spirit, and
assisted in organizing N. P. Banks Post No
170, G. A. R., of Glendale, of which he was com-
mander for years. The post now has thirty-five
members, and is in a flourishing condition, own-
ino- its own hall.

S.\MUEL ROTANZI. A noted writer has
said, "Never desert your own line of talent ;
be what nature intended you for, and you will
succeed." Evidently Mr. Rotanzi is in full syni-
pathy with this author, for he has measured his
own' ability and hewn his way straight to the
line thus marked out. Trained to agricultural
pursuits from his youth up, he has a thorough
knowledge of all branches connected with the art
and science of agriculture, and is consideredan
authority on all questions concerning the dairy.
He is extensively engaged in general farming and
cattle raising, being manager of the Martin,
Bloom & Brackett ranch, known as the Santa
Ysabel ranch, which contains eighteen thousand
acres of land, and in addition owns a magnificent
farm of seven hundred and twenty acres, which
he is successfully carrying on, giving him the
supervision of more than eighteen thousand
seven hundred acres of as fine land as can be
found in San Diego county. A man of sterling
integrity, honest and upright in all of his deal-
ings, he is justly entitled to the esteem and re-
spect so universally accorded him. A son of
James Rotanzi, he was Ixirn, November 15, 1853,
m Switzerland, where he was reared and edu-
cated.

Born, reared and married in Switzerland, James
Rotanzi became a farmer from choice, in that
independent occupation spending his active life.
Ambitious to try life in .'America, he came to the
United States, locating in Sacramento, Cal.,
where his death occurred shortly afterward.

In immigrating to the United States when but
seventeen years old, Saiuuel Rotanzi came di-
rect to Sonoma county, Cal., where for twenty
vears he was prosperously engaged in the stock
and dairy business, becoming the owner of val-
uable land, and meeting with satisfactory re-
sults in his labors. Disposing then of his in-
terests in that county, he came to San Diego
county, accepting his present position as man-
ager of the Santa Ysabel ranch in 1889, and has
since had full control of its affairs. In its su-
pervision he has met with eminent success, not
only as a general farmer, but as a stock raiser and
dairyman, having the care of about two thousand
head of cattle on the Santa Ysabel ranch alone.
Industrious and thrifty, he has accumulated
money, a part of which he invested, in 1893, in

1740

HISTORICAL AND BIOGR-\PHICAL RECORD.

land, buying a ranch of seven hundred and
twenty acres, which he is managing with ex-
cellent pecuniary profits. On this ranch he has
a large dairy also, milking on an average sixty
cows a day and separating the cream, which he
ships to San Diego. Here he raises all of the
grain needed for food, his land being rich and
productive.

In 1 88 1 Mr. Rotanzi married Katie Wilson,
who was born in California, a daughter of Fred-
erick Wilson, who immigrated to America from
Germany, locating in this state. Three children
have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs.
Rotanzi, namely : JMary, Birdie and Alwin. Po-
litically Mr. Rotanzi is a firm adherent of the
Republican party, and in their religious beliefs
both he and Mrs. Rotanzi are Catholics.

MIGUEL ANTONIO AGUIRRE. Southern
California will always retain the influence upon
it of the Spanish race in the characteristics of
its inhabitants, and the names of the old families
will never be forgotten, for they are planted all
over the state, not only in the individual repre-
sentatives of the families, but in their adoption
as titles for cities, counties, streets, etc., and
the descendants of these families also retain
ownership in some of the finest properties of the
state. Miguel Antonio Aguirre is one of the
most prominent Spanish gentlemen to whom the
foregoing may be properly applied. He was
born at San Diego, August 25, 1849, of Spanish
parents, Jose A. and Rosario (Estudillo)
Aguirre. His father, who was a silk merchant,
came to the United States, carrying on his trade
between the ports of California and Japan. In
1833 he was naturalized as a citizen of the United
States at New Orleans and about 1843 located
at Santa Barbara, and as he still owned vessels
carried on business as a dealer in hides and
tallow and supplied the old missions with those
commodities which it was necessary for them to
purchase. He later removed to San Diego, about
the year 1846, and engaged in general mer-
chandising, owning as well several ranches at
different locations, among them being the one
at San Jacinto, which the son now owns, and
another near Compton, besides carrying on an
extensive stock business. He was married in
San Diego in 1847 and had four children : Miguel
Antonio, the oldest; Dolores, who became the
wife of Francisco Pico, mentioned elsewhere in
this history; Jose A., who has an official posi-
tion at the Folsom prison ; and Martin G.. now of
Los Angeles, formerly warden at San Quentin
under Governor Gage. The father died Tulv 31,
i860.

After completing his education at Santa Clara
and St. Vincent's colleges Air. Aguirre immedi-

ately engaged in ranching, and later became a
partner with Mr. Pico in the wholesale butcher-
ing business in Los Angeles, their establishment
being one of the first started in that city. In
1877 he removed to San Jacinto and engaged
in grain and stock-raising, building a house and
barns and otherwise improving the premises
which he occupied. He owns fifty acres of
this ranch, twelve acres near Compton, in Los
Angeles county, besides which he rents and culti-
vates one thousand acres in the Moreno valley,
owning about forty dairy cows.

Mr. Aguirre's marriage to Rudecinda Pico, a
sister of Francisco Pico, occurred at Los An-
geles, September 9, 1880, and of this union nine
children were born, namely : Elena, Jose, Rosa-
rio, Martin, Dolores, Francisco, Marie, Anita
and Carlos. The mother died September 4, 1895,
at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. Aguirre is
a member of the Native Sons of the Golden
West at San Jacinto, and a devoted communi-
cant of the Catholic Church. He is a man who
takes a great interest in all matters of public
import, is a constituent of the Democratic party,
and for six years was deputy treasurer of San
Diego countv.

"WILLIAM H. WITHAM. Many of the rep-
resentative busmess men of Los Angeles county
are of New England birth and breeding, and with
their quick perceptive faculties, practical judg-
ment and energetic activity, become conspicuous
in the upbuilding of the cities and towns in which
they settle. Conspicuous among this number is
W. H. Witham, a comparativel\- new-comer in
Glendale, of which he became a resident in 1902.
A son of J. G. Witham, he was born April 20,
i860, in Southington, Hartford county, Conn., of
thrifty colonial ancestry.

A native of Connecticut, J. G. "Witham was
there reared and spent his long and useful life
of eighty-three years. He had an excellent train-
ing in the use of tools, and during his active ca-
reer was employed in carpentering and building.
He married Laura Buck, who belonged to an old
and prominent New England family. She died
when forty-eight years of age, leaving three chil-
dren, two of whom reside in California, namely :
J. N. Witham, living near Glendale, where he is
a large orange and strawberry grower; and W.
H., the special subject of this sketch.

Having obtained a good common school educa-
tion in the city of his birth, W. H. Witham
worked for his father until he had acquired profi-
ciency in the carpenter's trade, which he followed
first in his native state, both in Southington and
in neighboring places. Becoming skillful and
successful as a contractor and builder, he sought
new fields of operation, and, after the destruction

^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1743

of Charleston, S. C, by an earthquake, he went
there and materially assisted in rebuilding the
city. January i, 1902, he established himself in
Glendale, where he has since been busily em-
ployed at his chosen occupation, and has won a
fine reputation for his workmanship. As a con-
tractor and carpenter he has erected many of the
buildings of this locality, including his own resi-
dence and the one adjoining it, both being built
in the mission style.

In Connecticut, in 1890. ;\Ir. Witham married
Emma Gilbert, a daughter of William and Emily
(Funk) Gilbert. On the paternal side Mrs. Wit-
ham is of New England stock, her father having
been born in Connecticut, while on the maternal
side she is of German origin, her mother having
been a native of Baden, Germany. Mr. and Mrs.
Witham are held in high esteem throughout the
community in which they live, and are valued
members of the Theosophical Society. Politic-
ally Mr. Witham is independent in his views,
voting without regard to party lines, and frater-
nally he belongs to East Gate Lodge No. 290, F.
& A. M., of Los Angeles.

JOSEPH A. MORRISON. The name of
Joseph A. ]\Iorrison is connected with all that
is substantial in character, excellent in ranch-
ing and admirable in social life in the Santa
Maria valley. Few among those who may be
called early settlers have contributed more to
the harmony of their surroundings, the delight
of their friends or the encouragement of the
rising generation. Mr. JNIorrison is the owner
of a quarter section of land, which, though
a former possession of his father, has been
purchased by the son with means acquired
through personal toil, economy and good
management. He was born in Warren coun-
ty, Ohio, June 28, 1843. and is a son of Ezra
and Martha Jane (Van Horn) Morrison, also
natives of the Buckeye state.

Ezra Morrison was reared on a farm in
Ohio, and subsequently succeeded to a prop-
erty of his own which he operated for many
years. The discovery of gold on the Pacific
coast during the middle of the last century
diffused a new current through his method
of life and thought, opening up a quicker road
to fortune than farming upon the prairies of
the central west. It was typical of the man,
though, that the gold fever which possessed
him did not partake of that blindly speculative
quality that usually characterized it. On the
contrary, upon reaching Trinit}' Center, Trin-
ity county. Cal., in the fall of 1855, he spent
but a short time in the mines, and then settled
down to sawmilling as his chief means of live-
liliood. regarding mining from then on as in-

cidental and hardly dependable. So strong
was his faith in the future of the state that he
made his way back to Ohio in the fall of i860,
and in the spring of 1861 brought his family
across the plains with wagons and mule teams,
his most able assistant being his son, Joseph
A., then eighteen years of age. Leaving the
family in Sacramento in July, 1862, Mr. Mor-
rison returned to Trinity county, where he
continued to engage in sawmilling and mining
until 1868, during that year locating upon a
farm in Butte county, this state. Sixteen
years later, in 1884, he came to the Santa
Islaria valley, bought the farm now owned by
his son, Joseph A., and continued to make this
his home until his death, October 6, 1905, at
the age of eighty-eight years, eleven months
and six days. His wife died in Kansas at the
age of sixty years. After the death of his first
wife he married Anna E. Osborne and two
children were born in Butte county, John H.
and George W. Subsequently^ he was married
to Amanda M. Carman. Mr. Morrison pos-
sessed force of character and determination,
and that he was a shrewd business man was
evident from the fact that at the close of his
life he owned ten hundred and sixty acres of
land. He was a Republican in politics, a Pres-
byterian in religion, and for years was a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Joseph A. Morrison followed the changing
fortunes of his father until the latter's removal
to Butte county in 1868. He first engaged in
teaming in Sacramento in 1861 and '62 and
then worked at mining among the crude sur-
roundings of Trinity county until the fall of
1870. Up to this time his wealth consisted
rather of experience than money, and it was
with a wholesome respect for the safe and
sure reward of farming that he returned to his
native state of Ohio in 1870. Doubtless the
Buckeye prairies sent forth to the coast a still
more alluring call, for he soon married Alice
Apgar, a native daughter of Ohio, with whom
he settled on a rented farm for four years. In
the meantime two children were born to him-
self and wife, of whom Estella is the wife of
Stephen Ruimels of San Luis Obispo count\%
and Roland, a rancher of this valley, married
Pearl Wylie. In 1877 Mr. i\Torrison sold his
stock and farm equipment and purchased a
quarter section of land m Washington count}-,
Kans., where he lived until 1891, and where
three of his children were born : Frank, an
electrician, of San Francisco. Avho married Sa-
die McCaw ; Blanche, the wife of .Abraham Ri-
mirez, of Los Angeles; and Joseph A., Jr., liv-
ing with his" father.

Mr. Morrison came to the Santa INIaria val-
ley in 1891, and lived on rented land until pur-

1744

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

chasing one hundred and sixty acres of his
lather's estate. His ranch is fertile and well
improved, and devoted principally to grain and
beans. Two 3'ears after coming here, in 1893,
his wife died at the age of forty years, and in
January, 1904, ho was united in marriage with
-Mrs. Jane Shea, a native of Vermont, and a
member of the Catholic Church. In 1901 JMr.
Alorrison added to his man}' experiences a trip
to the Klondike, where he prospected and
mined for a few months. He has been an ob-
serving traveler, and in settled and frontier
communities has drawn \aluable deductions
and evolved sound philosophies. He has made
friends wherever fortune has directed his
.steps, and his genial and interesting personal-
ity, his generosity and kindly intent have
smoothed many rougli places iii a career rich
m incident and useful in scope.

JOSEPH W. YOUxNG, JR. As a member of
the Young-Parmley Investment Company Mr.
Young has been interested in the real estate busi-
ness in Long Beach since October, 1905, the
incorporation of the company following one
year later. Both JMr. Young' and his partner
are capable and energetic business men and in
the comparatively short time which they have
been in business have gathered around them one
of the largest real estate enterprises in the cily.
While they handle business and residence prop-
erty of all kinds, their specialty may be said to
lie in subdividing large tracts" and selling the
lots as homesteads. The following is a partial
list of the tracts which they have thus subdivided :
Young and Parmley's annexation. Young and
Parmley's tract, Windemere, Signal Park', East
Long Beach, North Long Beach, Jessie, Hill
street and Hillside tracts, besides laying out the
town of Hynes.

Joseph W. Young is a native of the east, born
in New York City August 4, 1881, a son of
Joseph Wesley and Rose (Fisher) Young, the
latter of French descent. The paternal grand-
father, Joseph Young, was a cotton planter in
Tennessee, but in an early day left the south and
settled as a pioneer in California, his death oc-
curring in San Francisco during the memorable
days of '49. On his father's plantation near
Memphis, Tenn., Joseph W. Young, Sr., was
born, and at the time of his parents'" removal to
the west he was quite young. At one time he
was proprietor of the Jumbo hotel in Salt Lake
City, but in the main his interests have been
along the line of mining. For many years he
had mining claims in California, but at this writ-
ing his interests are almost wholly, in Nevada.

Of the three children born to his parents,
Joseph W. Young, Jr.. was the eldest and re-
ceive.1 his early school training in New York

City. When only eleven jears old he started
out to make his own way in the world, and that
he has been successful in accomplishing his pur-
pose has already been dem.onstrated. When he
had secured suiificient means to warrant fur-'
iher schooling he took a two-year course in
Gonzaga College in Spokane, Wash. Few
}oung men of his years have had the world-wide
experience which has fallen to Mr. Yoimg's
lot, for he has sailed in all of the principal
waters of the globe, having shipped as a sailor
on a vessel whicli touched port in China, Japan
and Australia among other places. The years
from 1898 to 1 90 1 were spent in Alaska, all of
which country he has traversed by boat. It was
in 1903 that he came to Long Beach and en-
gaged as a salesman m the real estate business
with Frank Shaw for a short time. Thereafter
he carried on a similar business alone until his
association with Mr. Parmley, the business being
later incorporated as the Young-Parmley In-
vestment Company.

In Long Beach ]\Ir. Young was married to
Miss Jessie Cook, a native of Footville, Wis.,
and two sons, John ]\Iarshall and Joseph W.,
have been born to them. Fraternally Mr.
Young is a member of the Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks. He is also a member
of the Chamber of Commerce and the Cos-
mopolitan Club, and in his political inclinations
is a Republican.

GEORGE CHARNOCK. Situated on the
Charnock road one-half mile South of Palms
lies the ranch which, since 1884. has been the
home of George Charnock and the center of his
varied activities. The one hundred and fifty acres
comprising the estate were purchased for ?to
an acre by the present owner. By reason of the
improvements made and also the general rise in
land values, the tract is now valued at about
$500 per acre and therefore represents large finan-
cial holdings on the part of Mr. Qiarnock. Gen-
eral farming engages his attention and in addi-
tion he has been interested in dairying for a num-
ber of years. Through sagacious management
he secures from the property a fair income as
well as interest on the investment represented.

By birth and lineage ^Ir. Charnock is a rep-
resentative of the English race, by the associa-
tions of boyhood he is a Canadian, and by choice
of citizenship he is identified with the United
States. Born in the shire of Lancaster, England,
December 18, 1835, he is a son of John and
Anna Sophia (Pearce) Charnock, natives re-
spectively of Preston and Liverpool, England.
At one time the family had possessed wealth and
the maternal grandfather had held lands and
shwcs in the \A'est Inilies. The father was reared

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1745

on a farm, but in early life turned his attention
to the mercantile business and later lost large
sums of money in the hotel business. For two
years he carried on the Clifton Arms hotel at
Lythan, an unusually large inn, whose furnish-
ings cost him about $75,000, and afterward he
conducted a hotel at Preston, England, but both
ventures brought him heavy losses.

Hoping to retrieve his losses in America John
Qiarnock brought his family to the new world
in May, of 1843. Foi" ten years he engaged
in farming in Canada and then settled on a
farm near Madison, Wis., but two years later re-
moved to Minnesota, where he took up govern-
ment land in Dodge county and improved a farm.
The possessor of a splendid constitution, he re-
mained active and robust until his last sickness
at eighty-six years of age. After coming to
America he gave his allegiance to the Republican
])arty, and in religion he was always faithful to
the doctrines of the Oiurch of England. His
wife, who also was an earnest Episcopalian, died
four years after they settled in Canada and- was
then forty-seven years of age. Ten children were
born of their union, but one died before they
left England.

When the family settled in Canada George
Charnock was a boy of seven years, and he re-
mained on a farm there until he was seventeen.
On coming to the States he aided his father in
developing a farm in Wisconsin and went from
there to Minnesota, where at the age of twenty-
one years he took up a pre-emption claim in
Brown county. As owing to the hostilities of the
Indians it was unsafe to remain in that sparsely
settled region, he returned to his father's home
in Dodge county. Purchasing the home place,
he tilled its soil for a long period, but sold out
in 1882 and removed to Nevada, where his
brother, John J., had preceded him. With him
he became interested in raising sheep near Eu-
reka, where he had a large range and thousands
of sheep in his flocks. Next he went to Arizona
with the intention of engaging in the sheep busi-
ness, but the Indians were hostile and numerous,
and in a year he abandoned his holdings and
removed to the Pacific coast.

The marriage of Mr. Qiarnock took place
April 2, 1868, and united him with Miss Esther
Irene Marcy, a native of Pennsylvania, and from
which state her grandfather went to the front as
captain of a company in the Revolutionary war.
Two sons were born to the union of ]\Ir. and
Mrs. Charnock, namely : Nathan Snow, now liv-
ing at Pasadena : and George F)ancroft. who is
associated with his father in the management
of the home ranch. Politically Mr. Charnock
votes with the Republican party in national elec-
tions, but in local matters he maintains liberal

views, believing the character and intelligence of
the candidate to be of greater importance than
his ideas concerning national problems. In the
community where for about one-quarter of a
century he has made his home, he is honored as
a man of upright character, tireless energy, va-
ried agricultural knowledge and high principles
of honor.

c;EORGE SAMUEL BENSON. But little
more than two years have elapsed since George
Samuel Benson located in Long Beach, yet in his
work as a merchant and real estate dealer he has
ably demonstrated qualities which give him a
place among tlie representative citizens of this
section. He is a native of Livingston county,
Mo., and was born December 22, 1852. His
father, Ira Benson, was born in Baltimore
county. Md., in 1826, and when twelve
years of age was brought to the middle west by
his father, Samuel Benson, who located in Tren-
ton, ]\'Io. Ira Benson was there reared to young
manhood, when he enlisted in the Mexican war
and served until its close as a lieutenant under
Captain Slack. Returning home in 1849 ^^ spent
one year there, and, in 1850, outfitted with ox-
teams and crossed the plains to California. Upon
his arrival in the state he followed the example
of the great majority and engaged in mining, but
later conducted a provision store on the American
river. In 185 1 he returned to the east by way
of Cape Horn, experiencing many hardships, and
on account of storms, was forced to put in for re-
pairs at Peru. He reached his home in safety,
however, and in Chillicothe, Mo., engaged as a
farmer and hotel keeper until his death, which
occurred in the winter of 1862, at the age of
thirty-six vears. His wife, formerly Sarah Mon-
roe, a native of Cooper county, Mo., died in
that state in October, 1904, at the age of seventy-
two years.

Ira Benson and his wife became tne parents
of one son and three daughters, of whom the son,
George Samuel, was the oldest child. He re-
ceived his education in the common schools of
his native state and in young manhood followed
his early training and engaged as a farmer. He
finally became connected with the grocery busi-
ness in Giillicothe, remaining there until T902,
in which year be went to Oklahoma and in Nor-
man estalilished a laundry enterprise. After two
vears in that business and location he came to
California, in March. T904, locating at Long
Beach, where he established the George S. Benson
& Son grocery business, located at the corner of
Sixth and American avenue, an enterprise which
proved successfid. Subsequentlv, however, he
gave un the business, and in July, 1906, em-
barked in the real estate business under the name

1746

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Benson, Fager & Benson, with offices at 350
Pine avenue, where they do a general real estate
and insurance business.

In Missouri Mr. Benson married Anna Mar-
low, native of that place. Her father, P. M. Mar-
low, was a teamster in the Mexican war and in
1849 h^ crossed the plains to California and en-
gaged in mining on the American river. He
eventually returned to ilissouri, in which state
his deatli occurred. Mr. and Mrs. Benson are
the parents of five children, namely : John Paul,
engaged with his father in the real estate busi-
ness; S. Ethel, M. Fay, Claude M., in the city
clerk's office, and A. Ruth. In his fraternal re-
lations Mr. Benson is a member of Long Beach
Lodge No. 327. F. & A. M., and Long Beach
Lodge No. 888, B. P. O. E. Politically he is a
Democrat on national issues, while locally he re-
serves the right to vote for the man whom he
considers best qualified for public office. On this
issue, in April, 1906, he was elected a member
of the board of trustees of Long Beach and is
serving as chairman of the police and sanitary
committee and is a member of the committee on
public works. He is a member of the First Bap-
tist Church, in which he officiates as trustee. In
1906 he erected a modern and commodious resi-
dence at No. 351 East Sixth street.

Robert Boag. Formerly he was a minister, but
is now living retired in Los Angeles. By her
marriage Mrs. Anderson became the mother of
two children, Stanley S. and Ruth C, the latter
a student in the Marlborough school, Los An-
geles. The son, Stanley S., was born in the-
San Gabriel valley and attended the primary
schools of that locality, finishing his education
by taking a course in the Los Angeles Business
College. It was with this preparation that he
came to the Hollywood hotel to become an assist-
ant to his mother in the care and management of
one of the largest hostelries in this part of the
country outside of Los Angeles.

THE HOLLYWOOD HOTEL. No more
commodious and home-like hostelry can be found
in this part of Los Angeles county than the Holly-
wood hotel, whose reputation for dispensing good
cheer as well as the more substantial comforts of
life are proverbial. The hotel was established
by G. W. Hoover, who also built the original
structure in 1902. Two years later it was sold
to Mrs. M. J. Anderson and still later was merged
into a stock company, who enlarged and refur-
nished the hotel throughout, and at this writ-
ing (1906) still another addition is being con-
structed, which will give it a total of two hun-
dred rooms. The company owning this structure
and carrying forward the improvements was cap-
italized for $100,000 in 1904, but on December i,
1906, the valuation of the hotel was placed at
$230,000. Besides owning the plant which fur-
nishes light for the building, they also have a
cold storage and compressed air plant. In fact,
everything connected with the hotel and its man-
agement is first-class, one of the finest six-piece
bands dispensing music for the pleasure of guests
while meals are being served and during the
evening hours.

The management of the Hollywood hotel is un*
der the immediate care of Mrs. M. J. Anderson,
who is ably assisted by her son, Stanley S. An-
derson. Mrs. Anderson was born in Iowa and
was brought to the west by her father. Rev.

ELMER BACON. When the stalwart farm-
ers of the east were beginning to seek new lands
further removed from the Atlantic seaboard,
Samuel Bacon, who was a native of New Jersey
(born at Bridgeton, according to family tradi-
tions), took his household goods and traveled
across the countn,- to Ohio. Arriving in what is
now "Trumbull county he selected a tract of land
lying on the banks of the Mahoning river, where
a fertile valley smiled upon the waters of the
tranquil stream and gave to the location an at-
mosphere of romance. In that neighborhood, in
the township of Bazetta, he platted a town, to
which the name of Baconsburg was given in his
honor, but at a later date the name was changed
to Cortland. There he passed the remaining
years of his busy life and there he passed away
at about the time of the Civil war. After he set-
tled in Ohio he married and reared a family,
among whom was Moses, who was born in War-
ren, Trumbull county, and died in the same lo-
cality after a life devoted to dairy farming. In
his marriage he was imited to Eliza Hovey, who
was born in Ohio and remained in the same state
until death.

Six sons and one daughter comprised the
family of Moses Bacon, of whom the third son,
Elmer, was bom at Cortland, Trumbull county,
Ohio, May 6, 1838, and received a fair education
in common and select schools. While still quite
young he left home in order to see something of
the world, it being his intention to settle in Iowa.
But a disagreement arose with a cousin, in whose
company he traveled, and he was led for that rea-
son to change his plans and join an expedition to
Pike's Peak, then attracting thousands of gold-
seekers. When he arrived in Denver there were
only a few settlers in the place and prospects for
work were so discouraging that he returned to
Ohio, where he took up school teaching. WHien
the Civil war began his younger brother enlisted,
and as he was a delicate lad, the older brother
gave up his school and enlisted in the Fourteenth
Ohio Infantrv in order to be with the one less

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1749

sturdy than himself. The two fought side by
side and served honorably until the expiration
of their time, escaping imprisonment and injur}.-.-

At the close of the war Mr. Bacon became in-
terested in wholesale and retail milling at Corry,
Pa., and from there in 1877 he removed to
Streator, 111., where he engaged in the wholesale
and retail flour business for sixteen years. Mean-
while both himself and wife began to sufter from
poor health and for this reason they made a tour
of Southern California, hoping that a temporary
change would benefit them so as to permit their
return to Illinois. While they found their trip
in 1893 proved even more beneficial than they
dared to hope, they were- so attracted by the
chann of the ocean and -the climate that 1;hey
settled in Long Beach, where Mr. Bacon re-
mained until his death, in November of 1898.
During the latter part of his life he lived retired,
taking little part in the activities of the town, but
enjoying to the full the tranquil sunshine and the
pure ocean air.

While living at Corry, Pa., Mr. Bacon married,
in August, 1868, Miss Fannie L. Frisbie, who
■was born at Madison, Lake county. Ohio, and
now resides at No. 446 Pacific avenue. Long
Beach. In religion she is ideiitified with the
Christian Churcji and maintains a warm interest
in its progress. The only child of her marriage,
Lura 13., now Mrs. H. W. Wohlgemuth, resides
at Glendora. this state. I\Irs. Bacon was a
(laughter of Henry and Eliza ( Astly) Frisbie, na-
tives respectively of Connecticut and Ohio, the
former of whom migrated to Ohio in young man-
hood and settled on a farm near Madison, where
he remained until death. While Mr. Bacon
never took an active part in politics he kept
posted concerning public matters and gave his
support to the Republican party. The old war
days were kept in memor\' through his associa-
tion with members of the Grand Army of the
Republic, while in fraternal aflfairs he affiliated
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

ANTONIO TOMASINT. Few of the na-
tive sons of Switzerland have worked out their
dreams of agricultural success in California
with more patience and perseverance than did
.\ntonio Tomasini. During thirty-three years,
from the time of his arrival on the coast at
the age of sixteen, to his lamented death near
Casmalia, Santa Barbara county, February 2.
1898, he advanced from an unknown lad to
one of the prosperous and influential dairy-
men of the Santa ATaria valley, the possessor
(if a model and paying property, and the es-
teem and good will of all who had ever known
In'm.

^fr. Tomasini came of forefathers long iden-

tified with farming and dairying in Switzer-
land, and his birth occurred on a small Alpine
farm January 8, 1849. His own existence
failed to reflect the longevity enjoyed by his
parents, his father surviving until his eighty-
fifth year, while his mother, at the same age,
gives promise of several more years of use-
fulness. There were eleven children in the
family, and three still are residents of Cali-
fornia. Antonio began to work at the dairy
business soon after his arrival in California,
and spent about four years in Sonoma county,
removing from there to Salinas county, and
from there to Guadaloupe, Santa Barbara
count}% where he conducted a brewery for
about eight years. From there he went to
Point Sal, where he had a dairy, and after
five j^ears located on a ranch near Casmalia,
this county, where terminated his useful, well-
directed career. He was the personification of
industry, and always lived within his means.
To the co-operation and sympathy of a capa-
ble wife Air. Tomasini attributed much of his
success in life. He married, July i, 1878, Vir-
ginia Bonetti, who also was born in Switzer-
land, and whose mother, Domenica Piezzi,
died in that country when fifty-three years old.
Her father. Paul Bonetti, immigrated to the
United States, and died at the home of his
daughter near Casmalia, at the age of sev-
entv-one years. Four children came to bright-
en the home of Mr. and Mrs. Tomasini : Sil-
vio, Ellis. Isadore and Romilda. Two ji-ears
after the death of her husband Mrs. Tomasini
purchased the ranch upon which she since has
lived with her children, and which has the
rep!itation of being one of the best equipped
dairying plants in the county. It is largel}''
under the management of Mrs. Tomasini. who
has mastered every detail of the business, and
is possessed of shrewd financial and executive
ability. She has about thirty cows, and man-
ufactures butter which she sells to the stores.
In connection with the dairy, the children of
Airs. Tomasini lease several hundred acres of
land and conduct a general farming and stock-
raising business. Thev are all industrious and
capable, and inherit the thirft and ambition of
their parents. Mrs. Tomasini is a devout mem-
ber of the Cathoh'c Church at Guadaloupe.

_ SHIRLEY y. BACON. Distingui.shed as the
pioneer photographer of Long Beach and as one
of the leading artists of Los Angeles- county,
Shirlev \'. Bacon is justly entitled to mention in
n work of this character. By skill and ability in
his profession he has built up a fine business in
this vicinitv. having an excellent patronage and
commanding good prices for liis work. A son of

1750

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Oliver C. Bacon, he was born August ii, 1878,
in Streator, La Salle county, 111., where he
grew to man's estate. A native of Ohio, the
father immigrated to Illinois when young, and
after the close of the Civil war located in
Streator, 111. From there, in 1895, he caine to
Los Angeles, Cal., where he resided until his
death. He married Emma Kelly, who was born
in Virginia, and i? now a resident of Long Beach.
She bore him three children, two sons and one
daughter, of whom Shirley V. is the second-born.

Receiving his education in the public schools
of his native town Sh'rlev V. Bacon was gradu-
ated from the Streator high school in 1896, and
soon after began the study of photography, for
which his artistic talent peculiarly fitted him.
Subsequently leaving Streator he followed his
profession in many different cities, including
Eranklin, Marion and Anderson, in Indiana ;
Augusta, Ga. : Columbus, S. C. and Champaign.
III. Coming to California in 1900, he located at
Long Beach, opening a studio at No. 119 East
Ocean avenue, and has since carried on a sub-
stantial business. His artistic talent, aided by his
many years of experience, has given him a strong
hold on the vast possibilities of the future, which
every artist is trying to seize, and his work now
compares favorably with that done by his profes-
sional brethren in the larger cities of the east.

At Long Beach, Cal., May .^o, 1903, l\Ir.
Bacon married Grace Mendenhall, a native of
Iowa, and their pleasant home, which he erected
at the corner of Ninth and iMagnolia streets, is
ever open t(3 their larsjc circle of friends and ac-
quaintances. Politically ]\Ir. Bacon is independ-
ent, voting for the best men and measures. Fra-
ternally he is a member of Long Beach Lodge, K.
of P., of which he was secretary two vears, and
of Long Beach Lodge, B. P. O.' E.

GRANT SIMPSON STONE. The fame of
Long Beach and the band which plays there the
year around are inseparable and as manager of
the first band which began furnishing continuous
entertainment to residents of, and visitors to, the
city, Grant Simpson Stone has been prominent
in contributing this feature to the enterprises
which have made Long Beach the thriving city
that it is todav. This is but one of the wavs he
has assisted in the upbuilding of Long Beach,
however, and besides carrying on a successful
real estate business, he is actively interested in
various other enterprises. At one time he also
set out a* forty-acre orange grove at La Habra,
Orange county, and otherwise improved the
ranch.

July 23, 1862, Mr. Stone was bnrn near Madi-
son, in Dane county. Wis., the son of Ethel Sam-
uel Stone, who was born in New "S'ork. and the

grandson of Dr, Ethel Samuel Stone, during his
lifetime an eminent physician of that state. The
father removed to Ohio, later to Dane county,
^^' is., where he became a pioneer farmer, and
finally to Grant county, that state, locating on a
farm near Bloominglon, where his death occur-
red. The mother, who was before her marriage,
Melvina Boyles, was a native of Athens county,
Ohio, and died in Wisconsin. Of the twelve chil-
dren in the family all grew to maturity and
seven are yet living. Grant Simpson being the
youngest. He was five years of age when taken
l3y his parents to Bloomington, wdiere he re-
ceived his education through the medium of the
public schools. Remaining on the home farm
until- he was of age, he then married and followed
the occupation of farming for one year. Remov-
ing to Madison he took up the study of teleg-
raphy and nine months later secured the position
of agent at Edgerton. From there he went to
Pipestone, JNIinn., and continued in the employ of
the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway until
F. D. Cnderwood was made general manager of
the Soo line, when he became agent at Tenney,
Minn., and later filled the same position in An-
nandale, remaining there two and one-half years,
and becoming one of the incorporators of that
city.

in 1889 Mr. Stone came to California and en-
tered the employ of the Southern Pacific, which
soon sent him to Wilcox, Arizona, as telegraph
operator and during the following two years he
was employed in the same capacity at different
times in Benson and Tucson. Returning to Cal-
ifornia he was given the station at Compton
and there remained for nine years, after which he
was sent by Wells, Fargo & Company to Long
Beach to open their first regular city office at
that place on Second street, near Pacific. A year
later he resigned the position to engage in the
real estate business, and being a talented cornetist
he at the same time organized the Long Beach
band, which later became the Long Beach Marine
Band, of which he continued to be manager until
May, 1904, when he relinquished the position in
order that he might give all of his time to the
prosecution of his real estate business, that
having grown from a very small beginning to
large proportions. He has laid out Lincoln Park
tract, comprising eighty-five acres of land located ,
on the main line of the Pacific Electric Railroad's
four-track system, and also on the line of the
Southern Pacific, There are three hundred and
eighty-five lots well situated and well drained,
and the whole tract will be graded, curbed, side-
walked and set to ornamental trees before the
lots are deeded to buyers. The tract is within
the corporate limits of Compton, and the lots
have a fiftv-foot frontage. He was one of the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1751

original incorporators and is now president of
the Ornamental Stone arid Brick Company, en-
gaged in the extensive manufacture of stone ce-
ment blocks and brick, and carrying on, as well.
a contracting and building business.

The family residence is located on Ocean ave-
nue and Esperance street. By his marriage in
IMiddleton, Dane county. Wis., he was united with
iNIiss Jessie Sanford. and they have become the
parents of four children. Edna, George, Ray and
Harley. Fraternally Mr. Stone is a member of
the Modern Woodmen of America and the Fra-
ternal Aid Society, and he belongs to the First
Congregational Church in Long Beach. Politi-
cally he is a believer in Republican principles.
He is an active member of the Chamber of Com-
merce of this city, and every movement tending
to forward the development of Long Beach has
his enthusiastic support, and as a man of many
admirable personal qualities he is highly esteemed
by a host of friends and acquaintances.

ABRAHAM T. ORELLI. One of the young
business men of Long Beach who is rapidly forg-
mg to the front is Abraham T. Orelli, vice-presi-
dent of the OreIli-McFad)-en Company, which
conducts a city livery at No. 127 West First street
and is engaged in undertaking at No. 115 East
Third street, both branches of the business being
in a thriving condition. Augustine Orelli, the
father of Abraham T., was born in Canton Ticino,
Switzerland, in 1834, and as a young man plied
the painter's and plasterer's trade. In 1845 l^^
went to France and in 1858 came to California
via the Panama route, locating in Placer county
and later in Georgetown, and engaging in
mining on the American river at Forest Hill
divide. Subsequently he was occupied as a dairy-
man for six years, and having met with good
success in all of his ventures, returned to Switzer-
land and married a daughter of his own native
place, Marie Anna Orelli. Bringing his wife to
Georgetown he then engaged in the hotel busi-
ness until about 1892, when he bought an under-
taking establishment which he still owns and
which is now under the management of his son.
C. A. Of their five children now living Camille A.
is a funeral director in Georgetown ; Abraham T.
and Augustine J., are in business in Long Beach ;
while Mary Louise and Rose reside with their
parents in the same city. Mr. Orelli is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

Tllie birth of Abraham T. Orelli occurred
August 9, 1879. in Georgetown, Cal.. and after
acquiring an education in the public and high
schools of that city he assisted his father in his
un<lertaking business. Tn ujoi he went to Au-

burn and learned the blacksmith's trade, which
he followed until 1904, when he again took up
work with his father, continuing until January.
1906, when he came to Long Beach and engaged
in his present business. The company was in-
corporated in March with A. J. Orelli president;
A. T. Orelli vice-president; Edgar McFadyen
secretary, and became the successors of W. P.
Wilson & Son. Mr. Orelli is a meml>er of
Georgetown Parlor No. 91, N. S. G. W. ; and of
the Woodmen of the World lodge of Long
Beach. Politically he is a believer in the prin-
ciples of the Republican party. His brother, A.
J. Orelli, who is associated in business with him,
was also born in Georgetown, and after attend-
ing the public and high schools worked at under-
taking for a time, then took a professional course
in Myers College of Embalming of San Fran-
cisco, graduating therefrom in 1903. He is a
member of the State Funeral Directors' As-
sociation of California and is considered one of
the most competent men of the state in his line
of work. He also belongs to Georgetown Parlor
No 91, N. S. G. W., and fraternally holds mem-
bership in the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks lodge in Long Beach. Being young men
of enterprise and energy and thoroughly trained
in every department of their business their con-
tinued success is fullv assured.

RAYMOND E. CFIASE, M. D. Prominent
in the medical fraternity of Los Angeles county
is Raymond E. Chase, M. D., of Glendale. Pos-
sessing keen intelligence, ability and good mental
attainments he keeps in touch with modern, up-
to-date methods in vogue in his profession, and
is meeting with flattering results as a genera!
practitioner, having an extensive practice in both
Los Angeles and in his home town. Of substan-
tial New England ancestry, he was born in New
York state. His father, S. Everett Chase, was
born and reared among the hills of the Granite
state, and grew to manhood on the home estate,
inheriting from his colonial ancestors habits of
thrift and industry, and developing a strong,
manly character. He worked for several years
as a machinist, and then removed with his family
to Rochester, N. Y., where he was engaged in
business as a shoe manufacturer for a few years.
Coming from there to Los Angeles county. Cali-
fornia, in 1883, he located in Glendale. Buying
twenty acres of land, he improved it, and for
awhile was pleasantly and profitably employed in
diversified ranching, raising all kinds of decidu-
ous fruits, and paving much attention to the culti-
vation of oranges. Subsequently selling his ranch
he lived retired from active ]nu-suits until his
death, October 28. 1904. During his residence in
t Ilcndale lie evinced n genuine interest in local

1752

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

progress and improvement, heartily indorsing all
enterprises calculated to benefit the town or
county. For twelve } ears he was connected with
the Qiilds' Track Pipe and Reservoir Company
as its secretary. Fraternally he was a member of
the JMasonic order. Politically he cast his vote
for the best men and measures, independent of
party restrictions, and for several terms served
as road overseer. Air. Chase married Ella T.
Harris, of Rochester, X. Y., and she survives
him, living in Glendale. Three children were
born of their marriage, namely : \V. E. Chase, of
Los Angeles ; Jennie L., wife of J. D. Robinson,
of Los Angeles, and Raymond E.

Coming with his parents to Glendale in 1883
Raymond E. Chase acquired his rudiinentary
education in the public schools, after which he
took the full course at the Los Angeles high
school, receiving his diploma. Subsequently en-
tering the medical department of the University
of Southern California, at Los Angeles, he was
graduated from tliat institution in 1901 with the
degree of M. D. Since that. time he has been in
active practice of his chosen profession, both in
Los Angeles, where he has an office, and in Glen-
dale, where, among his neighbors and friends, he
has built up a large and lucrative patronage, his
professional skill being recognized and appreci-
ated.

September 14, 1904, Dr. Chase married May
Rogers Pirtle, daughter of John A. Pirtle, well-
known in business circles as president of the
Bank of Los Angeles. They are parents of one
child, Shirley E. The Doctor is prominent in
medical circles, belonging to the Los Angeles
County Medical Societ}-, and likewise to the
State Medical and the American Medical Asso-
ciations. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding
membership in Unity Lodge 368. F. & A. M.,
of Glendale, and is a member of Glendale Lodge
No. 388, I. O. O. F.

Coy, of whom a more detailed account will be
found in the sketch of Benton McCoy, given else-
where in this volume. Until the home was broken
up by the death of the father, Oliver ]\IcCoy,
was a resident of Iowa, in whose public schools
he was educated. Coming to California in 1881
he located near .Long Beach, where he later
bought fifty acres of land upon which he resided
for seven years or until his removal to Los An-
geles. Three years afterward he came to the
vicinity of his present home, renting six hun-
dred acres directl)' north of the ranch he now
owns. As previously stated he purchased his
present property in 1900.

Whatever of good fortune has fallen to Mr.
McCoy has been brought about by the combined
efforts of himself and wife, who has been a help-
mate to him under all conditiens. She was for-
merly Mary Ann Matilda Bell, a native of ]\Iiss-
issippi, and the ceremony which united her with
Mr. McCoy was celebrated July 20, 1893. They
have four children, Esther, Rena Lemar, Agnes
B. and Frances \\'illard. Mrs. McCoy is a faith-
ful member of the Baptist Church, while her
husband is identified with the Presbyterian
Church. His fraternal connections bring him
into membership with Wilmington Lodge No.
130, A. O. U. ^^'. From a material standpoint
i\Ir. McCoy has been very successful, and his per-
sonal attributes are in accord with sterling west-
ern citizenship.

OLIVER ilcCOY. It is a trite but true say-
ing that industry hath its own reward, and this
is nowhere better illustrated than in the life of
Oliver McCoy. In 1900 he purchased one hun-
dred acres of choice land lying five miles north
of San Pedro, and during the six years which
have since elapsed he has wrought a transforma-
tion which the average rancher would have re-
quired twice as long to perform. Neither time,
money nor effort has been spared in bringing
about present conditions, a fact which was dem-
onstrated in the erection of his present resi-
dence in 1902. It is a modern eight-room house,
in which all of the accessories to convenience and
comfort have been included.

Born in Iowa September i. 1857. Oliver Mc-
Coy is a son of John and Marietta (Miller) Mc-

FRED L KIMBALL. The long term of
years during which Fred I. Kimball has been
.supervisor of the State Hospital for the Insane
located in Highland is sufficient proof of his
efficiency in that capacity and the satisfactory-
service he is rendering. He was born Sep-
tember II, 1858, in Orleans county, Yt., the
son of Dr. Isaac and Finette S. (Percival)
Kimball, both of whom were also natives of
Vermont. In 1861, during the Civil war, the
mother went to the front as a nurse, and while
taking care of the wounded soldiers contracted
t3'phoid fever. Her husband, wdio attained the
rank of a lieutenant and later was appointed to
the medical staff", removed her from a tent
where she was raving with fever and took her
to the nearby home of a Mr. Mason, a Confed-
erate sympathizer, and there she died in June,
1861, at the age of thirty-seven years, in Vir-
ginia. Mr. Kimball's health became impaired
while still serving in the army and he was
sent home to act as a recruiting officer until
the close of the conflict. He was a successful
medical practitioner throughout his life, and
li\ed to be seventy-six years old, his death hav-
ing occurred in October, 1903.

After securing a good common school educa-

i^ i^Oii^^'&^^^/f^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1755

tion in his native county Fred I. Kimball went
to Independence, Iowa, and was for ten years
engaged as an attendant in the hospital there.
Later he became connected with the Elgin
(111.) hospital as supervisor, retaining the posi-
tion for three years. Returning to Indepen-
dence he filled a similar position there and at
the expiration of eighteen months came to Los
Angeles and was steward of the Los Angeles
hospital for two and one-half years. It was in
June, 1893, that he came to the State Hospital
for the Insane at Highland in the capacity of
supervisor, and he continued to fill that position
until December, 1904, when he resigned, nine
months later returning to the position, which
he has since filled.

Mr. Kimball became the father of three chil-
dren, namely: Blanche, who was engaged in
hospital work for four years in the California
Hospital at Los Angeles, and is now the wife
of Dr. Arthur F. Godin of that city ; Donald F.,
and JMerritt Percival, the latter two being
students of the Highland schools. Mrs. Kim-
ball, who bore the maiden name of Maren A.
Berg, a native of Norway, holds membership
in the Congregational Church of Highland and
is actively interested in all religious work.
Fraternally Air. Kimball was made a Mason in
Independence, Iowa, in 1882, and still belongs
to the lodge at that place; joined the Knights
of Pythias lodge at Independence in 1887, and
is a charter member of the Knights of Korasan
of Los Angeles ; and in 1895 was made a mem-
ber of the Benevolent Protective C)rder of
Elks of Redlands.

WILLIAINI CALEB LITTLEPAGE.
When a young man of twent}' years, well
qualified by youthful energy for the arduous
responsibility of pioneer life, Mr. Littlepage
came to California in company with his father
and other members of the family, and settled
among the pioneers of Ballena district, San
Diego county. By inheritance he possesses
the chivalrous traits and genial manner char-
acteristic of southerners. His parents. Will-
iam W. and Mary Ann (Woods) Littlepage,
were natives respectively of Virginia and Ken-
tucky, and for some years made their home
in Missouri, where W. Caleb was born Feb-
ruary II, 184S. A few years later the father
sought the cheaper lands of Texas and es-
tablished a home in the midst of lonely fron-
tier environments, where he labored with
ceaseless indtistry but without the gratifica-
tion of attaining success. Hearing much con-
cerning the prospects ofifered by California to
men of persistent application he determined to
seek a home near tlic Pacific coast, and ac-

cordingly disposed of his Texas interests in
1868, loaded his effects in a wagon and with
wife and children journeyed along the south-
ern route. After a tedious trip behind an ox-
team El Cajon valley was reached and a tem-
porary home there established, but soon re-
moval was made to the Ballena district ■ and
land was taken up from the government. For
many years the father lived on the quarter-
section ranch he had pre-empted from the
government and on that homestead he died in
1899, at the age of seventy-five years, and the
demise of his wife occurred two years before,
at sixty-five years of 'age.

Shorty after he had attained his majority
W. C. Littlepage took up one hundred and
sixty acres of government land near the tract
secured by his father, and all through the years
that have since intervened he has given his
attention to the bringing of the land under
cultivation, the making of necessary improve-
ments, the building of needed structures, and
the general development of his homestead.
Besides he has rented other tracts and has al-
most two hundred acres in grain. As might
be supposed, farm work takes the precedence
of other activities, yet he never neglects any
duty that falls to a public-spirited citizen and
at present he fills the office of clerk of the
school board in his district. Politically he
has been a stanch supporter of the Demo-
cratic party ever since casting his first ballot
in favor of its principles. A few years after
he came to San Diego county, in 1874, he was
united in marriage with Miss Etta Deming,
a native of ]\Iichigan, but from childhood a
resident of California. Four children were
born of their union, namely: Fannie May. who
married Martin Cnrlee and makes her home
in Pomona; Edgar G.. who is married and
lives in Poway : Jt- dith F., who is married to
E. F. Cravath and lives in Ballena, this coun-
ty; and Albert E., who is married and resides
in San Diego, where he holds a position as
foreman in the Kelley stables. Throughout
Ballena district the Littlepage family has been
known for many years and its members have
the confidence and esteem of those who have
shared with them the agrictiltural, moral and
educational upbuilding of this section.

JOHN B. SNODDY. One of the success-
ful farmers of Los Angeles county is John B.
Snoddy, who is located two miles northeast of
El Monte and engaged in the cultivation of a-
walnut ranch of fifty acres. His father, Will-
iam Snoddy, represented elsewhere in this work,
is one of the early pioneers of California, a man
of worth and works, successful in his personal

1/3G

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

affairs and an enterprising and prominent man
among the citizens of this community. John
L>. Snoddy was born on his father's ranch in
Ll Monte November i, 1874, the oldest child
in the family, and all of his boyhood days were
passed in that place. He received his education
in tbe public schools and at the same time was
trained to the practical duties of a farmer's son.
After leaving the public school of Savannah he
attended ^^'oodbury's Business College of Los
Angeles, from which institution he was grad-
uated in 1894. Returning home he remained on
his father's ranch until attaining his majority,
when he became dependent upon his own re-
sources, his first business ventufe being as pro-
prietor of a feed and sale stable in Pasadena.
He was successful in his enterprise, but after
three years was burned out. The greater part
of his capital being lost he then engaged in
farming, and in 1898 purchased. the G. W. Tun-
gate walnut ranch at El ]\Ionte, adjoining his
father's property. The trees had just begun
bearing and since that time have proved a profit-
able investment, each year bringing him large
returns for his efforts. In 1906 he improved
his property by the erection of a handsone resi-
dence, and has otherwise added to its value,
bringing to bear in his work an intelligent in-
terest and capability which have justly placed
him among the enterprising and successful men
of this section. This ranch receives irrigation
from the Tungate and Snoddy ditch, -which
his father took out in 1870.

.In Pasadena Mr. Snoddy was united in mar-
riage with Miss Anna C. French, who was bom
in jMissouri and reared in California from the
age of twelve years, her parents being early
pioneers of the state. She is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church and active in its
work. They have one son, Emory. Mr. Snoddy
belongs to the Woodmen of the World of Pasa-
dena "and the Ancient Order of LTnited Work-
men of El Monte. Ijoth himself and wife having
the Degree of Honor in the latter, while his
wife is chief of honor. Politically Air. Snoddy
is a stanch Democrat.

BERNARD SCHMITZ. William Schmitz,
one of the representative men of \'entnra county,
and the father of Bernard Schmitz, of this review,
accompanied his parents to the new world in
1860, having been born in Prussia, April 16,
1851. The first twenty years of his life in this
country were spent in Butler county. Neb.,
which he left in 1880 to take up life in the far
west. He first located in Santa Ana. Orange
county, and upon the ranch which he purchased
there he made his home for nine years, or until
removing to the Santa Clara valley, in Ventura

county, and purchasing the ranch of sixty acres,
upon which he now lives, and which is planted to
iima beans. His marriage in 1876 united him
with Mary Stiner, a native of New York state,
and the following children were born to them:
John, who is married and lives near Hueneme,
N'entura county; Bernard, the subject of this
sketch; Stella Carlson, Emma, at home; Robert
[ngersoll, and one child who died in infancy.

Born in Butler county, Nebraska, January 10,
1880, Bernard Schmitz was next to the oldest
in his parents' family, but as he was an infant
at the time of his parents' removal to the coast
he has no knowledge of an}- other home than
California. His schooling was received in the
common schools of the Santa Clara valley, and,
after his education was completed, he remained
with his father until attaining his majority.
Ambitious to engage in ranching on his own be-
half, in 1901 he rented the property near Ox-
nard, on which he now resides, and in the abund-
ance of harvests, which he has gathered, has
more than realized his fondest expectations. One
hundred and fifty acres are in beets and barley,
while the remainder of the ranch, or two hundred
and fifty acres, are in lima beans.

The marriage of Bernard Schmitz and Flor-
ence Moore was celebrated May 10, 1903, she be-
ing a native of Ohio. She is an active worker
in the Christian Church of Oxnard. of which she
is a member, and with her husband stands high
in the social circles of Oxnard. Mr. Schmitz is
conceded to be one of the most enterprising citi-
zens in this part of Ventura county, and if what
he has alreadv accomplished can be taken as a
■criterion, future years will find him ranking
among the wealthv men of the state.

E. LYNN COVERT. While the term pioneer
as generally understood would hardly be appli-
cable to Mr. Covert, he was, nevertheless, an
early settler in Long Beach, coming here in 1891.
at which time its population scarcely reached
seven hundred. No one has been a more inter-
ested witness of the advancement and progress
along all lines of its growth than he, and during
the past fifteen years he has not onlv been a
witness but has been one of the most active work-
ers in bringing about present conditions.

Mr. Covert was born in Hopewell, Ind.. No-
vember II, 1854, the eldest of the five children
born to his parents, George W. and Mary E. (La
Grange) Covert, of whom more may be learned
by referring to the sketch of the father else-
where in this volume. When he was a lad of
about six years the family removed from Indiana
to Kansas, locating near Carlyle, and in the pub-
lic schools of the latter place he gained his
first educational training. Some time later,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1757

about 1873, removal was again made to Indiana,
and in the high school of Whiteland he com-
pleted his education. He was now of an age
when he could be of assistance to his father,
who was a practicing physician and dentist, a
dual profession which he followed in Whiteland
and later in P'ranklin, that state. After work-
ing for a time in the dental office he relinquished
this to take up farming and stock raising in
that locality, and continued this occupation as
long as he remained in the East. As has been
previously stated he came to Long Beach in 1891
and two years later established himself in the real
estate business in this city. It was no doubt,
his favorable report concerning the country, and
especially of Long Beach, that induced the father
to remove west the following year, and he has
made his home in this city ever since. In 1904
Mr. Covert and his father became associated in
the subdivision of a tract of land on American
avenue between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets,
an undertaking which has been exceedingly
profitable, for practically all of the lots have been
sold at good prices. Besides the residence which
he built on Stanwood avenue Mr. Covert also
owns residence property in other parts of the
city, and is carrying on a very lucrative business
as a real estate dealer.

In Whiteland, Ind., Mr. Covert was married
to Miss V. Belle Brewer, a native of that State,
and to them two children have been born, Ada
Edell and Angelo. Mr. Covert's interest in his
adopted cit}- has been recognized by his fellow-
citizens, who nominated and elected him a mem-
ber of the city council, serving to their satisfac-
tion and to his own credit for one term. Further
proof of his loyalty and devotion to the well-be-
ing of Long Beach was demonstrated when he set
on foot the organization of the Chamber of Com-
merce, composed of business men of the city,
who in every community are the bone and sinew
which sustain it. Fraternally he is a member
of the Knights of Pythias, having joined the
order in Greenwood, Ind., and politically he is
a Republican. Both Mr. Covert and his wife
are members of the First Presbyterian Church
of Long Beach, and share the love and respect
of their many friends and acquaintances.

AUGCSTE CANTARINI. One of the
more exten.sive ranchmen in Riverside coun-
ty is Auguste Cantarini, who lives one-half
mile north of Temecula, on his large grain
ranch. His birth occurred in i860, in Ticino,
Switzerland, in which country he was edu-
cated in the common schools. His parents
were Eustorgio and Lucia Cantarini, both na-
tives of Switzerland. The death of the father

occurred in 1882, at the age of eighty-six years,
and that of the mother in 1904, at the age of
eighty-seven. Auguste Cantarini immigrat-
ed to the United States when sixteen years of
age, locating in Temecula in 1876, and secur-
ing employment by the month until 1881,
when he became of age and was able to file
on a tract of government land. He improved
the property thus acquired and gradually add-
ed to his holdings, until at the present time his
ranch embraces four iiuudred and fifty-one
acres of land.

In 1886 Mr. Cantarini returned to his native
land and there married I'ia Cantarini, born in
Switzerland, and brought her with him to this
country. Her parents were Onorato and
Sophia Cantarini ; the mother's death occurred
in 1887, at forty-five years of age, the father
being now sixty-six years old and residing in
South America. Mr. and Mrs. Auguste Can-
tarini are the parents of eight children, name-
ly : Leo Paul, Angelina, iMary, John, Joseph,
Elvezi, Daniel, and Serena. Mr. Cantarini
is a progressive and enterprising citizen, and
by industry, thrift and honesty, earned a suc-
cess in his business which he richlv deserves.

EDWARD REBER. As a contracting plumb-
er Edward Reber conducts a successful business
in San Bernardino and his work shows him to
be thoroughly familiar with all parts of his trade.
Mr. Reber is of German descent, his father, John,
having been born in that country. Upon immi-
grating to America he settled first in Iowa on a
farm, and later went to Staiiford county, Kans.,
where he secured a piece of raw land and im-
proved it until it became a valuable piece of prop-
erty. In early days, before the railroads thread-
ed their way across the continent, he and a com-
rade undertook the hazardous trip of crossing
the plains from the farm in Kansas to California
by foot, and proved their powers of endurance
and courage by accomplishing the task not only
once, but twice, for they returned to Kansas in
the same way. In 1885 j\Ir. Reber located in
Los Angeles and is now engaged in ranching at
Redondo. His wife, formerly Mary Olliman,
was also a native of Germany, and they are the
parents of ten children, all of whom are living. ■

It was on October 26, 1870, that Edward
Reber was born in Stafford, Kans., where he
lived until 1890, when he came to Los Angeles.
His education was received through the medium
of the public schools and after coming to San
Bernardino, in 1892, he began his apprenticeship
at the plumber's trade. Subsequently he was em-
ployed successively by Wilcox & Rose, Thomas
Hadden and George Cooley, and in 1902 he

1758

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

opened a shop of his own on Court street and
began to take contracts for general plumbing and
heating. His work is all done in a highly satis-
factory manner, as may be seen in the Home
Telephone building, the St. Oiarles hotel, and
the residences of Mrs. Cochrane, Messrs. James
Fleming, Crossman and Glasgow, as well as else-
where. He erected the family residence at No.
776 Fourth street, where he resides with his
wife, who was formerly Miss Sadie Kenyon, a
native of San Bernardino county, where her
father is a prominent ranchman. Mr. Reber is a
member of the Board of Trade and the Mer-
chants' Protective Association, and fraternally
affiliates with the Woodmen of the World and
Knights of Pythias. He is an enterprising and
progressive citizen, an energetic business man
and is held in the highest esteem by all who
know him.

MICHAEL HENRY BURKE. One of the
most enterprising representatives of the indus-
trial interests ofLos Angeles county is Michael
Henry Burka, of Terminal, who has attained
marked distinction as a millwright, having built
and equipped many of the more important saw-
mills and planing-mills of this part of the state.
A man of inventive genius, familiar with every
detail concerning- the manufacture of lumber, his
quick, keen intellect, practical training and wide
experience have made him complete master of
his trade, and as superintendent of the Southern
California Lumber Company's planing mill his
knowledge and services are thoroughly appre-
ciated by his superiors. A son of the late Al-
exander Burke, he was born June 3, 1855, in
Jefferson county, N. Y.

On emigrating from Tipperary, Ireland, his
native town, to the United States, Alexander
Burke lived for a while in Jeflferson county, N.
Y., being employed as a veterinary surgeon and
a farmer. He subsequently removed to Canada,
but on the breaking out of the Civil war re-
turned to New York to offer his services to the
country of his adoption, and as a gunner in Cap-
tain G'reen's company of heavy artillery served
until the close of the conflict. Removing then
with his family to Excelsior, Wis., he improved
a farm, and, in connection with his work as a
veterinary surgeon, was engaged in tilling the
soil until his death, which occurred at Rice Lake.
His wife, whose maiden name was Helen Con-
nors, was born at Cape Vincent, N. Y., and died
at Rice Lake, Wis. Of their family of twelve
children, five sons and three daughters are liv-
ing.

Moving to Canada with his parents when a
small child, Michael H. Burke lived in Kingston
until after the close of the Civil war. Going

then with the family to Wisconsin, he continued
his studies in the public schools, being after-
wards graduated from Princeton College, in
Princeton, Minn. Returning then to Wisconsin,
he learned the trade of a mechanical engineer,
and subsequently, as head sawyer in different
mills, became proficient with every detail of lum-
ber manufacturing. An expert mechanic, he in-
stalled machiner}' in many mills of Wisconsin
and Minnesota, and was permanently employed
by one firm for eight years.

Coming to San Pedro, Cal., in 1901, Mr.
Burke built and started the Southwestern Lum-
ber Company's mill. Subsequently locating on
Terminal Island, he erected his present fine resi-
dence, and built for the Southern California
Lumber Company the finely equipped planing
mill of which he has since had charge. He
bought all of the equipments, installed the ma-
chinery, which is of the most approved modern
construction, on the planer having two new in-
ventions of his own, a shifter and a tightener.
This mill, one of the finest in southern Califor-
nia, has a capacity of two hundred thousand feet
a day.

In Richland, Wis., Mr. Burke married Emma
Morgan, a native of that place, and they are the
parents of six children, namely : William, a
]Dractical chemist ; James, Sylvester and Francis,
all expert machinists and engaged in the mill
with their father; Harvey; and Nellie. Polit-
ically Mr. Burke affiliates with the Republican
party, and fraternally he belongs to the Forest-
ers of America, the Modern Woodmen of Amer-
ica and to the Modern Brotherhood of America.

HAL W. BALY. Prominent among the ris-
ing young business men of San Pedro is Hal
W. Baly, bookkeeper for the E. K. Wood Lum-
"ber Company. Possessing an active brain, keen
and quick at solving mathematical problems, he
is a skilful accountant, and in his present posi-
tion is performing the duties devolving upon
him with ability and fidelity. Having great faith
in the future possibilities of his adopted city, he
is warmly interested in everything that tends to
promote the welfare of the community in which
he resides and in which he is very popular, few
men having a larger list of warm friends than
he. • A native of Kansas, he was born Septem-
ber 21, 1880, in Butler county, a son of Henry
Baly, in whose sketch, on another page of this
volume, further parental and ancestral history
may be found.

Brought by his parents to San Pedro in 1886,
Hal W. Baly was here brought up. receiving a
good education in the public schools. In 1899
he began his active career as an assistant book-
keeper for the Kirchkoff & Cuesner Lumber Com-

\>;^^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1761

pany, with which he was associated two years.
Resigning his position with that firm in 1901,
lie has since been bookkeeper for the E. K.
Wood Lumber Company, and in this capacity
has contribnted largely towards the advancement
of the financial prosperity of his employers. He
is a man of sterling integrity, honest and up-
right in all of his dealings, and is well worthy
of the regard in which he is so universally held.
In San Pedro, ]Mr. Baly married Frances Mor-
ris, who was born, reared and educated in Los
Angeles, and th.eir pleasant home, at No. 357
Sixth street, is a center of social activity. Po-
litically Mr. Baly is a stanch Republican. Fra-
ternally he is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his
wife belong to the Daughters of Rebekah. Relig-
iously Mr. and Mrs. Baly are members of the
Episcopal Church, and liberal contributors to-
wards its support.

PHILIP NOURBOURNE MYERS. No
name in the San Jacinto valley, Riverside
county, is more enduringly associated with its
substantial development than that of IMr. My-
ers, general manager of the Hemet Land and
Water Company, and one of the large land
owners and prosperous citizens of this section.
He is a native of tlie south, born in Covington,
Ky., September 16, 1866, the son of Hon. Har-
vey Myers. The latter was a native of Penn-
sylvania, born, reared and educated in Great
Bend, Susquehanna county, leaving there dur-
ing young manhood to take up teaching in
Kentucky. Subsequently he began reading
law and in due time was admitted to the bar,
establishing his office in Covington, Ky. Po-
litically a Republican and hence a strong
Union man, he was not only a witness but was
a participant in the Civil conflict, and assisted
in the defense of Cincinnati against the Con-
federate raider, Kirby Smith. Some time after-
ward he was the choice of his party 'as their
representative in the state legislature, there
as elsewhere serving his constituents faithful-
ly and to the best of liis ability. At the close
of his term he returned once more to Coving-
ton and resumed his law practice, having in
the meantime associated himself in business
with J. W. Stevenson, ex-governor of Ken-
tucky. Thus far in his experience Mr. Myers
had received many honors and a brilliant ca-
reer of many years of usefulness apparently
lay before him, but in the midst of it all he was
suddenly cut down, being killed by William
J. Terrell, who held a grievance against Mr.
Myers for his stand upon some legal matter
which was detrimental to him. His untimely
death occurred 'n 1874. when he was only for-

ty-six years of age. He was survived only five
_vears by his widow, Vvdio before her marriage
was Susan Scott, born in Georgetown, K}^,
the descendant of an old Virginia family. Four
children blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Myers, of whom we mention the following:
The eldest, Harvey, is an attorney of consid-
erable note in Covington, and for two terms
was speaker in the House of Representatives ;
besides being prominent at the bar he is also
a well-known business man, having a large in-
terest in the Independent Telephone Com-
pany, is president of the ^Memphis Telephone
Company and is also interested in the Corsi-
cana and Dallas (Texas) Independent Tele-
phone Companies. The second child in the
parental family, Adeline L., became the wife
of Rev. William A. Shedd. who died in Per-
sia, while there representing the Presbyterian
Board of Missions. Susan is the wife of
Thomas J. Willison, the family making their
home in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The youngest child in his parent's family.
Philip X. M}crs attended the conmion and
high schools of Covington and after his grad-
uation began reading law in the office of Hal-
lam iS: Alyers in that city. He gained a val-
uable insight into legal ailfairs in his capacity
of official reporter, his duties taking him into
the United States district court, the courts
throughout the northern district of Kentucky
and the criminal courts. In addition to this
he held other city and county offices which
proved of considerable benefit to him from an
educational standpoint. He was admitted to
the bar in iSgo, and the year following he came
to California, in San Francisco being admitted
to practice at the bar of the supreme court.
Notwithstanding his excellent legal training
circumstances seemed to lead him in another
direction. Going to Bakersfield in 1891 he was
ofl^ered and accepted the position of private
secretary to the general manager of the Kern
County Land and Water Company, of which
Haggin & Tevis were the owners and proprie-
tors. Owing to his wife's ill-health he was
compelled to give up his position four years
later and seek a climate more suited to her
condition, and for this reason located in Los
Angeles temporarily. In the mean time he had
been offered a position in Hemet, and hither
he came in 1896 to become secretary of the
Hemet Land and Water Company, an enter-
prise which during the past ten years has
made rapid strides under his capable manage-
ment. The originator of the enterprise which
has made a garden spot of the San Jacinto val-
ley is Col. E. L. Mayberry, who in 1887 ac-
quired the water rights and incorporated the
Hemet Land and Water Company. The re-

1762

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

serve supply of water is held in Lake Hemet,
which drains a watershed of over one hun-
dred thousand acres, and from which water is
tapped when the supply from the streams be-
low runs low. Water is diverted below Lake
Hemet at four points, from Strawberry creek,
the South fork. North fork and from the San
Jacinto river, which during the winter and
spring are constantly replenished from the
mountains and give an abundant supply with-
out drawing upon the reserve, until the irrigat-
ing season opens, when a partial supply is of-
ten necessary for about three months. In
1890 Colonel jMayberry began the construc-
tion of the Hemet dam., which is a solid piece
of masonry built across a narrow granite
gorge at the lower end of Hemet mountain
vallev. On top it is two hundred and fifty
feet long, and is imbedded into the solid
walls of the canon on either side and also be-
low bedrock at the bottom. Its base is one
hundred feet thick and at present its height is
one hundred and twenty-two and a half feet,
although the plans now are to raise this to one
hundred and fifty or one hundred and sixty
feet. The dam has an elevation of forty-four
hundred feet aboA-e sea level, or twenty-eight
hundred feet above the town of Hemet, a con-
dition which precludes any fear of water fam-
ine on the part of residents of the surround-
ing countr}-. The holdings of the Hemet Land
and Water Company at one time comprised
seven thousand acres, to which was subsequent-
ly added three thousand acres by purchase
from the Fairvievv- Land and Water Com-
pany. About half of this large tract has been
sold in ten-acre plats, upon which deciduous
and citrus fruits, alfalfa, broom corn or sugar
beets are grown with considerable profit. The
company is capitalized at $3,000,000, and is
under the direct management of Mr. [Myers,
who resides in Hemet, while the president, W.
F. Whittier, makes his headquarters in San
Francisco.

In St. Louis. ATo.. December 6, 1886. Mr.
Alyers was united in marriage with Miss Alma
Newman, who is a native of Fulton, !Mo. Two
children have been born to them. Harvey H.,
who is attending Leland Stanford L^niversity,
and Philip N.. Jr. Politically Mr. ]\Iyers is
a Republican, and is active in party ranks.
For six years he served as county central
committeeman, and in June. 1906, was chair-
man of the county convention for the nomina-
tion of candidates. On June 18, 1906, he was
sent as a delegate to the state convention
which met in Santa Cruz. Numerous fra-
ternal organizations claim his membership,
among them the Reiniblican Club, of which he
was the first president. Benevolent Protective

Order of Elks of Riverside, Independent Or-
der of Foresters, Fraternal Aid and the Knights
of the Maccabees. With his wife Mr. Myers
attends the Episcopal Church, of which they
are both members. By right of her descent
from Revolutionary ancestors Mrs. Myers has
received certificate of membership in the
Daughters of the American Revolution, in
whose ranks she is an active worker. The
I\fyers home is one of the most beautiful and
attractive places in Hemet, a town which is
indebted immeasurably to Mr. Myers for what
he has accomplished.

WILLIAM T. AIcLAUGHLIN. An ener-
getic and enterprising young rancher, William
T. ]McLaughlin is located two and one-half miles
southwest of Palms, Los Angeles county, en-
gaged in the cultivation and improvement of a
ranch of fifty acres which he owns, besides rent-
ing two hundred acres which he carries on in con-
nection with his own property.

A native of Douglas county, Kans.. born No-
vember 17, 1865, William T. McLaughlin is a
son of John and Mary (Riggs) [McLaughlin,
born in Pennsylvania and Missouri respectively.
While he was still a young man the father be-
came a pioneer settler in the commonwealth of
Kansas, and as he was born in 1834, was less
than thirty years old at the time of the outbreak
of the Civil war. He joined a Kansas regiment
in defense of the LTnion, and though his service
was not protracted, it was rendered willingly
and faithfully. When he located in Kansas many
years ago he took up from the government a
quarter section of land which he improved and
cultivated with the idea of making his home
there indefinitely, but the year 1870 brought
about a change in his plans and witnessed his
removal to California. His first purchase of
land in the state was a ranch of one hundred and
fifty acres in Los Angeles county not far from
Comptofi. and upon selling this some time later
he invested the proceeds in a ranch on Adams
street in the same vicinity. At this writing he
is living retired in Los Angeles, making his
home on Twentieth street. Named in order of
birth the children comprising the parental family
are as follows : Ellen, who became the wife of
F. Garrison; Mattie. [Mrs. C. R. Coe : William
T., tlie subject of this sketch : Belle, who is un-
married and makes her home with her parents;
George, who chose as his wife Bessie Andrews ;
Eva and Walter, also at home; Ida, [Mrs. George
Rittsman ; and Minnie, the wife of H. W. Qiase.

When twenty-one years of age William T.
[McLaughlin assumed the responsibilities of life
on his own account, and the property which he
then selected and purchased is the same on which

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1763

lie makes liis Iiome today. This comprises fifty
acres not far from the village of Bollona, but
as the latter is not a postoffice he receives his mail
and markets his produce in Palms, which is
about two and a half miles distant from his
ranch. Besides this property he owns two hun-
dred acres in Tulare and Kings counties. Carson
City, Nev., was the early girlhood home of Mrs.
McLaughlin, who before her marriage was Miss
Laura Kitzmeyer. She is now the proud mother
of two daughters, Inez and Lulu. While Mr.
McLaughlin is not named as a follower of either
of the great political bodies, it is no indication
that he is luke-warm in his interest in the af-
fairs of his nation and count}-, but on the other
hand suggests an independent spirit, and in cast-
ing his ballot for the man best fitted for the
office rather than for the support of a political
organization he is acting from the point of prin-
ciple.

JOHN McC;LASMAX. In whatever part of
the world the Scotch people may elect to reside
they are welcomed as valued additions to the
citizenship of the locality, for their thrift, energy
and high principles of honor are knowm the
whole world around, and it is generally conceded
that no race excels them in the qualities that
contribute toward ideal citizeilship. Represent-
ative of that nation is John McGlashan, a pros-
perous rancher who owns and operates a ranch
of seventy-eight acres in the vicinity of Arroyo
Grande, San Luis Obispo county, and who for
a number of years has cultivated this tract with
increasing financial returns and gratifying suc-
cess. A portion of the property is under culti-
vation to beans, while twenty acres are utilized
as pasture land for horses.

Born in Scotland August 28, 1835, this pro-
gressive farmer is a son of John and Elizabeth
(Rogers) McGlashan, also natives of that coun-
try, but during much of their married lives citi-
zens of Fulton county, N. Y.. where the mother
died at sixty-six years and the father when
eighty-two years of age. Of their ten children
seven are still living, and these were trained to
habits of uprightness, industry and honesty under
the wise preceptorship of the parents. In re-
ligious views the family were earnest members
of the Presbyterian Church. During all of his
active life the father followed agricultural pur-
suits and while he did not reap a fortune from
his labors, he was enabled to support his large
family in comfort and accumulated a competency
for his old age.

When the family left Scotland for the shores
of the new world John ^IcGlashan was a boy of
eight years, and much of his education was ac-
quired in the schools of Fulton county. N. Y.,

where he grew to manhood. In addition to work-
ing on a farm in youth he learned the trade of
mason, but this he did not follow for any consid-
erable period. Leaving the east in 1858 he went
to the frontier regions of what was then known
as the Colorado desert. For one year he worked
for Butterfield & Co., in the overland mail route.
On settling in California he engaged in ranching
in Alameda county, where he remained about ten
years. Later he went to the San Joaquin valley,
but met with heavy reverses in his agricultural
enterprises in that part of the state. After six
years in that locality he left to start anew in
another region, and proceeded to San Luis Obispo
county, where he has made his home since 1875.
For a time he owned a ranch on the other side of
Arroyo Grande, but eventually he sold and in
1903 he bought the property he still owns. Here
he is retrieving the losses of earlier years and by
dint of perseverance and energy he has won re-
cogniition among the progressive ranchers of the
valley.

The marriage of Mr. jMcGlashan took place
in 1866 and united him with Lucy A. Rooker,
a native of Iowa and a member of the Presby-
terian Church, The}' are the parents of four
children, The eldest son, John A., was first
married to Malinda Gibson, and to them one
child was born ; his marriage with Eva Beavers
resulted in the birth of two children. The second
son. David R. married Mattie Bray and has three
children. The third son, Joe W.. now deceased,
married Rose Eubanks, who survives him. The
youngest son, Qiarles. is unmarried and resides
on the home ranch. Politically Mr. McGlashan
gives allegiance to the Democratic party, but he
displays no partisan spirit and is liberal and
broad-minded in his views.

FREDERICK C. HESS. Comparatively few
of the men now prominent in agricultural or
commercial affairs in San Luis Obispo county
have spent their entire lives within its limits,
but such is the record of the young gentleman
whose name introduces this article and whose
energy and progressive spirit have made him
popular among the ranchers in the vicinity of
Arroyo Grande. This village is his native place
and November 24, 1873, the date of his birth.
In addition to attending the grammar school
here he had the advantage of a course of study
in the San Francisco Business College, and on
his return to this county he began to work on
a ranch, starting out for himself in 1897. The
farm which he occupies and operates near Arroyo
Grande comprises seventy-three acres of valuable
land. Besides this tract he has fifteen acres at
Pismo devoted principallv to beans and ten acres
planted to apricots and walnuts. His marriage

1764

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and his independent undertaking of ranching
were both events of the year 1897, the former oc-
curring in September, at which time he was united
with Miss Tessie Ransom, a native of San Jose,
this state. Mrs. Hess was one of the two chil-
dren comprising the family of Amasa and Mary
(Wallace) Ransom, the former of whom was
born in New York and died at thirty-six years,
while the latter was born in Michigan and died
at forty-five years of age. To the union of
Mr. and Mrs. Hess there have been born two
children, Freda and Carl. Fraternally ^Ir. Hess
holds membership with the Woodmen of the
World and the Knights of Pythias at Arroyo
Grande.

The Hess family is of German origin, and the
parents of Frederick were both natives of Germ-
any, but emigrated from there to the United
States in 1866. The father, Henry, was a native
of the city of Frankfort, and in that part of the
empire married Susan Schimph, by whom he be-
came the father of five children. Of this family
two daughters are now deceased. Both parents
survive and at this writing make their home in
the city of Berkele)', where they have many
friends, and they also are remembered with es-
teem and respect by old friends in San Luis
Obispo county. After coming to this country
the father allied himself with the Republican
party and the son was reared in that faith, to
which he still adheres, voting the regular party
ticket at local and national elections.

PETER L. IVERSEN. .-Vmong the many
prominent residents of San Pedro worthy of
special representation in this volume is Peter
L. Iversen, who, as president of the Terminal
Ship and Boat Building Company, is actively as-
sociated with the advancement of the industrial
and commercial interests of Southern California.
A native of Denmark, he was born, October 31,
1846, at Skjelskor, Sjaeland, where his father,
Hartvig Steffen Iversen, a shoemaker by trade,
spent his entire life. His mother, whose maiden
name was Anne Dorthea Peterson, was born in
Aggerso, Denmark, and, like her husband, was
a life-long resident of her native land. They
were the parents of eleven children, six of whom
grew to years of maturity, the fourth child in
order of birth being Peter L., the subject of
this sketch. Several of their descendants set-
tled in this country, some of whom are promi-
nent in public life, one of their grandchildren.
Jens Iversen Westengaard, a graduate of Harv-
ard University, being at present one of the legal
advisers of the King of Siam.

Brought up in his native town, Peter L. Iver-
sen was educated in the public schools, and at
the age of fourteen years began learning the

trade of a ship carpenter, serving an appren-
ticeship of three years at Karrchaks minde. He
was afterwards ship carpenter on deep water
vessels for a short time, acquiring practical ex-
perience in his chosen industry. In 1867 he
came to California, sailing from Scotland as a
ship carpenter, and seven months later, having
rounded the Horn, arrived in San Francisco.
For several years thereafter he was engaged in
the coasting trade, going as a common sailor,
and subsequently being similarly employed on
the Sacramento river, where he was at first mate
on a schooner, and afterwards master of a ves-
sel. In 1880, as master of the schooner Adeline,
he came to San Pedro to assist in hauling the
rock from Catalina to build the break-water in
this harbor. Completing his work in that line,
he entered the employ of the government, and
as ship carpenter was employed in different ca-
pacities, among other things having charge of
the building of two lighters. He was after-
wards ship carpenter for the Wilmington Trans-
]iortation Company for awhile, and on giving up
that position, in 1891, established a boat yard on
Terminal Island. The land being subsequently
claimed by the railroad company, Mr. Iversen
compromised with it, retaining his present yard,
which is 140x140 feet, and is located just op-
posite Terminal. With his partner, he is car-
rying on a large and lucrative business as a
member of the enterprising firm of Fulton &
Iversen, and in addition to building boats and
launches of all kinds, and repairing vessels in
port, he erected the building for the San Pedro
Canning Company. Mr. Iversen is a man of
excellent business ability, and by dint of industry,
forethought and good management has acquired
a handsom.e property. When he first came to
San Pedro he erected a house for himself and
family on Eleventh street, and has since built
the pleasant residence that he now occupies, at
No. 248 Eleventh street.

June 9, 1897, in Los Angeles, Cal., Mr. Iver-
sen married Helena Bertha Lang, who was born
in Luzern, Switzerland, of German ancestry.
Her parents, John and Lucilla (Marfort) Lang,
were life-long residents of Luzern, and she was
their only child. Her father, who was a miller by
trade, died in manhood's prime, and her mother
died when Mrs. Iversen was a child of eleven
years. Being thus left an orphan, she came, in
1883, to the' United States with Mr. and Mrs.
Hoffman, who were traveling through Switzer-
land, and for four or more years lived with
them in Enterprise, Kans., while there perfect-
ing her studies in English. In 1887 she came to
San Diego. Cal., and four years later went to
San Francisco, from there going to San Jose,
and later locating in Los Angeles, where she
resided until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Iver-

L^'tZ^^f-7<y^^-<>^-'-&%^XyC.C^ ^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sen have t->\-o children, Anna Lucilla and Harold
Steffen. Fraternally Mr. Iversen is a member
and past grand district deputy of the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows : 'and a past officer
of the Kniohts of Pythias: and both he and his
wife belono- to the Rebekahs. Religiously Mr.
and Mrs. Iversen are Lutherans.

S. CAMPODOXICO. Since in its most
intelligent form success is measured by the
faculty of contributing to the well-being of
the community, by promoting soundness in
finance, politics, education, ethics and some
of the useful arts of living, the career of S.
Campodonico must be regarded as of vital im-
portance to the town of Guadaloupe, of which
he has been a resident for the past twenty-
two years, and of which be is the largest mer-
chant, and wealthiest, most influential citi-
zen.

The rise of Mr. Campodonico has been from
a small beginning and meagre advantages.
P)eing of Italian ancestry he is further to be
commended on account of having achieved
pronounced mercantile success in a rugged
western community. In Italy, where he was
born Januarv to, 1840. be received the rudi-
ments of an education since diversified by
continuous research. The expectation of long
life would seem justified bv his parentage, for
his father, John Campodonico, lived to be
seventy years old, while his mother attained
to the age of ninety years.

Mr. Campodonico was seventeen and a half
years old when be arrived in America. July
18. 1857, he began to work for a toy manu-
facturer in New York City for $1.50 a week,
but he soon afterv/ard apprenticed himself to
a marble sculptor, with whom he remained
three and a half vears. In t86i he came to
San Francisco and worked at. marble cutting
until 1864, when he moved to Mariposa county
and clerked in a general .store a couple of
years. He then returned to San Francisco and
worked at marble cutting for $5 a day, a year
later establi.shing a marble business of his •
own which was successfullv conducted until
disposing of the same in 1880. IMr. Campo-
donico then became a partner in a canning
venture, upon the failure of which he took
charge of the small mercantile store in Guada-
louoe, for the creditors, this being the nucleus
of his present large business. This was in
TS84, and his future prospects were centered
around the contents of a small room, valued
at a few hundred dollars.

Forceful and energetic, and with a keen de-
sire to please. Mr. Campodonico won the con-
fidence of the purchasing public, and an en-

1767

largement of his stock soon became a neces-
sity. Today he has one of the best equipped
and best managed stores in the Santa ?\Iaria
valley, and a patronage by no means confined
to the limits of the town or county. He has
made_ an exhaustive study of merchandising,
and in his own character and acquirements
subscribes to the essentials of this important
branch of industry. He carries general mer-
chandise of all descriptions and graded to suit
all tastes and purses. Neatness, order and
dispatch are among his watchwords, and liv-
uig within his income has advanced him to a
position where he is unaffected bv temporarv
depressions or falling ofl" of trade."

July 8, 1S69, Mr. Campodonico was united
in marriage with Lizzie Biglcr, a native of
Missouri, and of the union there are nine chil-
dren: Lottie, who became the wife of J. B.
Acquistapace; Sylvia, wife of M. L. Smith,
manager of Union Sugar Factorv store;
Frank E., who married Hulda Burola : Step-
hen Victor : Joseph A. : ^larguerite E. : Charles
L. ;_Alma E. : and Victoria M. Mr. Campo-
donico is prominent in social as well as busi-
ness circles, and a member and past master
of the Masonic lodge of Guadaloupe. Polit-
ically he is independent. His fitness for pub-
lic service has resulted in his election to the
school board, of which he was clerk during
the erection of the present substr.ntial school
building. He is the active and unceasing
friend of education, the promoter of sound
local government, and the upholder of high
civic- and private ideals. In adding his nanie
to its citizenship more than a score of veprs
ago, Guadaloupe was to profit by the efforts
of a man thoroughly in sympathy with its
progress, and one who was in a position to
grasp its most desirable opportunities.

MORRIS A. ROSENFELD. Prominent
among the successful and influential business
men of San Pedro is Morris A. Rosenfeld, the
popular and leading merchant tailor of the citv.
Identified with the manufacturing and mercan-
tile interests of the place, he gives careful at-
tention to his business, is prudent in the man-
agement of his affairs and strictly honorable in
his dealings, and as a man of undoubted integ-
rity and worth has won the confidence and es-
teem of all with whom he has been brought in
contact. In following his trade. Mr. Rosenfeld
has had a broad experience, having traveled quite
cxten.'iively in England and on the continent as
a journeyman cutter and tailor, obtaining a prac-
tical knowledge of every branch connected with
his trade. During the earlier years of his busi-
ness career he pursued his vocation in a number

176S

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of eastern cities. In 1903 he decided to come
west, attracted by the mildness of the chmate
and the glowing accounts of the brilliant pros-
pects for business enterprises in this portion of
Southern California. Coming to the city of Los
Angeles, he followed his trade there for a year,
having a finely furnished and stocked establish-
ment on Broadway, between Fifth and Sixth
streets. Settling in San Pedro in August, 1904,
Mr. Rosenfeld established his present business,
which has grown rapidly and satisfactorily. Since
his advent in San Pedro he has given a great
deal of attention to real-estate investments, and
has been very successful in this respect. In 1905
he began the erection of the Rosenfeld building,
on Fourth street, between Pales Verdes and Cen-
ter streets, where he has ample accommodations
for himself, his patrons, and for the large stock
of fine goods which he carries. This building,
37x60 feet, two and three stories in height, with
a buff-colored, pressed brick front, is a credit
to his good taste, and an ornament to the city.
Having purchased two lots on Seventh street he
has erected thereon a large apartment house,
which is up-to-date in every respect. It is a
two-story frame, with a classic colonial front,
contains twenty-five rooms with modern equip-
ments, baths and accommodations for the trav-
eler, to which class of patronage the proprietor
devotes his best attention. Other investments in
property have been most successful and several
choice sites are being held with a view to suita-
ble improvement when the city's requirements
have so far advanced as to permit the additional
outlay.

In Little Rock, Ark., Mr. Rosenfeld married
Sophia Bejach, and they have three children,
Harry, Abe and Sylvia. ^Ir. Rosenfeld, familiar-
ly known as "Morris, the tailor," is a member
of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, which
is composed of the forefnost business men of
the city, and fraternally he belongs to the Knights
of Pvthias and to the Independent Order of
Odd "Fellows.

ROBERT MORRIS McGEE. Occupying
a good position among the leading merchants
and real-estate dealers of Long Beach is Rob-
ert M. McGee, who until recently conducted
a thriving grocery business, having built up
an excellent reputation among the people of
his community for fairness and honesty. A
son of Patrick Henry ^IcGee, he was born
March i, 1867, in Massac county. 111., on the
paternal side coming from thrifty Scotch an-
cestry, and on the maternal side being de-
scended from a Pennsylvania-Dutch family.

Of Scotch-Irish stock, Patrick Henry 'Mc-
Gee was born in Tennessee June 3, 1826, the

son of Benjamin and Nancy McGee, of Graves
county, Ky. From I'ennessee the father re-
moved to southern Illinois, where he was en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits for a time, but
when war was declared between the United
States and Mexico he enlisted and served un-
der Gen. Zachary Taylor- until its close. Re-
turning to Illinois, he continued as a farmer
in Massac cotmLV for a number of years. In
1861, with true patriotic spirit, he answered
President Lincoln's first call for troops, en-
listing in Company A, Fifty-sixth Illinois Vol-
unteer Infantry, and served until after the sur-
render of General Lee. He participated in
many of the important engagements of that
time, including the siege of Vicksburg and
Sherman's March to the Sea, part of the time
being under command of that gallant hero,
Gen. John A. Logan. Being honorably dis-
charged from the service in Washington, D.
C, he returned to JMassac county, and there
resided until his death, November 29, 1875,
when forty-nine years of age. November 30,
1 85 1, he married Anna Mary Hewitt, a native
of Huntingdon county. Pa., born October 5,
1832. Her father, Henry Hewitt, removed
from Huntingdon county. Pa., to Missouri,
where he was employed in farming until his
death, in 1848. His widow, Mrs. Margaret
Hewitt, who was a native of Huntingdon
county. Pa., subsequently settled in Illinois
with her children. Of the union of Patrick
Henry and Anna JNIary (Hewitt) McGee six
children were born, concerning whom we men-
tion the following: Izora, who was born Feb-
ruary 26, 1853, married W. P. Brown, of Bel-
knap, 111., and died January 11, 1892; lona,
born August 7, 1855, married Robert Grimes
and died October 5, 1896, her husband also be-
ing deceased ; Benjamin H., born November
22" 1857, died January 15, 1874; Patrick Hen-
ry, Jr., born March 8, i860, resides in Massac
coimty. 111. ; Andrew Jackson, also a resident
of the latter county, was born July 20, 1863:
and Robert M., the subject of this biographical
sketch, was born I\Iarch i, 1867. The mother
of these children passed way August 16,
1900.

After taking the full course of study in the
common schools of his native town Robert M.
McGee was graduated from a business col-
lege in Delaware. Ohio. He subsequently
taught school with good success for seven
years, being in Massac county six years, and
in Pulaski county one year. Locating then in
Boaz, 111., he was there engaged in mercan-
tile pursuits for several years, having a gen-
eral store, and also serving as postmaster.
Coming to California in ]\tay, 1903, he settled
at Long Beach, buying a home for himself

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1769

and family, and likewise purchasing other val-
uable real estate. On April 16, 1904, he es-
tablished a grocer)- on the corner of Fourth
and Cherry streets and built up a substantial
business, but two years later, in April, 1906,
he sold out and organized the Sunset Realty
Company, doing a general real-estate and in-
surance business in association with Thomas
Patch.

September 3, 1893. Mr. McGee married Alice
Alena Wade, a daughter of George W. and
Rebecca (Cook) Wade, her birth occurring in
Massac county. 111., June 23, 1872. Three
children have blessed their union: Gracie
Maud, born June 18. 1894, died November 28,
1897; Lewis Wallace was born January 3,
1896, and Alice Alena October 25, 1897. Polit-
ically Mr. McGce afifiliates with the Republi-
can partv, and fraternallv he belong to Cen-
ter Point Lodge No. Sii,'l. O. O. F^, of Boaz,
111. Religiously he and his family are mem-
bers of the ^[ethodist Episcopal Church, of
wliich he is a trustee.

JOHN T. SHOOP. Properly numbered
among the self-made men of our times is John
T. Shoop, who for many years has been ac-
tively identified vv'ith the agricultural interests
of the western part of San Diego county, his
ranch, situated about ten miles east of Ocean-
side, being favorabl)' located. Thrown prac-
tically upon his own resources when a mere
child, he began life with no other capital than
strong hands, resolute will, and an abundance
of determination, even as a bo)^ being handi-
capped by a lack of the educational advan-
tages that are today in the reach of every
.Vmerican child, whether born in a palace or
a hut. Industrious, diligent and persevering,
he has attained success in his undertakings,
now owning and occupying a valuable home
estate, and being numbered among the re-
spected members of his community. A native
of Virginia, he was born January 22, 1835, a
son of Lsaac and Polly (Robinson) Shoop. His
parents, both of whom were born and reared
in Pennsylvania, settled first in ^^irginia, from
there removing, in 1837, ^o Alabama, where
both spent the remaining years of their lives,
the father dying, at the age of fifty-four years,
in T850, and the mother a few years before.

Until seven years old. John T. Shoop made
liis home with a married sister, after which
he was bound out to a man named Green Ed-
monson, with whom he lived three years, in
the meantime attending a subscription school
for a brief time. ?Te subsequently lived for
awhile with his brother-in-law. Mr. Moore,
with whom he hjid previously lived for a time,

and then went to work for a Mr. Adkinson,
who was to pay him for his services in stock.
In 1851 Mr. Shoop migrated to Mississippi,
where he was engaged in the manufacture of
chairs for a few months. Not very successful
in that occupation, he settled in Arkansas,
working as a day laborer until he had saved
some money. Not contented, however, with
his condition or his future prospects, he came
across the plains with an ox-team train in 1861,
and for a short time lived in Los Angeles.
Then after spending a few months in Wat-
sonville, he engaged in mining on Owens riv-
er. He subsequently went to Sonoma county,
from there going to Napa county, where for
two years he was employed in a fruit orchard.
He subsequently lived for a time in San Fran-
cisco, but not liking city life went to San Luis
Obispo county, where he located a govern-
ment claim. Selling that in 1878, he pur-
chased land in Jones county, Tex., where he
was engaged in stocking-raising and dealing
for four years. Disposing of his interests in
that place, he came to San Diego county, and
on November 2. 1882, bought out a claim of
one hundred and sixty acres, the greater part
of which is now included in his home ranch,
although he has sold forty acres of his orig-
inal purchase. He has since been profitably
engaged in general ranching, and in his vari-
ous undertakings has met with excellent suc-
cess.

In 1866 Mr. Shoop married Margaret Conley
Foley, who was born in Galway, Ireland, one
of a family of twelve children. She came to
the United States in 1855, and after living
for a few 3'ears in Boston, crossed the con-
tinent to California, locating in San Francisco,
where she resided until her marriage. Mr.
and Mrs. Shoop are the parents of three chil-
dren, namely : Isaac Henry, who was educated
in the River District school and is now farm-
ing with his father: Margaret, wife of Frank
Peters, of San Diego: and Elizabeth, wife of
Stonewall J. W^alker, who is engaged in min-
ing in Riverside. Politically ]\Ir. Shoop is
identified with the Socialists.

WILLIAM DAMS. One of the most pros-
perous and highly esteemed residents of San
Pedro is William Davis, a substantial represen-
tative of the lumber interests of this part of Los
Anceles county, and one of its active and hon-
ored business men. In a true sense he has been
the architect of his own fortunes, his success in
life being due to his persistent efforts and de-
termined pluck. Coming to this country as a
young man. poor in pocket, but rich in energy
and ambition, he laboriouslv toiled onward and

1770

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

upward, rising b}- slow degrees to his present
position of affluence and influence. A native of
Wales, he was born in Cardiff, October 31, 1863,
and was there brought up and educated. His
grandfather, Thomas Davies, came from one of
the older families of Cardiff, and there his par-
ents, David and Sarah (Griffith) Dav-ies, spent
their entire lives, the father, who was a hotel-
keeper, dying in 1903, and the mother a few
months later.

After leaving the public schools of his native
land, William Davis was employed as a clerk
for a number of years. Not satisfied with the
financial returns of his employment, he immigrat-
ed to the United States in 1888, coming direct-
ly to San Pedro, Cal, where for about three
years he had a hard time in trying to meet his
expenses, although he tried various occupations.
In 1890 he entered the employ of the San Pedro
Lumber Company, beginning as switch clerk, and
for ten years remained with the company, the
greater part of the time, however, being lumber
survej^or. Resigning the position in 1900 he
has since carried on a thriving business as lum-
ber surveyor, and in 1902 was one of the or-
ganizers of the Lumber Surs^eyors' Association
of Southern California, which he served as first
vice-president until sending in his resignation.
Prudent in his expenditures and wise in his in-
vestments, he has accumulated a good property,
and in 1903 erected on Front street, at Knob
Hill, the Alta Vista, a modern, well-finished, up-
to-date house, containing twenty rooms, and
from this receives quite an income.

In national politics Mr. Davis is strongly Re-
publican, but in local affairs he votes independent
of party restrictions. Fraternally he is a mem-
ber of San Pedro Lodge No. 332, F. & A. M.,
of which he is secretary ; a member of Los An-
geles Consistory No. 3, and is also a Shriner;
and is past chancellor commander of San Pedro
Lodge No. 126, K. P.

ROBERT LEE WATSON. The entire life
of Robert Lee Watson has been passed in Cali-
fornia, for he is a native son of the state, his
birth having occurred in the city of Los Ange-
les, January 29. 1864. His parents, James J.
and "Marv D. (Dominguez) Watson, were na-
tives respectively of Scotland and Los Angeles
county. The father, a pioneer of the Pacific
state, was a prominent citizen of Los Angeles,
his wealth, acquired after coming to California,
and his wide personal influence, combining to win
for him a high place in political and municipal
affairs.

The schools of Los Angeles furnished fair ad-
vantages to Robert Lee Watson, who, after com-
pleting the course attended commercial college

in Santa Clara. Having attained manhood's es-
tate and being well equipped for the future which
lay before him, he then returned to his native
city, where he established an insurance business
and also loaned money. He continued success-
fully engaged in this work for the period of
three years, when he decided to take up agricult-
ure, and accordingly located on his present prop-
erty, three miles north of Wilmington. He is
now engaged in extensive ranching operations
and also raises fine horses and a large number
of sheep, having made for himself a place among
the enterprising ranchers of this section. His
home is presided over by his w'ife, formerly
Louisa Poggi, whom he married April 29, 1899.
She is the daughter of Rafael Poggi, who oper-
ates a large winery in this vicinity. Mr. and
Mrs. Watson are the parents of one child, Sus-
anna, who is six years old.

MRS. MARY E. LINDSKOW. For up-
wards of thirty-seven years a resident of San
Pedro, ]\Irs. JNIary Lindskow is widely and fav-
orably known throughout the communit}- in
which she lives, and has the respect and esteem
of her neighbors and friends, who have ever
found her a kind, helpful and genial companion,
always ready and willing to render assistance
any sympathy wherever and whenever needed.
A daughter of William Sanford, she was born
in New York City, where the earlier days of her
childhood were spent.

A native of Germany, William Sanford was
born in Detmasten, Schleswig-Holstein, and
early in life embarked in seafaring pursuits. Be-
coming master of a vessel in course of time, he
visited many of the important ports of the globe,
in 1848 coming to California, where he was sub-
sequently, as captain of a vessel, engaged in the
coasting trade. In 1858, having returned east
for his family, as master of the ship John Bar-
ing, he sailed from New York City for San
Francisco. After rounding Cape Horn the ves-
sel was disabled, and for some time laid at Val-
paraiso for repairs. On arriving in San Fran-
cisco, Captain Sanford continued coasting, and
in 1870, in charge of the schooner Ajax, de-
livered the first load of rock used in the con-
struction of the San Pedro breakwater, dump-
ing it about one hundred feet south of the pres-
ent ship yard of the Wilmington Transportation
Company. He subsequently retired from active
labor, and was a resident of this city until his
accidental death by drowning, in the San Pedro
Harbor, January 16, 1882. He married Mary
]\IcGrogan, who was of Scotch descent. She
died in California, in 1863. Eight children
blessed their union, and of these Mary E., the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1773

subject of this sketch, was tlic first horn, and
is the sole survivor.

Mary E. Sanford obtained the rudiments of
her education in the pubHc schools of San Fran-
cisco and Vallejo, completing it at the Palace
Street convent, in San Francisco. February i8,
1866, she married for her first husband John
McGuire, who was born in Ireland, but was
reared and educated in Albany, N. Y. Mr. Mc-
Guire was a man of great patriotism, intensely
devoted to his adopted country, which he first
served as a soldier in the Mexican war. being
under command of General" Kearney. During
the Civil war he enlisted in the first volunteer
regiment of cavalry from Albany, N. Y., and
aftenvard as an artilleryman fought the full
four years. After two weeks incarceration in
Libby Prison he was exchanged, and at the close
of the conflict entered the regular army, under
General Stoneman fighting the Indians in Cali-
fornia and Arizona. After his marriage with
Miss Sanford, Mr. McGuire, as regimental tailor
went on the vessel John C. Stephens to Sitka,
Alaska, as a member of Company H, Second
Artillery, being one of the first body of troops
to land in that territory after it passed into the
control of the United States. He died while in
service, at Cape Disappointment, Wash., June
24, 1871, leaving two children: Susan Alaska, the
first white girl born at Sitka, is the wife of Will-
iam M. Hart, of San Pedro ; and Emily Ellen is
the wife of C. B. Parker, of Catalina Island, a
taxidermist. Fraternally Mr. McGuire was a
member of the Masonic order, and was a man of
much worth.

October 7, 1873. Airs. McGuire married for
her second husband Martin Emil Lindskow,
who was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, where
the family name, originally spelled Lindskov,
meant Lind forest, or Lind woods. His father,
Andrew J. Lindskow. was head gunner on the
frigate Christiania the Ninth, which was destined
to "be captured by the Prussians; rather than
be made prisoners by the enemy or have their
three ships taken they blew themselves up. Im-
migrating to America when a lad of fourteen
years, Martin Emil Lindskow subsequently fol-
lowed the sea for many years, being often em-
ploved in foreign service. At nineteen years of
age he went back to Denmark. Enlisting in the
Danish navy, he was assigned to the frigate
Sjelland, which was dismantled in a sea fight,
and nearly all on board were killed. From that
battle he carried a piece of shell in his leg to
his grave. Coming to ■ California in 1868 Mr.
Lindskow was for a time employed as superin-
tendent under Captain PoUieamus and Thomas
Haves, to deliver rock to build the government
breakwater at San Pedro. In 1870 he secured
a position with Genera! Banning as head lighter

man, and while with this emplojer he helped to
build the old breakwater, and also assisted in dis-
charging vessels. Subseciuently he was en-
gaged in the hotel business in San Pedro, and
was also active in civic affairs, serving as dep-
uty marshal, night watch and jailer. While
firing salutes during the first election of Con-
gressman McLaughlan, IMr. Lindskow lost his
right hand by a premature explosion, a sad ac-
cident. He died August 23, 1902, leaving a
wide circle of friends to mourn his loss. He
was a man of high standing in the community
and much respected. He was a stanch Repub-
lican in politics, a member of the Lutheran
Church, and belonged to the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and to the Ancient Order of
L^nited Workmen. Of the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Lindskow, the following children were
bom : George W. E., of San Pedro ; Axel Rich-
ard ; Edward Sylvester ; Mrs. Carrie J. Wack,
of San Pedro ; Ellen Christine, widow of the
late G. B. Sullivan, of this city ; Rose Dagmar,
at home; and Hugo Valdmar, who died when
but thirteen months old. Mrs. Lindskow re-
sides at the old family home, at the corner of
Eleventh and Center streets, and is happy in hav-
ing her children near her. She is an active mem-
ber of the Woman's Relief Corps, and Foresters
Circle of" America, and belongs to the ]\Iethodist
Episcopal Church.

HORACE A. JOHNSON. The agricultural
resources of San Diego county have been devel-
oped by a large number of intelligent and in-
dustrious farmers, among whom may be men-
tioned Mr. Johnson, the owner of a large farm
lying in the vicinity of Bonsall, his postoffice
town, and somewhat to the east of Oceanside, his
railroad station. On coming to San Diego county
in 18B4 Mr. Johnson settled upon his present
propert}- of three hundred and seventy-five acres,
which he bought from the government. At that
time the land was bare and unimproved. No
attempt had been made to ])lace the soil under
cultivation. Hence he became the possessor of
virgin soil, with all its possibilities of develop-
ment. LTnder his supervision buildings have
been erected, fences have been built as needed,
and three hundred acres of the farm have been
placed under cultivation to grain, of which he
makes a specialtv.

Mr. Johnson is proud of the fact that he can
claim to be a native son of California, San Jose
is his native city and May 19. 1863, the date of
his birth, his parents being S. V. R. and Almira
(Rooker) Johnson, natives respectively of New
York and Ohio. The fatlier. who learned the
butcher's trade in early life, crossed the plains
from the east to California in 1852 and after his

1774

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

arrival engaged in mining. After a brief and
not especially successful experience in various
mines (including those of the Fraser river) he
again turned his attention to the butcher's trade,
which he followed with varying success for a long
period. On disposing of his interests in San
Jose he came to Oceanside in 1887 and opened
a meat market, which he conducted in addition to
operating a ranch and raising stock. The re-
maining years of his life were passed in Ocean-
side, where he died in 1899, at the age of sixty
years; one month after his demise his wife
passed from earth.

Educated in California schools and reared in a
California home. Mr. 'Johnson early became im-
bued with an affectionate loyalty and patriotic
devotion to the state, and this feeling is still one
of the leading attributes of his character. In
youth lie was familiar with the northern and
central portions of the state, but since the fall
of 1884, when he removed to San Diego county,
his interests have been concentrated in the
southern part of the commonwealth. Industrious
in disposition, genial in temperament, of an ac-
commodating nature, ready to assist the unfor-
tunate and to relieve the distressed, he furnishes
a type of the quiet, unostentatious farmer and na-
tive-born citizen, and among the people of his
locality he has many friends. Though never
active as a partisan, he has pronounced opinions
on political questions and is in sympathy with
the Democratic party. At Santa Ana in 1890 he
married ]\Iiss Fannie J\I. Pickle, who was born
and reared in California, and is a woman of
gentle disposition, an earnest Christian and a
faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Their family consists of five children,
namely : Lerue, Lila, Horace, Jr.. Erva and Leo,
all vet at home.

BENTON AIcCOY. It would be difficult
to find a man more emjjhatically in accord with
the true western spirit of progress or more keen-
ly alive to the opportunities awaiting the indus-
trious and intelligent man of alTairs in Los An-
geles county than is Benton McCoy, who in ad-
dition to carrying on a real-estate and teaming
business is also managing a small ranch. De-
termination and tenacity of purpose are char-
acteristics which have been paramount in all of
his undertakings, traits which he no doubt in-
herits from his father, John Benton. The latter
was born in Scotland, and when he was eleven
years of age shipped as a cabin boy on a vessel
bound for the United States. Life on the water
had a particular fascination for him and he fol-
lowed the sea for twenty-one years. Later he
joined the United States navy as carpenter, and
was in the countrj^'s service for three years and

four months. During this time he was stationed
at Monterey when the fort was built at that
point, and he was on the vessel at the time the
soldiers were buried on Dead Man's Island at
San Bernardino. After he was mustered out of
the service at Norfolk, 'V'a., in 1848, he went to
the JNIississippi valley and settled in Illinois not
far from Joliet, where for a number of years he
farmed on land which he had taken up from the
government. Selling this in 1853 he bought a
farm near Homestead, Iowa, whither he removed
the same year. Prior to leaving Illinois, however,
he was married, in 1852, to Marietta Miller, who
was born in New York state, and they made
their home in Iowa until the death of Mr. Mc-
Coy, which occurred in September, 1880, at
which time he was in his seventy-third year.

Born in Iowa December 10, 1854, Benton Mc-
Coy was educated in the public schools of that
state and when not in attendance during the
summers helped his father with the farm duties.
In the mean time he had been giving consider-
able thought as to his plans for the future, and
b\- the time he was of age had made up his
mind to locate on the Pacitic coast, whither so
many stories of the possibilities for ambitious
young men had originated. Upon coming to the
state in 1875 he worked on a fann in the vicinity
of Chico, Butte county, for one year, and after
a five months' stay in Oregon again returned to
that city. The year of 1878 was spent in Los
Angeles, after which he again went to Qiico,
leaving there in the fall of 1879 to investigate
the possibilities in Plumas county. A few" months
later he went back to his home in Iowa, but after
spending the winter there returned to this state
in April, 1880, and spent one season in lumber-
ing in Butte county; for about two months he
was also interested in mining at the Cherokee
mines. His father's death in September, 1880,
broke up the family home in Iowa and in the
following spring the mother, two daughters and
John Oliver came to Los Angeles county. Giv-
ing up his mining enterprise Benton ^IcCoy
came to Los Angeles county to meet them and
thus since 1881 he has been a resident of this
county. The death of the mother occurred near
Wilmington in 1887, when fifty-four years of
age. Locating in Wilmington in 1881, from
that date until 1893 ;Mr. Benton was engaged
in bridge carpentering, in the latter year pur-
chasing a ranch of four and three-quarters acres
for $280, selling the same tract three years after-
ward for $5,200. He still owns a ranch of one
and three-quarters acres upon which, in 1903. he
erected a modern eight-room house, 24x40 feet,
which is equipped with all of the conveniences
and man}- of the luxuries of latter-day homes.

Mr. McCoy's home is presided over by his
wife, who before her marriage, December 10,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1775

i8y4, was Leonora Sylva. Mrs. AlcCoy is a
daughter of Joseph Sylva, one of the very early
settlers of Wilmington. The four children com-
prising the 2\lcCoy family are Otto Benton, Ruth
E., Joseph A., and Earl J. Fraternally Mr. Mc-
Co\' is a member of Lodge No. 198, E. & A. AL,
at Wilmington; and Bohen Lodge No. 138, I.
O. O." F., at San Pedro; and in his political
views is independent. He is one of the trustees
of the Wilmington Cemetery Association. Mrs.
McCoy is an adherent of the Catholic Church,
while Mr. McCoy is a believer in the Presby-
terian faith.

GEORGE HANSEN. Descended from an
ancient family of the Danish race and Luth-
eran faith, George Hansen of San Diego was
born at Bornholm, Denmark, April 16, i860,
and was next to the youngest among four chil-
dren, two of whom are now living. His par-
ents, Lars and Elizabeth (Jorgensen) Hansen,
were natives of the same locality as himself
and the former followed the occupation of a
contracting mason throughout all of his active
life. Of the entire faanly George was the only
one to cross the ocean to the United States
and he came in 1882, after having served at
the carpenter's and cabinet-maker's trade from
fourteen until seventeen years of age, then at-
tended high school for a year and afterward
returned to his trade at Bornholm. After com-
ing to the United States he was employed in
putting up derricks in the Pennsylvania oil
regions and from there crossed the continent
to San Francisco in 1883, securing employ-
ment as a cabinet-maker at fair wages. In
1887 he arrived in San Diego and secured work
as a journeyman until about 1891, when he
embarked in contractmg and building as a
member of the Tirm of Hansen & Engebretsen.
The partnership was dissolved at the expira-
tion of two years and since then he has been
alone. In addition to his residence at No.
2380 C street, he has built six houses of his
own, but several of these are now sold. Fre-
quently he has drawn his own plans and dis-
charged the duty of architect as well as build-
er. Among his contracts were those for the
Southwestern Investment Company's building
on Fifth street. Fry, Garritt & Smith's build-
ing, the Fry fiat, and the residences of Major
.Schon, Bishop J. Edmonds, L. A. \\'right, C.
M. Gifford and many others. August i, 1906,
Mr. Hansen was appointed street superin-
tendent of the city of San Diego.

In San Diego occurred the marriage of Mr.
Hansen and Miss Emma Carlson, a native of
Sweden. Their family consists of four chil-
dren, Roy, Alva, Ella and George, Jr. The

Republican party receives the ballot of Air.
Hansen in local and general elections. On
the organization of the Union League
Club he became one of its charter members
and he is similarly connected with the Scan-
dinavian Society, of which he was the first
financial secretary. Along the line of his oc-
cupation he is prominent in the Master Car-
penters' Association, of which he formerly
served as treasurer and now officiates as sec-
retary. The Woodmen of the World and the
Knights of Pythias are among the fraternal
organizations to which he belongs. After com-
ing to San Diego he was made a Mason in
Silver Gate Lodge, F. & A. M., and later rose
to the Royal Arch Chapter and the thirty-sec-
ond degree of Masonry. Prominent in the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, he was in-
itiated in Sunset Lodge No. 328, at San Diego,
of which he is past noble grand. During
1893 he was honored with the office of dis-
trict deputy grand master. In the Encamp-
he is past high priest, while in the Canton he
officiates as an aide on the colonel's staff, with
the rank of lieutenant. With his wife he is
actively associated with the Order of Re-
bekahs. On the occasion of the Grand En-
campment at San Diego in 1905, he officiated
as treasurer of the executive committee. The
unusual and gratifying success of the conven-
tion may be attributed to the tact, energy and
sagacit}- of the executive committee, aided by
the members of the order in San Diego and
by the co-operation of the citizens of the place,
irrespective of fraternal relations.

JAMES McPHERSON. After having lived
in many different cities and states of the Union,
the varied attractions of scenery and climate of
Southern California, with the opportunities of-
fered here to men of spirit and determination,
lured J\lr. McPherson to this section to estab-
lish his permanent home. He is a native of Scot-
land, having been born on the Shetland Islands,
and IS one of two children born to John and
Christina (Jamison) McPherson. the fomier of
whom is deceased. Spending the first sixteen
years of his life in his native country, where he
received a common-school education, he then
went to Canada, there learning the baker's trade,
which he followed during the remainder of his
stay in that country. In 1886 he went to Wy-
oming, where he remained for awhile, then went
to Denver, Colo., and his trade met with such
success there that he was soon enabled to take
charge of a large bakery, which he continued to
manage during the remainder of his stay in that
city.

Deciding to try his fortune on the west coast.

1776

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mr. McPherson went to Oregon for a short
while, then visited Seattle, Wash., and British
Columbia. Prior to coming west he took out
naturalization papers, thus becoming a true citi-
zen of the United States, with all the privi-
leges and opportunities which are enjoyed by
citizens of our country. After returning from
British Columbia to Seattle he determined to
come to Southern California and accordingly, in
1900, he located in Los Angeles, following his
trade here very successfully until 1901, in June
of which year he opened up the first bakery in
Ocean Park, and from being the pioneer baker
of this town, he has become one of its most hon-
ored and progressive citizens. Close attention to
business and honest dealing have won for him
the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens,
as well as given him a competence of the world's
goods.

In 1898, at Colorado Springs, Colo., Mr. Mc-
Rierson was united in marriage' with Bessie
Flause, and of their three children, John and
James survive, the daughter, Mary, having died
when about one year old. In religious connec-
tions IMr. McPherson holds membership with
the Methodist Episcopal Church of Ocean Park,
and also aids in the philanthropic work of the
Fraternal Aid Society, of which he is a mem-
ber. In his political views Mr. McPherson is
a Prohibitionist, having adopted the principles of
that party in 1904, since which time he has used
his influence towards furthering the best inter-
ests of mankind on the liquor question.

ENOCH GRIFFIN. From the earliest period
within his recollection Enoch Griffin has lived
in California and memories of childhood bring
to him thoughts of a settlement remote from
the then centers of civilization, a region where
the Indian and the Mexican were more numer-
ous than the white man, and where the search
for gold was the most -absorbing occupation of
the pioneers. The family history shows that his
father, Enoch Griffin, Sr., was born and reared
on a Missouri farm and was of southern lineage.
From boyhood he aided in the clearing of a
raw tract of farm land, hence enjoyed few oppor-
tunities for gaining an education. After having re-
mained a bachelor until middle life he then mar-
ried Mrs. Ellenda (Holmau) Rose, who was
born in Kentucky and removed to JMissouri in
girlhood. At an early age she became the wife
of John Rose, whose death some years later left
her with several small children. After some
years of widowhood she was married to Enoch
Griffin, and in the course of time they disposed
of their Missouri interests for the purpose of
removing to the Pacific coast. Before they had
left Missouri and while thev were traveling

through Macon county a son was born to them,
May 16, 1852, and to him the father's name was
given. For some weeks they continued on their
journey without trouble, but ere the summer had
waned the father fell a victim to the ciiolera and
was buried on the plains. At the expiration of
six months spent in the "prairie schooner."
drawn by oxen, the mother reached Eldorado
county, accompanied by her infant son, and by
the sons of her first marriage, who were then stal-
wart lads.

In the vicinity of Woodland, this state, and
at San Gabriel Mission, Enoch Griffin, Jr., re-
mained until seven years of age, when he ac-
companied his mother to the ranch, a part of
which he now owns. All of this country was
new, in respect to .\merican settlement, though
it long had been occupied b\' the Mexicans, In-
dians and some Castilians of aristocratic pedi-
gree. Fences had not been built to separate
ranches. Grain-raising had not yet been taken
up, but stock roamed over the country at will.
The lad, finding few American boys with whom
to play, found pla5Tuates among the Mexicans,
and thus acquired a command of the Spanish
language which has constantly proved helpful to
him. Before coming to this county his mother
had married William Young, who died about
1870. On coming here Mr. Young purchased
for $1.25 an acre, land that now sells for $500
to $1,000 an acre, and he acquired large tracts,
but much of the land was sold nt a low figure
compared with its present valuation. On the
homestead which she retained for her own use
she died in 1900 at eight\--three years of age.
A part of the homestead was inherited by her
son, Enoch, and he also bought land, so that he
now owns thirty-four acres of valuable land.
For about seven years he engaged in the livery
business in Los Angeles, but during 1896 he
returned to the ranch near Palms and has since
engaged in farming and buying and selling
horses. An expert judge of horse-flesh, he is
admirably qualified for the business to which he
gives his attention and his opinion is always con-
sidered of great value by those making impor-
tant purchases in the line of his specialty. In
politics he shows great interest and fraternally
holds membership with the Woodmen of the
World. October 9, 1877, he was united in mar-
riage with Miss Belle Suits, a native of Calaveras
county, Cal., and they are the parents of two
sons, namely: Arthur E., residing in Seattle,
Wash. ; and Walter S.. who is a traveling sales-
man for a wholesale business house of Los An-
geles.

The father of Mrs. Griffin was Stephen Suits,
a native of Rochester, N. Y., who rounded the
Horn and came to California in the exciting
period of 1849. For a time he tried his luck in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1779

the mines of Calaveras county. Later he freighted
from Stockton to the mining camps, after which
he engaged in raising cattle and followed the
butcher's trade. After seven years on a farm in
the San Joaquin valley he removed to Santa
Monica, of which he was among the first set-
tlers. In addition to carrying on a meat business
he teamed between the town and Los Angeles. At
an advanced age he died in Santa Monica. After
coming to California he met and married Mar-
garet Marshall, who was born in Scotland and
at the age of seventeen years came to the United
Stales, proceeding direct via Panama to Cali-
fornia, and landing in this state about 1850.
Since the death of her husband she has continued
to reside in Santa Monica and, despite her sev-
enty years, retains possession of mental and physi-
cal faculties to an unusual degree.

WILLIAM O'CONNELL. Remembered
among the pioneers of Los Angeles county is
WilHam O'Connell, whose death occurred No-
vember 23, 1 89 1. He was born in Isjiox-
ville, Tenn., April 25, 1832, and was ed-
ucated in his native state. Completing the
course in the high school of his native town,
he learned the trade of carpenter and engaged
in this work for a short time prior to 1852, in
which year he came to California, following
the westward trend of civilization. He worked
in the mines of northern California for some
years and finally came south, where in San
Bernardino, December 25, 1865, he allied him-
self by marriage with one of the earl)' pioneer
families of the state. His wife was formerly
Elizabeth E. See, a native of Monroe county,
111., where she was born in 1843 ; her parents,
William and Leah (O'Neil) See. were both
natives of Kentucky. They located in Illi-
nois, where the father engaged in farming, but
he afterward settled in Missouri, in which
state his death occurred in 1853. In 1857 the
mother brought her family of six children
across the plains to California and in this state
this honored mother died, at Whittier, having
attained the age of eighty years, one month
and ten days. One of her sons, John C, is
deceased. Besides Mrs. O'Connell the other
living children are M. C, Mary Ann, INIrs.
Nicholson, Joseph C. Sarah, Mrs. McDonald.

Elizabeth E. See was educated in San Ber-
nardino county and there in young woman-
hood she married Mr. (I'Connell who had be-
come the owner of one hundred and sixty
acres in that section. In 1874 he sold out his
interests in San Bernardino county and com-
ing to Los Angeles county purchased, a forty-
acre tract and later twenty acres additonal,
and at the time of his death was improving

and cultivating this property. After the death
of her husband Mrs. O'Connell continued to
manage the home ranch, raising alfalfa and
having about sixteen acres devoted to wal-
nuts, while she also leases one hundred and
forty acres and raises grain. She manages a
well equipped dairy, having about forty cows,
and also raises horses for the market. She
has proven herself a woman of rare business
ability and thoroughly capable of managing
the business interests left her by her husband.
She became the mother of the following
children: William, who married Ruby Dur-
and and has one child ; Ada Belle, who mar-
ried V. V. Jerome, of Downey, and has six
children ; Valentine, who married Obe Den-
denger, has two children, and is located on the
old homestead ; Wesley died at the age of
three years ; John : Dora, wife of Henry Jos-
lin, of Long Beach, and has two children; El-
mer, at home : and Gruver, who married Mabel
Hill. The first four children were born in
San Bernardino county and the others in Los
Angeles county. Mr. O'Connell was a mem-
ber of the Seventh Day Adventist Church
while his wife belongs to the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. Fraternally he was connected
witli the Odd Fellows of San Bernardino, one
of his sons also being connected with that or-
ganization as well as the Masons, while an-
other son is identified with the Woodmen of
the World.

CHARLES FREDERICK IRONMONGER.
It takes the real artistic temperament and talent
to become a successful photographer. No matter
how good the subject may be, whether it be a
person or landscape, if the artist's eye is not there
to choose the exact range from which to secure
all of the advantages of the composition possible
to the situation the picture will not be the suc-
cess it should be. Qiarles Frederick Ironmonger,
whose views of Santa Catalina Island and Avalon
have become famous, is an artist, as is well
proven by the photographs which he makes. He
has hundreds of views of this beautiful island
and has made a specialty of carbons on cellu-
loid, which sell at from $1 up to $30 for a pic-
ture 10x30. He has also a fine collection of fish
pictures. Catalina being noted for the size and
numbers of species found in the waters sur-
rounding it. In addition to his own photographic
work ]\Ir. Ironmonger also does an extensive
business in finishing and developing views for
amateurs, and is the originator of all the fine
portraits of Catalina.

The birth of Mr. Ironmonger occurred in 1868.
in Greenwich. Ohio, his father. John, having be-
come an earlv settler in that state from Eng-

1780

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

land. He was a inacliiiiist by trade and also
engaged at one time in the lumber business. His
death occurred in Ohio in 1870. His wife, who
was Eliza Ellis before her marriage, was born
in New York, a member of an old family there,
and the daughter of Elias Ellis, who became a
pioneer in Ohio. The mother is still living in
the old home in Ohio. The parental family com-
prised seven children, five of whom are now liv-
ing, Charles Frederick being the youngest. He
received a high-school education and in 1892
came to California and began the photographic
business in Los Angeles in Waite's studio. In
1895 he came to Avalon and built the first studio
and since 1896 has been alone in the conduct of
the business. His present studio on the beach
was built in 1904.

In Santa Barbara. August i. 1906, Mr. Iron-
monger was united in marriage with \'iola
Packard, who was born in China. Fraternally
he is a member of the Order of Eagles and of
the Royal Arcanum. Politically he believes in
the principles embraced in the platform of the
the Republican party. As a man who has been
successful in business, as a public-spirited citi-
zen, and the possessor of many pleasing person-
al qualities he is held in the highest esteem by all
who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

RUSSELL KINGCADE. While the com-
monwealth of Illinois was still an undeveloped
region there came from the north of Ireland
to the new world a young man of excellent
education and fine medical training, by name
Henry Kingcade. It was he who established
the family in the United States, and he re-
mained a professional practitioner in Illinois
until he passed from earth. Among his chil-
dren was a son, Archibald, who was born in
Illinois, learned the blacksmith's trade and
followed the same in conjunction with agri-
cultural pursuits, remaining in Illinois until
his death about 1855. His wife. Elizabeth,
like himself, was a native of Illinois and died
there while still in middle age. She was a
daughter of William Johnson, a man of pioneer
instincts, fond of hunting and trapping, and
possessed of the tastes of a frontiersman. To
such a man the discovery of gold in California
was a call to the far west. With members of
his family he started for the gold mines in
the spring of 1850, but cholera broke out among
the travelers and he and two of his sons fell
victims to that dread disease ; their bodies
were buried near the Platte river, and thus
ended the expedition from which they had
hoped so much. The widowed grandmother,
Mrs. Johnson, remained in Illinois, and took
under her care her grandson. Russell King-

cade, who was born in Pike county, 111., Alay
23, 1850, and who was the elder of two chil-
dren, the younger being a sister. When he
was five years of age he lost his father and,
as previously stated, found a home afterward
with his grandmother, on wdiose farm he re-
mained until he was old enough to earn a
livelihood by working out for farmers.

On his arrival in California during 1871
Mr. Kingcade settled near Modesto and bought
thirteen hundred acres, on which he raised
grain. After some time he disposed of the
ranch and in 1882 removed to the vicinity of
Long Beach, Avhere he bought one hundred
and twenty acres lying three and one-half miles
northwest of town. This he farmed for some
time and still owns, but in 1902 moved from
the farm into Long Beach, where in 1887 he
had purchased a lot at No. 720 American
avenue. Immediately after coming to town he
erected the residence which he now occupies.
The pleasant home is presided over by Mrs.
Kingcade, who bore the maiden name of Mary
Ellen Tharush and is a native of Missouri, but
at the time of their marriage was a resident
of Pike county. 111. Of their union five daugh-
ters and three sons were born, namely: Nora,
who married A^'alter Martin and resides in
Long Beach : Ollie, Mrs. Robert Martin, also
of Long Beach : George, now employ-ed in Los
Angeles : Lulu, wife of Charles Kelly, of Santa
Ana : Walter, living in Los Angeles ; Ida and
Lettie, who are with their parents ; and Leland,
deceased.

While fraternal movements have never
especially interested Mr. Kingcade, he is an
ardent supporter of Masonic principles and
holds membership with the blue lodge at Long
Beach. Early in life he began to take an active
part in local politics as a member of the Re-
publican party and this interest he has main-
tained to the present. At no time has he been
a candidate for office, his tastes inclining
toward other work than ofiice holding. Hoav-
ever. he supports with enthusiasm the candi-
dacy of friends and is willing to aid with time
and influence. \A'ith George Bixb}' he was the
first delegate from Long Beach township to
the county convention and ever since then has
been active in county convention w-ork of the
party. In 1902 and 1906 he was a delegate to
the state convention.

H. N. STONE. Occupying a position of
note among the rising ^-oung business men of
San Pedro is H. N. Stone, who, as a druggist, is
actively identified with the development and pro-
motion of the industrial and mercantile interests
of this part of the state. Capable, talented and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

17SI

far-seeing, he has built up a fine trade in his
special line, by his courtesy, care-taking and
promptness having won an extensive and lucra-
tive patronage. Coming on both sides of the
house from Kentucky families of prominence
and worth, he was born, April 4, 1871, in Green-
castle, Ind. His father, James Stone, a native
of Kentucky, removed with his family to Indi-
ana, settling, after his marriage with Sarah A.
Williams, in Greencastle. He was a man of
influence in his adopted home, and for a num-
ber of years served as sheriff of his county. He
died in California, while on a visit to friends,
and his widow now resides at the old home in
Greencastle, Ind.

The fourth child in order of birth in a family
of five children, H. N. Stone received excellent
educational advantages in his native city, be-
ing graduated from the common and high schools.
At the age of seventeen, in Greencastle, he be-
gan learning the drug business, staying there
three years. Going- then to Kansas, he was
located in Topeka for some time, being after-
wards in Catskill, N. Mex., one year. In 1894
he came to Los Angeles, Cal., and there con-
tinued his employment as a druggist, being first
with Thomas & Ellington, pharmacists, and sub-
sequently with other druggists in dift'erent parts
of the county. Locating in San Pedro in 1897,
he started a new drug store in this cit\', and
has now the distinction of being the longest-
established druggist in this part of the county,
his store being on Eront street, near Sixth street,
where he is carrying on an extensive general
drug business. He is a man of great enter-
prise and energy, and in addition to his regular
trade has other interests of a financial nature,
in his store being located the ticket offices of
the Independent Steamship line, and the Salt
Lake Railway Company, and the pay station of
the Sunset Telephone Company, for all of which
he is the agent.

In Topeka, Kans., Mr. Stone married Edna
Pearl Yohey, who was born and reared in that
city, and they have two children, Helen Marie
and Harry Earl. Politically Air. Stone is a
straightforward Republican, and fraternally he is
a member of the Eagles, of the Independent
Order of Eoresters. and a memlier and past
treasurer of the Eoresters of .\merica.

STEPHEN G.\NO LONG. Genealogical
records of the Long family show that they be-
came established upon Kentucky soil during the
earliest period of the settlement of that common-
wealth, and several successive generations con-
tributed to the upbuilding of Russellville and
Logan county. There Nimrod Long was born
and there he died after a busy hut uneventful

career as banker and planter. In the same town
Spencer C, a son of Nimrod, was born and
reared, and there he became connected with bank-
ing and niercantile interests. Early in his busi-
ness life he removed to Louisville and engaged in
the tobacco business upon a large scale, but
eventually returned to Russellville to resume his
banking interests in the town. During his youth-
ful years he had attended Georgetown College
and there met Miss Cornelia Gano, a native of
Kentucky. They were married while still quite
young, and in their advanced years they returned
to Georgetown, where Spencer C. Long died
in March, 1899, at sixty-four >cars of age. In
politics he was a stanch adherent of Democratic
principles. Educational interests received his
earnest support, as did also the work of the
Baptist Quirch, in which he was a lifelong and
faithful member.

The Gano family came to America during the
colonial era, and during the war of the Revohi-
tion Rev. John Gano, a prominent Baptist min-
ister living in New York City, served in the
United States army under Cieneral ^^'ashington
as a chaplain. A grandson of this Revolutionary
chaplain was Stephen F. Gano, a prominent
physician and influential Whig residing at
Georgetown, Kv. In the family of Spencer C.
and Cornelia (Gano) Long, there were four sons
and three daughters, all of whom are still liv-
ing except two sons. Of those now living
Stephen Gano Long was third in order of birth,
and was born in Louisville, Ky., October i, 1864.
Common-school studies were followed by the
studies of Bethel College, from which he was
graduated in 1883 with the degree of A. B.,
and later received the degree of A. M. Subse-
quent to his college course he studied in the
University of \'irgniia, from which he received
the degree of LL. B., in 1886, and at the same
time was admitted to practice at the bar.

After having gained an earlv professional ex-
perience in Russellville, Ky., during 1888 Air.
Long came to California and opened an office
in Los Angeles, where he still has his main
office at Nos! 215-217 Bullard block. Immediate-
ly after his arrival he fomied a partnership with
an attorney who still remains with him, the firm
of Long & Baker being probably as old a_ firm
as anv in the city. In 1895 Mr. Long established
his residence in Long Beach, where he has an
office in the Long Beach Bank building, and
during 1898-99 officiated as city attorney of Long
Beacli. Since coming to this city he has aided
in the establishment of the Citizens Savings
Bank and the State Bank of Long Beach of the
latter of which he now acts as attorney. In
addition, he is retained as attorney for the Long
Beach Water Company, the Pacific Surgical
Company of Los Angeles, the Home Telephone

1782

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Company of Long Beach and the Home Land
and Water Company. The firm of Long &
Baker are city attorneys of Azusa and Glendale.
The marriage of Mr. Long was solemnized
in Los Angeles and united him with Miss Mary
Obear, a native of St. Louis, Mo. Five sons
were born of this union, namely : Spencer C,
who died in infancy, Frank C. Stephen G., Jr.,
Thomas O. and Walter B., who are receiving
the best educational advantages their home city
affords. The family are identified with the First
Baptist Giurch of Long Beach and contribute
generously to its maintenance, as to other move-
ments for the general welfare. In fraternal con-
nections Mr. Long holds membership with the
blue lodge of Masons and the Knights of P}i:hias
at Long Beach, while in politics he is a stanch
Democrat, an active worker in the party, and
during 1905 was honored with the presidency
of the Democratic Club of Long Beach. He
has been a delegate to the county conventions of
his party and in 1906 was elected a delegate to
the state Democratic convention.

WALTER C. EYAL\NN. Prominent among
the highly esteemed and influential citizens
cf Ocean Park is Walter C. Eymann, a prac-
tical business man and a leading real-estate
dealer, who has been an important factor in
promoting the rapid growth of this beautiful
coast city, and a liberal contributor towards
the establishment of its varied enterprises.
Distinguished not only as a native-born son
of California, but for the honored ancestry
from wliich he traces his lineage, he occupies
a conspicuous position in the annals of Los
.Angeles county, and no person is more worthy
than he of representation in a work of this
kind. A son of Charles F. Eymann, "SI. D., he
was born, November 3, 1867, in Anaheim,
Orange county. Tlie Eymann family has
long been prominent in Germany, among its
members being doctors, lawyers and merchants
of distinction, one of its members having served
as court physician to the Czar of Russia.

A native of Germany, Charles F. Eymann
was born, reared and educated in Oldenburg,
the home of many of his ancestors. Immigrat-
mg to the United States when a young man,
he continued his studies in the medical college
at Cincinnati, Ohio. Subsequently going over-
land to California, he engaged in mining and
prospecting with unusual success, amassing a
fortune. As banks were unsafe in those days
it was customary to bur}' money ; one day
he returned and was bitterly disappointed to
find that some one had visited the spot where
he had secreted his wealth, and robbed him.

Afterwards settling in San Francisco, he built
up a substantial business as a merchant, and
became a large property owner. He married
.\malia Hammes, whose father, Philip
Plammes, immigrated to San Francisco from
Germany in 1856, and there followed his trade
of watchmaker, clockmaker and jeweler until
his removal to .Anaheim with the original Ger-
man colony.

Leaving school when about sixteen years of
age, Walter C. Eymann assumed charge of a
vineyard of thirty-three acres, managing' it
successfully until the destruction of the vines
by a disease that killed all of the vineyards
of that locality and ruined the wine industry.
He subsequently took a course of study at
Heald's Business College, after which he was
a resident of San Francisco for two and one-
half years, being employed as collector, sales-
man and bookkeeper, first for Hueter Brothers,
and later for the Bass-Hueter Paint Company.
Going then to Europe, he visited a favorite
aunt at the home of his ancestors, after which
he traveled extensively on the continent, visit-
ing the principal art galleries, and other places
of interest.

On returning to California, ]\Ir. Eymann
settled near Anaheim, on land left him by his
father, and at once began its improvement, in
the course of a few j'ears developing a valuable
walnut grove. He built a fine house and sub-
stantial farm buildings, making noteworthy
improvements. This place he sold in Novem-
ber, 1904, realizing a handsome profit from his
expenditure of time and money. Coming to
Ocean Park, he bought the Summerheim flats,
which he has since managed, and continued
in the real-estate business, with which he had
previously been associated for three years. In
the spring of 1905 he opened a real-estate office
in the city of Los Angeles, but this he aban-
doned when the beach cities began to show-
signs of life and activity and has since main-
tained an office on ocean front. He not only
deals in Southern California property, but also
handles northern lands, owning property in
the San Joaquin valley and Tulare county.

Mr. Eymann is a man of great inventive
talent as well as a business' man of ability,
'^n 1893 he received from the Ignited States
government a patent that was an improvement
on a patent that he then possessed, it being a
valuable invention utilizing a combination of
coal and gas ranges. In introducing it to the
public he traveled over one-half of the states
of the Union, and from the royalty now given
him by its manufacturers, the J. L. Mott Iron
Works Company, of New York City, he re-
ceives a good annual income. He also has other

(^^^a. /2

.^C^>^E^.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1785

incomplete inventions, one contemplated one
being the taking of electric currents from the
earth and using them in stationary engines.
He is an expert in oil and water, and has acted
in this capacity in Southern California for a
number of years, always with satisfactory re-
sults. He is a fine business man, and has ac-
quired extensive property interests in Ocean
Park, San Joaquin valley and Tulare county.

In Europe, in 1894, Air. Eymann married
Dorothea H. Schellens, a daughter of Richard
Schellens, a noted railway man, who is a
government director of all the railroads in the
Rhine provinces, and an inventor of the Schel-
lens railway train blocking devices. Mr. and
Mrs. Eymann have one child, Gilbert H. W.
Eymann. Fraternally Mr. E3'mann is a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Foresters.

WILLIAM A. REEVES. As a well known
and highly respected rancher and dairyman,
William A. Reeves is located in the vicinity
of Hynes and engaged in the management of
his business, which has brought him a com-
petence and placed him among the successful
men of this community. He is a native son,
his birth having occurred near El Monte, Los
Angeles county, Januar}^ 7, 1862, his parents,
Samuel and Lydia (Cleminson) Reeves, being
natives respectively of Kentucky and Missouri.
The}' were the first white people married in
San Diego, the father having crossed the plains
in 1849; he teamed for a time from the port
of Wilmington to Los Angeles, and finally re-
moved to El Monte and took up government
land, making that place his home for a few
years, when he Ipcated in. Azusa. He there
owned thirty acres upon which he made his
bome for fifteen years, when he sold out and
came to the vicinity of Hynes and purchased
ten acres with his son, but made his home in
Hynes, where his death occurred at the age of
seventy-two years. The mother is still sur-
viving and makes her home in Clearwater at
the age of seventy years. She became the
mother of eight children, of whom the follow-
ing are living: William A., of this review;
Mrs. Mary Dougherty, a widow ; Lucetta, wife
of D. W. McDonald, of Santa Ana; Minnie,
wife of H. W. Snodgrass. of Covina : Lillian,
who resides with her mother at Clearwater,
and Ina, wife of John G. Lewis, residing near
Hynes. Mr. Reeves was a stanch Republican
in politics and while in Azusa served as justice
of the peace.

In El Monte William A Reeves received his
education in the public schools, and also at-
tended school in Azusa. He worked at home
until his marriage, which occurred in 1885,

when he went to San Bernardino and about
three miles up Lytle creek engaged in ranch-
ing. After four years he removed to Santa
Monica and engaged in the stock business,
raising beef for the market and making that
place his home for ten years. He finally took
up a government claim of one hundre'd and
sixty acres, the greater part of which was
grazing land, and improved the property with
buildings and by setting out a fine orchard.
Subsequently he sold out at Santa Monica
and coming to the vicinity of Hynes purchased
his present property of twenty-five acres, all
devoted to the raising of alfalfa, and he also
leases forty-five acres devoted to alfalfa, beets,
and pasture land. He has a dairy of twenty-
four cows and disposes of his product to the
Crescent Cream Company through the Hynes
Co-operative Creamery Company, of which he
is a member.

To Mr. Reeves and his wife were born three
children, namely: Claude, Lyda and Pearl.
Before marriage Mrs. Reeves was Miss Molly
E. Swinney; she was born in Missouri, a
daughter of Henry G. and Cordelia (Shores)
Swimrey, natives respectively of Kentucky and
Pike county. Mo. The family came to" Cali-
fornia in 1870 and here the father engaged in
ranching and the sale of real estate until his
death, which occurred in 1901, at the age of
sixty-seven years. During the Civil war Mr.
Swinney enlisted in a Kentucky regiment and
was taken prisoner and confine'd in prison for
some time. Mrs. Swinney still survives and
makes her home at Ocean Park, Cal. Besides
-Mrs. Reeves she is the mother of the following
chddren : Laura, wife of \^^illiam Clark, of Los
Angeles: James, of Alamitos Bay; Rudolph, of
Roseberr}-: and ^^'■i]liam, residing with the
mother at Ocean Park.

Mr. Reeves is a stanch Republican in his
political convictions and takes a keen interest
in the advancement of these principles. He
served for some years as a school trustee in
Santa Monica. Mrs. Reeves is a member of
the United Brethren Church

FRANK BROCKMAN PETTIS. When the
early years of the '50s were drawing thousands
of strong, self-reliant young men from the east
to the unknown shores of the western sea. B. F.
Pettis, who was a native of Syracuse, N. Y., and
a blacksmith by trade, joined a party of emi-
grants bound for the west with wagons and
oxen. In common with many of the early set-
tlers, he was anxious to tempt Dame Fortune in
the gold mines and this plan he carried out,
only to find that the goddess was fickle and re-
fused to respond to his labors in the mines of the

1786

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mountains. Thereupon he sought a more re-
hable if less fascinating occupation, and took up
the work of horse-shoeing in Alpine county,
working both in the towns of Genoa and Mark-
leeville. A brief subsequent experience in placer
mining was followed by his removal further
south, and in 1871 he arrived at Goleta, Santa
Barbara county, accompanied by his family.
Soon after his arrival he bought a blacksmith's
shop and afterward engaged at blacksmithing
until his retirement from business cares, since
which time he has remained at Goleta, honored
by the entire community as a man of warm
heart, fine principles of honor and unquestioned
integrity.

After coming to California B. F. Pettis met
and married Mary Brockman, who was born in
Sonoma county, Cal., and died at Goleta, Santa
Barbara county. Her father, Capt. Israel Brock-
man, was a pioneer of 1846 in California, having
come to the then territory with General Fre-
mont's expedition, and serving as an officer in
the Mexican war. Upon the close of that strug-
gle he settled in Sonoma county, of which he
was a pioneer, and in 1850 was elected sheriff,
the first incumbent of the office in that county.
Not long afterward he removed to Mexico with
the intention of settling, but he failed to make
satisfactory arrangements for land with the
i\Iexican government, and therefore returned to
California, where he secured large tracts on the
Sweetwater in San Diego county. After a long
and unusually active existence he passed away
in San Diego, and was followed to his last rest-
ing place by tributes of respect and admiration
from old and young. With his departure an-
other link was broken binding the past with the
present.

In the family of B. F. and Mary Pettis there
were seven children, five of whom are now liv-
ing. The eldest, Frank Brockman Pettis, was
born near Markleeville, Alpine county, Cal.,
January 11, 1871, and in infancy was brought to
Santa Barbara county. During boyhood he was
a pupil in the Goleta common schools. Upon
leaving school he learned the blacksmith's trade
under his father, with whom he worked until
1895, and then engaged in business alone, hav-
ing a large trade as a blacksmith and also sell-
ing agricultural implements. During 1903 he
came to Oxnard and embarked in the hardware
and implement business on Sixth and B streets,
dealing in heavy and shelf hardware, cutlery,
implements, etc., and acting as agent for tlie
Osborne and Planet, Jr., machinery, the Milbum
wagons and the Oliver plows. In the spring of
1906 he removed to more commodious quarters
at No. 525 Saviers road.

Before leaving Goleta Mr. Pettis married Miss
Carrie E. Carr, of that citv, a native of Wis-

consin, and they are the foster parents of one
daughter, Helen B. In religious connections
they are identified with the Methodist Episcopal
Church, in which Mr. Pettis officiates as a
steward. Politically he always has voted the Re-
publican ticket and believes in the platform for
which that party stands. Initiated into Masonry
during his residence in Santa Barbara county, he
is now a member of Oxnard Lodge No. 341,
F. & A. M., and his Masonic relations are fur-
ther extended through his membership in the
Royal Arch Chapter of Oxnard.

RICHARD HOFF. Among the residents
of Los Angeles county who are specially
worthy of notice in this volume is Richard
Hoff, now living on a farm at Hyde Park,
retired from active pursuits. A man of un-
questioned courage and bravery, persistent of
purpose and of upright principles, he has had
a varied career, and during the Civil war
acquired distinction for his gallant work in
the United States navy. A son of Richard
Hoff, Sr., he was born in 1841, in New York
state, of English ancestr)'.

A native of Lincolnshire, England, Richard
Hoff, Sr., lived there until 1827, when he
immigrated to the United States. Settling in
New York state, he worked as a farm hand
at first, and until his death, in 1861, was
acti\"ely employed as a tiller of the soil. He
married Elizabeth Crane, who was born in
New York state, and she survived him many
years, dying in 1882. Seven children were
born of their union, namely : George, William,
Charles, Richard, Edward, Mary and An-
toinette, and with the exception of Richard,
the subject of thfs sketch, the sons are all
deceased.

Starting in life for himself in 1856, then a
lad of fifteen years. Richard Hoff' labored in-
dustriously at any honest employment, work-
ing at first as a farm hand. In 1858 he em-
barked in seafaring pursuits, and for six years
was a common sailor on board a New Bed-
ford, Mass.. whaling vessel. In 1864 he en-
listed in the United States navy, and on the
gunboat Huron, Avhich was commanded by
.\dmiral Thomas O. Selfridge. he participated
in the two engagements at Fort Fisher, the
first one being on Christmas day. 1864, and
the last one on January 15, 1865, when the
garrison was forced to surrender. In this
attack the sailors fought gallantly, armed with
revolvers and cutlasses, and Mr. Hoff had the
distinction of being one of the very first of the
bluejackets that attempted to mount the fort.
The Huron was then sent to the Norfolk navy
yard for repairs, and after the mast, which had

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1787

been shot off, was replaced by a new one,
Admiral Selfridge was ordered to Key West,
Fla., with his men in order to head off Jef-
ferson Davis, who, it was thought, had fled
in that direction. At the close of the war,
Air. Hoff was honorably discharged at the
Brooklyn navy yard, in June, 1865, and is
now a retired admiral.

Resuming his agricultural labors, Mr. Hoft'
worked on a farm for a year, after which he
came by way of Panama to California, arriv-
ing in San Francisco May 23, 1866. Going
from there to Santa Cruz, he secured a posi-
tion in the powder works, with which he was
connected for thirteen years. In 1881 he be-
came fireman on the Central Pacific Railroad,
remaining with the company for two years,
when he went to Ogden, Utah, and became
superintendent ol the Utah powder works,
a position which he held for seven years.
Settling in Hyde Park, Los Angeles county,
in iSgo, he has since resided here, and is now
living retired on the small rancli which he
owns. His services in the war have won
recognition, and he has been entered in the
Soldier's Home, in Los Angeles county. Po-
liticallv he is a true-blue Republican.

Mr.' Hoff married first, in 1878, Flora
Bennett, a daughter of Eben Bennett, who
came to California with the Crockers in pioneer
days, .^.t her death she left three children,
namely: George, Clara and Edwin. Mr. Hoff
married for his second wife, in 1901, the widow
of E. A. Lamphere, of Los Angeles. Mrs.
Hoff is a most estimable woman, and a con-
sistent member of the Congregational Church.
Bv her first mnrriage slie had five children,
none of whom is now living,

REV. CHARLES H. LAA\-REXCE. The
First Alethodist Episcopal Church of Escon-
dido, of which Rev. Mr. Lawrence has acted as
pastor for five 3'ears, holds a prominent position
among the uplifting spiritual forces of the city
and has proved a power for good during the
period of its existence. The organization of
the congregation dates back to September 16-
21, 1886, when the San Diego district was cre-
ated, and on the 7th of October, of the same
year, the first quarterly conference was held,
resulting in the permanent establishment of
the cause at Escondido. Under the original
board of trustees, consisting of T. B. Thaver,
John Hudson, W. H. Sharp, D. T. Oakes and
F. M. Statler, the movement was incorporated
for a period of fifty yeaf-s. The first meeting-
house utilized by the congregation was a brick
building now used as a warehouse. When a
schoolhouse was erected on Lime street per-

mission was given the congregation to hold
their Sunday-school and church services in
that building. Their first permanent home,
which is still their house of worship, was erect-
ed of brick, and on the occasion of the dedica-
tion, August 21, 1887, the entire cost of the
structure. $1600, was raised within one hour.
Under the present pastorate a parsonage has
been erected at a cost of $2500, containing the
modern conveniences, including hot and cold
water, and admirably adapted to contribute
to the bodily comfort of the occupants.

The present pastor of the Escondido church
is a Canadian by birth and education. His
parents, Erastus and Elizabeth (Gilman)
Lav,-rencc, were natives of Canada, where the
former was postma.ster and a leading mer-
chant of his town. Warmly interested in all
movements for the development of local re-
sources, he was particularly interested in rail-
road building and accomplished much in that
important department of progress. Overwork
and anxiety in connection with his extensive
investments brought on his death in 1881, when
he was sixty-one years of age. Afterward his
widow came to California and now, at the age
of eighty-three years, makes her home with
her son in Escondido. In the province of Que-
bec Charles H. Lawrence was born March 20,
1859. At an early age he displayed unusual
aptitude for intellectual pursuits and conse-
quently was given every educational advan-
tage within the means of the family. After a
course of three years in Stanstead' Wesleyan
College he matriculated in The Wesleyan
Theological College at Montreal, Canada, an
institution afifiliated with McGill University,
and there he completed his theological studies
and prepared for the ministry of the Methodist
Church. In the spring of 18S1 he entered upon
his first pastorate at St. Henri de Montreal
Methodist Church, where he did effective work
for three years. His next two pastorates also
covered three years each and then he remained
for brief periods at Frclighsburg and Rich-
mond.

After eleven }-ears of ministerial work in
the province of Quebec, in the fall of 1892
Rev. Mr. Lawrence came to Southern Califor- .
nia, bringing with him a younger brother
whose ill-health demanded a change to
a climate less rigorous than that of their
old Canadian home. For five months he re-
mained in Los Angeles, but in the spring of
1803 'le was given the pastorate of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church at Santa Alaria, Santa
Barbara county, where he remained for three
years. Next he was stationed at Arroyo
Grande, San Luis Obispo county, for three
years. While there the church received a onft

17S8

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of iifteen acres of land admirably adapted for
an assembly-ground, and he at once took steps
toward securing the establishment of a perma-
nent camp-ground at that place. Largely
through his ceaseless efforts a fund of $1600
was raised with which to erect a large taber-
nacle on the grounds, and since then, summer
assemblies have been held for the members of
the denomination and other Christian workers.
From Arroyo Grande he was transferred to
the Union Avenue Methodist Episcopal
Church of Los Angeles, and during a pastorate
of two years with that congregation he was
instrumental in the erection of a commodious
edifice on the corner of Court and Union
avenues. A pastorate of one year at Santa
Paula, Ventura county, was followed in 1901
by his removal to Escondido, where under his
efficient labors the church has enjoyed a steady
growth. In liis ministerial work he has the
co-operation of his wife, formerly Mary Jarvis,
of Quebec, whom he married August 25, 1886,
and by whom he has two children, Arthur D.
and ?ilabel Jarvis, now (190$) seventeen and
twelve years of age respectively.

Since the above was written Rev. Mr. Law-
rence has been removed from Escondido to
the pastorate of the South Main street ]\Ieth-
odist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, with
residence at No. 127 West Fifty-first street.

HARRY JULIUS HOFFMAYR. There are
few grain-buyers in Southern California who
possess a more thorough knowledge of the de-
tails of the business or are more adequately pre-
pared for the successful discharge of affairs
connected with the business than J\Ir. Hoffniayr,
a gentleman of broad experience in the line of
his special calling. While the period of his resi-
dence in Oxnard is of comparatively brief dura-
tion, nevertheless he has formed a large circle of
acquaintances throughout all of this section of
country. The importance of his position as
agent for the Southern Pacific Milling Company
may be inferred from the statement that he has
charge of all the company's warehouses at Ox-
nard, Camarillo, Somis, Moorpark and St. Sus-
anna, and takes entire charge of the buying of
grain, beans and produce from the farmers of
the adjacent country.

The genealogy of the Hoffmayr family shows
that they come from ancient German ancestry
and as far back as the records can be traced
some of their name flourished in the land of the
Teutons. The first to cross the ocean to Ameri-
ca was Col. Julius Charles Hoffmayr, a native
of Hochzeit, Prussia, a son of Charles J. Hoff-
mavr. a large land owner, and Emma, nee von
Treskow, a member of one of the oldest mili-

tary families of Prussia. At the age of twenty-
one \ears he came to the United States and set-
tled at Council Bluffs, Iowa, where, although a
civil engineer by profession, he followed the
miller's trade, building at St. Mary's the first
sawmill in the entire western slope of the Mis-
souri river, and operating it for Col. Peter A.
Sarpy, the noted old Indian trader of the North
Western Fur Company. Somewhat later he
built a flour mill at the same location. The next
work 1.1 which he became interested was the .
furnishij - of oak ties and car lumber for the
building of the Union Pacific Railroad Company,
he and h:s partner, John W. Cooper (a brother
of Air. Cooper living near Santa Barbara, Cal.),
obtaining the lumber for the ties and car lumber
in the extensive woods near Honey Creek, Iowa,
on the Chicago & North Western Railroad. At
Council Bluffs he assisted in piling the first
wooden ice bridge across the Alissouri river, for
the Union Pacific Railroad. Next he erected a
flour mill at Council Bluff's, Iowa, and this he
operated for thirty-seven years. He was also
a director of the Pacific National Bank. Event-
ually he left Iowa for the more genial climate
of New Mexico and there he engaged in hor-
ticultural pursuits until his retirement from
business, since which he has made his home
with his son in California. The title by which
he is known came to him through service as a
colonel of Iowa State troops during the Civil
war. He was wounded several times in fights
with Sioux Indians. Fraternally he is identified
with the Masons and the Knights Templar, and
while living in Iowa was one of the most emi-
nent men in the Masonic fraternity in the state,
at one time officiating as eminent commander of
Ivanhoe Commandery No. 17, and in other ways
impressing the strength of his individuality up-
on the order.

The marriage of Colonel Hoffmayr united him
with JNIiss Antoinette Wolfram, who was born
at the ancestral home in the province of Posen,
Germany, and died at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in
1876. Seven children were born of that union,
of whom Harry Julius, the eldest, and his broth-
er Arthur are the sole survivors. Born at Coun-
cil Bluffs, Iowa, June 29, 1865, Harry Julius was
only eleven years of age when death deprived
him of a mother's affectionate oversight. After
having studied in the grammar and high schools
of Council Bluffs until he was sixteen years of
age, he then began to earn his own livelihood,
and since then has been independent of aid from
others. The first position which he held was
that of bookkeeper for his father, with whom he
continued in business for eight years. At the
expiration of that time he came to California in
i8go with the hope that a change of climate
might benefit his health, which had been injured

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

by the confining work of bookkeeping-. For a
tnne he engaged in horticultural pursuits at San
Miguel and found the open-air work conducive
to health. For a j-ear afterward he worked with
Eppn:ger & Co., at Paso Robles, but at the ex-
piration of that time he found it necessary to
seek the mountain air for the benefit of . his
health. Later he engaged as bookkeeper with
Eppinger & Co., for eight months. Since March
of 1895 he has been employed by the Southern
Pacific Milling Company, first acting as their
agent at_ Guadaloupe, and then as agent at San
Buena Ventura for nine and one-half \-ears, af-
ter which in 1904 he came to Oxnard,'his pres-
ent headquarters.

Before leaving Iowa Mr. Hoffmavr was unit-
ed in marriage at Crescent City with Miss Mag-
gie S. Corbaley, a native of Indiana, and like
himself a faithful member of the Christian
Church. Five children comprise their family,
namely : Antoinette May, Kate Janet, Eva Leona,
Olive Marguerite and Charles Arthur. Fra-
ternally Mr. Hoffmayr affiliates with the An-
cient Order of United Workmen, while in mat-
ters political he gives his stanch support to the
men and measures advocated by the Republican
party. Keen, intelligent, capable and energetic,
he forms a valuable acquisition to the business
element of Oxnard and holds a distinct position
in the regard and esteem of associates.

WILLIAM M. BROWN. Fortified by a
previous extended and comprehensive experi-
ence in the sash and door business and in
woodwork of every kind. Mr. Brown was qual-
ified to successfully conduct the plant which
he established after coming to Long Beach in
1903. The Long Beach Sash and Door Corn-
pan)' was originally started on American av-
enue, but now occupies suitable quarters on
the corner of Appleton and Bonita streets,
where employment is furnished to twentj^-sev-
en men. The company was incorporated Sep-
tember 30, 1904, capitalized at $25,000. and un-
der the guidance of the following corps of of-
ficers: W. M. Brown, president and manager;
George Howe, vice-president ; B. C. Hatch,
secretary; and P. E. Hatch, treasurer.

Of eastern birth and descent, Mr. Brown
was born in the village of St. George, Me., Au-
gust 2, 1852, being a son of Charles Brown, a
native of the same locality. After having com-
pleted the studies of the common schools he
began to earn his own livelihood and at the
age of nineteen was apprenticed as a ship
joiner in Belfast, Me., where he remained for
some time. During 1S83 he removed to Min-
neapolis, TkTinn., and became interested in the

1789

manufacture of sash, doors and moulding. For
four years he was in charge of the moulding
department of the Minneapolis Sash & Door
Company and for three and one-half vears he
was connected with the Flour Citv Sash and
Door Company. In July,' 1892, he' accepted a
position as woodworker with the street rail-
way company and in 1895 was promoted to be
master mechanic of the Twin City Rapid
Transit Company, in which position he de-
signed the type of car adopted for use on the
street railways of those cities.

Considerations of health induced ]\Ir. Brown
to give up a profitable position in Minneap-
olis and seek the west, Avhere he made a brief
sojourn in Seattle, Wash. On his return to
Minneapolis he took charge of the sash and
door department of the Abbott Manufacturing
Company of St. Paul, but soon found that it
would be necessary to remove permanently
from that section of the country in order to
retain his health. During the latter part of
1902 he came to California and settled at Wil-
mington, where he erected the Southwestern
Lumber Company's plant and took charge of
the same until it was in accurate and satisfac-
tory running order. From there he came to
Long Beach, where he has gained a place as a
reliable, intelligent and trustworthy business
man. Before leaving the east he married Miss
Vesta Frost, who was born in ?\Iaine. They
are the parents of one son and four daughters,
namely : AValter M. ; Edith ; Albertha, who re-
sides in :\Iinneapolis; May, assistant librarian
of the Long Beach library; and Vesta, at
home. The family attend the Methodist Epis-
copal Church in their home city.

Always interested in fraternal organiza-
tions, Mr. Brown was active in a number of
these during his residence in Minneapolis, and
was especially interested in the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows as a member of the
lodge, encampment and kindred order of Re-
bekahs. In 1888 he was chosen a delegate to
the grand lodge and also represented at vari-
ous times ,his local lodge at the Grand En-
campment. In the work of organizing the
Northern Light Lodge No. 121, of Alinneap-
olis, he was a leading factor and became one
of its charter members, as also he was of Hen-
nepin Encampn.ient at Minneapolis. The lola
Lodge of Rebekahs in Minneapolis also owed
its establishment largely to his energetic ef-
forts and constant interest, and he was among
its charter members. Though not a partisan
in politics, he sup])orts Republican candidates
and believes thoronghix in the jirinciples for
which that party stands.

1790

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

J. DANIEL CARD. Prominent among the
men of Long Beach, is J. Daniel Gard, who has
been a resident of this city since 1901 and a con-
stant contributor to its growth and progress. He
was born on a farm in Warren county, Ohio,
August 13, 1836 a son -of John Gard, a Virginian
by birth and a pioneer of Ohio in the year 1820.
The elder man engaged as a farmer throughout
the years of his manhood, dying on the family
homestead at an advanced age. He inherited
from English ancestors the sturdy qualities
which distinguished his citizenship, acquiring a
position of both affluence and influence in the
section of country where he made his home. His
wife, formerly Hannah Hisey, was a native of
Virginia, but she received her education in War-
ren County, Ohio.

The youth of J. Daniel Gard was passed upon
his father's farm, receiving a practical training
along business lines while he attended the public
schools. In young manhood he followed the ex-
ample of his father and engaged actively in farm-
ing and stock-raising in Ohio, buying and selling
stock. He traveled all over the state of Ohio in
the course of his business, but preferred to make
his home in Warren County, where he owned a
farm of one hundred and sixty acres of fine land.
This property he cultivated actively until 1887, in
which year he was impelled to seek a milder cli-
mate on account of impaired health ; coming to the
Pacific slope, he spent an enjoyable seven months
in Southern California. He returned home and
for five years continued in his former pursuits.
Once more he sought the temperate climate of
California, where he passed one year, returning
at the end of that period entirely cured of his
bronchial trouble. A few more years passed in
his native state were all that Mr. Card desired,
and in igoi he closed out his business in Ohio
and came to California with the intention of mak-
ing this place his permanent home. He located
in Long Beach and has since been engaged in an
extensive handling of real estate, buying and sell-
ing lots. With his brother. William Gard. he now
owns one hundred and eleven lots at Oceanside,
in addition to much other valuable property. In
May, igoi^, he built a comfortable residence at
No. 63:; Pine avenue, which is presided over by
his wife. She was formerly ^liss ]Mar\' j-
"Walter, a native of Ohio, in which state their
union occurred. They have had three children,
all of whom are deceased, two dying in infancv.
and Walter meeting his death accidentallv in
1886.

Mr. Gard has met with success in all his vent-
ures and particularly since coming to California.
Previous to this move he had given all of his
time and attention to as:riculture. which occupa-
tion had Ix-en followed bv his ancestors for gen-
erations. The outdoor life and healthful occu-

lion of mind and body bred in the mem-
bers of the family the best qualities of man-
hood, health, strength and vigor, with the
best possible use of the talents with which nature
has endowed them being their chief character-
istics. Mr. Gard is a man of energetic tempera-
ment, strong and forceful in character, and has
brought to bear m his operations in California all
of these qualities. He has a firm belief in the
future of this section and supports it enthusias-
tically, financially and odierwise. He is conserv-
ative and yet progressive, the possession of good
judgment enabling him to act upon opportunity.
He takes an active part in the promotion of all
worthy movements for the growth and develop-
ment of Long Beach, being particularly active in
educational affairs, in Ohio having served on the
school board for many years. In his political af-
filiations he is a stanch Republican and firmly
grounded in the principles he endorses. He is
liberal by nature, generous to a fault and can
always be depended upon to contribute freely to
charitable movements and public enterprises. He
has won a position of exceptional prominence
among the citizens of Long Beach, where he is
held in the highest esteem for the character and
quality of his manhood.

S. A. SANDERSON. While yet a young
man, S. A. Sanderson, manager for the United
States Trust Company at Long Beach has
achieved an enviable degree of success in the
business world, and his success in life is due
principally to his own efforts. He can be prop-
erly styled a self-made man, for he has won his
position entirely through his own talents, energy
and the desire to succeed. The stories of men
who have overcome obstacles and risen in the
line of their endeavor are always an inspiration
to other men. They give to the disheartened
and discouraged new impetus to push forward,
and success will follow persistent efTort, for am-
bition, accompanied by untiring industry, is the
kev to success.

Mr. Sanderson was born in Alayfield. Graves
rountv, Kv.. on the T8th of October. 1873.
Like the majority of boys he received his first in-
struction in the public schools of his native state.
Early in life he was thrown on his own resources,
and at the age of fifteen vears was teaching a
school consisting of eightv-five pupils, being dis-
tinguished as the vouneest teacher in the public
schools of the south. His ambition was to enter
college to better nrepare himself for the larger
duties of the world. Through his own unaided
efiforts he paved the way, and bv teaching and
other work accumulated sufficient money to en-
able him to matriculate at the University of Ken-
tucky, graduating therefrom in 1892. Desiring

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1791

further instruction along special lines he entered
the University for a post-graduate course of two
years. In 1894 he resumed teaching and during
six years following taught in the public schools
of Mayfield, Ky., and at West Kentucky Col-
lege. He then removed to Arkansas and there
engaged for a time as teacher in the State Uni-
versity at Fayetteville. ,

While teaching at Fayetteville Mr. Sanderson
married Miss Lucy Dickson, a native of Georgia,
and they have one son, Clyde, born in Arkansas.
Having confined himself too closely to his work
Mr. Sanderson suffered the usual result, a
■breaking-down in health, and found it necessary
to give up his work as teacher and return to his
native state. As his health did not improve he
concluded that an entire change of location and
of occupation would be beneficial. Following
this resolve he came to California in April, 1902,
locating at Long Beach, and engaged as travel-
ing salesman for a large clothing establish-
-ment. He traveled throughout the state for one
year, meeting with excellent success in his new
line of work. At the end of the year, when he
severed his connection with the firm, he became
head salesman and had the satisfaction of win-
ning the premiums offered by the company to
the employe selling the largest amount of goods
for the firm. Having visited nearly every town
and city in the state he was in a position to judge
for himself as to the desirability of a location
for establishing himself in business which would
combine church, social and educational advan-
tages for the benefit of his young son. Long
Beach seemed to offer exceptional opportunities,
and the family made the city their home, and
now reside at No. 729 Cedar avenue.

Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson are members of the
Christian Church. They are deeply interested
in all that pertains to the welfare of the church
and charities connected with church work. Both
are members of the church choir, and Mr. San-
derson is the youngest elder in the church. He
gives all of his spare time to the furtherance of
church interests. In 1902, when he came to
Long Beach, the church numbered forty mem-
bers, with property valuation of $1,500. To-day
they have a membership of six hundred and
property valuation of $35,000. He is \'ice-Pres-
ident of the Christian Endeavor State Union,
and is a member of the Young Men's Oiristian
Association, being chairman of membership
committee, and an energetic temperance advo-
cate and worker. Quite naturally he takes great
interest in the public schools and in maintaining
a perfect school system is in full sympathy with
the demands -of the day, requiring educational
facilities to be of the highest order. Mr. San-
derson is identified with fraternal organizations.

being a member of the Masonic, Odd Fellow,
and Knights of Pythias lodges.

In business he has the full confidence of the
community. His motto is the Golden Rule and
his business is carried on with that divine in-
junction in view. Not only has he the manage-
ment of the Long Beach office for the company
he represents, but in addition, carries on an ex-
tensive business of his own, handling high-class
bonds, investments and insurance. He has
shown his confidence in the future of Long
Beach property as an investor in real estate
holdings, buying, improving and selling real es-
tate, and has met with gratifying success in his
real estate transactions. He is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce of the city of Long
Beach, and is a notary public, his commission
issued by Governor Pardee bearing date of April
10, 1905.

WALTER B. JOY. As a. pioneer in his busi-
ness, which is that of cornice, sheet metal work-
er and plumber, Walter B. Joy, located in Long
Beach, in the spring of 1896 and leased land
at the corner of Pine and Second streets, where
he erected a building adequate for the needs of
his business. This business has since grown to
proportions in keeping with the advancement of
the city itself and the passing of years has
brought to Mr. Joy financial returns, as well
as making him a factor in the industrial life of
Long Beach. Born December 24, 1857, in Mus-
catine, Iowa, Mr. Joy was a son of W. H. Joy,
a pioneer of Iowa in 1856, being agent for the
United States Express Company in that section
for thirty years. His death occurred in that
locality after attaining advanced years. In the
public schools of Muscatine Walter B. Joy re-
ceived an education, after which he served an
apprenticeship as metal worker in that citv. Fol-
lowing his mastery of the trade he worked in
various places throughout Iowa and Dakota as
journeyman. Induced to come to California
through representations made by relatives who
had located here, he came to the state in 1885
and in Pasadena. Los Angeles county, found
employment at his trade. He remained in that
city for a number of years, when, in
the spring of 1896. he located permanently
in Long Beach, whose future possibilities
he believed to be unsurpassed. His own
success and the growth of the city have justi-
fied his faith. He began on a small scale and has
increased several hundred fold, employing at
the present time about nine men, his specialty
being furnace work. His second loction was on
t'le presi nt site of the Masonic Teniple, but widi
the growth of the city he removed to his pres-

1792

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

eiit location, where he is carrying on a success-
ful business.

^Ir. Joy was married in Iowa, in 1886, to Lot-
tie Burlingame, whose death occurred in Cali-
fornia November 6, 1903. She left one daughter,
Edith W., who is now attending the University
of California. Fraternally Mr. Jov is identified
with the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of
Pythias, (in which he is past chancellor), Wood-
men of the World and Order of Pendo. He
belongs to the :Master Plumbers Association and
is active in the same. In religion he is a member
of the Congregational Church, in which he offi-
ciates as trustee, and politically is a staunch Re-
publican. Air. Joy has ably' demonstrated his
ability in the line of his work and has also made
for himself a place among the enterprising and
helpful citizens of Long Beach.

A. M. CASWLLL. A descendant of good
old Puritan stock that traces back to the earliest
settlement of New England, no one has more
reason to be proud of his lineage than A. AI.
Caswell. His father, Isaac Caswell, a native of
Greene, Me., was descended from the Massachu-
setts Caswells, who came from Holland with the
first settlers of Plymouth. Isaac Caswell, a farm-
er by_ occupation and a Quaker in his relig-
ious views, was a man of stern integrity of char-
acter, loved and esteemed by his fellow-citizens,
by whom he was honored with many offices of
trust in the community. He died on the old
homestead overlooking the blue waters of Penob-
scot bay, after a long and useful life.

On the maternal side, A. M. Caswell comes
of pioneer New England stock; his mother,
Mary Spring, native of Maine, was a descendant
of the Daggett family, early settlers of Mar-
tha's \'ineyard, Mass. Her father, William
Spring, and his son, William, were soldiers in
the war of 1812. For her day and generation^
the day of the slow-moving stage coach and
limited advantages — Mar\- Spring Caswell was
possessed of unusual mental ability, having been
a teacher for several years previous to her mar-
riage. She was the mother of ten children, six
of whom are living, and of these the subject of
this sketch is the youngest. Mrs. Caswell was
noted for her noble qualities of mind and heart.
She died at the old homestead, aged ninety-eight
years, in the faith of the Baptist teachings in
which she had lived.

A. M. Caswell attended the public schools of
his native town until he was sixteen years old,
when he learned the trade of trunk-making. In
1861 he sailed from New York on the
steamer Champion via Panama for California;
from Panama he was a passenger on the old
side-wheel steamer Constitution, which arrived

in San Francisco shortly before Christmas, the
entire trip having been made in twenty-four
days.

j\lr. Caswell followed his trade in San Fran-
cisco for a year and then went to San Jose,
where he was an orchardist and engaged in the
fruit commission business about the same length
of time.

Some eight or nine years were passed as a
successful merchant in San Francisco, when the
rapid growth and boom in real estate values in
San Diego attracted him to that city. Five
.years and a half were passed as a merchant there,
when Mr. Caswell decided to invest his money
in Santa Monica property and has since made
some valuable improvements in that place. He
was also, for fourteen years. Southern California
agent for the Westervelt National \'inegar
Works, with headquarters in Los Angeles.

Mr. Caswell is a substantial and highly es-
teemed citizen of Santa Alonica and while lie is
Republican in political affiliations, he is not a '
strict adherent to party lines. Fraternally he is
a rhember of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.

GEORGE B. STETTER, of the firm of
George B. Stetter & Co., of Long Beach, was
born in Tipton, Moniteau county. Mo., January
14, 1875. His father, George Stetter, was a
native of Wurtemberg, Germany, his birth hay-
ing occurred in the vicinity of Stuttgart. Left
an orphan at an early age he was thrown upon
his own resources and in young manhood came
to America, his industry and energy bringing
him success in his undertakings. He finally lo-
cated in Alissouri, where he engaged as a' broker
and land dealer until his death, in 1882. He
was loyal to the country of his adoption and
served in the Union army. He married Sarah
M. Snorgrass, a native of Tipton, Mo., and a
daughter of Isaac Snorgrass, also a native of that
state, a farmer by occupation and the descendant
of an old Kentucky family. Some time after
the death of her husband, Mrs. Stetter became
the wife of C. G. Ely, of Long Beach, who served
during the Civil war in the Fourth Ohio Cavalry.
By her first marriage she had three children,
of whom George B. Stetter is the youngest and
only son. By her second marriage she had one
son, Roscoe C. Ely, \vlio is a member of the
real-estate firm previously mentioned.

The preliminary education of George B. Stetter
was received in the public schools near his home,
after which he attended Robinson's Business
College at Sedalia, Mo. After graduation from
this institution, he accepted a position as book-
keeper in Sedalia, and later he located in
Webster Grove, Mo., and engaged in the drug

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1793

business. Shortl)- afterward he located in Kan-
sas City, wliere he engaged as commercial traveler
for the Robert-Wicks Company of New York,
in the interest of whom he traveled throughout
the mountain and coast states. In 1897 he
made his first trip to California and in 1899 he
came to Loi Angeles and followed the drug
business a short time. The following year ( 1900)
he engaged in the real-estate business and two
years later came to Long Beach, where with his
half-brother, Roscoe C. Ely, he established the
George B. Stetter & Co., real estate enterprise.
They are especially interested in handling busi-
ness property and are themselves holders of
valuable real estate in the business district of
this city. Their faith in the permanency of con-
ditions here have led them to invest largely, their
erection of the apartment house at Nos. 219-221
Locust avenue resulting in large financial re-
turns for them.

Mr. Stetter was married in Long Beach to
Miss Margaret Johnson, a native of Story City,
Iowa. Socially Mr. Stetter is a member of the
Cosmopolitan Club.

G. W. E. GRIFFITH, of Los Angeles, Cal,
was born in Tippecanoe county, Ind., Decem-
ber 22, 1833, a son of Rev. James and Nancy
(Hunt) Griffith, both natives of New York,
who early removed to Indiana and there re-
sided until their deaths at advanced ages. ]\Ir.
Griffith was one of a family of eight children
and lived with his father on the farm until his
education in the common branches was com-
pleted, when he went to live with his brother,
who was at that time president of Mount
Pleasant College at Mount Pleasant, Pa. He
was married there and in 1855 removed to
Franklin county, Kans., where he filed on a
government claim of one hundred and sixty
acres. While residing there he took a promi-
nent part in public life and was elected at dif-
ferent times to the offices of county commis-
sioner, county clerk and recorder and county
treasurer, and also served in the state legisla-
ture. After a number of years he removed
with his family to Lawrence, Kans., and es-
tablished a hardware and mercantile business,
which he conducted until the time of the fam-
ous Quantrell raid at Lawrence, when he lost
all of his property and was left with nothing
but a linen coat and a pair of slippers. This
was discouraging, but did not dishearten Mr.
Griffith, who immediately borrowed money
and re-established the same business, which
was carried on for a number of years under
the firm name of Griffith, Duncan & Co. and
became one 'of the largest business houses in
the state.

Mr. Griffith sold out of the mercantile busi-
ness to accept the position of cashier of the
Second National Bank of Lawrence, Kans., of
which he was one of the promoters. Having
sold his interest in this bank, he acted as agent
for eastern investors for several years, and
was instrumental in introducing a great deal
of capital in Kansas at reduced rates of inter-
est. \Miile thus engaged he was selected by
the creditors to liquidate the State Bank, which
had failed, and all the assets and business was
turned over to his control. It was not expect-
ed that over fifty per cent would be realized by
the depositors in the then depressed condition
of aft'airs, but under the able and economical
management the depositors were paid one
hundred per cent.

Soon after this business was so satisfactor-
ily settled Mr. Griffith organized the Mer-
chants' National Bank, with $100,000 paid up
capital at Lawrence, Kans., and became its
president and manager. This bank was a suc-
cess from the start, and paid a dividend of
eight per cent the first year, which it has con-
tinued to do to this day. In 1888 he resigned
liis position as president of the Merchants'
National Bank to accept a position as manager
of the Western Farm ^Mortgage Trust
Company and removed to Denver, Col. After
two years he foresaw that unfortunate results
were likelv to be the result of the management
of the company, and a meeting of the board of
directors was called to consider the subject,
which was represented by capitalists from
New York, Philadelphia and Boston. The
board of directors refused to go into liquida-
tion or change the policy being pursued,
whereupon Air. Griffith resigned and severed
liis connection with the company. Thereafter
in about one year the company failed, and Mr.
Griffith was appointed receiver in February,
1892, by the court in Denver to wind up the
business of the company, which had sold
throughout the eastern states some $5,000,000
guaranteed securities. The winding up of
such a business was one of great responsibil-
ity, wdiich was accomplished, and all accounts
approved by the court, in 1896.

About the years 1890 and '91 Mr. Griffith
organized and established the United States
National Bank of Portland, Ore., and the
Seattle National Bank of Seattle, Wash., with
S250.000 capital each. The stock of the latter
bank is worth at this time $300 and has a de-
posit of around $5,000,000. Mr. Griffith re-
moved to this state in 1900. In 1904 he organ-
ized the South Pasadena Bank, and after-
wards, in T906, the Bank of Highland Park
was established, the latter with a capital of
Sioo,ooo. one-third of whicli is paid up. and

1794

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

A[r. Griffith fills the office of president of this
institution. He occnpies a prominent position
in financial circles and is held in high esteem
bv his associates.

'Politically Mr. Griffith affiliates with the
Republican party and takes an active interest
in all affairs of civic interest. His wife, who
was Facita A., daughter of Abraham Horbach,
a farmer of Pennsylvania, is a native of West-
moreland county. Pa., and they have had four
children : Charles E. died in Panama, where
he was stricken with yellow fever; Mary G.
Osborn resides with her father and is promi-
nent in club circles, being president of the
Ebell Club at Highland Park; George W. is a
broker at No. 25 Pine street. New York City ;
and Mrs. Elida G. Van Pelt resides at No. 1206
West Lake avenue, Los Angeles.

LEWIS FILLMORE CRAM. -Numbered
among the pioneers of San Bernardino county,
whither he came as early as 1851 after a tedious
overland trip from Illinois through New Mex-
ico and Arizona into California, Mr. Cram holds
an honored position among those who assisted
in the development of this region from the
primeval conditon of nature into one of the
most beautiful sections of the state. As a re-
sult of wise management and judicious labors
he has attained a competency and has been
able to assist his children in acquiring a sub-
stantial start in the world of activity. Though
his life has been filled with indefatigable labors
and though he has now passed his three score
years and ten, he retains his mental activity
and to some extent the physical vigor of
younger days : however, through an abscess in
the head, the left side of his face became para-
lized and the hearing of the left ear was lost,
but with that exception he retains excellent
health.

Essex county, N. Y., is Mr. Cram's native
place, and April 19, 1834, the date of his birth.
When about eighteen months old he was taken
to Michigan by his parents, who settled near
Detroit on a farm. At the age of seven years
he accompanied the family to Ohio and for a
time lived near Akron, also sojourned tempo-
rarily in other places. Two years later he went
to Illinois with the famih^ and settled in Schuy-
ler county, where he remained for eight years,
meanwhile attending the country schools. On
leaving Illinois in May. 1851. he came with the
family to California and during the long jour-
ney suflfered a bereavement in the death of his
mother. On account of sickness in the com-
pany, whose numbers were small, this latter
fact making them easy prey to the hostile In-
dians who beset their pathway, they halted in

New i\Iexico and Arizona to await recruits for
the train, and it was not until May of 1852 that
they finally arrived in Los Angeles. Going to
Redlands in 1854 Mr. Cram made his first home
in the state at that place. During 1858 he and
his brother Henry each took up one hundred
and sixty acres of land near Highland, and on
this tract they still live, meanwhile having de-
veloped the land into one of the finest ranches
in the entire county. Some of his original
property has been sold, but he still owns eighty
acres, representing a very important investment
at present valuations. The substantial resi-
dence, erected in 1886, superseded the two orig-
inal dwellings built in the early days and fur-
nishes an excellent example of the growing
prosperity of the country.

The marriage of Mr. Cram was solemnized
September 27, 1866, and united him with Sarah
Ann Wakefield, daughter of Andrew Jackson
and Nancy (Garner) Wakefield, of High-
land, San Bernardino county. From early
life Mrs. Cram has been identified with
the Congregational Church, to whose mis-
sionary and charitable enterprises Mr.
Cram contributes, although not a member
thereof or identified with any denomination.
Politically he always has been stanch in his al-
legiance to the Republican party. On that
ticket he twice was elected to "the office of
county supervisor, in which capacity he served
with efficiency and fidelity. During the early
days of the organization of the Grange he
identified himself with the movement and
served as a local officer in the same, maintain-
ing a deep interest in the work as one calcu-
lated to promote the permanent prosperity of
the agricultural class. All of his children are
living, namely: Andrew Jackson. William
Henry, John Edwin, Lewis Franklin, James
Eaton, Robert and Mary Emile, Mrs. Joseph
Cole, of Redlands. The father and sons own
about one hundred and forty acres of orange
land. While they have the different varieties
of oranges, their specialty is the navels, of
which they have some fine specimens in their
groves. With one exception all of the sons
are married and have established homes of
their own; all are prosperous and enjoy the
confidence of associates, exemplifying in their
characters the efficient training and wise ex-
ample of their parents.

ZENAS FREEMAN. Fallbrook counts it-
self fortunate in having among its substantial
farmers and prominent citizens a man who has
stood unflinchingly for the best interests of his
neighborhood and the community af large. Mr.
Freeman has always been conspicuous for his

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1795

enterprise in the advancement of the common
schools and in all public projects that tended
toward the upbuildmg of the locality in which
he lived. The son of Jacob and Elizabeth A.
(Eubanks) Freeman, tlie former a native of
Georgia and the latter of Alabama, Zenas Free-
man was born in Washington county. 111., April
lo, 1846. About 1830 Jacob Freeman removed
to Illinois where he married and settled on gov-
ernment land. He spent the remainder of his
life on his original farm ; his wife is still living,
at the age of eightv-nine years, in Webb City,
Mo.

Zenas Freeman was educated in the district
schools of the time and lived at home on the
farm until he was of age. In 1867 he removed
to Jasper county, J\Io., where he bought land
and engaged in farming and growing fruit.
Where the flourishing city of Joplin now stands
he killed ducks in 1872 on land which is now the
main street. In company with his brother he
erected a sawmill on the present city site and
also conducted a lumberyard, furnishing the
lumber of which the first buildings were con-
structed, and doing a business which totaled
$25,000 a year. This he disposed of later and
returning to the farm, set out seventy-five acres
to fruit, this being considered a large orchard
at that time.

In 1886 the failing health of his wife induced
Mr. Freeman to leave his home in Missouri and
remove temporarily to San Diego, Cal. The
climate proving beneficial a month later they
came to Fallljrook, purchased their present hold-
ings and subseci'aently disposed of the eastern
property. Flis land, comprising sixty acres, is
devoted to general farming, with the exception
of fourteen acres in bearing olive trees.

While in Missouri Mr. Freeman served six-
teen years on the school board of Jasper county
and soon after removing to Fallbrook was elect-
ed, in 1888, to a similar office here, a position he
held eleven years. He was also one of the or-
ganizers of the high school district and in 1893
was elected first president of the board of trus-
tees, an office which he continued to fill until
July, IQ04- It is due in no small degree to Mr.
Freeman's efforts that the school is now con-
sidered one of the best in the county.

While in Missouri he was for some years
deputy state organizer for the Grangers. FIc
has been for the past five years deputy clerk for
San Diego county, is also one of the road super-
intendents of the fifth district, and was both ac-
tive and efficient in working against the voting
of irrigation bonds in that district, a measure
which has proved so disastrous to other localities.

In the spring of 1895 Mr. Freeman issued a
call and assisted in the organization of the Co-
operative Association, which was consummated

in the autumn v.-ith fourteen members and a
capitalization of $400. This store did a cash
business of S140 per day for 1906 and has now
membership stock of over $10,000. Mr. Free-
man was also instrumental in organizing the
Fallbrook Horticultural Society, which kept the
banner exhibit in the San Diego Chamber of
Commerce for several years.

Mr. Freeman was married to Miss Sarah E.
Glasscock, a native of Jasper county. Mo., and
the daughter of Eli Glasscock, of Tennessee.
Six children were the result of the union : Zula
E., who died when two years old ; Margaret A.,
who died when one and a half years of age;
Frederick J., of Los Angeles; ]\'lamie Myrtle,
wife of A. C. Reche, of Fallbrook; Eli E., en-
gaged in farming on a large scale near Fall-
brook; and Earnest L., a student in the Fall-
brook high school. Mr. Freeman is a demitted
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows, which he joined when twenty-one years of
age.

GEORGE WASHINGTON COVERT. M. D.
The Covert family is of Holland-Dutch origin
and became established in America as early as
1645. in which >ear it is thuught the great-grand-
fatlur cr^'Ssed tiic (icenn and settled in !\Ianiiattan,
N. Y. Siiliscqucntly he removed to Morristown.
N. J., and it was there that the grandfather,
Isaac Covert, was born. As one of the valiant
defenders of the young colonies' interests he
served for seven years in the Revolutionary war.
fir.st as a scout under General Armstrong, and
later as fife major. After the close of hostilities
he removed to Mercer county, Ky., where in
addition to following his trade of weaver he
also carried on a farm. He located seven quarter
sections of land in Johnson County, Ind., which
he had planned to apportion equally among his
seven children, but his death occurred in 1825,
on the very day set for the transfer and settle-
ment of the transactions. His wife passed away
in Indiana three years later. Their son Daniel
was born in Mercer County, Ky., where besides
following agricultural life to which he was early
trained, he learned the cabinet-maker's trade.
After his removal to Franklin, Ind., he still con-
timied farming, but made a specialty of building
and contracting, into which he finally drifted,
having branched out into this line through his
knowledge of cabinet-making and the carpenter's
trade. During his later years he retired from
active life, dying on the homestead farm in In-
diana in his eighty-ninth year. Throughout life
he had enjoyed the consolation of religion and
was a member of the Presbyterian Qiurch, in
which he served aa deacon for many years.
Politically he was a Republican. In his young

1796

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

manhood he married Miss Rachel X'oorhies, who
like himself was a native of Kentucky and a
descendant of Holland-Dutch ancestors on the
paternal side. Her father, John Voorhies, who
was a native of New Jersey, removed to Mercer
county, Ky., following farming there some time
before his removal to Indiana in 1825. There he
remained until i860, when he moved to Allen
county, Kans., but in 1873 settled once more m
Indiana, and in that state he passed away. Mrs.
Covert died on the Kansas homestead when in
her eighty-third year.

Of the five children who comprised the parental
family George AV. was next to the youngest and
is now the only one living. He was born August
18, 1833, on the Indiana homestead near Frank-
lin, Johnson county, and received such meager
educational training as the schools of the time
and locality afforded. In brief, his education
was limited to three months in the pay schools
during winters, the remainder of the year being
given to his father in caring for the farm. Tak-
ing advantage of the opportunity to become a
landowner by the opening up of government
land in Kansas he went thither in i860 and en-
tered land in Allen coimty in the vicinity of
Carlyle, carrying on a farm for a number of years.
As late as 1863 there was only one physician in
Carlyle and he determined to prepare himself for
the profession and open an office in his home
town. During the years 1864-65 he attended
Rush ]\Iedical College, Qiicago, III, and there-
after returned to Carlyle and began the practice
of medicine, in addition to which he also prac-
ticed dentistry. A brief interruption in his prac-
tice occurred in 1865, during which time he
served in the Kansas Militia, but when his services
were no longer necessary he returned to Carlyle
and resumed his practice. The strain of over-
work began to impair his health and he gave
up his practice in Kansas and returned to Indiana
in 1873, locating in Whiteland, where he soon re-
gained his former vigor. It was not long after
this that he opened an office in Whiteland, follow-
ing his profession there for a number of years,
or until 1887, when he located in Franklin,
that state, there continuing the practice of medi-
cine until 1894. His identification with the west
and more particularly with Long Beach dates
from May, 1894, coming here at that time to
engage in the practice of dentistry with his son,
he himself having charge of the plate work. Dr.
Covert is an enthusiastic believer in the future
of Long Beach and has demonstrated this belief
by investing quite heavily in city real estate. He
bought a large tract on American avenue and
Sixteenth street, known as the Covert tract, which
he subdivided, and all of which is now practically
sold. He also owns property on the corner of
Third and Locust streets, upon which are two

residei^ices, one of which h.e occupies with his
family.

In 1854 Dr. Covert was married to ^liss
jNlary E. LaGrange,'a native of Indiana, and
hve children have been born to them, as follows:
E. L., a real-estate dealer in Long Beach; Car-
rie C, Mrs. Lynn, also of this city; Electa, the
wrfe of J. D. \V'hiteside, and resident of Frank-
lin, Ind. ; Mollie, the wife of J. Sharp, of Long
Beach ; and A. T., a graduate of the dental pro-
fession, who is now in the employ of the Town-
send Dayman Compan\-. The famih' attend the
Presbyterian C'hurch of Long Beach, in which
Dr. Covert and his son A. T. are ruling elders,
and politically he is a Prohibitionist.

FRED P. BALDWIN. During his three
years' residence in Long Beach Fred P. Baldwin
nas shown his enterprise and progressiveness as
a citizen, and since his election to the office of
city clerk has proven himself an exceptionally
efticient official. He was born February 22, 1866,
in Watertown, N. Y., the son of Fred A. and
Ellen (Perry) Baldwin, the former having been
born on the Atlantic, and the latter of Welsh
descent and a native of Utica, N. Y. The father
was reared until his sixteenth year in England
and after coming to America learned the
plumber's and tinner's trade in Utica, and was a
resident of Watertown, N. Y., from 1866 until
the time of his death in 1892, his wife surviv-
ing him three years.

Of their three children Fred P. was the oldest.
He was educated in the public schools of New
York, and in 1885 graduated from the Water-
town high school. Possessed of unusual musical
talent he had in the meantime become a pro-
ficient piani.st and after the completion of his
school work he traveled for two years with a
light opera company. After giving up this line
of work he went to Ticonderoga, N. Y., and was
for a short time secretary of the Young !Men's
Christian Association there, but soon resigned
and returned to Watertown, where in 1888 he
secured an appointment as a sub-carrier in the
postoffice. A year later he was made a regular
carrier and continued at that employment for
fourteen years. Then deciding that a change
would be beneficial he decided to come to Cal-
ifornia and in 1903 located in Long Beach. He
secured bookkeeping positions successively with
Bailey Brothers, the Long Beach Ice Company,
and the Long Beach Hardware Company, resign-
ing from the latter position after his election to
the city clerkship April 9. 1906. He was nominat-
ed on the Independent ticket and the good reputa-
tion he had gained among his fellow citizens was
then evidenced by the fact that he received a
majority of three hundred and seventy-nine votes.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1797

Upon April i6 the oath of office was administered
and he will continue to fill the position to which
he was elected for two years from that date.

In Watertown, N. Y., Mr. Baldwin was united
in marriage with Miss Maud M. Greene, who
was born in Belleville, N. Y., and they have be-
come the parents of one son, Raymond F. Both
Air. and Mrs. Baldwin are active members of
the Episcopal Church. Mr. Baldwin keeps up
his piano practice and is considered one of the
most talented musicians in Long Beach. Frater-
nally he is . affiliated with numerous prominent
lodges, among them being the Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks, the Eagles, Knights of
Pythias and Royal Court. In national politics he
advocates Republican principles, in local affairs
believing that men are more important than plat-
forms in securing good and efficient government.
He is interested in military affairs and while in
New York he was a member of the Thirty-ninth
Separate Company, N. G. S. N. Y., in which he
enlisted the second time, serving in all eleven
years or until the law excluding government em-
ployes from the national guard ranks went into
effect. As a man of well-roimded interests and
talents he is held in the highest respect and esteem
througliout the community.

JAMES CHRISTOPHER HASKINS. The
ancestry of the Haskins family is traced to Eng-
land, the emigrating ancestor having established
the name upon American soil in the colonial days
of our history. Massachusetts was the state
chosen by this ancestor and there the name
flourished for many generations, members of
the family participating in the Revolutionary
war. Lafayette Haskins was a farmer through-
out; his entire life. The patriotism of the family
was his by inheritance, demonstrated by his ser-
vice in the war of 1812. In his family was a son,
Caleb R., who was born in Assonet, Mass. ; in
young manhood he entered upon a sea-faring
life and in time became master of a whaler out
of New Bedford. He came to his death by
drowning in 1852. His wife, formerly Jane Slo-
cum, a native of Massachusetts, born on the
Island of Cuttyhunk, one of the Elizabeth Group,
was a daughter of Frederic Slocum, and died in
New Bedford in 1853.

The birth of two children blessed the union of
Captain Haskins and his wife, the younger of
whom, James Christopher Haskins. was born in
New Bedford, Mass.. January 23, 1842. He was
reared in his native town, receiving his prelim-
inary education in the common schools of that
place, and later attending the schools of Provi-
dence, R. I. Trained to habits of industry and
self-reliance, at the age of sixteen years, he was
apprenticed in Providence to learn the jeweler's

trade, remaining so occupied until the breaking
out of [he Civil war, when on the 16th of April,
1861, he volunteered in the First Rhode Island
Detached Militia Company under Colonel Burn-
side. He was mustered in at Washington May
2, and with his company was immediately or-
dered to the front, participating in the battle of
Bull Run. His three months' service expiring
on August 2, he re-enlisted as sergeant on the
28th of that month in the Third Rhode Island
Heavy Artillery, his service continuing until the
close of the war. He participated in the battle
of Hilton Head on November 7, 1861, Skull
Creek, Pocotaligo, Ahista, Secessionville, James
Island, and many other important engagements.
For thirteen months he was located on the ex-
treme point of Morris Island, at Fort Gregg, en-
gaged in the bombarding of Fort Sumter, S. C.
Upon the evacuation of Giarleston he was the
first man to place the colors over the city, plant-
ing the flag over the old postoffice at the foot
of Broad street, assisted by four of Company
B of the Fifty-fourth Regiment of Massachu-
setts, who volunteered to row him over to the
mainland. During the war he received several
wounds. While on Morris Island at Fort Gregg
the explosion of a two hundred pound Parrot
gun threw him over a gun carriage and in-
jured his spine in such' a way as to cause par-
tial paralysis in later life. At Pocotaligo he re-
ceived a gun thrust in the forehead and at James
Island a pistol ball in the chin. He was mus-
tered out of service at Providence, R. I., August
24, 1865.

Returning again to the jewelry business Mr.
Haskins engaged in this work until the fail-
ure of eyesight induced him to seek other em-
ployment. He secured a position as traveling
salesman for his cousin, W. L. Douglas, the
well-known eastern shoe manufacturer, with
whom he remained until his retirement from ac-
tive business life because of failing health. He
made his home in Providence for some years,
later in Brockton and finally in Boston, from
which city in 1902 he came to Long Beach, Cal.,
where he has since resided. His home is pre-
sided over by his wife, formerly Miss Addie
Clark, of Springfield, Mass. She also boasts
an ancestry of the best blood of New England,
John Clark, mate of the ship Ann, having land-
ed in Plymouth in 1620. A descendant, John
Clark, served in the Revolutionary war and an-
other John Clark served in the war of 1812 —
all men of patriotism, earnestness of purpose
and of citizen.ship that meant no little in the
upbuilding of the nation. Mrs. Haskin's father,
Norman Clark, also born in Springfield, Mass.,
was a farmer by occupation, and like his an-
cestors, a patriot, serving in Company C,
Twenty-ninth Regiment Massachusetts Infantry,

17C

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

during the Civil war, his death occurring on
Ship Island in 1862. His wife, formerly Maria
Baker, was a native of Massachusetts, her death
also occurring in that state. They were the
parents of seven children, of whom four are now
living, another son, Charles H., also serving in
the Civil war in a Massachusetts cavalry regi-
ment. By a former marriage Mrs. Haskins is
the mother of one son, E. N. Whittaker, a man-
ufacturer of paper. By her marriage with Mr.
Haskins she also has one son, Waldo F. She is
a member of the Women's Relief Corps and the
Ladies of the G. A. R., Daughters of Veterans
of the Civil war and the Bess Ross Society. Mr.
Haskins is a member of Long Beach Post No.
181, G. A. R., and both himself and wife are
identified with the First Congregational Church
of this city. Mr. Haskins is a Republican and
gives a most earnest support to the principles he
endorses. He is a citizen of worth and merits
the esteem in which he is held.

HEXRV Z. GILL. M. D., LL. D. Varied ex-
periences and a cosmopolitan knowledge of the
world, acquired through travels in the old
world and the new, and through the strenuous
career of an army surgeon, give to Dr. Gill a
distinctive position among the physicians of
Southern California, where he has made his home
since the autumn of 1902. Although he was at-
tracted to this section by its charms of climate
and scenery, he has not allowed his life to sink
into passive enjoyment of surrounding com-
forts, but has given of his best to the promotion
of local interests. Perhaps in no other respect
has he accomplished as much good as through
his efforts to secure a thorough knowledge of
the laws of health on the part of the people.
That "prevention is better than cure" is one of
his theories, and acting upon that sentiment he
has maintained an interest in the construction
of public school buildings in order that the
ventilation and the lighting facilities may be
conducive to the health of the children. In the
latter part of 1902 he strongly advocated the
establishing of city sewers, and also gave his
most earnest efforts toward securing the sanitary
systems and conditions which now exist.

The early years of Dr. Gill's life were asso-
ciated with a farm in Bucks county, Pa., where
he was born October 6, 1831, and where he
passed the uneventful years of boyhood. On the
completion of an academic education he engaged
in teaching school in Pennsylvania. After going
to Columbus, Ohio, in 1854, he followed teach-
ing in Franklin county, and in the leisure hours
of school work he took up the studv of medicine
with R. J. Patterson, M. D., of Columbus, as
preceptor. Later he attended one and one-half

courses of lectures at Starling Medical College,
and then completed his course in Jefferson Medi-
cal College of Philadelphia, from which he was
graduated in 1857. From that time until the
Civil war he engaged in professional practice at
Columbus, Ohio, where he gained a reputation
as a rising young surgeon and physician.

An appointment as assistant surgeon in the
Eleventh Ohio Infantry was tendered Dr. Gill
in April, 1861, and he accepted for a service of
three months, but in July again enlisted, this time
for three years. In July of 1862 he resigned his
commission and returned to Columbus. Imme-
diately afterward he accepted an appointment
as surgeon of the Ninety-fifth Ohio Infantry,
where he remained in active service until May
of 1864, thus giving the State of Ohio three years
of active professional labors in her regiments.
In July, 1864, he was commissioned surgeon of
United States Volunteers by Abraham Lincoln,
after a brief service as an assistant surgeon with
the same troops, and he continued to hold his
commission until the war closed and he was
mustered out in August of 1865. During the
first year of the war he was stationed in West
Mrginia, and during the second year participated
in the campaigns in Kentucky, where he was
captured at Richmond and imprisoned for six
weeks within the enemy's lines. In January,
1863, he entered upon the Vicksburg campaign,
where he participated in that long and terrible
ordeal memorable in the annals of history. Dur-
ing the following year he was a participant in
the Atlanta campaign, later was in the Savannah
campaign and through the Carolinas, his service
being in the capacity of surgeon-in-chief of the
First Division, Twentieth Army Corps, which
position he held until the close of the war.

Following the stirring years of the war Dr.
Gill traveled through Missouri and purchased
property in Kansas City. Later he took a com-
plete course of lectures in Jefferson Medical
College. In May of 1866 he left the United
States for professional study in Europe, where
he spent two years in the hospitals of Berlin,
A'ienna, Breslau and Prague, and then visited
Paris, where he spent five months during 1867-
68, and after a month in London crossed the
ocean to the United States. Opening an office
in St. Louis in 1868, he not only conducted a
private practice, but also lectured in the St.
Louis Medical College. In 1873 he removed to
Jerseyville, III, where he had a large and profit-
able practice from that year until 1881. but re-
moved then to Chester in order to enter upon
his duties as surgeon of the Southern Illinois
penitentiary. In that position he was remarkably
successful. Prior to his appointment the records
showed the death rate to be thirt3--seven for
every one thousand prisoners, but under his

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

179f>

supervision and insistence upon sanitary methods
the rate was reduced to five per thousand.

After a service as surgeon for two )ears and
four months Dr. Gill resigned and became pro-
fessor of surgery in the medical department of
the University of Wooster, in Cleveland, Ohio,
where he delivered five courses of lectures.
Owing to his health becoming affected by tlie
climate, he resigned in i886 and went to Kan-
sas, where he established a large practice at
Eldorado and continued there for seven years.
From 1893 until 1902 he had his office at Pitts-
burg, Kans., where he became widely known as
a specialist in treatment of diseases of the eye,
ear, nose and throat. Prior to this, in 1886, he
had published the largest work in the English
language treating on diphtheria, croup and
tracheotomy. After a very successful career in
Kansas, he removed to California in order to
avail himself of the climatic advantages offered
by this region, and extended travels in the state
upon a tour of investigation ended in his decis-
ion to settle at Long Beach, where he makes his
home at No. 338 Pacific avenue, and has estab-
lished a practice extending through the city and
surrounding country. Since coming to this loca-
tion he has erected five houses, all of which have
been sold, and he has also bought and sold real
estate in the city.

in Columbus, Ohio, in April, 1869, Dr. Gill
married Aliss ]\Iattie C. Carpenter, native of that
city. They are the parents of a daughter, ]\Irs.
Elizabeth McAlister of Long Beach, and a son, R.
F., who has charge of the Long Beach water
works. The family are identified with the Metho-
dist Episcopal denomination, of which the doc-
tor has been a member for fifty years, and in the
work of which he has been a generous contri-
butor. In politics he has always been a believer
in Republican principles, but no trace of partisan-
ship has shown in his acts ; in every relation he
has been the fair-minded, impartial citizen. In
Masonry he has affiliated with the blue lodge,
chapter and commandery, the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and Grand Army Post No. 181,
California and Nevada Department, of which he
was surgeon and now ranks as senior vice-com-
mander. During his residence in Kansas he
served for two years as secretary of the state
board of health, and since coming to the coast
he was for two years surgeon of the Southern
California Veterans' Association. In the course
of his long professional life he has accumulated
a large library of valuable medical works, as
well as many other volumes, and this library he
has donated to the Southern California Univer-
sity, the medical department receiving the bulk
of the volumes. Through this gift the informa-
tion he gleaned in former years of thoughtful

study may now be acquired by others, who in
their turn may enter upon careers as active and
helpful as his own has been to the world.

ARTHUR L. PARMLEY. Among the
yoimger generation of business men in Long
Beach is Arthur L. Parmley, who as a member
of the Young-Parmley Investment Company has
been engaged in the real-estate business here
since October of 1905. JNIany of the large tracts
in and around Long Beach have been bought
and subdivided by this company, and if their
accomplishments in the past can be taken as a
criterion of what lies before them their success
is assured, for both members of the firm possess
those qualities which make for success in any
calling, push and determination.

Mr. Parmley is a native of Wisconsin, bom
in Janesville, Rock county. May 28, 1874, the son
of R. G. and Fannie A. (Dann) Parmley, born
in Ohio and Wisconsin respectively, and the
latter of English descent on both sides of the
family. Though born and reared in Ohio, R. G.
Parmley became one of the early settlers in the
commonwealth of Wisconsin, and for many years
was a merchant in Janesville. From there he re-
moved to Sioux Falls, S. Dak., and there as in
Wisconsin followed merchandising for many
years. In 1904, however, he disposed of his inter-
ests there and has since lived retired in Long
Beach, with his wife enjoying the rest and quiet
which their means will permit, to which is added
the still greater comfort which invariably comes
to those who have lived worthily.

Arthur L. Parmley was quite a young child
at the time of the family removal to Sioux Falls,
so that he has little or no knowledge of his birth-
place from personal recollection. He passed a
creditable school life in the institutions of learn-
ing in Sioux Falls, after which he took a course
in the State University at Vermilion. It was
with this training as his stock in trade that he
entered the business world in 1890, becoming a
messenger in the Union National Bank of Sioux
Falls. From this humble position he rose steadily
until he was numbered among the stockholders
of the institution and was made assistant cashier.
In 1894 he became interested in the life insurance
business, in ]\Iay of that year accepting the posi-
tion of superintendent with the Northwestern of
Milwaukee, having entire charge of the agencies
in North and South Dakota for four years. In
the mean time he had become interested in min-
ing in the west, locating in Shasta county, Cal.,
in 1902, in that year opening what was known as
the Mountain Lion Mine, located not far from
old .Shasta. There he established a five-stamp
mill which is still in operation under Mr. Parm-
ley's ownership, although he does not now give

1800

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

it his personal supervision, having removed to
Long Beach in October of 1905 to engage in
tlie real-estate business with ]\Ir. Young. One
year later, in October, 1906, the company was
incorporated as the Young-Parmley Investment
Company.

While in Sioux Falls Mr. Parmley was made a
JMason and it was there also that he joined the
Knights of Pythias. Since locating in Long
Beach he has become identified with the Benevo-
lent Protective Order of Elks, is a member of
the Chamber of Commerce, and is also a member
of the Cosmopolitan Club, a social organization.
Politically he is a believer in Republican prin-
ciples, and in his religious belief he is a Congre-
gationalist.

CHARLES A. WEIDENFELLER. Per-
suaded to come to California through the vivid
descriptions given of its mild, health-invigorat-
ing cHmate, its rarely beautiful scenery, and its
many special attractions as a place of residence,
Charles A. Weidenfeller located in Los Angeles
county in 1904, and is now living in his pleasant
home, Oakhurst, in Glendale. His enthusiasm in
regard to the ir.erits of Southern California as
an abiding place has been in no wise dimmed, its
peculiar charms being enhanced upon a more in-
timate acquaintance with its natural resources,
while the improvements that are constantly being
carried on render it an ideal garden spot, a verit-
able haven of rest, comfort and happiness.

Although born on the high seas, wlyle his par-
ents were en route to America, Mr. Weidenfeller
is a native of America, his father, John Weiden-
feller, of Newark, N. J., being >an American citi-
zen. Brought up in Newark, N. J., he completed
the course of study in the public schools of that
city, and afterwards there served an apprentice-
ship at tlie jeweler's trade. Turning then his at-
tention to mechanical pursuits, he entered one
of the largest sash and fjlind factories of Newark
as a workman, ?nd during the twelve years that
he was employed he became an expert and skilled
mechanic. Giving up his position in the factory
he was two years associated with the Provident
Savings Life Assurance Company of New York
Citv. After retiring from this company he became
similarly connected with the John Hancock Life
Insurance Company of Boston, remaining there
for two years. Being then offered a position with
the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New
York Citv, he accepted it, and for twenty years
was its general agent, with headquarters in either
New York or Chicago, being first located in the
former city, then from 1883, until 1893, in Chi-
cago, and from 1893 until 1897 in New York. In
the latter year, having, by superior business tact

and ability and wise financial management, ac-
quired a competency, he sold out his renewals to
the company and retired from active business.

Since retiring Mr. Weidenfeller has devoted
much of his time to looking after his Chicago in-
terests, and for a few years superintended the
management of his country seat in Allegan
county, Mich., where he had one hundred and
sixty acres of land. He kept fine trotting horses,
and, as a fad. became interested in raising Here-
ford cattle. This beautiful farm he disposed of, and
it was subsequently, while spending the summer
at Macatawa Park, ^lich., that he met two gen-
tlemen from California who praised the state, its
beauties and advantages to such purpose that Mr.
Weidenfeller was filled with a desire to come
here, and havjng taken up his residence here he
never regretted it. The first few months of his
life in this county he spent traveling about, mak-
ing his headquarters in Ocean Park. In passing
through Glendale he saw the estate on which he
now lives, and, being conquered by its charms,
liought it, added many improvements, and gave to
it the unique name of Oakhurst.

Mr. Weidenfeller married, in Chicago, 111.,
Celia M. Hammon, who was reared and educated
in Michigan, where her father, James D. Ham-
mon, still resides.

N. C. NIELSEN. As proprietor of the men's
furnishings business at No. 208 Pine street.
Long Beach, N. C. Nielsen is known as one of
the most prosperous and successful merchants
in this thriving city, which is noted for the energy
and enterprise of its business men. Mr. Nielsen
is a native of Wensyssel, Denmark, born July 18,
1 85 1, the son of a Danish farmer. After acquiring
a good common-school education, at the age of
fourteen he was apprenticed to a merchant tailor
for three vears, and immediately upon the ex-'
piration of his term of service started in busi-
ness for himself, carrying it on until 1883, when
he came to America. The first year in this
country he spent in Mt. iMorris, 111., and in 1884
he located in Abilene, Ivans., where for three
vears he was occupied at his trade, then con-
tinued the same occupation for a number of
years in Herington, that state. His residence
in Long P.each dates from 1904, when he estab-
lished the business which he now conducts.

May 8. 1879, occurred the marriage of Mr.
Nielsen to INIiss Kirsten Kathrine Hansen, and
of this union three children were bom : Niels H.,
who is a partner in his father's business ; Hannah,
a talented music teacher, and an infant who died
aged six days. Mr. Nielson has always taken
an especially active interest in church work and
is one of the most earnest and enthusiastic leaders

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHIC.VL RECORD.

1801

in the Progressive Brethern Church (Dunkard),
being at the present time chairman of the board
of trustees of the Los Angeles Church of that
denomination at No. 412 East Miles street, the
building of which was largely due to his self-
sacrificing zeal ; he is a member and treasurer
of the .state mission board, and a member and
representative of the California district of the
national mission board of his church. He is
also superintendent of the Sunday-school and
is a valued contributor to the denominational
papers, discussing especially the tithe question,
and through this was organized the Tenth Legion
of the church, of which he is secretary. As a
man ' of unimpeachable character in private or
public, social, business or civic life, he is held in
the highest esteem bv all who know him.

SYLVAIN BERGES was born in Basses-
Pyrenees, France. jNIarch i, 1855, and is the son
of Jean and Mariana ( Bambalero ) Berges, botli
of whom died in France. The father, who was a
builder by trade, was the only son and his sister,
Mrs. Bambalero, died in Los Angeles.

Mr. Berges was educated in the common
schools and in 1874, at the age of nineteen years,
he came to the United States. Until 1879 he was
employed in the dairy business, and then, having
come to California, he engaged in the same line
of work in San Francisco. In 1881 he came to
Los Angeles and was in the employ of John
Lankershim on his canyon ranch in San Diego
county for two years, and later on his Palton
ranch in San Fernando valley. He tlien rented
for six years an eighty-acre ranch on Jefferson
street, where he engaged in farming. In i88g
he married Anna Riviere, who was born in Los
Angeles, the daughter of Bertrand and Sacra-
mento Ruiz, pioneers of Los Angeles. She died
in 189s, leaving five children: Marie Louise,
who died in 1895 ; Clara, Mrs. Eselon : Pierre,
Ellen and Cecelia, all at home.

All these years Mr. Berges has engaged in
farming and gardening and owns thirty acres of
larid on wfest Jeiiferson and Arlington which has
now become very valuable. His political prin-
ciples coincide with those of the Republican
party. He is a man of worth and integrity and
is much esteemed by all for his many noble and
liberal acts.

ADOLPH LEUZTNGER. Since establish-
ing his home in Southern California Mr. Leu-
zinger has operated large tracts of rented land
and since 1891 lie has also been a land-owner,
his first purchase consisting of eighty acres situ-
ated four and onc-balf miles southwest of Ingle-
wood near the postoflice of Wiseburn. To bis
S4

original purchase he has added from time to
time until now his landed possessions aggregate
three hundred and sixty acres, valued at $200
per acre, and in addition to operating this large
tract he continues to cultivate rented lands.
Where Inglewood now stands there was once a
field of grain and he plowed the ground there
and placed it under cultivation, little dreaming
that soon a beautiful village would spring up on
that site.

The Leuzinger family is of Swiss origin, and
.Adolph was born in that republic April 13, 1859,
being a son of John J. and Verena (Durst)
Leuzinger, natives of the same country. His
father, who was the owner of a small farm in
his native land, sold out in 1866 and crossed the
ocean to the United States. While Kansas was
still sparsely settled and only partly improved
he established his home in Dickinson county,
wliere he took up a homestead claim. Settlers
\\ere few and buffaloes still abounded on the
nlains, a? well as other animals now seldom seen.
'When the railroad was built through his county
he lost his land and was obliged to buy it a
second' time from the railway company, a mis-
fortune which took from him the earnings of
vears. Until the fall of 1883 he remained in
Kansas, but at that time he brought his wife to
California and settled at Hyde Park. The ranch
which be purchased from General Rosecrans
consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, all of
which remains intact with the exception of five
acres, forming a valuable pronertv. Mr. Leu-
zinger died Januarv 14. 1906, having attained a
sjood old aee. Of the . eiffht children born to
himself and wife all but two are living; two
daughters. Elizabeth and Fannie, are in Los An-
reles : Andrew resides at Hvde Park ; Mary in
Port Costa : and Jolm A. in Pennsvlvania.

^^''ben the fannly came to the United States
Adolph Leuzinger was a child of seven years,
hence he retains onlv disconnected recollections
of the land of his birth. As a bov he attended
the country schools in Kansas and assisted in
placing his father's farm under cultivation. In
the spring of 1882 he came to California on a
tour of inspection with a view to purchasing
land for his father, nnd the result of his investi-
fjations was the purchase of the ranch still owned
bv the family. Shortly after his arrival he rent-
ed land owned bv Daniel Freeman and after-
ward increased his rentings until he operated
one thousand acres of grain and hav land. For
four -vears he rented from Mr. Freeman and
later rented from the p-entleman who bought the
property from the first owner, at this writing
'-enting an entire section in one body. In 1893
lie married Emmn L. Bollinger, who was horn
and reared in Wisconsin, and bv whom be has
three children, John A.. Louis Edward and Ar-

1802

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

thur Theodore. In political belief i\Ir. Leu-
zinger stanchly upholds the principles of the
Democratic party, but he takes no part in local
affairs aside from voting the regular ticket and
giving- his influence toward such of his friends
as may be candidates for office. Political offices
he has always declined, his only position having
been in the interests of education, when he
served as school trustee lor a number of years.
Fraternaiiy he holds membership with Redondo
Lodge No. 328, F. & A. M., at Redondo, also
the Royal Arcanum, in both of v/hich, as also in
general social circles, he has a large number of
"friends drawn to him by his integrity, energy
and high principles of character.

WILLIAM M. SXUFFIN. The middle era
of the nineteenth centun,- that brought thousands
of gold seekers across the plains in search of
fortunes in the mines of the west and that for
the first time awakened within the spirit of the
east a desire to colonize the regions along the
coast, was the period that saw the Snuffin family
established in California. During 1852 Lyne
Starling Snuffin, a native of Iowa, crossed the
plains with a throng of emigrants in "prairie
schooners" drawn by oxen, and immediately after
his arrival he engaged in mining, however, with-
out any special success. Soon he turned his at-
tention to raising stock and grain, and for years
he cultivated a farm in Mendocino county, but
in 1876 he removed to Santa Paula, Ventura
county, where he engaged in the hotel business at
first, and then resumed agricultural pursuits.
With his wife, who was Emily Dukes, a native
of Illinois, he still makes his home in Santa Paula.
His father, Martin Snuffin, who was a native of
Philadelphia and a pioneer farmer of Iowa, came
to California in the latter '70s, and remained in
Los Angeles county until his death.

Among the five children of L. S. Snuffin the
gentleman whose name introduces this article was
third in order of birth, and he was born near
Hopland. Mendocino county, this state, Febru-
ary 19, 1863. When the family removed to Santa
Paula he was a lad of twelve years and after-
ward he attended the schools of that town for
a few years. His time was given to his father
until he became of age, after which he started
out to earn his own livelihood, his first work
being that of teaming from Santa Paula to
neighboring points. Later he engaged in farm-
ing near Somis, where he leased about two hun-
dred and twenty-five acres under cultivation to
beans and beets. In August of 1904 he started
a feed and wood yard on the Savier road, and in
August of the following year he erected on the
same road a building 44x100 feet in dimensions,
where he now conducts a liverv, feed and sales

business, the same being known as the Valley
Stable. The barn is equipped with first-class
vehicles and the necessary horses, and has proved
an important addition to the business enterprises
of the locality.

An attractive residence in Oxnard, on the cor-
ner of E and Second streets, was erected by Mr.
Snuffin a few years ago, and forms a pleasant
home for his wife and three children, Edwin,
Amelia and Merle. JNIrs. Snuffin formerly was
!Miss Benetta Halbert, and was born in Alabama,
but came to California in girlhood and at the
time of her marriage was residing in Santa
Paula. She is connected with the Methodist
Episcopal Qiurch and has contributed generous-
ly of time and means to the forwarding of its
work. \M:ile living in Santa Paula Mr. Snuffin
was an active member of the Native Sons of the
Golden West, and at this writing he affiliates with
the ^Modern Woodmen of America and the Fra-
ternal Brotherhood. In national politics he votes
with the Democratic party, but in local affairs he
gives his support to the men whom he considers
best qualified to represent the people, irrespective
of their party allegiance. While as a rule declin-
ing official candidacies, his interest in educational
matters led him to accept the position of school
trustee and he served in that capacity in the Cen-
tral school district.

WTLLIAAI CH.\RLES SPROUL was born
in tlie town of China, Kennebec county, ]\Ie.,
April 20, 1858, being the third oldest of a family
of eight children born to William H. and Marshie
?ilarcella (Putnam) Sproul. The father was
a native of Giina, Me., and was engaged in
farming there until 1876. when he brought his
family to California and now resides on his farm
at Harper Station. Orange county. The mother
was born in Cavendish, Vt., and is a great-grand-
daughter of General Israel Putnam of Revolu-
tionary fame, whose courage and bravery is
known to every school child in America, hav-
ing read the story of his escapade with the wolf.

William Qiarles Sproul was reared on the
New England farm and attended the public
schools. In 1876 he came to Norwalk and for
a few years assisted his father in clearing a
farm in the days when the country that is now
so wealthy and prosperous was one of ups-and-
downs and might well be termed hard-scrabble.
\\'hen he reached his majority he followed min-
ing in Arizona and Oregon and in tlie latter state
was married to Miss Louisa Frey. a native of
Tvlinnesota, and a daughter of Charles and Fred-
ricka Frev. After spending six vears in Grant
county. Oregon, he returned to Southern Cali-
fornia in 1886 and the next year he purchased
his present place of twenty acres, then wild and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1803

unimproved. He went to work with an energy
and will to make a success and now has a vine-
yard of ten acres and three acres of alfalfa and
the balance devoted to deciduous and citrus trees,
The place is located two miles southwest of
Norwalk and is well improved with commodious
and comfortable buildings and a flowing artesian
well. They are the parents of seven children,
namely: Charles, Edward, Herman, Eugene,
Laura, Evelyn and Ada. Mr. Sproul was made a
Mason in Canon City Lodge No. 22, Oregon, and
is now a member of Norwalk Lodge No. 315,
F. & A. M., was a charter member of the Fra-
ternal Brotherhood, Norwalk, and served as its
first president and himself and his wife are mem-
bers of the order of Eastern Star. Mr. Sproul
has taken an active part in educational matters
and the upbuilding of the schools to a high
standard, hence it is little wonder that the citi-
zens of Norwalk district have elected him as
school trustee and he faithfully discharges his
duties. Mr. Sproul is liberal and public-spirited
and there is not an enterprise tending to promote
the importance of his neighborhood that does
not receive his hearty support.

JONATHAN H. SHARPS. An enterpris-
ing citizen of Newport Beach is named in the
person of Jonathan H. Sharps, whose liberality
and progressive spirit have resulted in material
development for the place. He was born in Iowa,
near Ottumwa, January 8, 1843. The family,
originally known as Sharpe, came from Eng-
land and settled in Parkersburg, W. Va., where
members served in tlie Revolutionary war and
again in the war of 1812. His father, Jackson
J. Sharps, was born in Virginia February 15,
1816, and became a settler of Iowa in 1838. He
was a blacksmith by trade, and he followed this
in conjuction with farming for some time, finally
establishing a blacksmith shop in Ottumwa, and
later removing to Worth county, AIo., where he
engaged at the prosecution of his trade for the
period of twenty-two years. His last years were
spent with his son in California, his death oc-
curring in Newport Beach December 25, 1904.
He was a Mason fraternally and in religion be-
longed to the J\Iethodist Episcopal Qiurch. In
politics he was a stanch Democrat. His wife
was formerly Catherine Parsons, a native of
Virginia and the descendant of English ancestry.
She died in Jefferson county, Iowa. December 23,
1859. They were the parents of six children,
three sons and three daughters, of whom two
sons and two daughters are now living: Celia
Ann, wife of J. J. Green, of Newport Beach ;
Jonathan H., of this review; C. D.. located in
Eldon, Iowa; Nellie Miller, who died in Mis-
souri; Virginia, Mrs. Folan, of Worth county.

Mo. ; and John Emory, who died in Newport
Beach in 1898.

Jonathan H. Sharps was reared in Iowa and
educated in the public school in the vicinity of
his home. Upon attaining his majority he se-
cured employment to drive a team across the
plains to Montana, for Teddy Wood and Temple-
ton of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, the time consumed
in this journey being from May 14 to July 14;
there were but nine wagons and fourteen people
in the train, but they succeeded in making their
way to their destination without serious trouble.
He returned to his home by boat on the Mis-
souri river. In January of the following year
( 1865) he outfitted in Omaha and May 17 again
set out across the plains, this time driving a
freight team for the Crayton Brothers, bound
for Montana. There were thirty teams and seven
yoke of oxen to each train and a large number
of people in the train, notwithstanding which
they had considerable trouble with the Indians,
losing one man while outside of camp. They ar-
rived in Salt Lake City. October 9, and from that
]5oint journeyed on to Virginia City, Mont., reach-
ing there December 12, and there spending the
winter. In February they continued their trip to
Helena and from that point Mr. Sharps went to
Confederate Gulch and engaged in mining. He
followed a similar occupation on Engine Creek
and then went to Gallatin valley, near Bozeman
and engaged in farming and dairying for the
period of four years. In 1869 he disposed of this
interest and came to California by horse-teams,
spending three months in Sacramento and thence
coming on to Southern California, where he
located at San Juan Capistrano. Orange county,
purchasing ten acres and there acting as super-
intendent for the stage stock for Seeley & Wright.
In 1872 he located at Santa Ana, Orange coun-
ty, and the ensuing- year was spent in the em-
ploy of the Southern Pacific Railroad in form-
ing the grade between Florence and Downey in
Los Angeles county. In January, 1874, he re-
moved to San Bernardino county and engaged in
the dairy business for the period of four years,
when he returned to Santa Ana and followed
general fanning occupations. Later he was again
employed by the Southern Pacific to grade be-
tween Santa Ana and Oceanside. and was active
in grading for the town site of San Juan by
the Sea, building the Pioneer Hotel, which he
conducted successfully until 1890. In the last
named year he located in Newport Beach in
the employ of McFadden & Co.. until they sold
out, when he moved his hotel from San Juan by
the Sea to this place, and here he conducted this
enterprise until recently. He is the prime mover
and he and his wife the sole owners of the New-
port Beach Water Company, which was estab-
lished and incorporated July 14, 1905, Robert

1804

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

McFadden being president of the concern, Mr.
Sharps vice-president and M. J. Sharps secretar}-.
The water was developed by wells in Santa Ana
valley four miles northwest of Newport Beach,
the pumping plant being equipped with a thirty-
five horse power engine with a Byron Jackson
Centrifugal pump, with a capacity of seventy-
five inches. There is now an ample supply of
water furnished to East Newport, Balboa and
Bay Island Club, both for domestic purposes as
well as irrigation. Mr. Sharps' son, Frank C,
is the engineer in charge of this plant. Mr.
Sharps was also one of the organizers and is
still a stockholder in the State Bank of Newport,
as well as being interested with other upbuild-
ing movements of the place.

In Gospel Swamp, Orange comity, Cal., JNIr.
Sharps was united in marriage, July 4, 1876, with
Miss May J. Salter, a native of Minnesota, and
born of this union are two children : Frank C, en-
gineer for the Newport Beach Water Company,
and Ethel E., a merchant in Newport Beach.
Fraternally Mr. Sharps is identified with the
Odd Fellows of Santa Ana. In religion he is
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Politically he is a stanch adherent of the prin-
ciples advocated in the platform of the Republi-
can party and is deeply interested in the temper-
ance cause.

LORING BOYD HASKELL. The earliest
ancestor of the Haskell family of whom we have
authentic knowledge is William Haskell, who
was born in England in 1617. With his two
older brothers, Roger and Mark, he crossed the
ocean to America in 1632, settling in Beverly,
Mass., but later, in 1643, removed to Gloucester,
that state, where his death occurred in August,
1693. In direct line the ancestry is traced from
William Haskell through William, Jacob, Zebulon,
Zebulon and Benjamin, the latter the father of
Loring Boyd Haskell. The English coat-of-
arms bore the motto, Veritas vincit, Truth con-
quers, a saying which was not only handed down
from one generation to another, but bore fruit
in noble living ancj large accomplishments. Ben-
jamin Haskell was born in the New England
town which had been the home of his forefathers
for so many generations. Gloucester, Mass.,
where he engaged first as a blacksmith, and later
as a merchant. To himself and wife, formerly
]\Iary Noble, a descendant of an old Virginia
family, thirteen children were born, but of this
large family only four are living. Three of the
sons fought with valor in the Civil war and thus
added lustre to the name. Otis L. served as an
ensign in the United States navy from his native
state, ^Massachusetts, and is now a resident of
Denver, Colo; ^^'illiam B., who enlisted in the

Twelfth ^lassachusetts Regiment, was wounded
in the battle of Antietam, July 17, 1862, but
recovered sufficiently to again take his place in
the ranks and was one of the brave defenders of
the union at the battle of Gettysburg; his life
was sacrificed in his country's cause, for he
did not long survive the wounds and exposure
of warfare, his death occurring in Washington,
D. C. in 1864, Howard Haskell volunteered his
service in the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment
and is now a resident of Gloucester, Mass.

The youngest of the parental family now liv-
ing is Loring Boyd Haskell, who was born in
Gloucester, Mass., March 25, 1850. Before he
had reached his twentieth year he had completed
his school training, having attended the public
and high schools of his native town, and had
entered the business world. Under the name of
B. Haskell & Sons he was interested with his
three brothers in the merchandise business which
his father had established many years before.
In connection with the business they had la
large shipping trade, and ran a fleet of fishing
schooners from Gloucester by way of Florida to
Greenland.

After an association of about thirty-five years
in business life in the east Mr. Haskell came tc
California in October of 1904, and was so well
pleased with the outlook in Long Beach that
he determined to remain and identify himself
with the business life of the town. Associated
with others he established in 1905 the Boston
Realty Company, with offices at No. 243 Pine
avenue, where a large business in the buying and
selling of real estate has since been transacted.

In Gloucester, Mass., Mr. Haskell was united
in marriage with Miss Lizzie M. Center, who
like himself, was a native of that state. The
Center family was established in New England
early in the seventeenth century, the first re-
presentative in this country leaving England and
settling in Vermont. Mrs. Haskell's father.
Capt. Addison Center, received his title in the
Civil war as a member of the Eighth Massachu-
setts Regiment, Company G, and of Company
E of the Twenty-third Regiment. His entire
life was spent in Massachusetts, where he be-
came known as a portrait artist of considerable
note. His wife, formerly Mary Phelps, was also
a native of Massachusetts, born in Salem, and
a granddaughter of Judge Phelps. Six chil-
dren blessed the marriage of i\Ir. and i\Irs. Has-
kell, the eldest of whom, Otis L., died when four
years old ; the others are. Mary C. Hannah
Dorothea, Grace Otis, and Esther and Elizabeth,
the two last named twins. In their religious
leanings the family are LTniversalists. Frater-
nally Mr. Haskell belongs to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and is also a member of
the Royal Arcanum, while in his political belief

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1805

he is Independent, voting for the best man in
question regardless of party name. While a resi-
dent of the east he was an influential member of
the Board of Trade, president of an electric light
company and a director of banks, and though a
comparatively new comer to Long Beach has
identified himself with the Chamber of Commerce
and is one of its most interested members.

TILGHAL^N DAVIS ANDREW. An ear-
ly settler of .Southern California, Mr. Andrew
has witnessed the development of this section
of the state and has given his best efforts to-
ward its material upbuilding. He is the west-
ern representative of a proud old Maryland
family, father, grandfather and great-grand-
father as well as himself, all natives of Caro-
line county and each one occupying a place of
prominence in the aff'airs of his day. Revolu-
tionary stock bred patriotism and Alelvin An-
drew served in the war of 1812; his son Rich-
ard became a farmer in Maryland, where he
spent his entire life. The latter married Re-
becca Kamper, born in Doroliester, Md., a
daughter of Samuel Kamper, a native of the
same locality, a farmer in manhood, and a loy-
al soldier in the war of 1812. Mrs. Andrew
survives and still makes her home in J^Iaryland
at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. She
had nine children, of whom eight still survive;
inheriting the stanch patriotism of a loyal an-
cestry two served in the Civil war, Isaac in the
First Regiment Maryland Infantry, being
wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, and
James, a lieutenant in the First Delaware Cav-
alry, also being wounded at the famous battle
mentioned above.

Tilghman Davis Andrew was born in Caro-
line county, Md., May 11, 1846, and was reared
on the paternal farm until the year 1867. On
the 25th of May of that year he enlisted in
Company H. Thirty-second Regiment, LTnited
States Infantry, which was immediately sent
via Panama to San Pedro, Cal., whence they
marched one thousand miles to Tucson, Ariz.,
to engage in the Apache war, their combined
force being four regiments, two of infantry^ and
two of cavalry. They remained in that loca-
tion for three years. Air. Andrew being pro-
moted to sergeant. When the government re-
duced the army m 1869 he was supernumerary
and was tran.sferred to Company H, Twenty-
first Regiment, U. S. A., and in the same year
was honorablv discharged, after a service of
two years and four months. Returning to Cal-
ifornia Mr. Andrew located in San Bernardino
and entered the employ of John M. James, en-
gaged in the sawmilling business. In that sec-
tion he was married April 30. 1872, to Miss

Sarah James, of Sunny Slope, Los Angeles
county. Her father, John M. James, was born
in Tennessee, married in Arkansas and came
across the plains with ox-teams in 1852 and lo-
cated in the vicinity of San Gabriel. He was a
millwright and carpenter by trade, both of
which he followed with considerable profit
throughout Southern California. He engaged
in whipsawing lumber in Saw Pit canon,
which he sold for $100 per thousand. Going to
San Bernardino he rented a saw mill from
John Rowland and later purchased it outright
and continued to conduct these interests in the
mountains north of the city for many years.
His death occurred in 1903, when nearly
eighty-eight years of age. He was a man
prominent in the early history of the state,
having served efficiently as a member of the
legislature for one term. He married iMargaret
Johnson, a native of Missouri, and daughter
of .\lfred Johnson, who also crossed the plains
in 1852 and eventually died in El Monte. Mrs.
Tames died in 1883 in San Bernardino. They
^vere the parents of nine children, of whom five
are now living, 'Mrs. Andrew, wdio was reared
in San Bernardino, being the fifth in order of
birth. She passed away February 22, 1907.

.\fter a time Mr. Andrew left his work in
the sawmill to engage in stock-raising on the
Mojave desert, and after three years returned
to San Bernardino to engage in farming pur-
suits. In 1882 he came to El ^Monte and fol-
lowed farming on three hundred acres of the
Baldwin ranch, remaining so employed until
1890, when he came to his present property,
purchasing the same, which consists of ten
acres set out in walnuts located on Mountain
Yiew and Andrew avenue, while at the same
lime he carries on general farming and grain-
raising on other lands. He is a charter mem-
ber of the Mountain View Walnut Growers'
Association and active in the development of
this section.

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew became the parents
of the following children : Lillie. wife of David
Wright, of Fullerton ; Charles, a farmer of EI
Monte : Lawrence, Clarence and Stanley. Mr.
Andrew supports the Christian Church, of
which his wife was a devoted member, and po-
litically he is a stanch adherent of the princi-
ples embraced in the platform of the Repub-
lican party.

ROY C. SILVERNALE. Among the rising
young business men of Santa Monica Roy C.
Silvemale has attained a noteworthy position, and,
as proprietor of one of the best and most mod-
ernly-equipped drug stores of the place, is carry-
ing on a most successful trade, his patronage be-

1806

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing extensive and lucrative. A son of Daniel and
Catherine (Niver) Silvernale, he was born July
19, 1880, in Waukesha, Wis., where his parents
were early settlers. His grandfather, Henry Sil-
vernale, was a pioneer settler of New York state,
and one of the most successful farmers of his
neighborhood.

After his graduation from the Waukesha high
school Roy C. Silvernale began the study of
pharmacy, which he completed in Milwaukee,
Wis., where he subsequently passed the state ex-
amination in a satisfactory manner. Thus equipped
for his chosen work lie worked awhile for the
well-known firm of John A. Dadd & Son, obtain-
ing a practical experience in the drug business,
and then went to New London, Wis., where he
was employed in a drug store for a year. Coming
from there to California in search of a favorable
opening, he located immediately in Santa jNIonica,
purchasing his present drug store, at the corner
of Third street and LTah avenue, .where he is
rapidly building up a substantial business. A
young man of sterling integrity and ability, hon-
est and square in all his dealings, he has gained
the confidence and good will of the community
and is already known as one of the most popular
and esteemed residents of the place.

Politically Mr. Silvernale is a stanch Repub-
lican, and fraternally he is a member of the In-
dependent Order of Foresters and of the Benevo-
lent and Protective Order of Elks.

GUS P. DREHER. Three generations of the
Dreher family have been identified with business
aii'airs in the L'nited States and two generations
have been residents of California. It was Carl
J. Dreher who founded the family in America,
he having crossed the ocean from Germany in
1850 and settled in St. Clair county. III, where
he built up a large mercantile business in a rural
community. Following him came his son, P. J.,
also a native of Germany and a merchant of St.
Clair county, where he carried on a general
store at Lenzburg. From the latter town in
1885 he came to California and settled in Pomona,
where he bought and sold real estate and im-
proved an orange and lemon grove. Still active
in business affairs, he acts as secretary and man-
ager of the San Antone Fruit Exchange of
Pomona and as president of the P. J. Dreher
Company, Incorporated, having under his direct
supervision sixty acres of orchard. The fact
that he had no experience in horticulture prior to
coming to California did not work to his detri-
ment, for he has proved naturally adapted for
sucli work and has gained a reputation for saga-
cious judgment in the growing and selling of
fruit.

Of the marriage of P. J. Dreher and Miss

Margaret Greibel, a native of St. Clair county,
111., and now a resident of Pomona, Cal., there
were born eight children, all but two of whom
are still living. The fourth in order of birth was
Gus P., who was born at Lenzburg, St. Clair
county, 111., March 12, 1876, and received his
primary education in the Lenzburg schools. Ac-
companying the family to California in 1885, he
afterward was a student in the grammar and
high schools of Pomona, and was graduated from
the latter in 1890, at the age of fourteen years.
In seeking a means of livelihood he found em-
ployment on ranches and the range, but while
still a mere youth he embarked in the livery
business on Avenue Twenty-two, Los Angeles,
where he remained a year, and, then spent a sim-
ilar period in a livery business at Covina. Dur-
ing June of 1904 he came to Oxnard and pur-
chased the liverv barn of Gordon Brothers, since
which time he has conducted a livery, boarding
and sales stable on A street near Fifth. Special
attention is given to the boarding of horses and
to the giving of prompt and efficient service along
the lines of the business. In addition to the
management of the barn, he is interested in the
P. J. Dreher Company at Pomona. Since com-
ing to Oxnard he has identified himself with the
Citizens Club and has become associated with
Masonry in the Oxnard Lodge No. 341, F. &
A. M., in which he is an active worker and to
whose philanthropic principles he gives stanch ,
support. As yet he has not been active in party
affairs, and the casting of a Republican ballot
represents the limit of his participation in politics ;
however, he keeps posted concerning problems
of national importance and is intelligently in-
terested in measures tending to the permanent
prosperity of the city, state and countr}'.

JOHN A. PEARSON. After traveling ex-
tensively in the central and western states of the
Union. John A. Pearson came to the wise con-
clusion that there were few sections of the coun-
try more desirable for an abiding place tlian
Southern California, and has, accordingly, taken
up his residence in San Pedro. He has been en-
gaged in various occupations, and from a finan-
cial point of view has attained success, while his
sterling integrity and honorable, upright man-
hood justly entitle him to the assured position
which he holds in the estimation of the people
of the community. A native of Sweden, he was
born in the city of Lund, in tlie southern part of
the countr}-. His father, a farmer, spent his
entire life in his native land, and of his family of
four sons and one daughter, John A., the special
subject of this sketch, is the only one that has
crossed the Atlantic.

The second child of the parental household.

HISTORICAL AXlJ BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1807

John A. Pearson was born December 14, 1858,
and was brought up on the home farm. At the
age of fifteen years he began working in a minor
capacity in hotels, and two years later went to
Copenhagen, where he was employed in a hotel
for five years. Immigrating to the United States
in 1879, he spent eighteen months in Chicago,
111., and was afterwards in Eagle Grove, Iowa,
for six months. Coming to the Pacific coast in
1881, he resided for two years in San Francisco,
and then settled m Yakima county. Wash., where
he ran a hotel and was also engaged in farming
and stock-raising until 1892. During the ensu-
ing four years he was a resident of Walla Walla,
Wash., and then, in 1896, went to Butte City,
Mont., remaining there until 1901, when he was
■employed in a hotel in Anaconda, Mont. Com-
ing to California in December, 1902, he located
first in Los Angeles, from there coming in 1903
to San Pedro, where he has since resided. At
the corner of Eighth and Palos Verdes streets
he erected the Brunswick, a large three-story
apartment house, 45x45 feet, and in its manage-
ment has been very successful. He has likewise
had other interests, and has carried on contract-
ing and building to some extent.

In Chicago, III, Mr. Pearson married Ellen
P. Pearson, who was born near Helsingborg,
Sweden, and into their household the following
children have been born : Qiarles A., a real-
estate dealer in San Pedro ; Gyde, in Bntte City,
Mont. ; Harry, in the United States navy ; Oscar,
with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company;
and Annie and Benjamin, living at home. True
to the religious faith in which he was reared,
Mr. Pearson is a Lutheran.

FRANK JOHNSON. One of the enterpris-
ing and progressive citizens of San Bernardino
is Frank Johnson, who came to this state in 1884.
He was born November 10, 1863, in Frederick-
town, Mo., the son of N. and Martha (Mathews)
Johnson, the former a native of Tennessee and
the latter of Mississippi. The father settled in
Missouri when a young man and followed the
occupation of stone and brick-work contractor
for many years. His last days were spent in the
home of his son. Frank, at San Bernardino, and
the mother is still living here, and is now eighth-
years old. Of the nine children born to them
only three are now living.

The early education of Frank Johnson was re-
ceived in the district schools of his native state
and after school days were over he there learned
the brick-mason's trade under the direction of his
father. In 1884 he came to California and locat-
ed at Colton, following his trade at that point
for one vear. then removing to San Bernardino,
which place has ever since been his home. While

in Colton he assisted in the erection of the
Cuma building and other business houses, was
at one time employed on the Santa Fe round
house and the first shops built here, and in 1889
he began contracting for buildings independently.
He has erected a number of the brick buildings
in San Bernardino, including the Traction com-
pany's buildings, and has satisfactorily iilled
many contracts for brick and cement work in
the city.

Mr. Johnson's marriage to Miss Martha Hicks,
a native of Farmington, Mo., occurred in that
state, and they are the parents of one child,
Marvin. The family residence in an attractive
one located at No. 778 Second street. Fraternal-
ly Mr. Johnson is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, being past noble grand
of his lodge, and politically he is a stanch believer
in the principles advocated in the platform of the
Republican party. He is progressive and up-
right, well informed and agreeable, and has many
friends in the cit}- which has been his home for
so manv vcars.

JOHN MILNER. Prominent among those
early settlers to whom the city of Los Angeles
is deeply indebted for its wonderful development,
rapid progress, and present prosperity, was the
late John Milner. During his residence here
of a quarter of a century, he was identified with
the establishment of various beneficial enter-
prises, by his enthusiastic and able support con-
tributing toward their success. He was recog-
nized as a man of unquestioned integrity, straight-
forward and honest in all of his transactions,
and as one of the most competent and successful
financiers of his time. A native of Germany, he
was born, February 5, 1834, in the city of Han-
over, where he received a collegiate education.

Leaving the Fatherland at the age of nineteen
years, John Milner emigrated to the United
States, and for about five years resided in New
York City. In 1858 he made his first trip to
California, coming by way of the isthmus, and
for two years was employed in mining. In
i860 he returned east, and on the breaking out
of the Civil war entered the quartermaster's
department, in which he served until the close
of the conflict. Mr. Milner then came again to
Los Angeles county, and, under Captain Swazey,
served in the quartermaster's department in
Wilmington for a number of years. Resigning-
from the army, he entered the employ of Gen-
eral Banning, becoming business agent for the
Los Angeles and Wilmington Railroad Company,
with headquarters in Wilmington. In 1874, giv- ,
ing up that position, ]\Ir. Milner became as-
sociated with the management of the newly or-
ganized Farmers and Merchants' Bank, in Los

ISOS

HISTORICAL Ai\D BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Angeles, first as secretarj-, and then as cashier
of the institution. Showing marked financial
ability, he retained this responsible position until
his sudden death, April 27, 1895. For twenty-
one years Mr. Milner was connected officially
with the bank, and by his superior business tact
and judgment did much towards placing it among
the strong and substantial financial institutions
of Southern California. A man of rare ability,
quick and accurate in discernment, he was ever
equal to all emergencies, and exerted a good
influence in business circles. Inherent in him
were the qualities of a noble manhood, his un-
selfishness, amiability, broad views, and high-
minded principles winning him the esteem and
. love of all with whom he was brought in con-
tact. His death was a public loss.

Mr. Milner was a stanch Republican in poli-
tics, a member of the Grand Army of the Repub-
lic, a devoted Episcopalian, and belonged to the
Masonic order. Mr. Milner was happy in his
social home life. Mrs. Milner came to California
in 1861, and since 1864 h'^s been a resident of
Los Angeles.

GILBERT A. BIXLER. As a cement block
manufacturer and contractor Gilbert A. Bixler
is ranked as one of the most successful young
business men of San Bernardino, in whicla city
he has spent the greater part of his life since
early childhood. He was born November 13,
1878, in Portland, Mich., the son of Frank and
Flora E. (Gilbert) Bixler, the former a native
of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio.
Throughout his lifetime the father followed the
builder's trade, first in Portland, Mich., and later
in Kendallville, Ind. Mrs. Bixler, who is still
living, is the daughter of George W. Gilbert, an
inventor and machinist residing at the present
time in Kendallville.

In that city Gilbert A. Bixler, the oldest of the
three children now living, spent his childhood
days until 1886, when he came to San Bernardino
and here received his education in the public
and high schools. After the completion of his
studies he learned the jeweler's trade under
George Jordan and subsequently worked a short
time in Los Angeles in the employ of H. J. Whit-
ley, but found the work too confining and turned
his attention to the study of stenography under
Harry Luce. Neither of these occupations ap-
pealed to his inclinations, however, and as his
greatest talents seemed to run along mechanical
lines he took up stationary engineering under the
tuition of W. S. Fryett. After obtaining his li-
cense he was employed as a stationary engineer
in Los Angeles for a time, and came to San
Bernardino as chief engineer for the San Ber-
nardino Lumber & Box Co., retaining this posi-
tion for six years. In the meantime his grand-

father Gilbert had succeeded in interesting :\Ir.
Bi.xler in the cement-block work and in 1904 he
resigned his position as engineer to engage in
his present business. Mr. Gilbert purchased a
model concrete block machine and together with
Mr. Bixler set it up and started to manufacture
in a small way. When Mr. tjilbert returned to
the east Mr. Bixler continued the work alone and
soon began to engage in contracting on a large
scale. The plant is located on the corner of Sixth
and B streets. Fraternally he is a member of
the Woodmen of the World, and he is an ex-
member of the International Association of Sta-
tionary Engineers. His marriage in San Ber-
nardino united him with Miss Adah Flack, a
native of Ohio. They are members of the Bap-
tist Church and every uplifting enterprise re-
ceives their hearty support.

HENRY F. WEGXURI, the present build-
ing inspector of San Bernardino is one of the
most enterprising citizens of this city. He has
been the incumbent of the office ever since the
adoption of the new city charter and at the
same time conducts a business as general con-
tractor and builder. Mr. Wegnori is of French
descent, his grandfather, H. F., having been a
native of Lyons, France, from which place he im-
migrated to New Orleans, La., when a young
man and there became a captain on a steamboat
plying on the Mississippi river. The father,
John Wegnori, who was born in New Orleans
and was also for a time a captain on Mississippi
river boats, was later sent by a company of boat
builders to Geneva, Switzerland, to build and
run a pleasure boat on that famous lake. His
wife, who was Annie Walther before her mar-
riage, was a native of New Orleans, at which
place, also, her death occurred. They were the
parents of four children, Henry F. being the
youngest of the family, and but three years old
when taken by his father to Geneva, his birth
having occurred at New Orleans, November i,
1846. His father continued to operate the boat
on Lake Geneva until his death, in 1865.

It was at Geneva, Switzerland, thiat Henry F.
Wegnori was educated in the public schools,
there learning besides the other necessary
branches of study the French, German and
Italian languages, becoming very proficient both
as a reader and a writer. When the time arrived
for him to choose a trade he decided to learn
that of cabinet-maker and carpenter. In 1864.
being anxious to see his native land, he located
in New Orleans, and followed his trade for a
couple of years. In 1866 he went to Ogden,
Utah, and secured employment on the Central
Pacific Railroad, which was then being built.
He was occupied as carpenter and bridge build-

^^-yjM^c^y^^^^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RFXORD.

1809

er and was present at the ceremonies when the
golden spike was driven at Promontory Point,
Utah, which signahzed the completion of that
part of the transcontinental railway.

In 1868 Mr. Wegnori removed to San Fran-
cisco and for ten years prosecuted his trade at
that point. From there he removed to Virginia
City, i\'ev., and engaged in contracting and build-
ing during the summers and mining in the win-
ter time. After remaining tliere for five )ears
he went to Truckee, where for some time he was
foreman in a large planing mill. The year 1886
found him in San Bernardino as foreman of the
West Coast Lumber Company's planing mill,
which position he filled for three years and then
commenced business as contractor and builder.
Among odier contracts which he secured were
those tor the erection of the Harbison and Levy
residences and in all his work there is evident
the hand of the expert builder.

Mr. Wegnori's marriage to Miss Hattie Dill,
a native of Ohio, occurred in Los Angeles, and
they own and occupy a fine residence in San
Bernardino. Politically Mr. Wegnori is a strong
advocate of the principles embraced in the plat-
form of the Republican party. He is a member
of several lodges, among them being the Knights
9f Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Work-
men and the Masonic order. He was made a
Mason in Pacific Lodge at San Francisco, and
is now a member of Plioenix Lodge No. 185,
F. & A. M., at San Bernardino, being also a
member of Keystone Chapter, R. A. M.

PERCY A. JOHNSON. As one of the
largest ranch owners in Southern California and
assemblyman to the state legislature from his
district, Percy A. Johnson is known as a man of
considerable prominence in this state. He was
born May 19, 1867, in Bangor, Me., the son of
C. F. A. and Sarah (Jewett) Johnson, both of
whom were born in Maine and died in California
at advanced ages, the father being seventy-five
and the mother seventy. There were four chil-
dren in the family, two sons and two daughters,
both of the latter now residing in this state.
Percy A. Johnson received his education in the
Bangor public schools and at the Hallowell (Me.)
preparatory school and after the completion of
his studies, although only a young boy, he came
to San Diego county, Cal., arriving in January,
1884, and securing employment of ranchmen in
that vicinity. From there he came to Fallbrook
and continued in the same occupation for a time,
then feeling that he had become thoroughly fa-
miliar with ranching in all its branches he began
independent operations on a large scale, in 1896
moving to his present location, which is known
as a part of the Magee & Johnson ranch. Mr.

Johnson runs the thirty-five hundred acreage,
the greater part of which is devoted to grain
farming, while his partner has charge of the two
thousand acre ranch upon which a large dairy
is operated. They now have one hundred fine
milch cows, but expect soon to increase the herd
to three hundred head. The ranch is a highly
improved property, having a barley crushing
mill, an up-to-date pumping plant, and being
fitted with all necessary modern machinery to
carry on operations in the most scientific manner.
The amount of money invested in stock, horses,
mules and machinery is considerable.

In 1891 i\Ir. Johnson was married to Miss
Marie A. Alagee, three children blessing this
union : Ynez, aged thirteen ; Antonio, aged eleven
and Josephine, aged five. The mother is a native
Californian and a d.evout member of the Cath-
olic Church. Fraternally iMr. Johnson is a
member qf Fallbrook Lodge No. 317, F. & A.
M., which he served as grand master for five
years; of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows at Fallbrook ; and of the Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks at San Diego. As a mem-
ber of the Republican party he takes a leading
part in its councils and the confidence and esteem
in which he is held by his fellow-citizens is dem-
onstrated in his unsolicited nomination and elec-
tion to the state assembly from the Eightieth
district of California.

L. BERT MORGAN. The boyhood years of
Mr. Morgan were passed upon a farm in Kan-
sas, where he experienced all of the vicissitudes
incident to the agricultural development of that
state in the period before the era oi her perman-
ent prosperity. Born in Cherokee county, that
state, March 16, 1870, he was early trained to
habits of industry and perseverance, and was
made an assistant on the farm as soon as old
enough to handle horses and machinery. His
parents, Enos and Annie (Harvey) Morgan,
were natives of Indiana, and the former was a
soldier in the Civil war, at the close of which he
took up a homestead in Kansas. There were two
sons and two daughters in the family and when
the eldest of these, L. Bert, was a child of five
years, the mother was taken from the home by
death. The father and children remained on
the home farm until 1887, when they came to
California and settled on a ranch near San
Diego, but came to Long Beach in 1893, and the
father has since made his home on Signal Hill.

In addition to attending common school L.
Bert Morgan was a student in Spring River acad-
emy, a school in Kansas conducted by the So-
ciety of Friends. When he was seventeen years
of age he came to California with his father,
whom he accompanied a few years later to Long

1810

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Beach. During 1898 he became an employe of
the Long Beach steam laundry and after working
there for eighteen months l.e bought a one-half
interest in the business, but later disposed
of the same. In 1902 he started, with others,
the Model laundry at No. 644 West Fifth street,
Long Beach, the company consisting of L. B.
Morgan and H. D. Vail. The company is in-
corporated with a capital stock of $9,000 and
owns a fine plant with a reputation for careful
and reliable workmanship.

Since coming to Long Beach Mr. Morgan
.has established domestic ties through his mar-
riage to Lydia B. Wildman, a native of Indiana,
and they are the parents of one son, Leslie
Earl. The residence is located at No. 1145 East
Fourth street, where he erected a comfortable
residence. The family are members of the So-
ciety of Friends, in which faith Mr. Morgan was
reared and to which he adheres with sincere de-
votion. Interested in all movements for the
public good, he has rendered efficient service
in the Young j\Ien's Christian Association and
has given his stanch support to the cause of
Prohibition.

HIRAjNI CALVIN MATTESON. For the
past three years Hiram Calvin Matteson has
been conducting one of the most successful
dairies and creameries in San Bernardino, where
his butter has gained a wide reputation for its
superior quality. Mr. Matteson was born Jan-
uary I, 1863, near Fond du Lac, Wis., the only
child of C. K. and Caroline (Robinson) Mat-
teson, both natives of New York. Calvin Matte-
son, the grandfather, was a pioneer farmer in
Wisconsin, a«d the father, though reared on a
farm, chose the medical profession as his life
work. The breaking out of the Civil war found
him in the midst of his medical studies, but he
relinquished them for the time being and entered
his country's service, enlisting three times in as
many different Wisconsin regiments. His brav-
ery and soldierly qualities were noted by his
superiors in rank, and in recognition of these he
was chosen as one of Earle's picked men, and at
the time that brave officer was killed he was one
of those who helped to carry him from the field
of battle. At the close of the war |vlr. Matteson
entered Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati,
Ohio, receiving his medical degree in 1868. He
then engaged in professional practice in Fond
du Lac, Wis., later in Tennessee, and in 1885
came to San Bernardino and engaged in hor-
ticultural pursuits on a ranch of forty acres, sit-
uated one mile south of Harlem Springs, that
place being now his home. He is a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic and as an en-
terprising and progressive citizen is held in the
highest esteem in that community.

The boyhood days of Hiram C. Matteson
were spent in Iowa and Tennessee, his education
being received in the public schools. His moth-
er died when he was six years old. Coming
with his father to California in 1885 he remained
at home for a time, helping to improve the place,
then engaged in independent farming operations,
raising grain and hay. For two years he sub-
sequently worked for the Pacific Clay Company
at Corona. Returning to San Bernardino he
again engaged in grain and hay raising, and
later entered the employ of W. F. Somers, for
over twelve years having charge of his ranch,
which was devoted largely to stock and had a
dairy and creamery in connection, thus enabling
Mr. Matteson to become thoroughly familiar
with all the details of the business. It was in
1903 that he purchased the Lightfoot milk route
in San Bernardino, with a consumption of about
three hundred gallons daily. He is located on
South C street near Mill street, owns a dairy
herd of twelve cows, and also buys milk from
other dairymen, with whom he makes yearly con-
tracts. In the creamery which he has built up
he manufactures ^Matteson's creamery process
butter, which is of as fine quality as can be
bought anywhere at any price. The plant is a
modern one, fitted with refrigerators, two-horse
power engine and other machinery necessary to
the production of a first-class product.

By his marriage in San Bernardino Mr. Mat-
teson was united with Miss Elizabeth Walton, a
native of Pleasanton, Alameda county, and of
this union three children have been born : Car-
rie, Francis and Qiarles Kenneth. Fraternally
Mr. Matteson is a member of the Modern Wood-
men of America and politically he is a stanch
believer in the principles embraced in the plat-
form of the Republican party.

DWIGHT M. CRUM. During the last twenty
years many changes have marked the history
of Southern California and there are few prop-
erties which in that period have been held by
the same owners, one instance of this kind being
furnished by Mr. Crum, who came to the state
in October of 1887 and has since owned and oc-
cupied a ranch near Compton. The property
comprises eighty-seven and one-fourth acres and
is devoted to the raising of barley and alfalfa,
whicl"! products have proved profitable to the
owner. In his farm operations Mr. Crum utilizes
modern methods of work and thus is enabled to
gain the largest results possible from every acre ;
indeed, his ranch is among the most attractive
and also among the best-cultivated tracts in the
county. Upon it he has put down two artesian
wells, with adequate water for irrigation of the
entire ranch.

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1811

Descended from an eastern family, 2\Ir. Crum
is a son of David S. and Mary (Walton) Crum,
natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in 1826.
During childhood they accompained their respec-
tive parents to Ohio and there were united in
marriage. While they were yet living in that
state their son, D. M., was born January 3, 1852.
Two years after his birth the family removed to
Illinois and purchased a tract of raw land in
Livingston county, where the mother died in
i860. Throughout his entire life the father has
followed agricultural pursuits and he still re-
sides at his old homestead in Livingston count)-,
where he is an honored citizen, a sincere member
of the JNIethodisi Episcopal Church, a devoted
adherent of Republican principles, and at one
time held office as justice of the peace and as a
member of the county board of supervisors.

Upon the completion of common-school studies,
D. M. Crum mati-iculated in the Wesleyan Uni-
versity at Bloomington, 111., where he carried on
his studies for two years, and thus acquired the
foundation of a broad education. On his re-
turn to Livingston county he took up agricult-
ural pursuits and became the owner of a well-
improved farm devoted to the raising of grain
and corn and the feeding of cattle. After a suc-
cessful experience as an Illinois farmer he came
to California and settled near Compton, where
he yet resides. Some years before leaving Illi-
nois he married, in 1877, Miss Lydia Van Pet-
ten, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Van Pet-
ten. Though bom m New York state the
father spent his life in Illinois ; since his
death the mother has continued to reside in Col-
fax, McLean county. ]\Irs. Crum was born and
reared in Illinois, receiving a fair education in
McLean county schools, the Peoria Normal and
the Illinois State Normal, after which she fol-
lowed teaching until her marriage. Of her mar-
riage there are four children namely : Mabel, who
is employed as a teacher in the Compton schools ;
Lula, who is in the employ of the Los Angeles
City Railwav Company ; Margaret, a student in
the class of IQ08 at the California State Uni-
versity ; and Van, who is now attending the
Compton high school. The family are attendants
upon the services of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and contribute to religious and charita-
ble movements. For years Mr. Crum has been
a stanch supporter of Republican principles. At
every election he casts his ballot for the party
nominees and for the principles represented by
the same. Some years ago he was selected to act
as deputy assessor of six school districts of Los
Angeles county and devoted three months to the
work, discharging everv duty with conscientious
fidelity and patience. For a time he held office
as justice of the peace, where his decisions dis-
played an impartial spirit and a broad knowledge

of local and general laws. By faithful service as
school trustee he has evinced his interest in the
free-school system of education, which he con-
siders indissolubly associated with the permanent
welfare of our country. In fraternal connections
he has jiassed the various degrees of Masonry,
has been warmly interested in the Eastern Star
and has officiated for years as chief ranger of the
Independent Order of Foresters.

MORGAN PERRY. As a contractor and
builder who makes a specialty of planning resi-
dences and cottages Morgan Perry does a fine
business in San Bernardino. He is a native of
Cincinnati, Ohio, born December 6, 1848, and is
the son of Joseph Perry, a native of Lancaster,
Pa. His grandfather Perry died when com-
paratively young in Pennyslvania and his wife
was subsequently married to Dr. Oberdorf, an
old German physician who had been surgeon
under Napoleon for twenty-six years, and was
with him when he crossed the Alps on the way
to Moscow. Dr. Oberdorf removed with his
family to Cincinnati in 1815 and was a prac-
ticing physician there until his death. Joseph
Perry was a bricklayer and contractor in Cincin-
nati, from there removing to Sunman, Ripley
county, Ind., where he died at the age of sixty-
eight years. The mother who was Hannah J.
Marsh before her marriage, was born on the bat-
tlefield of Buffalo, in 1812, and was the daugh-
ter of Thomas Marsh. The latter was born in
New Jersey, and removed with his family to
Cincinnati, where he followed the trade of brick-
layer, which trade he taught to Joseph Perry.
The mother died in Indiana, and of the eight
children born to her three are now living.

Until 1862 Morgan Perry lived in Cincinnati,
where he attended the public schools, and in that
year went to Kentucky and was engaged in gov-
ernment service as a cook at Camp Nelson, lo-
cated near Nicholasville. In 1865 he went to
Nashville and began the study of bridge build-
ing. Subsequently he was employed by L. B.
Boomer & Co., now the American Bridge Com-
pany, and worked with crews on the Nashville
& Chattanooga, Tennessee & Alabama and East
Tennessee & Georgia Railways. Following this
he was with the Southern IBridge Contracting
Company at Knoxville, Tenn., working in
Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, and after
the flood in 1867 returned to the Ameri-
can Bridge Company for a time. Going
to Cincinnati in 1868 he was associated in busi-
ness with his brother until his removal to Beards-
town, 111., when he again worked at bridge build-
ing for F. E. Cauda & Co. of Qiicago, con-
tinuing with them for a year, after which he er-
tered the government employ at Ft. Leaven-

1812

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

worth, Kans. In the fall of 1870 he went to
Little Rock, Ark., and from there to Lewisburg,
in the latter place engaging in contracting and
building until 1887, when he came to San Ber-
nardino and was emplo3'ed at the carpenter's
trade, working at various times for the Santa Fe
Railway Company on bridges and buildings and
in their carshops. Since 1891 he has given the
greater part of his time to planning and erecting
residences and cottages and has been very suc-
cessful in the work. .

Mr. Perry was married in Lewisburg, Ark.,
to Miss Martha Merryman, a native of Johnson
county, in that state. Having no children of their
own, they adopted a daughter, Lula. Mr. Per-
ry was made a Mason at Lewisburg, Ark., and
is now a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 178,
F. & A. M. at San Bernardino. He also Idc-
longs to the Independent Order of Foresters.
Both he and has wife are active members of the
Bethel Congregational Church, of which Mr.
Perry is a member of the board of trustees. Po-
litically he is an advocate of the principles em-
braced' in the platform of the Democratic party,
and as a member of the Mt. Vernon Improve-
ment Qub he takes an interest in the beautifying
of the city. His well rounded interests in busi-
ness, social and civic lines give him a large and
favorable acquaintance among the residents of
San Bernardino, who regard him as a highly re-
spectable citizen.

ALBERT THOMAS KIMBELL. The fam-
ily represented by the supervisor of the fourth
district of Riverside county is of southern ex-
traction. His father, A. G., was born in Nash-
ville, Tenn., January 20, 1817, and in early life
removed to Texas, where for a time he was em-
ployed as a clerk in the state capitol at Austin
and also as a clerk in the land office. At Red
River, Tex., October 12, 1841, he married Sarah
C. Cleaves, who was born in Davidson county,
Tenn., May 15, 1825. When news came of the
discovery of gold in California he immediately
determined to journey to the unknown regions
of mining activity. With a party of five men
he started from Austin by muleback to Mazat-
lan, at which point he took a ship for San Fran-
cisco and arrived at the Golden Gate in January
of 1850. His health had been impaired by the
confinement incident to his clerical duties in
Texas, and accordingly he spent some time in
hunting deer and bear, thereby deriving all the
benefits of the splendid western climate and the
outdoor exercise. In the fall of 1850 he secured
a position as enrolling clerk in the state legisla-
ture for the term, after which he mined in
Tuolumne county for two years. For the pur-
pose of .giving his children good educational
advantages he removed to San Francisco, where

he was assistant marshal in 1860-61 and also
assisted in taking the census of the city. Some-
what later he became interested in the reclaim-
ing of the tule lands in San Joaquin and Contra
Costa counties, where he lived until 1878, and
then removed to the San Gabriel valley in Los
Angeles county.

In order to take up mining A. G. Kimbell
went to Arizona in 1880 and became a miner
in Cochise county, from which point he made
a trip to Texas and other southern states. In
1883 he left Arizona, and two years later set-
tled in the San Gabriel valley. When the de-
velopment of the Imperial valley was first
agitated he became a stanch champion of the
measure and endeavored to interest capitalists
in the undertaking. In 1888 he removed to the
vicinity of Perris, Riverside county, where he
died June 20, 1899, at the age of eighty-three
years and five months. His wife had passed
away in the San Gabriel valley December 2,
1880, and was buried in Evergreen cemetery at
Los Angeles. They were the parents of eleven
children, namely : John F., who was born Jan-
uary 23, 1843, and died I\Iay 15, 1893, at the
age of fifty years ; Mary E., who was born De-
cember 31, 1844, and in San Francisco was mar-
ried to William C. Harrington November 22,
1864, afterward living at Sousma, but in 1877
removing to San Gabriel valley, where Mr.
Harrington died August 22, 1875 ; William Y.,
who was born October i, 1847, and now resides
with his next younger brother and his older
sister at Perris ; Albert Thomas, who was born
in Austin, Tex., October 23, 1849; Frank G.,
who was born in California June 6, 1854, and
died January 7, 1859; Henry S.. who was born
in May, 1856, and' died September 11, • 1857;
Charles J., who was born in San Francisco July
9, 1858, and is now living, unmarried, in Ari-
zona ; Edward G., who was born December 20,
i860, and is living in California; Eugene L.,
who was born January i, 1863, and is now mar-
ried and living at Riverside ; Sallie R., who was
born in San Francisco January 17, 1865, and is
the wife of C. H. Cowles of Perris ; and Samuel
B., who was born February 3, 1867, and with
his familv now makes San jose his home.

Brought to California during infancy. Albert
Thomas Kimbell was educated in San Francisco
and Oakland college, and in 1878 accompanied
his parents to the San Gabriel valley, seven years
later removing to the Perris valley, where he
engaged in farming. The following year he
removed to Los Angeles and secured an ap-
pointment as storekeeper and ganger at the
bonded warehouse under the first administration
of President Cleveland. After having filled the
position for four years he resigned and returned
to the vicinit^• of Perris, where he resumed agri-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1813

cultural pursuits. November 4, 1898, he was
elected supervisor, the duties of which he as-
sumed in January, 1899, and since then he has
been a member of the county board of super-
visors. Reared in the Democratic faith, he al-
ways has been stanch in his allegiance to that
party. However, he places loyalty to count)- and
coinmonwealth before partisanship, and in
private life and public service has displayed a
keen sense of responsibility as a citizen and a
desire to aid in securing lasting improvements.
In fraternal relations he holds membership in
Elsinore Lodge No. 289, F. & A. M., and the
Eastern Star; also the Independent Order of
Foresters at Ferris, and Knights of Pythias No.
90, at Ferris, in which he has been honored with
the office of chancellor commander. Socially he
is respected for his manly traits and sterling
quahties. His popularity is evidenced by the
fact that he has three times been elected super-
visor in a district containing twice as many Re-
publicans as Democrats, yet it is known every-
where that he champions Democratic principles
and votes the straight party ticket. Sharing
with him in the esteem of neighbors is his sister,
Mrs. Harrington, who has charge of his home,
and who is a lady of culture and kindly disposi-
tion.

LEWIS -AlORSE. One mile southeast from
the city of San Bernardino may be seen one of
the neatest and most orderly dairy ranches to
be found anywhere in the county. The prop-
erty formerly belonged to Governor Water-
man, from whom Mr. Morse purchased it in
1897, removing with his family to the same
in the fall of that year. The ranch comprises
twenty-one acres, and with the exception of the
house which was upon it at the time of pur-
chase Mr. Morse has made all of the improve-
ments which are to be seen upon the property
today. Besides this ranch, which is pasture
land exculsively, and devoted entirely to dairy
purposes, Mr. Morse also owns other property
in the county. In November, 1905, he pur-
chased one hundred and thirty-three and three-
quarters acres near San Bernardino, twenty-
iive acres of which he has under cultivation
and five acres set out to various kinds of fruit.
A good residence, excellent barns and an
abundant supply of water which is stored in
a large reservoir, add immeasurably to the
value of the property.

Mr. Morse is of eastern birth and parentage,
born in Yates county, N. Y., March 12, 1841,
the son of Samuel and Mary (Shepard) Morse.
His boyhood and early manhood years were
spent in and around his native place, but the
year 1874 found him in Virginia, where he

remained for six years, engaged in farming.
To his ambitious spirit the slow and unpro-
gressive methods which prevailed in the south
became irksome to him and influenced him in
his 'decision to remove to the west. Putting
this decision into execution in 1880 he came to
Merced, Gal., remaining there for eighteen
months, after which he came to San Bernardi-
no county. It was a number of years before
he was enabled to secure a piece of property
to his liking, and in the meantime he lived
on various ranches in the vicinity. In the
purchase of the two pieces of. property which
he now owns he has been amply repaid for
the delay, for without doubt he now possesses
two of the finest ranches to be found in the
county.

One year after coming to California Mr.
Morse formed domestic ties by his marriage
with Mardula Carney, their marriage being
celebrated in October, 1881.

JOSEPH INGERSOLL. Listed among the
business enterprises of San Bernardino that have
experienced a steadv growth and gratifying pros-
perity may be mentioned the IngersoU & Esler
Company, of which Joseph IngersoU acts as
president. From the time of the establishment
of the business in March, 1891, until 1904, the
company existed as a co-partnership, but during
the latter year papers of incorporation were tak-
en out under the laws of the state of California,
the capital stock being $60,000. At this writing
the officers are as follows: Joseph IngersoU,
president ; Frederick John Esler, vice-president ;
and John Batchellor, secretary. Besides the
wholesale business in wines and liquors, the firm
is largely interested in the Brookside winery at
Brookside, San Bernardino county, incorporated
under the title of E. Vache & Co. Large wine
cellars are utilized for the storage of wines, and
distilleries with modern improvements aiTord
ample facilities for the manufacture of an out-
put recommended for its purity. The winery,
which has a capacity of two hundred and fifty
thousand gallons per year, contains an equip-
ment which is said to be unsurpassed by any
similar plant in the entire state.

The president of the company is a native of
Michigan and was born at Watertown, Eaton
county, wliere he received a fair common-school
education and grew to manhood. Remaining a
resident of Michigan until 1881, he then removed
to California and settled at San Bernardino,
where for a time he was employed at the Brook-
side winery. In a few years- he purchased stock
in the business and associated with himself Mr.
Esler. also a practical business man. The corn-
pan}- has established a large local trade and also

1814

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ships extensively to many parts of California and
into Nevada and New Mexico. While devot-
ing his attention closely to the management of
the plant and the development of the large and
important trade, Mr. Ingersoll has found leis-
ure to identify himself with other commercial
'interests, including the following: the Home
Gas Company, of which he is a stockholder ; the
L}-tle Creek Light and Power Company, of
whose board of directors he is a member; the
Building and Loan Association of San Bernar-
dino, in which he owns stock ; and the Seal of
Gold Mining Company of California, all of which
organizations receive from him the attention and
sagacious supervision which their importance
renders necessary, and with his partner, F. J.
Esler, is interested in the growing of oranges.

Before coming to California jNIr. Ingersoll was
united in marriage with Miss Alice Stoddard,
of Detroit, Mich. They have two daughters, of
whom Mamie was born in Michigan and Lozie
M., in California. Fraternally Mr. Ingersoll is
identified with San Bernardino Lodge No. 348,
F. & A. M. ; San Bernardino Lodge No. 146, I.
O. O. F., of which he is past grand, also a
member of the Encampment ; and Aerie No. 506,
Order of Eagles, of which he is past worthy
president. While stanch in his allegiance to the
Republican party, he has never consented to hold
office and political honors have been unsought
at his hands, but, nevertheless, he was elected
one of the Freeholders that got up the new city
charter. He gives generously of his time and
means to promote movements for the benefit of
his home city and is ardently loyal to the wel-
fare of his state.

MRS. MABEL L. HACKMAN. An accom-
plished, enterprising and progressive business
woman, Mrs. Mabel L. Hackman is actively iden-
tified with the mercantile, agricultural and horti-
cultural progress of Glendale, where she is now
serving as postmaster! She is a clear-headed,
brainy woman, possessing excellent judgment and
great executive ability ; with her brother-in-law
she owns a large department store in Glendale,
and in addition to owning and managing a large
fruit ranch she has title to much real estate in
this vicinity. Notwithstanding her many respon-
sibilities she looks carefully after all of her af-
fairs, and as a landholder and a merchant has met
with success and very few discouragements. A
native of New England, she was born in Harri-
son, Me., a daughter of Eleazer Newcomb, being
descended from one of the early colonial families.

A native of ]\Iaine. Eleazer Newcomb sprung
from an old English family, and. as shown by the
genealogy of the Newcomb family, can trace his
Hneage liack to Henry ATII. His emigrant

ancestor came from England to America
at an early date, and by marriage and intermar-
riage his descendants of to-day are closely re-
lated to the distinguished family of Wentworths,
one of whom, Benning Wentworth, was the first
governor of New Hampshire. Air. Newcomb
was a millwright in his earlier years, and dur-
ing the Civil war served as a soldier in Compaay

B, Twenty-third Maine Volunteer Infantry. He
married Ellen Brown, also a native of "jMaine,
and they are now living in Glendale, making
their home with their daughter, i\Irs. Hackman.
She is a woman of talent and culture, and al-
though seventy-three years of age, writes a good
deal and contributes many articles of merit to tlie
local literary club. At the age of sixty years,
without any previous instruction, she took up
painting, and among her productions are numer-
ous beautiful pictures of flowers and fruit.

After leaving her native state Mabel L. New-
comb lived for awhile in Chicago, in its schools
receiving her elementary education. Subse-
quently going to Plattsmouth, Neb., she was
graduated from the high school, and afterwards
taught school for two years in Kansas City, Mo.
Giving up her, position as a teacher Miss New-
comb married David M. Hackman, and for a
number of years resided in that cit}-.

A native of Pennsylvania David AI. Hackman
was born in Bethlehem, Lehigh county, where his
early ancestors settled when they first came to
America. He is of patriotic stock, some of his
kinsmen having fought in the Revolutionary war.
He was reared and educated in his native state,
but in early manhood went to Chicago. 111., where
he embarked in mercantile pursuits, being for a
time in the employ of Partridge & Co. Still re-
taining his connection with that firm, he went to
Kansas City, where he had a part interest in their
store, and of which he was general manager for
several years. As a m.erchant he has been ex-
ceedingly prosperous, and is now a part owner
and the superintendent of one of the largest de-
partment stores in Pittsburg, Pa. Mr. and Mrs.
Hackman have one child, Eulalie W. Hackman,
who attended first the public schools of Kansas
City, later going to the Marlborough School and
the Girls' Collegiate Institute of Los Angeles.
Fraternally !Mr. Hackman is a thirty-second de-
gree Alason.

Coming with her parents to Los Angeles
county, in 1886, ]\Irs. Hackman purchased a
ranch of forty acres on First street and Verdugo
road, Glendale, and has since improved it, having
now a valuable orchard of deciduous fruit trees,
which she is managing successfully and profita-
bly. In 1903, with her brother-in-law, Walter

C. Fraley, she embarked in mercantile pursuits,
buying a store, which they have enlarged, con-
verting it into a fine department store, one of the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1815

best in its equipment of an\- in the vicinity. The
postoffice is located in her store, and since Oc-
tober, 1904, .she has served most acceptably to all
as postmaster. In addition to her property in
Glendale Mrs. Hackman has other interests, be-
ing owner of considerable real estate and other
property of value in the east. Mrs. Hackman is
a member of the Tuesda}- Afternoon Club of
Glendale, and is very popular and prominent in
social circles throughout the vallev.

THOMAS A. BLAKELY. The establish-
ment of the important business enterprise with
which the name of j\lr. Blakely is indissolubly
associated dates back to the year 1899, when in
conjunction with Prof. S. M. Woodbridge, of
Pasadena, he embarked in the manufacture of
chemical fertilizer at San Bernardino. Three
years later the Woodbridge Chemical Works
were incorporated with a capital stock of $50,-
000, and the following officers : Hiram M. Bar-
ton, president; Samuel M. Woodbridge, vice-
president ; and Thomas A. Blakely, treasurer.
The works are situated in the southeastern part
of the city of San Bernardino, occupying a plant
erected especially to meet the needs of the busi-
ness, and equipped with modern machinery oper-
ated by electricity. The bones of which the fer-
tilizer is largely composed are bought at slaugh-
ter houses. The potash is imported from Ham-
burg, Germany, and the other ingredients are
brought from Chile, South America, thus secur-
ing in each instance the pure and unadulterated
article and material. The output of the plant is
purchased in large quantities by the orange-
growers of Southern California and also by
market gardeners, and the value of the product
has become so widely recognized that orders fre-
quently have to be filled from Arizona, New
Mexico and other points outside of the area of
the home trade.

The treasurer of the company, who owns two-
thirds of the stock in the incorporation, has lived
in the United States since he was nineteen years
of age. Born in Ireland, November 2, 1863,
he is a son of Ambrose Blakely, an Englishman
by birth and education, but for years prosper-
ously engaged in business in Ireland. His edu-
cation was received in the schools of the Irish
town where his father engaged in business.
From an early age he had been ambitious to
come to America, and as soon as he was per-
mitted to start out in the world for himself he
crossed the ocean to the new world. For eigh-
teen months he was employed in Ohio and then
went to Missouri. Two and one-half years later
he went to Kansas City, that state, and em-
barked in the cattle business, buying and selling
to the large cattle-dealers in the state. For this

work he had the advantage of previous exper-
ience in Ireland, where he had received a thor-
ough training in the handling of thoroughbred
and pedigreed stock. The parties by whom he
was employed and with whom later he was as-
sociated owned a number of animals each of
which they valued at thousands of dollars.

Disposing of his interests in Kansas City in
1 89 1 Mr. Blakely came to California and estab-
lished his home at Redlands, where soon he
acquired valuable property. While for fourteen
years he made his home in Redlands he mean-
while acquired important interests at San Ber-
nardino and eventually in 1902 moved to this
town, where now he makes his home at No.
369 D street. At the time of the organization
of the San Bernardino County Savings Bank,
in which he took a leading part, he purchased
stock in the new institution, and since then has
officiated as a member of the board of directors.
Another important local enterprise which num-
bers him among its stockholders and enthusias-
tic supporters is the San Bernardino Valley
Traction Company. Besides his interests pre-
viously mentioned' he owns valuable real estate
in San Bernardino and is interested in various
enterprises with capitalists in Los Angeles and
San Francisco. Possessing practical ideas and
a fine mind, his presence in financial undertak-
ings is deemed of great value to the profitable
development of the work under consideration
and by his co-operation beneficial measures have
been" profitably promoted. While he has had
little leisure for participation in social afifairs or
fraternal movements, he has been actively asso-
ciated with the Knights of Pvthias and the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in his home
citv.

JERO:\IE ^^^ love. Distinguished as a
California pioneer, and as one of the oldest and
most highly respected residents of San Diego
county, J. W. Love has contributed his share
towards advancing the industrial prosperity of
his adopted state, in everv respect being recog-
nized as a true and loyal citizen. During his
long and useful life he has pursued the even
tenor of his way as an honest man, promoting
the interests of the communitv as opportunity
has ofifered, and now in his declining years is
reaping the reward of his many years of per-
sistent toil, living retired in Ramona, and here
enjoying the respect and esteem of his neigh-
bors and friends. A son of Robert Love, he
was born, December 12, 1827. in ATonroe county,
N. Y.

Bom and reared in Oneida county. N. Y.,
Robert Love learned the carpenter's trade when
a young man. and also became familiar with

18 u;

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the methods of farming then in vogue. Settling
in jMonroe county, N. i'., he carried on general
farmmg for several Ncars, and then, about 1836,
moved with his family to Wisconsin, settling on
the present site of the city of Milwaukee, where
one of his daughters was born, she being the
second white female child born in that locaHty.
He followed his trade for a number of years, and
was also engaged in agricultural pursuits until
his death, at the age of seventy-eight years. He
married JMartha Barnett, who was born in
Oneida county, N. Y., and died at the age of
seventy-two years, in Wisconsin. They were
honest. God-fearing people, and valued members
of the Congregational Church. Of the nine chil-
dren born of their union, live are living, three
of the sons being engaged in the commission
business in Chicago, 111.

Removing with his parents to Wisconsin in
1836, J. W. Love obtained the rudiments of his
education in the Milwaukee schools, after which
he attended Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio,
for two years. The following three years he was
employed in a wholesale and retail book store in
Milwaukee, also being agent for the Wells-
Fargo Express Company. In 1849, influenced
by the enthusiastic reports concerning the dis-
covery of gold in California, he determined to
investigate the truth of the stories for himself,
and with that object in view followed the trail
of the emigrants across the continent. For four
years thereafter he was engaged in mining, con-
fining his operations to the Sacramento and
Feather River valleys, and meeting with more
than average success in finding the desired metal.
Embarking then in the lumber business, he fol-
lowed it for five years, being especially inter-
ested in the manufacture of shingles, having a
mill in Santa Cruz. In 1861, going to Sacra-
mento, he enlisted in Company K, Fifth Cali-
fornia Volunteer Infantry, in which he served
three years, the following two years being in a
regiment of cavalry. With his comrades he was
sent at the time of the Indian disturbances to
Arizona, and from there to Texas, being under
the command of General Carlton. While going
down the Rio Grande river about one hundred
miles below El Paso with his comrades he first
heard of the death of Lincoln. Returning to
San Francisco at the expiration of his term of
enlistment, he was mustered out of service in
that city, after which he rode horseback to his
home in Santa Cruz.

In December, 1879, Mr. Love located in San
Diego, and the following year took up one hun-
dred and sixty acres of government land in the
Ramona district and began the improvement of
a farm. He met with good success from the
start, clearing a part of the land from its orig-
inal wildness and placing it under a good state of

cultivation. For a number of years he carried
on general ranching, raismg wlieat and barley,
and m addition worked for his cousin in his
apiary. On retiring from active pursuits Mr.
Love rented his ranch and for several years lived
with William Warnock. About 1900 he returned
to Ramona, and has lived here since, esteemed
and respected throughout the community. Dur-
ing the Civil war he suffered the privations of
army and camp life, and for his services at that
time now receives a government monthly pen-
sion. Politically .Mr. Love is a straightforward
Republican.

HARRY JOHNSTONE WOODS, of El
Monte, has met with success in the conduct of
his bakery and restaurant in this place, and is
counted among the substantial business men of
the section. He came to California in 1897, bring-
ing with him the sturdy traits of character which
were his by inheritance from New England an-
cestors descended from Scotch forefathers. His
birth occurred in West Burke, Caledonia county.
\'t., :\iarch 28, 1872, being next to the oldest in
a family of eight children, five of whom are liv-
ing. His' father, John M. Woods, was born in
Hamilton, N. Y., while his grandfather, Harry
Johnstone Woods, was born in Scotland, be-
came an immigrant to America, and served his
adopted country in the war of 1812. John M.
Woods was a civil engineer during the con-
struction of the Hoosac tunnel. His wife was in
maidenhood INIargaret McLeod, born in Scotland
and reared in the Presbyterian faith.

In childhood Harry Johnstone Woods was
taken by his parents to ]\Ianchester, N. H., where
he received his education in the public and high
schools, also attending Dartmouth College for
six months. In St. Johnsbury, Vt., he was ap-
prenticed to learn the baker's trade and after its
completion worked in various places, among them
Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. He
finally went into business in Manchester and suc-
cessfully conducted a bakery for seven years. In
1897 he disposed of his interests in that city and
came to California and on Buena Vista street,
Los Angeles, established a bakery, which he con-
ducted for a ■ time, later carrying on a similar
business on Seventh street and Broadway. He
met with success and built up a large trade,
which he sold out in 1903 to come to El Monte,
first acting as manager for the El Monte bakery
and the following year he purchased property
and engaged in business for himself. In 1906
he enlarged his business by restaurant equipment,
and the combined enterprise has resulted in ma-
terial gain. His business methods are such as to
win for him friends among his patrons and thus
constantly increase an already wide custom.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1817

In Los Angeles Mr. Woods was united in
marriage with Miss Lizzie M. Willis, born in
Shrewsbury, Ky., and a daughter of Professor
Willis, president of the Shrewsbury Academy.
They have one daughter, Maggie. In his frater-
nal relations Mr. Woods is associated with the
Masons, having been made a member of the or-
ganization in Lexington Lodge No. 104, March,
1905, and is now acting as senior warden ; Wood-
men of the World of El Monte ; Hillsboro Lodee
I. O. O. F. of IManchester, N. H., and Agwai-ii
Tribe No. 208, I. O. R. M., also of Manchester;
and has been identified with the Knights of Py-
thias. His wife is a member of the Order of
Eastern Star. In his political affiliations Mr.
Woods is a stanch Republican.

JAMES Y. JOHNSON. One of the suc-
cessful men of Los Angeles county is James
Y. Johnson, who was born in Sweden, May 18,
1847, snd spent the first eight years of his life
in his native land. In 1855 his parents emi-
grated to America, looking to betterment of
their financial condition in the western world
where opportunities abounded for the prog-
ressive and enterprising spirit. Inheriting the
sturdy traits which distinguish the natives of
Sweden, success accompanied their efiforts and
they acquired a competence and at the same
time became worthy citizens of the country
they had adopted for their home. James Y.
Johnson remained with his parents until at-
taining maturity, making his home in differ-
ent sections of the countr}-. Previous to his
location in California fourteen years ago, he
engaged in the raising of sheep, cattle and
horses in southern Utah and met with suc-
cess sufficient to give him considerable finan-
cial returns. Upon his settlement in Los An-
geles county in 18Q3 he decided to engage in
the poultry business, and until 1900 continued
so occupied, at first buying and selling poul-
trjr and later raising for the market. He gave
to his work a sagacious interest and judg-
ment which enabled him to perfect his efforts
and brought him a noteworthy' success. In the
meantime, however, he became interested in
the raising of pigeons, beginning this enter-
prise with a stock of one hundred and continu-
ing to increase his operations until at the pres-
ent writing he owns a flock of about one hun-
dred thousand flying birds. This is the most
extensive enterprise of its kind in the world
and represents a big outlay of both capital and
energy. Besides Mr. Johnson, four men are
required for the care of this immense flock,
and the utmost pains are taken in their man-
agement, every modern device being used on
the ranch ; the ranch consists of eight and a

half acres located in East Los Angeles, with
easy access by means of the Garvanza car
line. All kinds of fancy birds are included in
the flock, but are kept both for breeding and
show purposes, admission being gained
through the entrance on West Dayton, near
the Los Angeles river. His product is shipped
to all portions of the west and is in demand
wherever known. The success achieved by
Mr. Johnson in this line of work is only
equaled by the spirit of enterprise which in-
duced him to establish it. He conceived the
plan and put it in operation about twelve years
ago. and against more or less obstacles and
discouragements has carried it to success and
firmly established a branch which was en-
tirely original. He has displayed business
ability and judgment, as well as an energy
and perseverance unusual in character and
quality, and the combined attributes of inher-
itance and training have brought about sat-
isfactory results.

Mr. Johnson owns a handsome residence on
Downey avenue, in the city of Los Angeles.
He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ
Latter Day Saints, while politically he ad-
heres to the principles advocated in the plat-
form of the Democratic party. He is a man
of ability and energy and during his long resi-
dence in this section has won the confidence
and esteem of all who have come to know
him.

CLINTON BLYTHE. A prominent citi-
zen of Long Beach, Los Angeles county, is
Clinton Blythe, who is now living retired in
his home at No. 344 East Sixth street. He is
a native of Graves county, Ky., born July 7,
1859, a son of J. T. Blythe. 'The latter was
born in Virginia, the descendant of an old
southern family, and when still a young man
immigrated to Kentucky. He located in Graves
county and engaged as a farmer for some years
and in 1875 moved to Texas. In the town of
Meridian he lived retired until 1887, when he
came to Downey, Cal., and spent the remain-
der of his life in retirement, dying at the age
of seventy-four 3'ears. During his residence in
that place he was active in the organization
the Los Nietos Valley Bank, of which he
served as president. His wife, formerly Sarah
Adair, a native of Kentucky, also died in
Downey, at the age of sixty-four years. Born
of this union were thirteen children, six sons
and seven daughters: of tlie five sons and three
daughters who attained maturity, two sons
have since died.

The sixth in order of birth. Clinton Blythe
received his education in a log schoolhouse

1818

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in his native state, where he spent the first six-
teen years of his hfe. He engaged in farming
with his father in Kentucky and later con-
ducted a general farming and stock-raising
business for himself in Texas. He remained in
that state until 1888, when he followed his
parents to California, locating one mile east
of Downey, where he purchased a small ranch,
raising alfalfa and conducting a dairy. Dis-
posing of this interest he purchased fifty-three
acres three miles southeast of Downey, which
property he still owns, although he has never
made his home upon it. In 1900 he came to
Long Beach and first located at No. 233 Ameri-
can avenue, later removing to his present resi-
dence, No. 344 east Sixth street. He still acts
as a director and president of the Los Nietos
Valley Bank of Downey, with which institu-
tion his family has been identified ever since
its organization, his father serving as president
until his death, v\dien his brother. S. A¥. Blythe,
entered upon the duties of this position, con-
tinuing there until he died. Mr. Blythe is a
man of ability and energy and as such holds
a position of esteem among his fellow citizens.
In IMeriilian, Tex.. ^^Ir. Blythe was united
in marriage with Alary Parks, s native of that
jilace, and they are the parents of the following
children : lames, on a ranch in this vicinity :
Pearl, wife of R. Smith, located in the vicinity
of Los Angeles: Lee, wife of E. R. Creeth ;
Nora; Sue"; Paul; and Mary, all -at home.
Politically Mr. Blythe is a stanch adherent of
the principles advocated in the platform of
the Democratic part>', which he supports with
voice and vote.

THOAIAS W. WILLIAMS. The family name
of this enterprising business man of Long Beach
indicates his Welsh descent. The genealogical
records show that tlie founder of the family in
America was his paternal grandfather, a native
of Wales and for many years a resident of Staten
Island in New York. John A., son of this immi-
grant, was born on Staten Island and about 1859
settled in Coles county. 111., from which point, at
the age of nineteen years, he enlisted in the
United States army and served for three years
and eight months. The drum sticks which he
used in the capacity of drummer are now in the
possession of his son, Thomas W, At the close
of the war he entered the St. Louis Medical Col-
lege and took a course in therapeutics. During
the remainder of his life he was actively engaged
in professional work and practiced successively
at Rocheport, Boone county ; Higbee, Randolph
county ; Deepwater, Henry county ; and Carthage.
Jasper county, all in Missouri. At the latter city
iie died in September, 1902, at sixty-one years of

age.* His wife, who bore the maiden name of
Lucy A. White, was born near Lexington, Ky.,
grew to womanhood in Illinois, and afterward
lived in Missouri, where in 1891 she died at
Deepwater.

Among six sons and two daughters compris-
ing the family Thomas W. AVilliams was third
in order of birth and was born in Coles county,
111., November i, 1869. Primarily educated in
the common schools of Deepwater, Mo., he later
h.ad the advantages of a course in Clinton acad-
emy, and in 1888 was graduated from that in-
stitution. The first occupation on which he en-
tered was landscape gardening, which he followed
in Kansas City and St. Louis. April 26. 1893, he
arrived in California and settled at Long Beach,
with whose growing fortune his own interests
have since been associated. For six years he
w^as employed as gardener by J. Bixby and for
three years served by appointment as superinten-
dent of parks and special police, after which for
two years he held the office of city marshal. His
introduction into the real-estate business was
with the Long Beach Commission and Real Es-
tate Company, whose business he soon purchased.
After conducting it alone for four months he sold
a one-half interest to Al. H. Irvine. Februar}' i,
T905, the business was merged into the Walker
Real Estate Company, in \\hich he now owns one-
fourth interest. Besides this he has improved
and now owns several residence properties. In
response to earnest solicitations Mr. Williams
consented a second time to fill the office of city
marshal until the city council could find a com-
petent man to accept the place, and he accepted
the appointment August 28. T905, upon these
conditions. Owi-ng to the growing demands of
liis business he felt it unwise to assume official
duties except in response to an appeal for tem-
nrarv work. While acting in that capacity he
wiped out of existence ,Tn organization of the
"blind pig" order and in the raid confiscated
eighteen hundred and fiftv gallons of whiskey.
During liis administration Long Beach gained a
record for enforcement of the laws which no
town in the country can surpass. Law and order
have been sriven to the city and the law-abiding
class of citizens appreciate the efforts which
have culminated in such a satisfactory condition
of municipal affairs.

Upon the organization of the Young Alen's
Christian Association of Long Beach in 1900 Mr.
\\'il!iams took a warm interest in the founding
of the movement and has since officiated as a
director. He is a member of the Cliamber of
Commerce of Long Beach and a director and one
of the organizers of the Peoples Bank of Long
Beach. In the Humane Society he holds of-
ficial position and its work has always received
his cordial co-operation. Upon the starting of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1819

the lodge of Knights of Pythias Mr. Williams
became a charter member and ever since has aided
in the upbuilding of the society. In addition he
takes an enthusiastic interest in the work of the
Sons of Veterans at Long Beach. His home in
Long Beach, at No. 22-/ Linden avenue, is pre-
sided over by his wife, who was Ruth M. Brown,
a native of Illinois, and its pleasures are enhanced
by the presence of their two children, Dwight
B. and Ruth H. The family attend the Con-
gregational Church, to the work of which he is
a contributor, as well as an active worker in its
philanthropies. In politics he gives his support
to the Republican party, which in igoo and 1906
he served as delegate to the county central
committee, and since then in various instances
has promoted the local welfare of the party.

CAPT. WILLIAM W. BURKE. Pre-
ceded by years of experienece as a civil engin-
eer Captain Burke came to San Pedro in 1904.
Purchasing a lot 40x120 on Fourth street he
erected a two-story modern store building,
one-half of which he occupies himself as a
grocery and meat market, Avhile the other part
is rented and occupied as a furniture and
crockery store. Thus far Captain Burke has
realized his expectations to a gratifying degree
and the town and his fellow-citizens are
doubtless the gainers by his change of occupa-
tion. Born under the rule of the British ilag
in 1846, he is a native of the West Indies and
a son of Francis and Marion Burke, the form-
er a native of Ireland. During his early life
the father located in the ^A'est Indies, where
as an extensive planter he spent the remainder
of his life. His w'fe nris a native of the is-
lands, and there lhe\- reared their children.

When he was fifteen years of age, prior
to which time he had been educated in Eng-
land, Captain Burke left home and friends
and for two years followed the sea. Landing
on the shores of the United States at the end
of the voyage he found the country in the
midst of Civil warfare, in which he later bore
a part in 1865 joining the Union army. Com-
pany D, battalion of engineers. After peace
was restored he entered the United States
service as civil engineer. Contracts in this
line which he accepted and completed consist-
ed of work on the San Francisco harbor, con-
structing the harbors from Michigan City,
Ind., to Petoskey, Mich., in fact all of the har-
bors on the Michigan coast. In 1S83 he re-
signed his position to engage in contracting
and building harbors for the United States
and Mexican governments. His first work in
this line was building three miles of the Gal-
veston jetty, following this by constructing the

jetties at Pas Cavalla, Rockport, Port Isabella
and at the mouth of the Rio Grande river.
His latest work in this line was on the coast
of Mexico, where for six years he was en-
gaged on the harbor at Manzanillo. Upon the
completion of the undertaking, in 1904, he
relinquished the arduous work which for so
many years had engaged his attention, and
coming to San Pedro purchased the property on
Fourtli street as previously stated and here he
expects to make his permanent home. His
building was completed in December, 1904, at
which time he stocked it with a complete line
of goods, and it goes without saying that the
equipment is up-to-date in every particular.
Adding to this condition the fact that the pro-
prietor possesses many fine personal attributes
including tact and geniality, his success is a
matter of no speculation.

In Grand Rapids, Mich., Captain Burke was
united in marriage with Cornelia Minder Hout
a native of that state, and three children have
been born to them. William W., Jr., is a
clerk in the Angelus hotel in San Pedro ; John
Francis assists his father in the store; and
Douglas is also at home. As can be gathered
from the foregoing brief account of Captain
Burke's life it will be seen that he has traveled
extensively and the breadth of knowledge
which this privilege invariably bestows has
not been de'nied him, but on the other hand
has furnished fund of information which makes
liim a ready and agreeable conversationalist.
To some extent he is interested in mining
properties in Mexico. Politically he casts his
vote in favor of the Republican candidates.

jOHiV GEORGE BAUM. Three miles south-
cast of Inglewood lies the ranch which is owned
and operated by John George Baum and which
comprises one hundred and forty acres of val-
uable land. In addition to the management of
this tract he operates rented lands adjoining,
so that the total aggregate of his holdings reach-
es five hundred and sixty acres, ^^^^en he
first came to Los Angeles county in October,
1902, he rented the ranch which he still operates
and at once became interested in the raising of
beans and of grain, managing the tract as a
renter until November, 1905, when he acquired
that portion of the estate now under his title.
Energetic and capable, he is already gaining a
position among the prosperous ranchers of the
locality, and, should misfortune not betide, the
future years will place his fortunes upon a sub-
stantial basis and increase his landed holdings.

A native son of California, Mr. Baum \vas
born in Ventura county, this state, April i, 1875,
and is the second among the six children of

1820

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

George and Linnie (^Hartman) Baum, natives
of Jackson county, Ohio. His father grew to
manhood upon a farm and followed agricultural
pursuits in Ohio until 1873, when he brought
his wife to California, settling near Springville,
Ventura county, where since he has engaged in
raising beans and beets. At this writing (1906)
he is about sixty-four years of age and his wife
fifty-five, but both are yet quite active and vig-
orous, and superintend their ranch of fifty acres
with energy and success. It was on this old home-
stead that their son, John George, gained his
early knowledge of agricultural pursuits and the
raising of beans and beets, and when not in
school he proved a capable assistant on the ranch.
On attaining his majority he rented two hun-
dred and eighty-five acres in Ventura county and
took up ranching for himself, but after three
years he b^gan to raise beans and beets for the
American Beet Sugar Company at Oxnard, and
during the five years he remained in the work he
met with encouraging success. On severing his
connection with interests in Ventura county he
came to Los Angeles county and since has be-
come a land owner and rancher of this portion
of the state.

The marriage of 3ilr. Baum took place April
27, 1898, and united him with Miss Sarah Big-
gart, who was born in Xew York but since 1886
has made her home on the Pacific coast. Three
children comprise their family, namely : Alvin
Walter, Jennie Alice and Arline Lotta. The
only organization in which ]\Ir. Baum holds
membership is the Fraternal Brotherhood, and
he has maintained a warm interest m the work
of that order. Public-spirited as a citizen, pro-
gressive as a man, stanch in his allegiance to the
Democratic party, liberal in his views, willing to
aid friends who are candidates for office but
never desirous of securing office for himself, he
furnishes an illustration of the native Califor-
nians whose energy and intelligence promise
success for themselves and prosperity for the
commonwealth.

HARVEY W. HINCKS. One of the rising
young business men of Long Beach is Harvey W.
Hincks, surve3'or and draughtsman, with offices
in the Long Beach Bank building, from which
emanates much of the most important business
in that line transacted in Long Beach and vicin-
ity. He is a descendant of Scotch-Irish an-
tecedents, who founded the family in Ontario,
Canada, and there the father, John F. Hincks,
was Iwrn August 7, 1857. During his boyhood
years he had been trained to perform his share
of the duties which fall to the lot of farmers'
sons, but he was not sufficiently pleased with the
life to follow it after he reached vears of discre-

tion and could choose his own calling. His tastes
lay rather along professional lines, and thus
it was that he matriculated as a student in Detroit
Medical College and prepared himself for the
medical profession. After his graduation he
settled in Manistee, Mich., where he enjoyed a
lucrative practice the remainder of his life, pass-
ing away there in 1901. In his young manhood
he married Mary A. Porter, also a native of
Ontario, who still resides on the old homestead
in Manistee, Alich. The younger of the two
sons born to Mr. and Mrs. Hincks, J. Frank, has
followed in the footsteps of his father in the
matter of a profession and is a graduate of the
University of Michigan and is now a practicing
surgeon in the Jackson Citv Hospital, in Jackson,
Mich.

Harvey W. Hincks was born in Goderich,
Ontario, June 24, 1880, his parents removing
to Michigan when he was a child of only four
years. As for him, his life really began in Man-
istee, where he attended both the common and
high schools and later, in 1899, entered as a stu-
dent in the University of Michigan. His
intention had been to take a thorough course in
mechanical and civil engineering, but the death
of his father in 1901 brought his student life
to a close and put before him the necessity of ob-
taining his own support. Accepting the first op-
portunity that offered, for a short time he was
a clerk in the office of the Manistee & North-
eastern Railroad, but the fall of that year found
him in Los Angeles, where he was employed as
draughtsman in the office of E. T. Wright and
S. O. Wood, until he obtained a position with
a party on the United States Geological Survey.
Later in the same year he came to Long Beach
and entered the office of the city engineer as chief
draughtsman, a position which he filled with
credit to himself until he was appointed building
inspector for the city of Long Beach. In
December, 1905, he opened an office of his own,
and has since been established in the Long Beach
Bank Building. All of the large and authentic
maps of Long Beach now in use are his work,
and he has likewise surveyed and made plats
of Long Beach, Alamitos, Compton, and much
of the adjacent country. Each month these plats
are brought up to date, noting all changes
and subdivisions, which makes them absolutely
correct and invaluable for reference. He has
lately completed an official map of the city of
Long Beach, which was the first of the kind to
give in minute detail the new city limits. It
is a work of art and considered one of the finest
pieces of work ever given to the public in South-
ern California. Besides the line of work just
noted ]\Ir. Hincks also does landscape garden-
ing, such as laying out parks and gardens, a
line which in itself forms quite a feature of his

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1821

business. Twelve men are- employed under his
direction, either in the office or in the field, each
being an expert in his line. Mr. Hincks has
recently completed an authentic automobile road
map known as the "'.Vuto-Roads of Southern
California."

In Los Angeles ]\Ir. Hincks was united in
marriage with Mabel E. Smith, a native of Paris,
Tex., and one child, Marion Elizabeth, has been
born to them. Politically Mr. Hincks is a Re-
publican. As a member of the National Guard
of California he served in the Signal Corps of the
First Brigade for three years, at the end of which
time he received his honorable discharge. He
has always been an enthusiast along the line of
athletics, and has given much of his time to
numerous clubs, such as the Turn Verein,
Germania and the local Y. M. C. A., at Long
Beach.

HARVEY S. MOURNING. The San Ber-
nardino flour mills, which form one of the
leading industries of the city, were estab-
lished by J. V. Suman, who erected at Colton
in 1893 a plant consisting of a complete roller
system. Four years later the building and
equipment were moved to San Bernardino and
since then the business has enjoyed a steady-
growth. The original owner was succeeded
by Harvey S. Mourning, the present propri-
etor, under whose intelligent oversight a high
grade of flour is produced, surpassed by none
in California, according to the testimony of
competent judges. The plant has a capacity
of ^seventy-five barrels per day and is operated
by electricity, besides being provided with
other modern appliances well adapted to pro-
mote the saving of labor and the increasing of
speed, as well as enhancing the quality of the
flour. In addition to the principal product,
some attention is devoted to the grinding of
chicken feed, horse feed and dairy feed, for
which there are constant orders sent in by
farmers of the vicinity.

The proprietor of the mills came to Califor-
nia from Illinois, where he was born on a farm
near Macomb, McDonough county, January
27, 1867, being a son of William H. and Nan-
cy A. (Breeden) Mourning. His father, a
native of Kentucky, was taken to Illinois by
his parents in infancy and there grew to man-
hood, married, and settled on a farm. For
years he was a prosperous stock-raiser and
general farmer. Since his death, which oc-
curred in 1898, his widow has continued to
live on the old Illinois homestead. Reared
on that farm, Harvey S. Mourning received
such advantages as country schools aft'orded,
and later took a course of study in the Ma-

comb Normal School. At the age of twenty-
one years he left the old home and the asso-
ciations of youth, in order to start out for him-
self, and his first stopping place was in Cali-
fornia, whore he worked at the milling busi-
ness for a lime. \Mth the means thus earned
he returned to Illinois and took a two-years'
course of stud}' in the Macomb Normal
School. At the expiration of his course of
study he returned to Southern California and
secured employment in the Colton roller mills.
During the progress of the Spanish-Ameri-
can war in 1898 Mr. Alourning enlisted in
Company K, Seventh California Infantry,
commanded by Colonel J. R. Berry. The regi-
ment was ordered to San Francisco and en-
camped at the Presidio until honorably dis-
charged at the expiration of six months.
Thereupon Mr. Mourning returned to his work
in the roller mill. During October of 1899 he
went to New York, but in a short time re-
turned to San Bernardino and became a part-
ner in the milling busines.'? with his father-in-
law, J. V. Suman, with whom he continued
until the death of Mr. Suman July 3, 1904.
Since then he has continued the business alone.
Besides the management of the mill he is a
stockholder in and president of the Gem Min-
ing Company of San Bernardino county, and
has interests in other enterprises of an impor-
tant nature. His comfortable home is presided
over bv his wife, Josephine F., daughter of J.
\". Suman. and a prominent member of the so-
cial circles of San Bernardino, wiiere .she was
residing at the time of her marriage, June 14,
1900. In fraternal relations Wr. ^Mourning has
his membership with Ashlar Lodge No. 306,
F. & A. M., at Colton, besides which he is iden-
tified with the Alodern ^^'oodmen of America.

JACOB, B. RENTCHLER. Ever since the
death of her husband, in 1905, Mrs. Rentchler
has made her heme on the ranch of fifty acres,
not far from the village of La Ballona, in Los
Angeles county, upon which he settled in 1895,
and began the work of improvement and culti-
vating the soil for the raising of alfalfa, which is
the chief crop ban'ested.

In common with many who have assisted in
developing the possibilities which abound in the
west, Mr. Rentchler was of eastern birth, and
was bom in I'nion county, Pennsylvania, Feb-
ruary 5, 1828. into the home of Jacob and Eliza-
beth Rentchler. The subscription school, which
he attended, was located on his father's farm.
In that early day advantages were poor at best,
but. meager as thev were. Mr. Rentchler man-
aged to gain a fairly good education. Later
A-ears found him a resident of Tllionis. where for

1822

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ten years he was engaged in the manufacture of
wheat drills and cuhivatcrs. In Belleville, that
state, he carried on a banking business for a num-
ber of years, but finally gave this up and became
interested in mining in New Mexico. During
the six years spent there he operated several
mines, besides owning stock in the Eclipse and
Comstock mines. The sale of the famous Kan-
garoo mine, which he owned, but which was
leased to and was worked by other parties, made
him a wealthy man, and with the means which
this gave him, he came to California, purchasing
the ranch upon which his widow now lives, not
far from La Ballona, although Palms is the post-
office and market town. He passed away in 1905,
having attained the ripe age of seventy-seven
years.

The lady who became the wife of Mr. Rentch-
ler was, in maidenhood, jNIary J. Beecher,
and spent her early years in New Orleans. Her
father's relatives are connected with Henry
Ward Beecher and Harriet Bteecher Stowe.
W'ith an aunt, whom she had visited in St. Louis,
she went to Illinois, and on the way became ac-
quainted with Mr. Rentschler, their marriage
following in 1855. Six children were born of
their marriage, but only five reached years of
maturity. Louis is in the employ of a railroad
in St. Louis; Frank R. is connected with the
auditor's office in Los Angeles ; Anna resides in
Belleville, 111., where her husband, George Rog-
ers, owns an iron foundry : Alice is the wife
of Edward Powell, yardmaster in the employ of
a railroad in New Mexico; George was formerly
a builder in Los Angeles, but is now in New jNIex-
ico. Mr. Rentchler was a man of public spirit,
a good business man and one who always lived
a Christian life, following the Golden Rule.

ELBERT A. SPAULDING. The genealogy
of the Spaulding family in America dates back
to the year 1632, when one of that name crossed
the ocean to the primeval wilderness of New
England and from the time of his arrival until
his death endured the hardships, privations and
perils incident to existence on the bleak shores
of an unknown sea. Some time after the Pil-
grim Fathers had set up their cabins along
the Massachusetts shores, a band of emigrants
started from that colony to found homes in Con-
necticut and with them went a member of the
Spaulding family. Later generations of that
race bore an active part in the upbuilding of
Connecticut. In that state Sampson Spaulding
was born and reared and from there he re-
moved to Vermont, settling on the frontier with
no neighbors except Indians. The cabin home
on the then frontier at Orweh, was the birth-
place of his son, Ira, and there he passed the

years of boyhood and youth, industriously assist-
ing in the converting of a raw tract of land into
a profitable farm. During the war of 181 2 he
assisted his country in winning a second triumph
over England, and subsequently he followed the
tanner's trade. While Michigan was still one
vast unbroken wilderness he traveled thither by
"prairie schooner," and in 1833 became one of
the very first settlers of Washtenaw county,
where he filed a claim to a tract of government
land and engaged in tilling the soil during the
remainder of his life. Eighty-three useful and
active years were granted him and he died at his
old Michigan home.

At the time of the removal of the family to
^Michigan ^^'arren Spaulding, a native of "\'er-
mont, was a child of five years, and afterward he
gained his education in the early schools of
Washtenaw county, eventually taking up agri-
cultural pursuits and reaping a financial suc-
cess which his large talents abundantly merited.
Among his children there was a son, Elbert A.,
whose name introduces this article and who is
now a prominent citizen of Inglewood, Los An-
geles county. He owns and makes his home in
the house once owned and occupied by John C.
Fremont. This son was born at Hillsdale. Mich..
February 29, 1856, and grew to manhood upon
a farm. Although his educational advantages
were meagre, by observation and self-culture he
supplemented his text-book lore with knowledge
of even greater value in the busy world of af-
fairs. When twenty-one years of age he joined
with his father and brother in starting a colony
in Richland county, N. Dak., where in the brief
interval of eighteen months they located two
hundred and sixteen families on carefully se-
lected lands. Later for eight years he traveled
as emigrant agent in the employ of the railroad,
and also for twelve years held office as notary
public and two years as postmaster at Fairmount.
N. Dak., also for twenty years he was engaged
in the sale of threshing machines. With his
brother in 1899 he came to California, looking
for a suitable location for settlers, and being
pleased with Inglewood he brought back a com-
pany of people for this place. Further acquaint-
ance with the climate and soil increased his ad-
miration for this country, and he has no cause
for regret in his choice of a permanent location.
Three months after coming west he began to
take contracts for the erection of houses and
since August of 1905 he has also conducted a
real-estate business, and as emigration agent has
located manv hundred people in Inglewood.

The marriage of Mr. Spaulding and Miss Net-
tie M. Allen, a native of Michigan, was sol-
emnized on Christmas day of 1879, and has been
blessed with three sons and six daughters:
Zora, deceased ; Ava, wife of L. O. Calkins ; Ot-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1823

tie; Harry; William, deceased; Winnie, deceased;
Lecra, Edna and .Mildred. Though stanchlv Re-
publican in his views, j\lr. Spaulding has shown
no partisanship in his preferences and has nev-
er solicited official honors at the hands of his fel-
low-citizens, although he has accepted various
local offices, including that of postmaster of
Fairmount, Richland county, N. Dak., and in ev-
ery position has displayed energy, intelligence
and sagacity. In Masonry he has affiliated with
the blue lodge at Redondo and has maintained a
warm interest in the philanthropies' of the fra-
ternity.

JOHN G. PALMER. Countless hosts of visi-
tors to the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 saw
and admired the California exhibit and not a
few of them were so pleased with the display of
products that they determined to come to the
Pacific coast whenever opportunity offered.
Among such was John G. Palmer, who formerly
had been a minister in the Methodist Episcopal
denomination, but was obliged to discontinue
preaching on account of impaired health and at
the time of tlie Exposition was engaged in the
publishing business at Blairstown, Iowa. A
native of Iowa, born November 16, 1854, he had
prepared for the ministry in Northwestern Uni-
versity at Evanston, 111., and commenced to
'preach at Andrew, Iowa. Two years later, in
1878. he was ordained to the ministry of the
Methodist Episcopal denomination at Maquoketa,
Iowa, and later held charges at Andrew, Otter-
ville and Blairstown. Iowa, and at Aberdeen and
Highmore, S. Dak. During his pastorate at
Aberdeen he was instrumental in securing the
erection of a parsonage and a church building
Vv'hich cost $10,000 and which at dedication was
paid for with the exception of only $700. After
the town of Highmore had been almost wholly
wiped out by a cyclone he went to that place
and aided in saving the Methodist house of wor-
ship from being sold at a sheriff's sale. Indeed,
in every place where he labored, he proved his
genius as a financier and executive, and every
congregation was left, at his departure, in a sat-
isfactory condition financially as well as spiritu-
ally. During his residence in South Dakota in
1884-85 he published a Methodist Church histori-
cal directory of the state and shortly after-
ward became interested in the publication of the
Blairstown Prrss. which he conducted for eight
years.

The prospects offered by Long Reach induced
]\rr. Palmer to settle in this city after coming to
the west and here, in 18Q7. he established the
Press Printing office with F. R. Smith as a
partner. While in charge of the Press he be-
came interested in the construction of the present

pleasure wharf. This matter he continued to
agitate until a committee was finally selected by
the city council and the board of trade and
authorized to design such a wharf and report
costs, etc., to the authorities. As secretary of
this committee, Mr. Palmer labored assiduously
for nine months and carried on a voluminous
correspondence in relation to similar structures,
endeavoring to secure accurate data as to cost
and best metliods of construction. It was a
source of great gratification to him when the
report of the committee was accepted and the
building brought forward to completion with the
result that the wharf is now one of the city's
principal attractions. Since coming to Long
Beach he has erected eleven dwelling houses and
three business blocks, and has maintained a con-
stant interest in the building activities of the city.
The marriage of Mr. Palmer united him with
Miss Ida R. Smith, who was born in Illinois.
Their family consists of four children, all at
home, and named as follows : Harry R., a prin-
ter by trade; Jennie M., a stenographer; Ruth
Ann and Percy Edward. In politics Mr. Palmer
votes with the Republican party. While living
in South Dakota he became affiliated with the
lodge, chapter and commandery of Masonry at
Aberdeen. Though no longer identified with the
ministry, he is deeply interested in the work of
his denomination, and for many years offi-
ciated as secretary of the board of trustees
of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Long
Beach and as secretary of the official board of the
church. At the time of the erection of the first
edifice he served on the building committee and
gave freely of time and means to push the work
forward to a satisfactory completion, and is still
a member of the lioard of trustees.

IRVING LEWIS BLINN. Although young
in years the above named gentleman holds rank
with the most progressive and enterprising citi-
zens of WHiittier, Los Angeles county, where he
is a leading factor in the industries of the place
as manager of the Whittier Lumber & Mill
Company, a well known enterprise of Southern
California. Mr. Blinn is a native son of the
state, his birth having occurred in San Francisco
.\ugust 2, 1870. In that locality he was reared
to the age of seventeen years, receiving his edu-
cation in St. IMatthew's Hall school of San
Mateo and Hopkins Academy of Berkeley. Fol-
lowing the completion of his .studies he was sent
by his father, Lewis W. Blinn. to represent tlie
latter's interest at Tombstone, .^riz.. where he
remained until December, 1888. In that vear
he came to Los .•\ngeles and opened an office,
representing the Blinn Lumber Companv in a
clerical position, continuing so occupied for

1824

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

some time, when he became an emplo3-e of the
San Pedro Lumber Company in order to become
thoroughly familiar with the lumbering business.
Both companies engaged extensively in the
wholesale and retail lumber trade and by his ap-
plication to the work he became proficient in
every department and capable of superintending
the business. In 1889 he resigned from his po-
sition in Los Angeles and went north in order
to accept a position in Tacoma, Wash., to thor-
oughly familiarize himself with the details of the
lumber manufacturing business. He became
associated with the Tacoma Mills Company in
the capacity of manager, having charge of their
retail business for the period of two years. Go-
ing to Portland, Ore., at the expiration of that
time he opened a lumber brokerage office, and
later, in company with others, bought a sawmill
located at Westport, on the Columbia river. He
met with gratifying success in this enterprise
and acquired an experience which has been of
inestimable service to him throughout his career
in this line of business. Heeding a wish of his
father's, he returned to Southern California in
June, 1903, and assumed the management of the
Whittier Lumber Company, which position he
still occupies. He is justly numbered among
the most enterprising and substantial men of this
section.

I\Ir. Blinn now makes his home in Whittier.
where he is a leading citizen. He has one son,
Lewis W. Blinn, by a former marriage. Fra-
ternally Mr. Blinn is associated with the Elks,
being a member. of Lodge No. 142, of Portland,
Ore., Lodge No. 323, F. & A. M., and Lodge
No. 91, R. A. M., the two latter of Whittier,
Cal.

JOSEPH AUSTIN EDWARDS. Among
the business men of Hemet there is none more
enterprising and energetic than Joseph Austin
Edwards, who has been a resident of Southern
California since 1887. The Edwards family has
been a prominent one in this country ever since
the early colonial days, when the great-grand-
father, Casper Edwards, fought in the French
and Indian wars, and as a participant in the bat-
tle of Quebec was one of the men who assisted
in carrying the body of General Wolfe from the
field. He also served in the Revolutionary war,
was in the battle of Princeton, and was at one
time taken captive by the Indians, who carried
him to Quebec. Joseph Edwards, the son of
Casper, married Abigail Buell, whose father
also was a Revolutionary soldier. The grand-
father, who was born in Windsor, Broome coun-
ty, N. Y., removed to Chenango county, and
later, in 1843, to Wisconsin, where his death
finallv occurred. Edward F. Edwards, the

father of "Joseph Austin, was born in Chenango,
N. Y., in 1822, and removed to Wisconsin when
twenty years of age. He bought a farm near
East Troy, in Walworth county, and improved
it, in 1852 removing to LaCrosse county, buy-
ing a farm at West Salem, twelve miles from
LaCrosse. He was one of the very first set-
tlers in that section of the state, became the first
postmaster at West Salem, and was also a justice
of the peace there. That place continued to be
his residence until 1882, when he went still
further west and located at Huron, S. Dak.
After living there a number of years he came to
California to make his home with his son. The
mother, who was Almira Carver in maidenhood,
was a daughter of Austin Carver, also an early
settler in Walworth county. Wis., and is now
living with J. A. Edwards, he being the only
one of their two children now living. The elder
Mr. Edwards is eighty-four years of age, and
his wife five years younger.

It was in July, 1848, that Mr. Edwards was
born near East Troy, Walworth county, Wis.,
his boyhood days being spent on the farm at
West Salem, where he received his preliminary
education in the public schools, and took a fin-
ishing course in the West Salem Academy.
After graduation he taught one term of school,
but finding that he preferred a business career
in 1872 he began to deal in grain, wool and live
stock, shipping stock and produce from six dif-
ferent stations along the Chicago & Northwest-
ern Railway to Chicago, soon conducting the
largest business of that nature on the division.
Impaired health compelled him to seek a milder
climate, and in 1887 he came to Los Angeles,
spending two years in recuperating, and in 1889
again took an active part in business operations.
He purchased an orange orchard at Azusa, kept
it a short time, then sold it and located at Bur-
bank where he engaged in the dried fruit busi-
ness, built a packing house and continued to
conduct it for seven years. From there he re-
moved to Phoenix, Ariz., where he was in the
grocery business until 1905. In the meantime
he had also become the owner of an alfalfa and
stock ranch at Glendale. Ariz. Disposing of his
property interests in that state he returned to
California, and in Hemet purchased the Cree &
Bruce grocery store and also the stock of Gra-
ham & Fast, and has turned his business into
general merchandising, with a very complete
stock, it being the largest store of its kind in
Riverside county. He employs eight experienced
assistants and three horses and wagons. His
business grew to such an extent that the old
quarters were inadequate and in November of
1905 he erected a new building 50x75 feet in
dimensions, which is used as a salesroom, with
warehouses in the rear. He has also opened up

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1825

a branch srocery store in Valle Vista, and to
all his interests he gives his personal super-
vision.

The marriage of Mr. Edwards occurred in
Wisconsin, and united him with Miss Mona
Dickinson, a native of Massachusetts. One
daughter, who is now Mrs. Hattie Noyes, of
Greenwood. Wis., was born to them. Mrs. Ed-
wards died in Wisconsin. Politicallv he is an
advocate of the principles embraced in the Re-
publican party and while official positions do not
appeal to him he does his dutv as an active and
public spirited citizen and is held in the highest
esteem by all who know him.

EBER K. P.ITHER. Since the founding
of the town of Oxnard during the vear 1898
Vr. Bither has been identified with' its com-
mercial and agricultural interests, and mean-
while has developed a transfer business from
an insienificant enterprise to its present large
proportions. The management of this busi-
ness with the filling of the contract for the
sprinkling of the ^.treets and also the filling
of orders for draying. he gives over largely
to his sons, while his attention is devoted in
large measure to the management of three
hundred and thirtv acres near town, utilized
in the raising of beets and beans as well as
other farm produce. The barns necessary for
the proper care of his twenty-six head of
horses as well as the substantial residence
occupied by his family have been erected under
his supervision in recent years, and each is
well adapted for its special purpose.

Of remote Scotch descent. Mr. Bither is
a member of an old Maine family, and was
born in Aroostook county, that state, February
27, 1851, being a son of Phineas and Maria
(Porter) Bither, natives respectively of Free-
dom, Waldo county. Me., and Nova Scotia.
The paternal grandfather, Benjamin Bither,
was a native and lifelong resident of ^Nlaine,
where he followed the builder's trade. The
maternal grandfather. David Porter, became
a pioneer of Wisconsin and Minnesota, where
he engaged in mining, also labored as a pion-
eer agriculturist and frontiersman, and during
the Blackhawk war went out against the
Indians with other earlv settlers. .A.t the age
of twenty-tw^o years Phineas Bither settled
upon seventy-five acres of timbered land,
which he cleared and made ready for cultiva-
tion, and afterward he devoted the tract
principally to potatoes. On that place he re-
mained until death.

Four sons and three daughters comprised
the parental family and of these three .sons and
two daughters survive, the gentleman whose

name introduces this article being the eldest of
the number. As a boy he became familiar
with work in the lumber regions of Maine and"
with the cea.seless toil connected with the care
of the small home place, which under the most
intensive form of cultivation scarcely produced
enough for the proper education of the large
family of children. At the age of twenty-two
years he left home to make his own way in the
world. During two winter seasons he was
employed in driving teams in Clearfield, Pa.,
and from there in 1876 came to California, es-
tablishing himself on a farm near the Cotton-
wood, in Merced county, where he leased
three hundred and twenty acres of grain land.
From that beginning he increased his lease-
holds until he had the cultivation of three
thousand acres under his personal care, and the
large output of grain he hauled to Hill's Ferry
for shipment. After the death of his wife in
1887 he removed to Saticoy and for two years
engaged in farming and teaming, after which
he cultivated a portion of the Las Posas
rancho for three years. During the next two
years he engaged in teaming in Santa Cruz,
from which point he returned to Ventura
county and the Las Posas rancho. Three
years later, in 1898, he came to the new town
of Oxnard, where he rented land and em-
barked in the raising of beans and beets.
Shortly afterward he bought out Bell's trans-
fer line and from it has developed a large and
profitable business.

The marriage of Mr. Bither took place in
Maine and united him with Miss Mary Buck,
who was born in that state and died in Mer-
ced county, Cal., leaving four children, name-
ly : Vivian R., who married Frank Runkle, of
Simi, Ventura county ; Miriam A., who resides
with her father in Oxnard ; Harry S. and Hart-
ley S., who have charge of the transfer busi-
ness owned by their father. Another son,
Eber, di^d while yet a small child. Politically
a Democrat. Mr. Bither at no time has been
active in politics nor has he ever sought polit-
ical offices, but he has maintained a keen in-
terest in affairs tending toward the progress
of county, state and nation. Since coming to
Oxnard he has been identified actively with
the lodge and encampment of the Odd Fel-
lows, and in addition has held membership
with the Independent Order of Foresters.

EDWARD PRENTISS CLYDE. Probably
no one in the vicinity of Highland can more fit-
tinglv claim the title of pioneer than Edward
P. Clyde, who for nearly half a century has
lived on his present property not far from High-
land. When he located here in September,

1826

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1855, Indians were his nearest neighbors and the
frequent visitations from wild animals made
constant watchfulness on the part of the settlers
a necessity. All of this is now changed, and in
the transformation which the intervening years
have brought about in the introduction of labor-
saving machinery and the multitudinous influ-
ences that make for progress none has been a
more interested witness than Mr. Clyde.

A native of the Empire state, Edward P.
Clyde was born in St. Lawrence county Novem-
ber 9, 1 83 1, a son of George W. and Cynthia
(Davis) Clyde. About 1835, when their son
was a lad of four years, the parents took up their
westward march, crossing the Mississippi river
and locating for a time in Missouri. Another
removal found them in Illinois, from there go-
ing to Iowa, and in 1850 they crossed the plains
and took up their abode in Utah. Of the seven
children originally comprising the parental fam-
ily Edward P. is next to the oldest living. In
April, 185s, he started from Utah with Cali-
fornia as his destination. Settling in San Ber-
nardino county, he erected the first house which
appeared in this part of the valley. In 1858 he
purchased one hundred acres near what is now
Highland, but from time to time he has dis-
posed of portions of it until now he has only
thirty acres, upon which he is engaged in gen-
eral farming with very satisfactory results. In
the early days he planted trees which have
grown and flourished with passing years until
today one of the most distinguishing features of
the Clyde ranch is the grove of alanthus trees,
which have grown to enormous size.

A marriage ceremony performed December
26, 1858, united the destinies of Edward P.
Clyde and ]\Iary .Singleton, the latter a daugh-
ter of Robert and Betsy (Hindle) Singleton.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Clyde,
William Robert. George Edward and Rufus
Thomas, all of whom are living.

DANFORD ATWOOD. The years that have
elapsed since the death of Danford Atwood have
not effaced from the minds of those who knew
him the splendid characteristics and qualities of
manhood shown in his career of pioneer and
upbuilder of the best interests of San Bernardino
county. He was the representative of an old
New England family on his mother's side. She
was formerly Lucy Turner, a native of Con-
necticut, while his father, Reuben Atwood, and
two brothers, immigrated from England and
took up their residence in that state. Some time
after his marriage Reuben Atwood decided to
immigrate to the western part of the middle
west, and in Nauvoo, III. made his home for
some time. Finallv removing to Council Bluffs,

Iowa, he resided there until his death, which oc-
curred at an advanced age. His wife survived
him for some time, eventually passing away in
Springfield, Utah. They were the parents of
four children, of whom Danford was the eldest;
Rebecca, Mrs. Wareham, died in Springfield,
Utah, in which city Celah and Dwight also passed
away.

Danford Atwood was born in Connecticut in
1823 and in childhood was brought to the
frontier, where he was reared to manhood among
the primitive surroundings of the middle west.
Early imbued with the frugal and conscientious
habits of his New England ancestors, he em-
barked in an independent career with no capital
save that of his qualities of manhood. In 1850,
in Council Bluffs, he was united in marriage
with Miss Jane Garner, a native of Illinois.
Her father, George Garner, was born in North
Carolina and in young manhood located in
Ouincy, 111., where he engaged in farming for
some years, later removing 'to Council Bluffs,
Iowa. In 1850 he removed to Payson, Utah,
following stock-raising and farming there and
making that place his home throughout the re-
mainder of his life. He was a descendant of a
Revolutionary family, his father having served
in the Colonial army. He died at the advanced
age of one hundred and five years, while the
grandmother lived to the age of one hundred
and six. George Garner was first married in
Hancock county. 111., to Elizabeth Hedrick, a
native of Indiana, and a daughter of Reuben
Hedrick. She died in Illinois at the age of
thirty-two years. They had six children, of
whom three are now living, namely : Mrs. At-
wood; John E. Garner, a farmer of San Ber-
nardino ; and Mrs. Rathbun, also of -San Ber-
nardino. For his second wife Mr. Garner mar-
ried Lydia Hill. In 1846 he removed to Coun-
cil Bluffs, Iowa, whence he crossed the plains
with ox-teams in 1852 and located in San Ber-
nardino, Cal. He purchased land on Lytle creek
and farmed until 1872, when he sold out and
went to Utah, where he was killed by a runa-
way team August 31, 1877.

After his marriage Danford Atwood farmed
in Council Bluffs until May, i860, when with
his family he crossed the plains to California,
arriving in San Bernardino December i of the
same year. The trip was a hard and dangerous
one. The night before they reached Vagus
Springs the train called a halt at two o'clock
in the morning and every man and ox laid down
to sleep, but ISIrs. Atwood, realizing the danger
they were in, stood guard for two hours, the
train reaching their destination early the next
morning in safety. Soon after his arrival in the
state Mr. Atwood purchased land, which after
two years he sold and reinvested the proceeds

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1827

in one hundred acres in the Warm creek dis-
trict. In addition to improving the land he
erected a fine residence, good barns and out-
buildings. Together with his wife he labored
as a pioneer in both his personal affairs and the
community in which he made his home, estab-
lishing himself as a citizen of worth and works,
and one to whom the respect and esteem of all
who knew him were generously given. His
death was caused by injuries received in a run-
away on November 8, 1892, passing awav a
month later.

Mr. Atwood left a widow and eight children,
namely: Eveline, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, of Santa
Monica ; Ernestine, Mrs. C. C. Janney, of San
Bernardino; Arnold, the only son, also of San
Bernardino: Ann, wife of William Banford, of
Nordhoff, Gal.; Emma, wife of John Shay, of
San Bernardino; Ida, wife of William Benson,
of Colton. Gal.; Sarah, wife of George Holiday,
of San Bernardino; and Lizzie, wife of Judd
Rush, a leading attorney of Los Angeles. Since
her husband's death Mrs. Atwood has resided
in San Bernardino, where she looks after her
extensive interests. She is a devoted member of
the Christian Qiurch and a woman of rare worth
of character, esteemed by all who have known
her durinsr her residence in Southern California.

WILLIAM NEWPORT. The city of Ches-
ter, where Mr. Newport spent the years of his
early life, presents a marked contrast to the local-
ity of his residence during mature years. When
he came to Southern California he found the land
undeveloped, the towns new and the conditions
those of the frontier, while in his old home town
antiquity had set its seal upon land and buildings.
One of the oldest cities of England, Chester,
still has in a fair state of presei-vation its en-
circling walls built by the Romans in A. D. 73,
in order to protect the inhabitants from invasion.
In all of England there is but one other city that
has its ancient walls preserved. It is the proud
boast of Chester that never once, since its walls
were built, has the city been taken by an enemy
or succumbed to any foe. Visitors from other
points always enjoy the walk along these old
walls, with the fine view of the placid and wind-
ing river Dee, and the view of the narrow streets
of the ancient town with their gabled-roofed
houses and galleried stores.

Such were the surroundings with which ^Ir.
Newport became familiar in boyhood days. Born
June 5, 1856, he was the only child of the union
of William and Mary (Newns) Newport. The
father was born in England in 1818 and the
paternal grandfather in 1788. The mother was
born in 1820. became the wife of William New-
port in 1854, and had only one child, to whom

was given the name of the father, \Villiam. As
far back as the records can be traced the an-
cestors followed farming pursuits, and it is nat-
ural that William Newport should have inherit-
ed a taste for agriculture. Determining to seek
a home in a country where a young man could
find a desirable opportunity to prosecute large
landed holdings, he came to the United States in
1876, at the age 'of twenty years, and at once
proceeded to San Francisco, thence going to
Los Angeles county, where he engaged in farm-
ing for nine years, meanwhile studying the soil,
climate and possibilities of different localities.

During the year 1885 Mr. Newport came to
Riverside county and purchased two thousand
acres, almost all of which could be tilled.

His removal to the ranch resembled the migra-
tions of the patriarchs whose journeyings are
recorded in Biblical history. Twelve wagons
formed the train and were loaded with provisions,
lumber, implements and other necessities, includ-
ing a building 9x18 feet in dimensions, and
one story in height, which was utilized as a cook-
house. Cattle, horses and mules in large num-
bers were driven by his men servants. Menifee
valley he found very dry and its few settlers look-
ed with pity upon the young man who, they de-
clared, could not make a success of farming in
such a dry country. However, their sentiments
did not discourage him. Taking up the work
in hand, he built a substantial ranch-house and
two large barns. Later he planted ten acres in
fruit and laid out ample grounds adorned with
shade and ornamental trees, hedges, walks and
drives, making of the homestead one of the most
attractive in the entire country.

To aid in the cultivation of the land Mr.
Newport employs about thirty men. some of
whom have been with him twenty years or more.
The cooking is in charge of four Chinamen.
The plowing is done by means of twenty gang-
plows with a total capacity of two hundred acres
per day. In addition to his large holdings he
operates other land, aggregating fifteen thou-
sand acres, of which thirteen thousand acres
are in grain (wheat and barley) and the balance
in pasture and alfalfa meadow. The grain crops
average seven bags per acre each year, but the
present crop (1906) will average much more, as
the season has been unusually favorable. The
harvesting is quickly dispatched with the aid
of his four thirty-horse combined harvesters, and
all of the other work moves with rapidity and
system under the judicious oversight of the pro-
prietor.

One of the specialties of the ranch is the rais-
ing of blooded horses and mules. Experience
has proved that the pasturage and climate are
adapted to the production of fine stock, and some
of the animals raised on the land have won

1828

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wide recognition by their excellent markings
and speed. All of the teams used in the cultivation
of the land are raised here, as well as many
others for the general markets. In addition Mr.
Newport engages in raising Berkshire hogs, of
which he has some specimens as fine as can be
found in the United States. Both in stock and
in grain nothing satisfies him that is short of the
best. In sowing the land he uses the finest quah-
ties of wheat and barley and as a consequence
his grain brings the very highest market prices.
The pumping plant which he built about 1894,
was the first' in this part of the country. Later
he put in another plant, both of which he now
uses, pumping the water into a large lake, from
which it is distributed to any part of the two
hundred acres under irrigation.

The putting in of the crops, their harvest-
ing and marketing, are conducted under a reg-
ular business system, with the aid of corps
of efificient workmen under the capable supervis-
ion of Mr. Newport. Energy is the watchword
of the proprietor. Laziness is not tolerated,
being utterly foreign to his own nature. At half-
past four in the morning the hands arise to take
care of the stock and while it is yet early, the
work in the fields is begun. Dry years have
brought hardships and failures of crops, yet in
spite of many discouragements Mr. Newport has
worked indefatigably and with such energy that
he now ranks among the foremost ranchmen of
Southern California, and the broad acres which
he has transformed into an attractive ranch
prove him to be a man of unusual capability.

After having worked for years without a vaca-
tion, in 1890 J\'Ir. Newport laid aside agricultural
cares for a time and returned to visit Chester
and his relatives in old England. There he mar-
ried Miss Kathryn Lloyd, who, like himself, was
born and educated in Chester. They are the
parents of five children, namely: William Lloyd.
George Denson, Frederick William, Samuel
Newns, and Mary Kathr\'n. The importance of
educational work appeals to Mr. Newport, who
since 1902 has officiated as school trustee and
meanwhile has done much to promote the wel-
fare of the schools of the district.

HENRY BALY. The Bank of San Pedro, a
financial institution organized and established in
1888, has for its cashier one of the most promi-
nent and influential citizens of San Pedro, in
which city and vicinity he has been a resident
for the greater part of twenty-five years. Mr.
Baly is a native of London, England, born
August 4, 1853, the third of a family of eleven
children, of whom six attained maturity and five
are now living. His father, William Baly, was a

man of ability and education, having graduated
from the Royal Academy of ^lusic, in London,
where he became a professor of the science of
composition. He finally retired from active cares
and spent the remainder of his life at his country
home at Exeter. He is survived by his wife,
formerly Adelaide C. B_\Tn, a native of London,
whose home is still in Exeter.

Henry Baly was reared in Exeter and edu-
cated in Mt. Radford College, which he attended
until he was fourteen years old, when he went to
sea as midshipman. During the three or four
years ensuing he rounded the Cape of Good
Hope three times and Cape Horn twice during
his first trip to Melbourne on the Champion of
the Sea (of the Black Ball Line), the vessel be-
ing dismasted. When eighteen years of age he
quit the sea, and in the fall of 1872 came to
America. He spent three years in Illinois and
Indiana, farming for a part of the time in Du
Page county, Illinois, and in the vicinity of Good-
land, Newton county, Indiana. In the spring of
1876 he came to California, from Los Angeles
going north to Colusa county, where he spent his
first summer in Bear valley in farming and
stock-raising. Early in the fall he returned to
Los Angeles county and located in Wilmington,
where he entered the employ of Jacoby Brothers,
merchants of' that place. He remained in this
occupation for three years, engaged as a book-
keeper, when he located in the vicinity of Eldo-
rado, Butler county, Kans., where he followed
farming. Disposing of the two farms which he
owned, in 1885, he once more located in Wil-
mington and' engaged in the employ of the
Southem Pacific Railroad Company and also as
United States custom house inspector. He be-
came prominent in public afifairs in the city and
for two terms served as city clerk, and in the
meantime, in 1893, had entered the Bank of San
Pedro as bookkeeper. In 1897 he became assis-
tant cashier, which position he held until 1902,
when he was elected cashier. He is also a mem-
ber of the board of directors and is an important
factor in the upbuilding of the institution. This
bank was established as a state institution in
1888 and from its organization has made rapid
progress toward an important place among the
financial institutions of this section, in the last
three years having trebled its deposits. In addi-
tion to his position with this bank Mr. Baly is
also interested as vice-president and director
of the Citizens' Savings Bank of San Pedro,
which he helped to organize. He owns his
residence in San Pedro and also other valuable
real estate and takes an active interest in the
development and progress of the place.

In Wilmington Mr. Baly was united in mar-
riage with Anna Louise Parsons, a native of
Iowa, and the daughter of William Parsons, who

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1829

came to California with the Iowa colony that set-
tled in Riverside. His death occurred in Ven-
tura county, California. Mr. and j\lrs. Baly be-
came the parents of the following children : John,
in business in San Pedro ; Henry, bookkeeper for
the E. K. Wood Lumber Company, of San
Pedro ; Adelaide and Robert. Fraternally Mr.
Baly was made a Mason in San Pedro and has
been raised to the Royal Arch degree in this
lodge. He also belongs to the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and is past noble grand. Polit-
ically he is an adherent of the principles advo-
cated in the platform of the Republican part}-,
and in his religious views is a member of the
Episcopal Church. Mr. Baly occupies a place of
importance among the citizens of San Pedro, all
who know him recognizing the ability and integ-
rity which have marked his residence in this
section.

FRED SCHOLDER. Since 1858 Mr. Schol-
der has been closely identified with all plans and
projects inaugurated for the advancement and
well-being of San Diego county, his interest cen-
tering more particularly perhaps around Mesa
Grande, where he has resided continuously for
nearly half a century. In recalling incidents
connected with the early days in the vicinity
Mr. Scholder would no doubt give first place to
the disturbance experienced at the hands of the
Mexicans, who resented the invasion of the white
man and manifested their dislike in no unmistak-
able manner. Some idea of the remoteness of
neighbors may be gathered when it is known that
in order to form a jury it required all of the men
in the county. The same year in which Mr.
Scholder came to the state he purchased the
ranch upon which he now resides. It bore little
resemblance to the fine ranch which is to be seen
today, for it was almost entirely covered with
timber and brush, and much labor was neces-
sary before crops could be planted. In addi-
tion to the original purchase of one hundred
and sixty acres he has added adjoining land
to the amount of nine hundred acres, devoted
almost entirely to the raising of stock, although
some of the land is in grain.

Mr. Scholder is of German birth and. parent-
age, and is a son of John and Victoria (Hier^
Scholder, both of whom spent their entire lives
in Germany, the former passing away at the
age of seventy-six and the latter when sixty
years of age. Four of their eight children, how-
ever, became residents of the United States, all
settling in Ohio with the exception of Fred. The
latter was born in Wurtemberg May 6, 1832, and
until he attained his eighteenth year remained in
his native land. Equipped with a good common-
school education he came to the United States in

1850, going direct to Philadelphia from New
\orli City. After working on a farm m New
jersey tor about three years he joined the reg-
ular ai-my and was detailed for duty in the
Apache Indian war in Arizona. His service ex-
tended over five years, during which time he
was wounded in the leg, and he received his
discharge at Tucson. It was at this pomt m
his career that he decided to come to San Diego
county, demonstrating his approval and satis-
faction upon coming here by taking up land from
the government and becoming a permanent set-
tler.

In 1864 Mr. Scholder was married and of the
thirteen children born to himself and his wife,
two died in infancy and Lulu, when about four
years old. Named in order of birth the others
are as follows: Fritz, who married isabelle
Martinas; Adolph; Pauline; Joseph; Margaret,
who died at the age of twenty-six ; Samuel, who
died when in his seventeenth year; William;
Ora ; John and Louisa. In his' political belief
jNIr. Scholder is independent, casting his vote,
as every good citizen should do, with a view to
the candidate's fitness for office, irrespective of
party name or creed. At one time Mr. Schol-
der was considerably interested in mining, lo-
cating several tourmaline claims which later
proved very productive, and several gold claims ;
and from one ton of rock he secured $500 worth
of gold. He still has a fine claim on his ranch,
but of late years he has relinquished mining to
a great extent and given his attention more ex-
clusively to the management of his ranch.

JAMES C. WATKINS. A man of unlim-
ited energy, enthusiasm and enterprise, J. C.
Watkins is successfully engaged in the livery
business in Fallbrook, and is here prominently
identified with many of its leading interests,
being proprietor of the local transfer line, a
mail carrier, and a stockholder in both the
Fallbrook Hardware Company and the Fall-
brook Mercantile Company. A man of strong
mental vigor and great business aptitude, he
holds a good position among the leading citi-
zens of the place, and is ever among the fore-
most to forward all enterprises calculated to
develop and promote the general welfare of
the people and the community. A son of the
late W. K. Watkins, he was' born, April 18,
1866, in .Sonoma county, Cal, where he lived
until three years old.

Born in Arkansas, W. K. Watkins came to
California when a young man, crossing the
plains v^'ith ox-teams in 1853. Traveling in
the same train as far as Salt Lake was a little
girl nine years old, named Pathenia Catherine
Miller, whom he subsequently wooed and won.

1830

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

marrying her in 1858. She remained with her
parents in Utah for a year, and then came
with them to California, and her mother, now
an aged woman of ninety-one years, resides
with her in Fallbrook. W. K. Watkins was
a farmer throughout his life, beginning his
operations in that direction in Arkansas, and
closing his career in San Diego county, where
his death occurred in 1896, at the age of six-
ty-six years. His father, Ewell Watkins, was
a pioneer preacher of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, first in Arkansas, and later as a cir-
cuit rider throughout Southern California.

But three years of age when he was brought
by his parents to Los Angeles county, J. C.
Watkins lived there until 1880, when he came
with them to San Diego county. Here he
completed his early education, walking three
miles each morning to the district school. Se-
lecting the independent occupation with which
he became familiar in his boyhood, he pur-
chased land in Valley Center, and was there
engaged in tilling the soil for a number of
years. Desirous then of making a change, he
traded his ranch for his present livery busi-
ness in Fallbrook, and in its management has
been exceedingly successful. Taking posses-
sion in 1893, h? has built up a lucrative pat-
ronage, in addition to running a livery and
feed stable carrying the mail and operating a
transfer line. Kind, obliging and accommo-
dating, he is verv popular with his many
patrons, and as a man and a citizen is held in
high esteem.

On Thanksgiving day, November 30, 1904,
Mr. Watkins married Ella Bunkerman, a
daughter of Fred and Rebecca Bunkerman,
formerly residents of Kansas, but since 1902
residents of Southern California. Mr. and
Mrs. Watkins haw one daughter, Anna Izetta.
rolitically Air. Watkins is a steadfast Demo-
crat ; fraternally he is a member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows: and religiously
both Mr. and Mrs. \'\"atkins are members of
the iMethodist Episcopal Church.

CAPT. JAMES A. :\1(,\'ICAR. During the
early portion of the nineteenth century Alex-
ander l^TcVicar, a native df the >hire of Argyle
on the rock-bound shores of western Scotland,
came to the new world and settled in New
P.runswick. where, as in his earlier home, he
followed a seafaring life. For a time he was
emDloyed as a stevedore in St. George. His
wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth
McDermid, was of Scotch birth and came from
the vicinity of Edinlnirgh. Among their chil-
dren was a son. Archibald, who was bom at St.
George and followed the occupation of a steve-

dore at the docks of St. Johns, dying in the
former town in 1865. In early life he had mar-
ried Eliza Tracy, who was born in New B'runs-
wick of English parentage. Seven children were
Ijorn of their union, one of whom, William,
died at San Pedro, Cal. Only three of the fam-
ily are now living, and of these James A. is
the only one living on the Pacific coast. The
third among the children, he was born at St.
John, New Brunswick, August 14, 1851, and
at five years of age removed to St. George with
the other members of the family.

The circumstance of environment determined
Captain McVicar's occupation in life. As he
lived in a seaport town and belonged to a sea-
faring family, it was natural that he should
drift into a sailor's life. June 8, 1865, he entered
the coasting trade on the American ship Leb-
anon, and later went on the deep water in the
trans-Atlantic trade and to the West Indies. In
1874 he was mate and the following year became
master of his vessel. In 1876 he sailed around the
Horn and north to Central America, and later
made a second trip to the same point, thence
north to San Francisco, where his ship cast an-
chor in .\ugust of 1878. Following his arrival
on the Pacific coast he acted as second mate on
the Rival; mate on the Serena Thayer out from
San Pedro ; mate on the Jessie Nickerson and
then on the H. L. Tiernan : second mate on the
brig Hazard, to Honolulu (where he was ill in
a hospital for three months) ; and back to San
Francisco, where he secured a position as mate
on the coaster Haves.

While acting as mate on the schooner Edward
Parks, in i88io Captain McVicar was wrecked
on Humboldt Bar. Several of those on board
were lost. By jumping overboard and swim-
ming to a larger boat near by. his life was
saved, but he lost all of his possessions. The
next position which he held was that of mate
on the Serena Thayer, after which he made two
voyages on the Anna Larson, and then ser^^ed
as foreman of the San Pedro dock for one year.
Subsequent positions were with the Halcyon and
the I'ncle juliii as mate, during which time he
made a v(i\a,L;e tn Australia. In October of 1885
he became master of the Serena Thayer, which
]insition he rniitiinied tn fill until January of
U)Oi, aiKl then was master of the Reporter for
six nionths and of the brig Geneva for two and
(me-half years, meanwhile making two trips to
Australia, one voyage to Peru and several on
the coast. After a long and eventful life as a
mariner he quit the sea April 29, 1904. and took
up the quiet life of a landsman.

Buying an interest with R. L Brand in the
meat business, in February. igo=;, Captain Mc-
Vicar established the firm of ATcVicar & Brand,
who had a large local trade and also made a

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1831

specialty of furnishing meats to vessels and
ships that anchor at the port of San Pedro. The
residence of Captain McVicar stands on Four-
teenth street near Mesa and was erected under
his supervision in 1889. His marriage was sol-
emnized in Los Angeles November 13, 1887, and
united him with Annie Edwards, who was born
at Hastings, England, being a daughter of
Samuel and Mary (Hines) Edwards, also na-
tives of England. During early years Mr. Ed-
wards learned the pla.sterer's trade and this he
followed for m.any years after bringing his fam-
ily to Los Angeles. At this writing he and his
wife make their home with their daughter, Mrs.
McVicar. The latter was educated in Los An-
geles and for about four years held a position
as a bookkeeper in the office of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, resigning at the time
of her marriage. Four children were born of
her union, but one, Annie Leona, died at six
years of age. Those now living are James Will-
iam, Allen Archibald and Edward Randolph.
In religion Mrs. McVicar is identified with the
Episcopal Church and the captain is of the
Presbyterian faith. In 1884 he was made a
member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows at Humboldt and now belongs at San
Pedro, while his wife is past-grand of the kin-
dred order of Rebekahs. At one time he .was
active in the Ancient Order of United Work-
men, for many years was a member of St.
Andrew's Societv of San Francisco, and since
1886 has affiliated with the Knights of Pythias
at San Pedro. Before leaving New Brunswick
he was made a Mason at St. George in 1872 and
in 1886 transferred his membership to the lodge
at Humboldt, Cal. where he .still has his name
enroHed. Since becoming a citizen of the United
States he has kept posted concerning political
questions and has given his support to the Re-
publican party.

RAVAUD HOVEY CHITTENDEN, ]\I. D.,
is descended from a hardy race of pioneers. His
ancestors were among those sturdy men and
women of the earl}- day in the history of our
country, whose indomitable courage led them to
face hardship and privations in order to found
for themselves homes in a new land, and in doing
so became the founders of a great nation. Their
descendants are a long-lived race. On the for-
ward march of civilization the graves of the
weaker ones border the trail, and only the
stronger ones survive to the end of the journey.
These leave to their children, and their children's
children, an inheritance of strength and endur-
ance that serves them well in the battle of life.
The first Giittenden, founder of the family in
America, landed on our shores in 1639, and

numerous descedants are scattered throughout
the country. Dr. Chittenden's father was Linus
Chittenden; his mother, Julia Ann Hovey, was
of Revolutionary stock, and the fourth white
child born in the Genesee Valley, New York.

Dr. Chittenden was bom near Pittsford, a
small town near Rochester, N. Y., in 1835. He
received his early education in the public schools
of Buffalo, and for a time after leaving school
was a teacher in Erie county. New York. In
1855, at the age of twenty years, he removed to
McHenry county, Illinois, and in the fall of 1856
married Miss Maggie F. Mitchell, a native of
Newburg, N, Y. For a number of years follow-
ing he was engaged as a bricklayer and mason,
but with an ambition to prepare himself for a
profession, at the same time he took up the study
of medicine. In August, 1861, soon after the
breaking out of the Civil war, he enlisted as a
private in Company H, Thirty-sixth Illinois Vol-
unteer Infantry, and with his regiment was en-
gaged in the battle of Pea Ridge. When later he
received his discharge from the volunteer service
it was to enter the hospital service as hospital
stew-ard, "his knowdedge of medicine proving of
advantage to him in obtaining this position, as
well as making of him a valuable assistant. After
one year as hospital steward he was discharged
for disability, at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.
He subsequently re-enlisted in the Seventh Regi-
ment United States Veteran \'olunteers, and w"as
steward of that regiment until receiving his final
discharge from service in 1866. During his vari-
ous periods of enlistment he saw much active
service. He was stationed at Washington, D. C,
at the time of the assassination of Presdent Lin-
coln and was in the midst of the excitement of
those thrilling days that followed. He was at the
final grand review of the troops in Washington,
the closing year of the war.

^^'lliIe in Philadelphia, in 1866, Dr. Chittenden
attended his first course of lectures at the old
Jefferson Medical College, from there going to
Long Island, where he graduated in die fall of
1866. Immediately thereafter he removed to
Iowa and located in Jones county, where he suc-
ceeded in building up for himself a large prac-
tice, covering not only his home county, l3ut also
Cedar county adjoining. He remained in Jones
county five years, and then removed to Stan-
wood, where he practiced two years, and from
there went to Kansas and settled in Emporia.
Becoming weary of citv life he traded his prop-
erty in the city for a farm and for a time lived
in tlie country, but did not in the meantime aban-
don the practice of his profession. Later he re-
moved to Mound City. Holt county, and in the
following seven years built up a fine practice,
treating over four thousand c.nses during that
time. He next removed to Kansas Citv, and

1832

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

opened an office, where lie practiced for three
3'ears.

Dr. Chittenden lias lieen a resident of CaH-
fornia since igoo. He first located in Santa Cruz
and followed the practice of his profession three
years, then removing to Long Beach, where he
continues his practice. The doctor has a long rec-
ord as general medical practitioner, and several
degrees attest his knowledge of his profession.
He took the regular course in medicine and grad-
uated from the College of Physicians and Sur-
geons, Chicago, in 1883.

After completing the study of osteopathy he
occupied a chair in the National School of Oste-
opath\' one year. He is well known in medical
circles, having been a member of the State J\Ied-
ical Socitties of Kansas and Iowa, and is a con-
stant contributor to various well-known medical
journals. He was a member of the board of
United States Pension Medical Examiners in
both Missouri and Kans.as.

Mrs. Chittenden has been a valuable assistant
to her husband in his profession and has worked
side by side with him during his long years of
practice. In order to be with him she volunteered
as a nurse during the Civil war, and in minister-
ing to sick and suffering soldiers endured trials
that few women of the time had courage to face.
Since then she has secured a certificate as reg-
istered pharmacist in Kansas. Both Dr. and Mrs.
Chittenden are interested in Grand Army affairs,
Mrs. Chittenden being a member of the Wom-
an's Relief Corps, and the Doctor a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as com-
mander of the post at ]\'[ound City. He is a
member of the Masonic fraternity and the An-
cient Order of United Workmen in Kansas. Dr.
and Mrs. Qiittenden are members of the Con-
gregational Church in Long Beach. The family
consists of five children, three daughters and
two sons : Mrs. Essie Morrin lives at Rumsey,
Yolo county, Cal., and Mrs. Alida Humphrey at
Berkeley ; another daughter, Maggie Monahan,
is deceased, and her two daughters, Dessie and
Merl, have since made their home with their
grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. Chittenden ; Homer
T. is a printer of Kansas City, Mo. ; Horace
Walter. M. D., is a practitioner at Melvern, Kas.
Since cominsr to Long Beach Dr. Chittenden
has interested himself in real estate and has met
with success in that line of business. The family
residence is at No. 626 West Third street.

HENRY SEYMOUR CALLAHAN. Ac-
tive, enterprising, and of great business aptitude
and talent, H. S. Callahan holds high rank
among the prominent citizens of Long Beach,
and is ever among the foremost to forward all
projects conducive to the public welfare. He

is counted one of the most conservative busi-
ness men in Long Beach, where in 1901 he start-
ed with a stock of household furnishings and
furniture valued at $2,000, and at this writing
(1905) his stock is valued at $20,000.

Born in Houston, Jackson county, Ind., Au-
gust 19, 1868, H. S. Callahan is a son of Dent
and Edith (Matlock) Callahan, the former of
whom was born in 1818 and settled in Indiana
during a very early period in the history of that
state. Throughout his entire active life he was
a tiller of the soil, and is now living retired in
Kurtz, Jackson county, Ind., his wife having
died in that state in 1900. Although his parents
were people of some means, H. S. Callahan was
earl}- iji life initiated into the world of work,
and after attending the public school at Hous-
ton and graduating from the county school he
accepted a position in a furniture store in Sey-
mour, Ind. He continued in the employ of oth-
ers until 1892, when he came to California mere-
ly to see the country, and with little thought of
settling here permanently. With the keenness
of perception which is one of his notable char-
acteristics he foresaw possibilities here in the
west which did not exist in the Hoosier state
and he wisely determined to remain and estab-
lish himself in the newer country. For a short
time he clerked in a store in Santa Ana, but be-
fore long he was enabled to purchase a half in-
terest in the firm of F. S. Northrup & Co., a
business arrangement which existed for two
years and a half, when he sold out his share in
the business. Again entering the employ of
others he worked for Ira Chandler for about six
years, and later was collector for E. J. Brent,
of Los Angeles, for nine months. Still later he
had charge of the store of J. D. Beach & Sons
on Broadway, a position which he held until re-
signing in 1901 to engage in business on his own
account in Long Beach. In order to get a start
he purchased a half interest in the E. V. Hill
Furniture Company, but one year later he pur-
chased the entire business and removed to his
present quarters in the Masonic Temple. The
fact that he was enabled to increase the value
of his stock in four years to ten times its origi-
nal value tells more plainly than can words of
his tenacity of purpose and business understand-
ing.

In Santa Ana Mr. Callahan was united in
marriage with .\ugusta Young, a native of Kan-
sas, and one child has been born to them, to
whom they have given the name of Thelma. The
family home is on Pine street, above the store.
From the fact that Mr. Callahan has made such
rapid strides in the development of his business,
it being conceded that he has the largest stock
in Long Beach, it goes without saying that. his
time for outside affairs is rather limited. Not-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1833

withstanding this he is a member of the Board
of Trade, a stockholder in the Masonic Associa-
tion building and the new hotel, and is a mem-
ber of the Trade Exchange of Los Angeles, be-
sides having stock in the Bank of Commerce.
In his religious inclinations he is a Methodist,
politically is a Republican, and his fraternal as-
sociations ally him with Lodge No. 327, F. &
A. M., Chapter No. 84, R. A. M., Commandery
No. 40, K. T., and Lodge No. 192, B. P. O. E.,
all of Long Beach. As a proof of his faith. in
Long Beach, Mr. Callahan has purchased con-
siderable property in town, in the management
of which he has been very successful. Person-
ally, he is a sincere and high-minded gentleman,
proud of his good name, his many loyal friends,
and the success which has been so fairly and
strenuously won.

JOHN BARTLEY SMITHSON. Num-
bered among those who came to the state over
a half century ago is John B. Smithson, who
has witnessed the ups and downs of life in a
new country and has himself shared in its
fluctuating fortunes. The stress and anxiety
of former days are now matters of memory
only, for in their declining years he and his
wife are surrounded by every comfort and are
living retired in San Bernardino.

Of English descent and of southern par-
entage, John B. Smithson was born in Morgan
county, Ala., October 6, 1841, and is a son
of Allen F. Smithson, who for many years
was a planter in Mississippi. As early as
1846 he brought his family across the plains,
winter overtaking them in Pueblo, Colo.,
where they lived in log houses which they
erected until the opening of spring. The next
step brought them to Salt Lake, where they
remained for about two years, during which
time the father carried on a farm, which pro-
vided for the support of his family. Taking
up the westward march again, by means of ox-
teaius the family finallv reached San Bernar-
dino, then almost entirely inhabited by In-
dians, and so treacherous were they that it
was necessary to build a fort for the protection
of the women and children. On what is now
A street Mr. Smithson purchased a farm which
he ran until 1857, selling it that year and re-
turning to Salt Lake. Utah, from there going
to Pahreah, Kane countv, where he became in-
terested in the cattle business and also was
made postmaster of the town. He died there
at the age of sixtv-tbrec years. The wife and
mother was before her marriage Letitia Hol-
lidav. who was born in Alabama, a daughter
of Tohn Hollidav. who left the south in 1846
and the following year came to California.

8G

His death, however, occurred in Utah. Airs.
Letitia Smithson died in Salt Lake, having
become the mother of five children.

Of the parental family John B. Smithson is
the eldest and is the only one in California.
He was a lad of about six years when the
family removed to Utah in 1847, and he was too
young to appreciate the dangers and hard-
ships which the journey involved. In San
Bernardino, where they located in 1851, he
attended school three weeks, which was the
only school training he ever received, and in
1857 returned to Utah with his parents. The
following year, however, found him back in
San Bernardino. The first opening which
came to him in a business way was in the lum-
ber business in San Bernardino, a line of en-
deavor which he followed for nineteen years,
during which time he drove seven yoke of
oxen in hauling logs to the mills. Subsequent-
ly he gave this up and settled on a farm in
Strawberry valley, owning one hundred and
sixty acres, to which he later added until at
one time he had in his possession four hun-
dred and eighty acres. He made a specialty
of raising fine apples, having fifteen hundred
trees, besides peaches and plums. Many of
the vegetables which he raised grew to enor-
mous size, and it was no uncommon occur-
rence to gather cabbages which weighed for-
ty-two pounds eacli. Dairying and stock-rais-
ing also formed important industries carried
on in connection with the ranch. In spite of
his many private interests he had time for
matters of public import, and for a number of
years was road overseer, a position to which
lie was appointed in 1890, having charge of
the roads in district No. i. Feeling that he
was entitled to a rest after many years of
arduous labor, Mr. Smithson sold his farm
in 1904 and has since lived retired in San Ber-
nardino, and in December, 1905, he resigned
his position as overseer, which leaves him prac-
tically free from care.

In San Bernardino, in 1866, Mr. Smithson
was married to IMiss Jane Cadd, who was born
•n .South Adelaide, Australia, a daughter of
Thomas Cadd, a native of England. Her
grandfather, John Cadd, also of English birth,
removed to Australia with his family and
there engaged in farming and stock-raising for
a number of years. In 1855 he located in San
Bernardino, Cal., and two years later went to
.'^alt Lake City. The following year found
him again in San Bernardino, and on the farm
which he there established he passed away.
At the time of his migration to California in
1S55 he Avas accompanied by his son Thomas^
who has ever since been a resident of San Ber-
nardino, engaging first as a farmer and stock-

1S34

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

raiser, and later as a freighter. He is now
living in a substantial residence on Seventh
street, and at the age of seventy-five years is
in the enjoyment of good health. His wife,
formerly Mary Stetsberry, was also born in
England. Her death occurred in San Ber-
nardino. Of the thirteen children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Cadd ten are living, Mrs. Smith-
son being the eldest of the family. The fourth
anniversary of her birth was spent in Honolu-
lu. Ten children were born to Mr. and ^Irs.
Smithson, as follows: Thomas Allen, deputy
sherifi' of Barstow ; John Bartley, holding the
same position at Needles; Rose Adelle, Mrs.
Henry Scharf, of San Bernardino ; Effie, also
a resident of this city and the wife of John
McGarvey; William F., deputy sheriff of Dag-
gett; Adolphus H., a merchant of this city;
George F., who also resides here and is en-
gaged in teaming; M. Nell and Lena, both at
home ; and Charles Frederick, a clerk in a mer-
cantile establishment in this city. Mr. Smith-
son is a member of the Society of Utah Pio-
neers of 1847, and also belongs to the Society
of California pioneers, of which latter society
he is president. Politically he is a Democrat
of no uncertain sound, and at one time served
on the county central committee. Mrs. Smith-
son is a member of tlie church of Latter Day
Saints.

WENDELL P. DAILY. The Daily family
is one well known in Southern California, and the
ancestry of the above representative can be traced
to the great-grandfather. Thomas Dailv, Sr.,
who was born in the parish of Groton, in County
Tyrone, and who, in young manhood, came to
the United States and settled in Pennsylvania.
Later years found him established on a farm in
jMonroe county, N. Y., his death occurring there
at the age of ninety-six years. The eldest child
of his marriage with Miss Wilcox was Arthur
Daily, who was the first white child born in
Rush township, Monroe county. The latter never
left his native county and died' on his farm there
when he was sixty-nine years of age. His mar-
riage united him with Lorada Baker, a native
of New York, who died in young womanhood,
leaving two children, Charles W. and Elizabeth.

Giarles W. Daily, the father of Wendell P.
Daily, carried on a farm in his native state for
some vears. hut later went to Kansas. At the time
when the abolition and pro-slavery elements were
fighting for supremacy, he served two years and
a half in Company L, Fiftieth New York En-
gineers, and at the close of the war received his
honorable discharge at Elmira, N. Y. After his
war experience he conducted a farm in Van

Buren count)', Mich., then returned to New York,
but once more located in Michigan, this time set-
tling in Isabella county. After another trip to
his native state he finally came to California in
1892, since which time he has made his home
with his son, Charles J. Bv his marriage with
Ruth F. Green, a native of Ohio, three children
were born, Charles J., Erastus W. and Wendell
P., all of whom are residents of California.

While the family were residing in Van Buren
county, Mich., W. P. Daily was born March 25,
1875. His boyhood years, however, were spent
almost exclusively in New York state, and his
education was received in the common and high
schools of Monroe county. While he was still a
student in the high school he filled his spare
moments by working in a boot and shoe store,
and after his graduation took up the work in ear-
nest, following it for about five years.

Following the example of his elder brother,
who had come to the state in 1885, W. P. Daily
came direct to Ventura county in 1893 ^nd found
employment in a boot and shoe store in the city
of that name. Thus far in life he had displayed
no special interest in agricultural matters, and it
is probable that he w-ould have continued in the
mercantile line had it not been for the fact that
his brother Charles, who for many years was
manager of the large Patterson ranch, was meet-
ing with such splendid success as a rancher.
During the six years spent as an employe on the
Patterson ranch he .gained a practical experience
which warranted him in purchasing a ranch of his
own in 1899. This consists of one hundred and
sixty acres not far from Camarillo, where he
finds a market for his barley and beans, these
two commodities forming his entire harvest. With
the exception of forty acres planted to barley the
ranch is given over to the raising of beans, which
average from fifteen to twenty sacks to the acre.
In 1898 W. P. Daily was married to Miss
Lenora Dusch, who was born in California, the
daughter of John Dusch. The latter is now de-
ceased, having passed away in 1905, but the
ninther is still living and makes her home in
Somis, this county. Five bright and interesting
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Daily,
as follows: Ralph, Mabel, Frank, Emma and
Roscoe. Although Mr. Daily is not identified
by membership with a religious body, he is in
sympathy with and assists liberally all denom-
inations, never withholding assistance, in fact,
from any good cause, whether religious or sec-
ular. Politically he is a Republican. Through-
out his community he enjoys an enviable reputa-
tion, not only because he has made a success of
life in a business sense, but also by reason of the
many fine personal attributes which constitute
the most praiseworthy citizenship.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1835

GEORGE B. WHITED. The association of
George B. Whited with the business affairs of
Long Beach and Los Angeles dates from 1890,
when he disposed of all interests in other sections
and sought California with the intention of mak-
ing it his future home. He has thrown himself
heartily into the upbuilding enterprises, has given
time and means freely, and is justly accorded a
place among the representative citizens. He is
a native of Kansas, having been born in Ft.
Harker, July 29, 1869, the representative of a
prominent family long established on Virginian
soil, the inunigrating ancestor having been an
Englishman, whose descendants fought valiantly
for the freedom of his adopted country. His
father, Payton George Whited, was a native of
Swords Creek, W. Va., and a son of Robert
Whited, who removed to Chautauqua county,
Kans., where he engaged as a farmer. Payton
G. Whited was a soldier in Company B, Fifth
United States Infantry, and was stationed at
various places, among them Wilmington in 1858,
Alcatraz Island, at San Francisco, and also saw
active service during the Civil war. In 1876, at
the time of the troubles with Sitting Bull, he
was stationed at Fort Keogh, Mont., after over
twenty-one years of army life retiring from active
service. For a time he engaged in the cattle
business in Montana, later engaged in a general
merchandise business in Miles City, finally locat-
ing in Los Angeles, where he passed his last
days. He was made a Mason in 1883, and at-
tained the Knights Templer degree. His wife,
formerly Ellen Romaro, was a native of Watrous,
N. Mex., and a daughter of a cattleman of that
section ; she survives her husband, still making
her home in Los Angeles. She became the
mother of seven children, of whom but two are
now surviving.

The only son born to his parents, George B.
Wliited passed his boyhood days among the
frontier forts of the remote west, receiving an
education through an attendance of public schools
wherever the family chanced to be located, but
gleaning much more of knowledge through his
associations in the life about him. In young man-
hood he engaged with his father in the cattle
business at Miles City, ]\Iont., remaining in that
location until 1890, when he disposed of these
interests and coming to California prepared to
enter upon another line of work. Since his loca-
tion in Southern California he has engaged in
the outdoor advertising business, city bill post-
ing, etc., doing business in Long Ijeach, San
Pedro, Wilmington, Compton, Watts, Alamitos
and Huntington Beach and carrying on one of
the most extensive enterprises of its kind in the
state. He takes a deep interest in his work,
keeping throughly in touch with all progress,
and holds membership with the Associated Bill

Posters & Distributers Association of United
States and Canada, and also a member of the
Pacific Coast Bill Posters and Distributers As-
sociation. He has purchased considerable prop-
erty in Southern California, freely manifesting
his faith in its continued prosperity and growth.
His business headquarters in Long Beach are at
No. 29 Locust avenue, whde' his home is located
on Elden avenue, in Los Angeles. He is quite
prominent fraternally, being a member of Aerie
No. 791, Order of Eagles, of Long Beach ; Fre-
mont Lodge No. 466, W. O. W. ; and Fair Oaks
Camp No. 15, Sons of Veterans, of San Francisco.
In his political affiliations he is a stanch Republi-
can on all national issues, but locally gives his
support to the men and measures best qualified
to advance the interests of the general public.
He has served as deputy sheriff under Sheriff
White for several years and has proven himself
an efficient assistant. In every avenue Mr.
Whited has proven himself a broad minded,
liberal citizen, intent on the upbuilding and de-
velopment of the best interests of the portion of
the state in which he has chosen to make his
home.

WALTER F. POOR, of Highland Park, was
born at Newark, N. J., November 21, 1850, his
lineage showing a group of men prominent in
church and educational work in this country and
in foreign fields. His father. Rev. Daniel W.
Poor, was born at the Island of Ceylon, where
his father was living as a missionaiw at that time.
When twelve years of age his parents sent him
alone to the United States and he located in
eastern Massachusetts, where his preliminary ed-
ucation was received in the common schools
before his entrance to Amherst College. His
first pastorate after his graduation was at Fair-
haven, Mass.. and in the year 1849 he removed
to Newark, N. J. There he organized and be-
came the first pastor of the High Street Presby-
terian Church, which position he continued to fill
for twenty years. In 1869 he accepted a call to
the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church in
Oakland, Cal., serving for about five years and
from then until the spring of 1876 was identified
with the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at
San Francisco. The remainder of his life he
spent as Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of
Education, and he resided at Philadelphia, Pa.,
his death occurring at Newark, N. J., in 1898,
while visiting at that place. His wife, who was
before her marriage Susan H. Ellis, was a native
of Fairhaven, Mass., and has always been an
active, interested church worker. She was the
mother of six children, five of whom are now
living, and she makes her home with her son.
Dr. b. W. Poor, in Orange, N. J.

1836

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Walter F. Poor was educated in the Newark
Academy, Newark, N. J., and graduated from
that institution before his removal with his parents
to Oakland, Gal, in 1869. For two years he
remained in Oakland, then came to Los Angeles
county and was one of the pioneers of West-
minster, now in C)range count}-. It was while
living there that he attended the wedding of
Prof. J. M. Guinn, the historian of this work.
For nine years Mr. Poor engaged in fanning
at Westminster on a fort}- acre ranch which he
had purchased. He then removed to Los An-
geles and shortly afterwards entered the abstract
business. He continued at this for twelve years
and then for two years following engaged in the
insurance business. In 1900 he removed to High-
land Park, a suburb of Lcs Angeles, where he
has since been connected with the firm of Poor
& Wing, conducting a successful real-estate busi-
ness. He is a Republican and has always been
active in politics, and interested in educational
matters, having served for two years on the Board
of Education of Los Angeles. He" is secretary
of the Highland Park Improvement Association
and is always a leader in any project that tends
toward the upbuilding of the community in which
he lives. He is a member and elder of the High-
land Park Presbyterain Church and liberally
supports the various benevolent and charitable
interests of that denomination. He is a man high-
ly respected for his many sterling qualities and is
universally recognized as a leading citizen.
While living in Westminster Mr. Poor was mar-
ried to Anna Adelaide Leffler, a native of Illinois,
a woman of many admirable traits and an active
church worker. She died September 16, 1906.
Of three children born to them one, a daughter,
is now living.

JAY GERALD LYBARGER. Among the
large number of real-estate dealers in Long Beach
there is none more enterprising and energetic
nor more successful than Jay Gerald Lybarger,
who has been a resident of this city since 1900.
Ten generations ago three Lybarger brothers came
from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania and in
that state the succeeding generations have been
lx)rn with the exception of the present Jay Gerald,
whose birth occurred April 21, 1871, in Woodford
county. 111., near Metamora. Both his father,
Samuel, and grandfather, Anthony, were born in
Bedford county. Pa. In 1837, when his son was
four year of age, the latter removed to Knox
county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming and
became very prominent in official circles of that
county. Obeying the inborn instinct of the
pioneer, in 1852 Samuel Lybarger located in
Illinois, bought land in ShellDy county, and be-
came a pioneer farmer of that section. Later

he continued agricultural pursuits on a fine farm
of two hundred and forty acres in Woodford
county until 1891, when he came to California.
Three years later he located in Pasadena and
lived retired from business until 1902, when his
death occurred. His wife, a native of Ohio, was
Mary Jane Ayres, of the same family as the
Ayres of medical fame, and her death also oc-
curred in Pasadena. Four of their five children
are still living: Fanny, now Airs. Mondell of
San Diego; J. G., of this sketch, and Ray and
Clay, both engaged in the real-estate business
in Long Beach.

Reared in Illinois Jay G. Lybarger was educated
in the public schools and the high school at Wash-
burn, and after the completion of his studies,
in 1894 came to California and secured employ-
ment as a salesman. In 1898 he removed to
the Al-gadonas rancho near Yuma, Ariz., located
on a quarter section of land, and for two and
one-half, years endured the hardships and pri-
vations of frontier life. Returning to California
in 1900 he located in Long Beach and has ever
since been engaged in the real-estate business in
this city. He has successfully handled about
twenty tracts of land, comprising from five to ten
acres each, and is now subdividing the Harbor
Home tract of forty acres, in which he has a
large interest. To Mr. Lybarger belongs the
credit of organizing the Long Beach Realty
Board, of which he is a charter member and
vice-president.

Mr. Lybarger's marriage which occurred in
Pasadena, united him with j\Iiss Lucile Cum-
mings, who was born in Knox county, Ohio, and
whose parents were early pioneers of Pasadena.
She is a member of the Congregational Church
of that city. The one son, J. G., Jr., born of this
union, died in January, 1906, aged one year and
five days. Fraternally Mr. Lybarger is' a mem-
ber of the Eagles, and politically is prominent
in Democratic circles, having recently been named
as a delegate to the Democratic county con-
vention. As a man of strong principles and
sterling personal worth he is regarded as one of
the most valued citizens of the community in
which he resides.

JOHN KEMPLEY. Many of the residents
of Long Beach are men who, having reaped suc-
cess in other portions of the country, have sought
this balmy climate in order that their declining
years may be filled with a greater measure of
health and happiness than would be possible in
the rigorous winters of northern latitudes. Qi-
matic reasons were largely instrumental in lead-
ing Mr. Kempley to remove from his Iowa farm
to the Pacific coast, which he visited for the
first time in 1897 and four years later became a

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1837

permanent resident of his present home city.
Though practically retired from active cares and
the possessor of ample means rendering further
labors unnecessary, he still retains various in-
terests, included among which may be men-
tioned a half interest in eighteen valuable claims
on Providence mountain in San Bernardino coun-
ty.

In Yorkshire, England, Mr. Kempley was born
June 29, 1832, being a son of Qiarles and Han-
nah (Page) Kempley, natives of the same coun-
try. The father, after having followed the
blacksmith's trade in Yorkshire for some years,
came to the United States in 1842 and settled
among the pioneers of Wisconsin, where he took
up a tract of raw land in Racine county. In
addition to cultivating his farm he carried on his
trade, having a shop on the farm. Later he
moved to Marquette county. Wis., where his
son was a pupil in a country school. Eventually
he established his home at Fort Dodge, Iowa,
where he died at the age of ninety-five years.
Longevity has been noticeable on both sides of
the ancestry. His v>'ife, islrs. Hannah Kempley,
lived to be ninety-one, a,nd her father attained
the great age of one hundred and two years.

Among the recollections of ^Ir. Kemplev's
boyhood none is more vivid than that of walk-
ing five miles to school, where one of his play-
mates was Ann Whitehead. That she was a
special favorite of his own became evident when
he chose her to be his wife. They were united
in marriage in Marquette county February 18,
1856, and settled down in the home neighbor-
hood, where he followed his father's example in
combining the blacksmith's trade with agricult-
ural pursuits. In 1864 he removed to Iowa and
settled on a farm near Fort Dodge, where he
became the owner of a valuable tract of two
hundred and forty acres, the land remaining in
his possession until May, 1905, when it was sold
at a high valuation. JNIeanwhile he also operat-
ed a gristmill worth $10,000, but lost the plant
as the result of a washout. While living on his
farm he took a warm interest in local affairs,
was regarded as one of the leading Republicans
in his locality, and also aided greatly in the de-
velopment of the schpol interests, serving as a
member of the school board, and in addition
was a member of the board of township trustees.
Consistent in his character and upright in life,
he was from youth an exemplary member of the
Methodist Episcopal Qiurch and still main-
tains a wann interest in its welfare.

Through his marriage to Miss Whitehead of
Wisconsin Mr. Kempley became allied with an
English family of lionored history. Her par-
ents, Benjamin and Sarah Whitehead, were born
and reared in England and came to the United
States in 1845, settling in Racine county. Wis..

thence removing to Marquette county, where
both remained until death. To the union of ^Ir.
and Mrs. Kempley there were nine children born,
named as follows : Sarah, who married Harry
Eubanks of Long Beach and has six children ;
Hannah Mary, Mrs. H. Wonder, of Washington,
who has five children; Esther, who married El-
bert Handy of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and has four
children; James, who lives in Fort Dodge, Iowa,
is married and has six children; J. P., who has a
family of si.x children ; Charles, living in Green
Bay, Wis. ; John F., whose family comprises
four children; Elbert, who is unmarried; and
Elsie, Mrs. James Scoville, who has three chil-
dren. Descended from Mr. Kempley are thirty-
four grandchildren now living and three de-
ceased, and there are also six great-grandchil-
dren livincf.

RALPH E. WATSON. Although a young
man Ralph E. Watson is one of the most pro-
gressive and enterprising ranchers of this sec-
tion, much of his time being devoted to the man-
agement of a dairy, having assumed charge of
this work when onl}- a lad in years. His many
friends speak highly of his ability in this line, and
of the tact and zeal with which he has handled
the enterprise. Born in Washington College,
Tenn., June 2, 1886, he was a son of John A.
Watson, a native of Shenandoah valley, Virginia,
where he was educated and became a professor
of mathematics, which position he held for ten
years in Washington College, Tenn. He was
then active in educational work as professor in
high schools in both Nebraska and South Da-
kota. He came to California and died in Nor-
walk at the age of fifty-four years. His wife,
formerly Fannie Phelps, was a native. of Park-
ersburg, W. Va., and died in Lyons, Neb., at the
age of forty-five years.

The greater part of the education of Ralph
E. Watson was received in the public schools
of Nebraska and South Dakota, where his par-
ents removed when he was a small child. He
completed the high school course in Custer, S.
Dak., and then on account of the failing health
of his father the family removed to Southern
California, this being in 1900, and located in
Gardena. They purchased a tract of ten acres
and engaged in the culture of small fruit; two
years later disposing of this interest they came
to Norwalk and purchased thirty-two acres of
fine farming land and established dairy business.
The death of the father in 1903 threw the entire
responsibility upon the son, but he proving equal
to the occasion successfully managed theaflfairs
until to-day he has one of the modern and up-to-
date dairies in this section. He has twenty fine
milch cows unsurpassed in quantity and qualit>

1838

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of product, the Good Saiiiaritan Hospital of Los
Angeles being one of his regular patrons. He is
also a fine judge of cattle and an expert in his
line of work. He has built a fine barn for the
care of his stock, with all modern conveniences
from an economic and sanitar}- standpoint. He
has a part of his ranch in alfalfa and grain and
also leases other land for com and grain. Fra-
ternally he is popular, being a member of the
Woodmen of the World, and politically is a stanch
advocate of Democratic principles.

Miss Edna E. Watson, sister of our subject,
was born in Ravenswood, W. Va., July 30, 1883,
and is now completing her M. S. degree in the
University of California, class '06. She has re-
ceived prominent mention from the faculty in
zoological research.

HOX. BENTON PETTIS TAYLOR. As
pioneer, frontiersman, miner and capitalist Mr.
Taylor has been a conspicuous figure for the
past half century in the middle and western
states, and when he was only sixteen years old
was in Mexico with Col. Izale Prigmore. This
experience seemed to create an insatiable thirst
for travel and adventure, with the result that he
lias become thoroughly acquainted with the topog-
raphy of tlie western coast of the Americas,
extending from British Columbia on the north to
Chile on the south, and has also visited the
Hawaiian Islands. An important deduction may
be taken from the fact that for the past eight
years he has been a continuous resident of Po-
mona, showing that while there may be attrac-
tions for trade and commerce elsewhere, it is in
the quiet and restful sun-ht valley where his
home is nestled that he prefers to spend his
later years.

A native of Missouri, Benton P. Taylor was
born seven miles from the present site of Sedalia
December 6, 1833, and is a son of Elijah and
Elizabeth (Fisher) Taylor, both of whom were
born in Pennsylvania. In 1803 the father left
the Quaker state, going first to Tennessee, then
to Kentucky, from there to Illinois, and in 1822
removed to St. Louis, j\Io. A few years later he
went to Cooper county, but two years afterward
became a pioneer settler in Pettis county, that
state. In addition to carrying on the farm which
he purchased and improved in that locality, he
also followed the miller's trade, and among many
others erected a mill north of Sedalia, whither
the farmers of the country roundabout brought
their grain. Both of the parents passed away in
Missouri. Of the seven children born to them
three are now living, and one of the number,
Leonard S., is a resident of Colorado Springs,
Colo.

His father being a miller it was natural that

Benton P. Taylor, who was next to the youngest
in the famil}-, should become interested in the
same trade, and under his father's training he
learned it thoroughly. Subsequently he estab-
lished a business of his own not far from his
home, but in 1856, he disposed of it and removed
to Mills county, Iowa, there erecting a mill on
Silver creek. In connection with carr}ing on this
enterprise, for three years, during 1856, '57 and
'58. he went on freighting expeditions for the
government to Aurora (now Denver), Colo., but
was forced to give up the work in the latter year
owing to liis election to the Iowa state legislature.
The opening of hostilities between tiie north and
the south brought a change in his plans and ex-
pectations, and his muster in at Council Bluffs
made him a member of the Twenty-ninth Iowa
Volunteer Infantry, Company B. He partici-
pated in the battles of Vicksburg, Island No. 10,
and while at Helena, Ark., in J^Iarch, 1863, he
was injured by the breaking of the barracks.
However, he participated in the battle of Helena
on July 4 following. Besides the shock which
his system received in the accident his hip was
dislocated, and after lying in a hospital in Keokuk
for nearly three months he was honorably dis-
charged September 4, 1863. Returning home he
remained there practically an invalid throughout
the winter, but in the mean time had been mak-
ing plans for an expedition to the west. With
the opening of spring his health was so far re-
covered that he was enabled to earn' out his plans
for going to Montana, leaving Omaha March 12,
1864. After reaching his destination, A'irginia
City, Mont., he took up a claim in Alder gulch,
upon which he worked diligently until the follow-
ing fall. With twenty-two companions he -started
for the Yellowstone country, and finally reached
it, but interference from the Indians was the
means of taking some of the romance out of their
plans and they decided to return home. Building
a boat, they came down the Yellowstone and
Missouri rivers and finally reached their desti-
nation in Iowa, December 24, 1864. but not with-
out experiencing numerous attacks from the In-
dians, three of the party receiving wounds, Mr.
Taylor being one of the number. On the whole
he had no cause to complain, however, for in ad-
dition to renewed health, from the lack of which
he had suffered for so many months, his summer's
work had netted him $58,000 in greenbacks. Re-
turning to his farm near Glenwood Mills, Iowa,
he operated it for about two years, in the mean
time adding to its acreage by the purchase of
adjoining land, but in 1866 he disposed of his
holdings in that state and returned to Missouri.
In Knobnoster, Johnson county, he established a
merchandise business which proved a very suc-
cessful undertaking, and he also carried on a
large grain business. He was one of the largest

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1839

landowners in that vicinity, owning a farm of
ten hundred and sixty acres upon which he
carried on an extensive stocI< business, in fact
for eighteen years he was one of the best-known
business men and most enterprising citizens of
his community. The organization of the Knob-
noster Bank was partly due to his efiforts, he be-
ing one of the first to promote the project, and
for eight years he was assessor and collector of
Johnson county.

Upon closing out his holdings in INIissouri ]\Ir.
Taylor came another step towards the Golden
West by his location in Colorado Springs, Colo.,
in 1884, and there as in the middle west he was
destined to become an important factor in the
town's welfare. He was one of the organizers
of the Exchange National Bank and was one of
its directors, and was also interested in the or-
ganization of the Colorado Springs electric light
plant. In fact, many beneficial measures for the
town's permanent good may be traced either
directly or indirectly to Mr. Taylor's far-sighted-
ness in recognizing them first, and then making
them a reality by interesting other citizens in
the project. Many such bear the impress of Mr.
Taylor's handiwork, but probably there is no proj-
ect which will be of more lasting benefit than
the water system of Colorado Springs, which is
conceded to be one of the finest systems in the
United States. The initial procedure was to
secure the perpetual use of Lake Marine as a
reservoir, to which was later added seven other
lakes for the same purpose, the result being that
Colorado Springs and vicinity have an abundant
and constant supply of the purest mountain water
possible to obtain anywhere in the United States.
In 1890 Mr. Taylor removed to Oregon and
purchased a large ranch near Stayton, and there
he became interested in the stock and grain busi-
ness. Mr. Taylor was too active and broad-
minded to give his whole time and thought to
private interests, and thus it happened that wher-
ever circumstances placed him he immediately
became interested in the welfare of those about
him. Believing that better results and more satis-
factory service to the citizens would follow
through municipal ownership of the water works
he worked diligently for this end, which finally
prevailed, and resulted further in establishing
the present excellent system of Portland, water
being secured from Bull Run. at the foot of
Mount Hood. While in Stayton Mr. Taylor was
a member of the city council for five years, dur-
ing a part of that time serving as president of
that body.

Although Mr. Taylor had come to Pomona as
early as 1S93, it was not until four years later
that he came here and took up his permanent
home, the family residence being at No. 5;8o East
Fifth avenue. He was first married in Missouri

to Miss Martha M. Van Bibber, who was born
in Callaway county, that state, and was a great-
granddaughter of Daniel Boone. At her death,
which occurred in Colorado, she left five children,
of whom we mention the following : George, who
for eight years was an electrician with the Col-
orado Springs Electric Company, was killed by
a live wire in 1889: Anna became the wife of
E. J. Dolbear, a conductor on the Oregon Short
1-ine of Pocatello, Idaho, where in 1905 she was
grand matron of the Eastern Star lodge ; Maggie
is a resident of Pomona ; Mamie died in St.
Helen. Ore., and James S., a resident of Pocatello,
Idaho, is also with the Oregon Short Line. Mr.
Taylor's second marriage occurred in Missouri
and united him with Miss Edith Moore, who was
born in Illinois, and died in Idaho, leaving two
children, Helen and Lela. The present Mrs.
Taylor was formerly Kate Young, of Missouri,
and it was in that state that their marriage was
celebrated. The family are members of the Chris-
tian Church, and fraternally Mr. Taylor is a
Democrat. While in Knobnoster, Mo!, he was
made a Mason in Knobnoster Lodge No. 245, and
for several years was past master of his lodge.
Upon his removal to Colorado he transferred his
membership, belonging, to the lodge at Colorado
Springs and later to Stayton Lodge No. 25. In
Warrensburg, Mo., he was raised to the Royal
Arch degree, and was made a high priest of his
lodge. In the same city he was later made a
Ivnight Templer, belonging to Mary Command-
ery No. 19. In Warrensburg he was also made
a member of the council of the Order the Eastern
Star. After coming to California he associated
himself with the foregoing orders except the
Eastern Star, and now holds a demit from those
mentioned. As a veteran of the Civil war he
keeps in touch with comrades of other days by
associating with members of the Grand Army
post of which he is a member. During the manv
years that Mr. Tavlor has been identified with
the country west of the Mississippi river he has
been more or less interested in mining, and still
has valuable claims throughout the west as well
as in Old Mexico and .\laska.

GEORGE HENRY B.\NKS. engineer of
?*lill Creek Station No. t, of the Edison Elec-
tric Power Company, is one of the oldest em-
ployes of the compan}^ and one of its most
trusted men, his mechanical ability and engin-
eering skill having given him a lucrative "po-
sition. He is a native of ^^.faine, his birth hav-
ing occurred in Kenduskeag. Penobscot, June
26, 1863; his father, J. J., was born there in
1826, the grandfather, John, being a farmer
of old and honored Puritan stock. T- J. Banks
was a ministc- in the Free Will" Baptist

1840

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Church until his retirement from active life ;
he now makes his home in South La Grange,
Me., with his eldest son, Edmond L. Banks.
His wife, formerly Catherine Chandler, was
born in East Corinth, Ale., a daughter of John
Chandler, a farmer and also the representative
of an old New England family. She is also
living, the mother of two sons, of whom
George H. is the younger and the only one in
California.

Reared in his native state, George Henry
Banks received his education in the public
schools and also attended East Corinth Acad-
emy for two terms. His first independent
venture in life was in the lumbering camps of
]Maine, where he spent two winters ; in 1886
he came to California and spent his first year
in Pasadena as a carpenter, the following year
was a carpenter and farmer in Pomona, and
in 1889 went to Fresno and engaged in team-
ing and transfer work. He continued in this
last named location for six months, when in
1890 he returned to Los Angeles and for one
year was in the employ of Morris & Jones,
coal merchants. Coming to Redlands in 1891
he engaged in carpentering and building for
a time and later entered the employ of Alvin
Pratt, proprietor of the Sloan house ; in 1892-
93 he was employed in Terrace Villa, and the
Windsor in 1893-94. During the summers Mr.
Banks conducted the Seven Oaks resort for
his employer, remaining in this connection un-
til'October 14, 1894, and acting in various ca-
pacities. On the last named date he entered
the employ of The Redlands Electric Light &
Power Company as headworks man, and was
in charge of the pipe lines for more than a
year. In January. 1896, he began work on the
construction of the large plant on the Santa
Ana river, workhig from the first survey until
its completion in 1898. He was then employed
similarly in the plant on Mill creek No. 2,
from its beginning to its completion, July 2,
1899. coming to his present position at Mill
Creek Station No. i, as oiler. He here began
the study of engineermg, and assisted by his
natural mechanical ability he soon mastered
the details and in 1902 was made foreman of
the station. He has made a success of the
work and is held in high esteem by the officials
of the company. In addition to these inter-
ests he is interested in horticulture, having a
five acre orange orchard in Ontario.

In Redlands in 1892 Mr. Banks was united
in marriage with Airs. Lillia B. (Casey) Fitz-
patrick, a native of New York, and a daughter
of Henry Casey, a farmer, and Mary (Wait)
Casey, the father of the latter, John Wait, al-
so being a farmer in that section. Her father
is deceased bi't llic mother still survives and

makes her home with her daughter in Crafton-
ville. Mrs. Banks had a sister and a brother,
but she is the only child of the family now liv-
ing. She was educated in the Young Ladies
Seminary in Windsor, Conn., where she mar-
ried William Fitzpatrick, whose death oc-
curred in California. Mr. Banks is a stanch
Republican in politics, and although never de-
sirous of personal recognition at the hands of
his party, still gives his most earnest support
to these principles.

MRS. LUCY ANN SAN FORD. Three miles
southeast of Palms lies the large and valuable
ranch which is owned and managed by Mrs. San-
ford, and which she acquired by dint of tlie
greatest frugality and most rigid economy. She
is of southern birth and ancestry and was born
near Nashville, Tenn., January- 17, 1840, being a
daughter of Madison and Susan (Laughhn)
Tucker, natives respectively of Tennessee and
Charleston, S. C. On her mother's side she is
the granddaughter of an Irish immigrant to the
United States, while her paternal grandfather,
John Tucker, was an Englishman, who came to
America at an early age, settled in Tennessee
and died there during middle age. Madison
Tucker was born in 181 2 and for years engaged
in fanning in Tennessee, but about 1845 h^ took
his family to Illinois, purchased land and de-
veloped a farm. When advanced in years he and
his wife went to Texas to make their home with
their children; both died in that state, he at the
age of eighty-six, and she in JMarch, 1885, at the
age of sixty-six.

When the family moved to Illinois Mrs. San-
ford was quite a small child, and in 1852 she ac-
companied them to Texas. In January, 1857, she,
with the other members of the family, started
overland, with ox teams, for the Pacific coast,
and, arriving at Visalia, remained there for two
years, when the parents returned to Texas with
mule teams and wagons. Mrs. Sanford, with a
brother and sister, remained at the present site
of Pasadena. June 14, 1858, she was married to
Cyrus Sanford, a native of Missouri, and the son
of an Englishman who came to the United States
in early life. In 1849 Cyrus Sanford came to
California and engaged in mining. During i860
he came to Southern California and purchased
about nine hundred and ninety acres of La Bal-
lona grant, where he settled down to ranch pur-
suits. When sixty-six years of age he died at
Stockton, this state, but m-.unvhilc, about
1877, he and his wife separated, and she
assumed the management of the ranch
and the care of the nine children. The
property was mortgaged, and it was on-
1\- bv the most arduous exertions that she was

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1841

enabled to free it from encumbrance and to pro-
vide for her children until they were old enough
to become self-supporting. Now she is classed
among the wealthy women of Los Angeles
county, being the owner of two hundred and
thirty-five acres, valued at $400 per acre. She
became the mother of the following children :
George A., who has charge of the ranch and
superintends its cultivation ; John, \vho died at
thirty-two years of age ; Amanda, who was born
July 18, 1863, and died in 1901 ; Luella, who was
iDorn April 15, 1865, and died Api-il 17, 1899;
William, who was born April 23, 1867, and re-
sides with his mother ; Rebecca, who was born
April 2"/, 1869, and died September 16, 1890;
Cyrus, who was born January 4, 1871, and re-
mains on the home ranch ; Joe, born August 27,
1873, also living on the home place, and Leland,
born January 20, 1877, "ow living on the home
ranch.

CHARLES H. THOMAS. The family of
this honored pioneer has been represented in
every war of the United States, where mem-
bers of it have risen to prominence and suc-
cess, and besides being patriots in the time of
their country's need have also proven them-
selves a part of that quiet yet distinctly potent
influence in the every day development and
upbuilding of the nation. The characteristics
of the family have been passed from father to
son, from generation to generation, their hos-
pitality opening their doors to many who have
ever afterward counted themselves among
their friends : they have gone forward in the
vanguard of civilization, established their
homes on the frontier, and hx their courage,
and steadfastness of purpose, their fortitude
and unselfish devotion to the public welfare,
have tipheld the hands of those seeking to de-
velop and reclaim wilderness lands for the
needs of countless emigrants in their home
quest. Such men have been the heads of the
Thomas family, and such an one is Charles H.
Thomas, known, honored and esteemed
throughout Southern California.

Born in Saratoga county, N. Y., October i,
1836, Cliarles H. Tliomas was next to the
youngest child in the family of his parents,
Murray and Sylvia (Beebe) Thomas, natives
respectively of Saratoga and Madison coun-
ties. N. Y. The paternal grandfather was one
of the fir.st settlers of Saratoga county and a
distinguished patriot in the Re\-olutionary
war. Tlie maternal grandfather, Silas Beebe,
was of Puritan anrestry. the name transmitted
by a member of the Afa^fiower company, and
who was also related to tlie famous Beecher
familv ; he was born in Connecticut and be-

came an early settler of Madison county,
where he served as the first sheriff of the coun-
1.3'. He was a gallant soldier in the War of
1812, and also in the Black Hawk war. Mur-
ray Thomas inherited qualities of character
from a AVelsh ancestr}-, the family however
having long been established on American soil.
He engaged as a calico printer throughout his
active career, his death occurring at the com-
])aratively early age of forty-five years. His
wife had died some years previous, leaving a
family of four sons and two daughters : Will-
iam S., of Little Rock. Ark., in the employ of
the Goulds of tlie Iron Mountain Railroad as
chemist and mineralogist until his retirement,
served in the Stevenson regiment during the
Mexican war, in which struggle he was wound-
ed ; John served in the Confederate army during
the Civil war and was killed at New Orleans;
Martin, who died at Little Rock, Ark., was a
chaplain in an Illinois regiment of the Federal
army during the Civil war; two daughters,
Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Scott, live in Minne-
sota ; and Charles H. is the s-ubject of this re-
view.

Charles H. Thomas was reared in New York
and being left an orphan at an early age he
was taken into the home of his maternal grand-
parents and there trained to the first duties of
life. His education was received in the dis-
trict school in the vicinity of the home farm.
The gold fever of famous '49 took possession
of him and he decided to come to California,
expecting that his brother William, then a
soldier in the i\Iexican war, would be in that
section shortly. Lie accordingly took passage
on the ship Tecumseh for a trip around the
horn to San Francisco, arriving in November,
184Q, when with a young companion he pur-
cb;ised a mining outfit and went at once to
Mariposa creek, in Mariposa county, where for
six months the two diligently' and successfully
dug for gfold. ^Ir. Thomas then returned to
San Francisco. In the fall of 1853 Gen. Will-
iam \\'alker. th.e noted filibuster, came to San
Francisco from Marysville and organized the
band of adventurous spirits numbering forty-
five all told, chartered the bark Carolina and
in November left San Francisco for La Paz
in Lower California. Here Walker disem-
barked his forces, attacked and captured the
town, taking the governor prisoner. .Another
man was sent by the Mexicans to take com-
mand but he also was captured by Walker's
forces. Finrling himself too weak to hold the
nlace "Walker and his forces left the town after
holding iiossession a week or more. Walker
sailed first to Cape .St. Lucas, then to Ensena-
da, whence he landed his men and a portion
of his supplies, leaving the vessel in charge of

1842

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the second mate. He, it is supposed, had been
bribed by Ihe Mexicans; at any rate, at the
first opportunity he deserted his comrades and
took the vessel" to Guyamas, leaving Walker
and his men in a hostile town, short of food
and ammunition. Mr. Thomas started immedi-
ately for San Diego for a supply of percus-
sion caps, of which there was a great need;
he was successful in obtaining all he needed
from a JNIr. Rose who then resided in San
Diego, and he at once returned to Ensenada tj
find that his companions were about to be at-
tacked by a large body of Alexicans, and they
were so nearly out of percussion caps that
there were not more than five to each man.
His return doubtless saved his companions
from capture for within fifteen minutes they
were surrounded by several hundred Mexi-
cans who made a vigorous attack, in which
five of Walker's men were killed. The Mexi-
cans were repulsed with several killed and
wounded. During the following night Walker
assumed the ofifensive and in a sharp fight
succeeded in driving the Mexicans from the
field. Walker then buried his guns and tak-
ing such supplies as he could started for
Sonora bv way of Santa Catherine Passo, but
after marching several leagues found the route
impracticable and most of the party returned
and surrendered to Captain Burton, then in
command of the United States troops at San
Diego. A few of the men went on and finally
succeeded in reaching Sonora, but what be-
came of them has never been known. Walker
was tried in the United States court for a
violation of international law and on his ac-
quittal in February. 1854, the others were re-
leased.

Finding himself a free man once more, Mr.
Thomas \vent to Halfmoon Bay and there
took charge of the Pescadero ranch, and there
he remained for about a year, when he went
to Trinitv river and for the ensuing three
years was engaged in mining. In 1858 he re-
turned to San Francisco and in the same year
came to Los Angeles, and here with others
discovered the celebrated tin mines of Temes-
cal. He continued his identification with this
project until 1861 when he disposed of his in-
terests to Don A. Stearns, and went to the
Hemet valley in San Diego county (now Riv-
erside) and there took up a tract of four hun-
dred and eighty acres of land, while he at the
same time purchased forty-three hundred
acres of railroad land. This he developed to
general farming and stock-raising, bringing
the first herd of Shorthorns into San Diego
county, and now owns some of the finest thor-
oughbred horses in the west. His herd of
Durham cattle will compare favorably with

any to be found on the Pacific coast. The
Hemet valley is about twenty-three miles east
of the town of Hemet at an elevation of about
four thousand feet, and with its mild climate
and abundance of pasturage and water is ad-
mirably adapted for the raising of stock. In-
cluded in the ranch are two thousand acres
of moist grass land, while the grain crop is one
of the best in this section. Near the ranch
liousc is an unfailing spring, containing iron,
soda and sulphur. Mr. Thomas was the first
white settler in the Hemet and San Jacinto
valleys; when lie first came there bears as
well as deer, were plentiful, which supplied the
table with meat. The Thomas ranch became
known as the Thomas valley, where they built
a large and comfortable residence, with wide
verandas, flower decked and all on stone foun-
tains, and where they extended the famous hos-
pitality of the family to whomsoever might
come within its portals, friend and stranger
alike welcome in the midst of the early habita-
tion.

May 14, t86i, in Los Angeles, Mr. Thomas
was united in marriage with Miss Genevieve
Bavdico; she was born in Santa Barbara, Cal.,
a daughter of Francisco Bardico, a native of
Spain who came to the cit)^ of Mexico and
thence to Santa Barabara, Cal., where he en-
gaged as a merchant ; he married Raphalita Gar-
cia, a native of San Gabriel, whose grandfather,
Ayalla, was sent by the government of Spain
to take charge of the mission stock of San
Gabriel, whence Don Garcia was sent by Don
Ayalla to San Bernardino county to take
charge of the cattle ranch in this large valley,
his residence being on the hill which' is the
present site of the Barton ranch residence.
The name of Bardico is a prominent one in
the city of Mexico, where members of the
family remained and became prominent in
public affairs, one serving for years as city
treasurer. Mrs. Thomas was reared in Santa
Barbara and there educated, is a cultured and
well informed woman, endowed by nature with
gifts of more than ordinary value, among them
a voice of wonderful range and thrilling power,
sweet and true to the highest idealization of
music. .She is the mother of the following
children : .-\deli/a, wife of H. Tififan)^ of Bak-
ersfield: Fannie, the wife of George Johnson,
of San Bernanlino; Josepli, now a resident of
the City of Mexico and formerly interpreter
for the United States army at Rfanila, where
he interviewed Agninaldo : Charles, a mining
expert in Guadalajara ; Victoria, wife of Frank
Brooks, of Hemet; Lulu, wife of Harry Mc-
Condless, of Arizona; James, a stockman in
Corona : George, a buyer of the Cudahy Pack-
ing Company of Los Angeles; Emma, grad-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1843

uate of St. Catherine's Academy at San Ber-
nardino and now a student of music ; and Mary,
wife of Henry Pram, of Prescott, Ariz. The
daughter Fannie had a remarkable and bril-
liant career in foreign lands across the At-
lantic, as a scholar and a business woman, be-
fore settling down in her native state. She
was one of the first students at Santa Cath-
erine Academy and after her graduation went
abioad and continued her study of languages
in Santa Maria College in Antwerp, when
later she accepted a position as representative
for Docet of Paris, France, traveling through
France, England, Germany, Italy and Spain,
introducing the latest patterns and fashions
for twelve years, having in all spent seventeen
years in Paris. In 1900 she resigned her po-
sition and returned to California, where May
3, J904, she became the wife of George Liv-
ingston Johnson, a native, of Oxford, Ohio,
who came to San Bernardino in 1885, where
he is successfully engaged in the wholesale
and retail liquor business. They are the pro-
prietors of the Oxford hotel.

In Januarv, 1906, Mr. Thomas sold his
ranch iti Hemet valley and located in Red-
lands, where he purchased a livery located at
the corner of Central avenue and Fourth street,
and he has here continued in business and met
with success. He retained his thoroughbred
herd of cattle and horses, in which he takes
the greatest pride. He has taken a keen in-
terest in afifairs of the city and community, pro-
viding the site for the Hemet Land & Water
Company and in many other ways assisting
in the development of the community. Up to
1896 he had been Democratic in his tendencies
but the silver issue of that year turned his in-
terest toward the Republican party, and he
has since voted that licket. As early as 1866
lie was elected supervisor of San Diego county
and held the office for two terms. He was
school trustee from the organization of the dis-
trict near his home, he himself laying out the
first school district in San Diego county. Ev-
ery achievement of his adopted state has been
a matter of pride with I\Ir. Thomas — the first
telegraph, the first telephone, and other mod-
ern methods and equipment being welcomed
into the country with eager assistance by him ;
•at the feast of the newsboys of Los Angeles
he was foremost in his donation of a magni-
ficent Durham cow, movements of this kind
being ever helped by his counsel, time and
means. He recalls the early days of the state,
his earlv adventures, and especially a trip tak-
en in 1861, through Strawberry valley, piloted
by an Indian chief, this being probably the
first white man who ever penetrated its then
remove lands. The dominant characteristics

of an American gentleman, enterprise, prog-
ress and public spirit, are the salient qualities
in the makeup of Mr. Thomas, lending their
aid to make of him a citizen among citizens,
a man among men, a friend among friends,
revered, honored and esteemed by all who
have known him since his boyhood days, which
were spent as a miner in the state of California.

JUDGE JULIUS ADELBERT HOAG. Al-
though he has been connected with different legal
cases in Riverside county during his residence at
Elsinore Judge Julius Hoag is practically retired
from the practice of law, in which profession he
had been ver^- prominent and successful in the
east. Judge Hoag is a member of an old New
York family, his grandfather, Daniel, having
been born in that state, of English descent, and be-
came a pioneer Quaker west of the Hudson river.
The father of Judge Hoag, Philo Hoag, was bom
near Saratoga Springs, and after he grew to
manhood, engaged in agricultural pursuits at
Norwich, where his death occurred in his fifty-
sixth year. His wife was Celia, a daughter of
Philip Phetteplace, a native of Rhode Island, who
settled in Norwich, N. Y., and on his farm there
the daughter was born and in that location she
remained until the time of her death. Her family
was of old Congregational stock.

There were nine cliildren in the family of
which Judge Hoag was a member, and three of
ills brothers are still living. He was the young-
est, his birth occurring May 15, 1840, at Nor-
wich, Qienango county, N, Y. His early boy-
hood days were spent on the farm, but after the
completion of his studies in the common schools
he was sent to Oxford Academy, and, upon his
graduation, matriculated in Yale College, enter-
ing in 1 861, and graduating four years later with
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Following this
he began the studv of law under Judge Elisha
Prindle, of Norwich, and, in 1867, he was ad-
mitted to practice before the supreme court at
Binghamton, N. Y. Believing that opportunities
for tlie young attorney were greater in the west
than in the east, he sought a location in the great
plains country, and settled at Paola, Kans., the old
stamping ground of John Brown, where, for
twenty-four years he identified himself with the
history of that state in legal circles, becoming one
of the most prominent attorneys and the recipient
of numerous official honors. He was prosecuting
attorney at the time that the state prohibition law
was enacted and St. John was governor of Kan-
sas, and took active steps in the enforcement of
the law. He was open and fearless in his de-
nunciation of illegal and unjust combinations of
capital and in many cases was successful in de-
fending men against corporations, thereby gain-

1844

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing the ill-will of the latter and making it neces-
sary for him to keep constantly on his guard
against them. He was city attorney at Paola for
a long period and for many years held the posi-
tion of United States commissioner, having been
appointed by Judge John F. Dillon. He was ad-
mitted to practice in the United States district
and circuit courts while a resident of Kansas.

In 1890 Judge Hoag made his first trip to El-
sinore, Cal., on account of his sister's health, and,
being favorably impressed with conditions, as
well as being in need of rest himself, he located
here permanently in 1891. He engaged in horti-
culture for a time, set out an orchard on a ten-
acre ranch which he purchased, and now has a
fine lot of prime, apricot and olive trees in bear-
ing. He makes his home in Elsinore, wdiere he
is a highly respected citizen, and is now filling
for a second term a place on the Elsinore board
of trustees. He was at one time a member of
the lodges of the Woodmen of die World and of
the Knights of Honor. While not affiliated with
any church denomination Judge Hoag is a gen-
tleman of Christian character and exerts an ele-
vating influence on the community in which he
resides. A man of his education, culture and
large experience could not fail to be a leader
wherever he might live and the people of Elsi-
nore are glad to accord to him the high position
in their midst to which his talents entitle him.

CORNELIUS STOUT. In the truest sense
in which that much-used term could be applied,
Cornelius Stout is a self-made man, having
made his own way in the world from early boy-
hood. With a thorough understanding of the
carpenter's trade and with the previous experi-
ence of about eleven }ears as a contractor and
builder in other parts of the state he came to
Pomona with his tool chest in June of 1887, and
in little less than twenty years has built up the
large business which he commands today.. The
mill covers a floor space of 65x120 feet, while
the lumber yard is of the same dimensions, all
in all it is one of the largest manufacturing
plants of the kind in this part of the county.

The Stout family has been represented in this
country for at least four generations, for it is
known beyond a doubt that the great-grand-
father, Richard Stout, fought as a soldier in
the Revolutionary war among the patriots from
New Jersey. Among his twenty-three children,
seventeen of whom were sons, was one John, who
was born in New Jersey and in that state be-
came well known as a farmer and an expert
judge of horse flesh. His son, Michael F., was
also born in New Jersey, but while he was still
a young man he came to what was then con-
sidered the frontier, as early as 1836 settling in

Fairview, Fulton county. 111. As a means of
livelihood he continued farming with work at
the carpenter's trade, both of which he followed
in Fairview and in DeKalb county, that state,
whither he later removed, and where also his
death occurred. During his young manhood
he had formed domestic ties by his marriage
with Ann Maria Suydam, who like himself wa^
a native of New Jersey. She was a daughter
of Simon Byce Suydam, also a native of New
Jersey, but who later settled in Ohio and Illinois
respectively, passing away in DeKalb county,
as did also his daughter, Mrs. Stout. Three
children were born of the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Stout, as follows : John, who died in Hum-
boldt county, Cal. ; Cornelius ; and Mary Eliza-
beth, now Mrs. JNI. E. Arnold, a resident of
Iowa.

While his parents were living in Illinois Cor-
nelius Stout was born in Fairview, Fulton coun-
ty, September 23, 1849, being next to the old-
est in the family. He interspersed work on the
home farm with his school studies, and when
he was still a mere boy had decided to learn the
carpenter's trade. As his father was an ex-
perienced workman along that line he was
taught the business thoroughly and was soon able
to contract for work on his own account. Leav-
ing the middle west in 1875 he came west to
I'ortland, Ore., and subsequently went to Al-
bany, that state, carrying on work at his trade
in both places. The following year he located
in Susanville, Cal, and from working at the
carpenter's trade he finally branched out into
contracting and building, a venture which
proved remunerative and which he continued un-
til June, 1887, when, as has been stated, he
identified himself with the growing town of
Pomona. He entered upon his career here as
a carpenter and builder and later added car-
riage and wagon manufacturing. After eight
years he gave up the latter and started the plan-
ing mill of which he is now the proprietor. Gen-
eral mill work of all kinds is here manufactured,
and the plant is one of the live industries which
have added to the commercial activity of die
town. Mr. Stout is also an inventor of some
ability, and among other of his patents is a
turner's gauge ancl a sugar paddle, both of
which have merits at once recognized by those
in need of those articles.

In Susanville, Cal, Mr. Stout was married to'
Jessie E. Soule, who was born in Iowa, and one
child, Frances Estella, has blessed their mar-
riage. Mrs. Stout is a member of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church. Politically Mr. Stout is
a believer in Republican principles. His experi-
ence as a business man of many years standing
makes his membership in the Board of Trade a
decided acquisition. While in Susanville, Cal.,

HISTORICAL AND BIOC7RAPHICAL RECORD.

18^5

he joined the Odd Fellows, and is now affiliated
with Pomona Lodge No. 246, of which he is
past noble grand, and is past chief patriarch of
San Antonio Encampment. With his wife he is
a member of the Rebekahs, of which she is past
noble grand. The Woodmen of the World also
claim the membership of Mr. Stout, and in that
as in other organizations with which he is as-
sociated he is a valued and esteemed member.

CADET YRIBARNE. For nearly twenty
years Mr. Yribarne has been a resident of Cal-
ifornia, and during that time he has been con-
nected with a number of undertakings directly
or indirectly connected with agricultural life.
In none of them, however, has he been more
successful than in the growing of grapes and
their later manufacture into wine, his distillery
and vineyard, known as the Tisnerat vineyard,
being located in Long Beach on Anaheim road
and Alamitos avenue.

Mr. Yribarne is a native of France, and was
born in Basses-Pyrenees January i, 1865, the
eldest of three children born to his parents,
Jean and ^Madeline Yribarne. As the father
"died when Cadet was only seven j'ears old,
leaving liis mother with two children younger
than himself, it was not surprising that his
school days were limited. However, he ap-
plied himself diligentlv and gained a fair
general knowledge in the common schools
near his home. Subsequently he took charge
of the home farm, which he managed for his
mother until he was eighteen years old, when
in 1884, he went to Montevidio, South Amer-
ica, working as a farm hand there for two
years. The next year he returned to his home
in France, but he was not satisfied to remain
there after getting a glimpse of the new world,
and the following year, 1887,' he was among
the passengers who embarked from France
bound for California by way of Panama. A
strong factor in directing his steps towards
California was the fact that an uncle, John
Ballan, lived in San Pedro, and it was at that
seaport that his ship cast anchor. For two
years he was in his uncle's employ as assistant
to him in the management of his stock busi-
ness, but later he purchased a drove of sheep
and started in business for himself. In iSgf
he came to this part of Los Angeles county
and rented four thousand acres of the Ala-
mitos Land Company lying east of Long
Beach, which he ran as a stock rancli until
1897. Selling out his stock he at once pur-
chased four acres on the corner of Second and
Ansel streets, where he made his home and
continued ranching for about three years, and

then, in 1900, bought two and a half acres at
the corner of Seventh and Temple streets. He
still owns a portion of this latter tract, al-
though since 1902 his interests have been cen-
tered in the Tisnerat. vineyard, which he pur-
chased that year, and which consists of six
and seventy one-hundredths acres. On this
property he is conducting a very profitable
business in the raising of grapes, his brand of
wine and brandy having a wide sale on its su-
perior quality, and a reputation that is more
than local.

After locating in Long Beach Mr. Yribarne
formed domestic ties by his marriage with
Miss Mary Cilbete, a native of Spain, but her
death in April, 1904, left him alone with two
children, John and ^larguerite. Mr. Yribarne
has shown himself a true American citizen b}'
making a study of the platforms of the two
great political bodies, and after weighing the
principles of each has decided that the Repub-
lican party stands for that which, in his mind,
will bring the most good to the greatest num-
ber. The only fraternal organization of which
he is a member is the Eagles.

iNIILLARD FILL^IORE NEFF. Among the
intelligent, wide-awake agriculturists and the en-
ergetic and progressive business men of San
Diego county, Millard Fillmore Neff, of Fall-
brook, occupies an assured position. He is a fine
representative of the native-born sons of this
state, his birth having occurred January 24, i860,
in Yolo county, where his father, Benjamin W.
Neff, was a pioneer settler.

Leaving Maryland, his native state, when a
yoimg man, Benjamin W. Neff started westward,
and, with a band of emigrants, crossed the plains
with ox-teams in 1849. From San Francisco
he went directly to Virginia City, Nev., where he
worked at his trade of blacksmith at the mines,
and was afterward similarly employed in both
Yolo and Placer counties. Coming to San Diego
county in 1874, he located near the present home
of his son, Millard F. Neff, taking up a tract of
government land, on which he was engaged in
agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age
of sixty-four years, in 1882. He married ]\Iatilda
Copeland, who was born in Ohio, and is now a
resident of Florida.

Having received a practical common-school
education in Placer county Millard Fillmore Neff
came with his parents to Fallbrook town.ship
when a boy of fourteen, and assisted in the pio-
neer lalxir of improving a ranch from the wild
land which his father purchased. After the
death of his father he had the management of
the home estate until it was sold in 1888. Moving
then into the village of Fallbrook he purchased a

184G

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

one-half interest in the general merchandise busi-
ness of J. E. Tracy & Son, and for two jears the
business was conducted under the firm name of
Tracy & Neflf. At the end of that time Mr. NefiE
sold out to J. W. Oieatem. Removing then to
his present ranch he has since been prosperously
employed in general farming, having now a
finely cultivated ranch of one hundred and sixty
acres. He is especially interested in raising bees,
being very successful, at the present time having
two apiaries, each containing one hundred and
ten colonies of these busy little honey-makers.
j\Ir. Neff is a man of eminent business qualifica-
tions, and is one of the stocl-diolders in the Fall-
brook Mercantile Company store, in which he
was for two years the bookkeeper. He takes an
intelligent interest in local matters, is a firm sup-
porter of the principles of the Republican party,
and for a number of years has served as school
trustee.

March i8, 1885, in Fallbrook, ^,lr. Xeff mar-
ried Sarah E. Locke, a native of Pennsylvania,
and they are the parents of three children,
namely: Clarence, at home; Edith, a pupil in
the Fallbrook high school, and Benjamin Gerry.
Fraternallv Mr. Nefif is a member of Fallbrook
Lodge No. 33q, 1. O. O. F., and of Fallbrook
Lodge No. 317, F. & A. M. Mrs. Nefif is a
woman of culture and refinement and a member
of the Baptist Church.

PIERCE BROTHERS. Among the repre-
sentatives of old New England families who have
transferred their substantial traits of character
to the far west, and have given their moral and
business support to the upbuilding of San Pedro,
mention is due the firm of Pierce Brothers, who
as dealers in staple and fancy groceries are
carrying on a profitable business. Qiarles E.,
Frank A. and Dennis G. Pierce are sons of Milo
and Miranda (Galusha) Pierce, New Englanders
by birth, and both of w-hom are now deceased.

The eldest of the three sons is Charles E.
Pierce, who was born January 13, 1852, in South
Shaftsbury. Bennington county, Vt., and was ed-
ucated at the Burr and Burton Seminary at
Manchester, that state. His first experience in
the business world dates back to the time when
he entered the employ of his father, who con-
ducted a general store in South Shaftsbury. The
w^ork was congenial and his services were like-
wise .satisfactory to his father, but owing to
failing health he was compelled to seek a change
of climate and consequently went to St. Paul,
Minn. He remained in that city for seven years
as bookkeeper for a building and loan association
and real-estate firm, of which he finally became
a director, and in the meantime also organized
and became president of another building and

iuan society. During his residence in that city
he became one of its employes, and as bookkeeper
for one year in the city treasurer's office and
assistant in the comptroller's office for eight years
lie not only won the commendation of his supe-
riors, but gained what was of far more value in
the business training which his various duties
placed in his way.

Leaving the middle west in 1903 ilr. Pierce
came to California, and after spending about two
months in Long Beach, with his brother Frank
A. came to San Pedro and established themselves
in the grocery business at the comer of Palos
\'erdcs and Eleventh streets. So rapidly did
their business increase that in a short time they
realized that more help was a necessity, and forth-
with asked their younger brother, Dennis G., and
his wife to come west and join them in their
growing enterprise. While their stock includes
everything that the demands of the household
could suggest, such as staple and fancy groceries,
fruits and notions, they also carry a complete
line of shelf and heavy hardware, besides deal-
ing in hay and grain.

Charles E. Pierce was married in St. Paul,
Minn.. September 25, 1885, to Ellen Bartlett,
who like himself was a native of New England,
her birth occurring in North Adams, Mass. She
died in St. Paul, Minn.. August 8, 1903. While
a resident of St. Paul, Mr. Pierce was initiated
mto Masonn-, becoming a charter member of
Shekinah Lodge No. 171, A. F. & A. M., with
which he is still affiliated ; is a member of Chap-
ter No. 18, R. A. M., of Bennington, Vt. ; Capitol
Citv I..odge No. 48, I. O. O. F. ; Capitol City
Lodge No. 2, K. of P., at St. Paul ; North Star
Grove Lodge No. 4. A. U. O. D. ; Bethesda
Lodge No. I of the Rebekahs at St. Paul; and
Harbor Chapter No. 174, O. E. S., at San Pedro.

Frank A. Pierce was born in 1856 and reared
in South Shaftsbury, \'t., and prior to coming to
California in 1903 held a position with the
American Steel Wire Company at Allentown, Pa.
The youngest brother, Dennis G., was also born
m tlie fa]nily home in X'ermont, February 2, 1872,
and his early training and education were re-
ceived in the Green Mountain state. Subse-
quently he took a higher course of training in
the Fort Edward (N. Y.) Institute. His mar-
riage in 1896 in Rochester, Minn., united him
with Anna E. Sischo. a native of Wisconsin.
On coming to California in 1904 to assist his
brothers in the management of the store he gave
up his position with the American Steel Wire
Company, as his brother F. A. had done the year
previously. F'raternally F. A. Pierce is a mem-
ber of the ?tIasonic lodge at North Bennington,
Vt., the Odd Fellows and Knights of the Golden
Eagle lodges in Allentown. Pa., and the Elks
lodge in San Pedro, while D. G. Pierce is iden-

HISTORIC.VL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1847

tified with the Odd Fellows and Knights of Malta,
both of AUentown, Pa. Although the Pierce
brothers are among the more recent settlers in
San Pedro they have already become known as
men of sterling worth and irreproachable charac-
ter. They are members of the San Pedro cham-
ber of commerce and stockholders in the Harbor
Savings Bank.

FRANK L. MOORE. A farmer of practical
experience and skill, Frank L. Moore is actively
identified with the promotion of the agricultural
prosperity of Los Angeles county, having charge
of his father's ranch, at Palms, and also of the
hotel belonging to his father, Joseph K. Moore.
He comes of good old New England stock, and
was born, July 27, i860, in St. Peter, Minn.

Born in Massachusetts in 1827, Joseph K.
Moore was brought up and educated in his native
state, and as a young man learned the printer's
trade, which he followed for awhile in the east.
With the venturous ambition of youth he came
overland to California in 1852, making the
tedious journey with ox-teams. Locating in San
Francisco, he accepted a position as foreman in
a printing office, receiving $300 per month wages
for the three years in which he was so employed.
Going as far east as Minnesota in 1856, he lo-
cated at St. Peter, where he started the St. Peter
Tribune. He was subsequently burned out, but
immediately rebuilt and continued operations,
remaining in that city thirty-five years. He be-
came very prominent in municipal atTairs, serv-
ing as postmaster twenty-four years. During his
residence there he served in the treasury depart-
ment at Washington, D. C, and was also private
secretary for Governor McGill, of that state.
Disposing of his interests in St. Peter in 1888,
he lived in retirement at St. Anthony Park for
six years. Coming to Los Angeles, Cal., in
1894, he bought sixty acres of land near Palms,
where he improved a ranch now valued at over
$500 per acre. He also owned town lots and
the hotel at Palms, valuable real estate holdings
at Los Angeles and Ocean Park, and was finan-
ciallv interested in silver mines. Fraternally he
was a Mason and quite prominent in the order.
Although physically feeble, his mind was clear
and his mental vigor unimpaired until his death,
in February, 1906. His wife, whose maiden
name was Clara Hosley, was born in Massachu-
setts, and is still living, a bright and active wo-
man, and a devoted member of the Presbyterian
Church. Four children blessed their union,
namely: Frank L., the special subject of this
sketch ; Frederick S., foreman of a printing office
in Downev, Cal.; Florence K., living at home;
and Harry E., of Los Angeles, bookkeeper for
the Conservative Life Insurance Company.

Educated in the public schools of St. Peter,
Frank L. Moore subsequently worked in his
father's printing office for awhile, after which
he attended Milton College, at Milton, Wis., for
two years. On attaining his majority he em-
barked in farming pursuits, for a number of years
renting land in Wisconsin. Going then to South
Dakota, he took up a homestead claim and a tree
claim, and there pursued his independent calling
for awhile. Selling out, he returned to Wiscon-
sin, and after farming for a few seasons went to
St. Paul, Minn., where he was employed for a
year in a printing establishment. Coming to
California in i8go, he located near San Diego,
where for three years he had charge of a ranch
belonging to his father. Going then to Redlands,
he carried on farming on rented land for two
years, when he returned to Los Angeles county,
the following year having charge of a ranch
near San Gabriel. Since that time he has man-
aged his father's ranch of sixty acres at Palms,
and in his operations has met with marked suc-
cess. November 15, 1905, he assumed control
of the hotel property, which he managed for a
short time, and then embarked in the bakery and
confectionery business,

Mr. Moore married first, in 1881, Annie Mc-
Nitt, who was born in Wisconsin, and died in
that state at the age of twenty-six years. Of
the three children born of this union, two died in
childhood, and one is living, Frank F., a ranch-
man of Palms. In San Diego, Cal., Mr. Moore
married Mrs. Emma (Swords) Bales, a native
of Illinois, and they have one child, Edith F.
Moore. Politically Mr. Moore is a Republican,
and fraternallv he belongs to Palms Camp No.
567, W. O. W.

H. C. KELSEA. Prominent among the lead-
ing citizens of Compton is H. C. Kelsea, who lo-
cated here when the town was comparatively
new, and in its upbuilding and growth has been
an important force. Enterprising and energetic,
he has generously aided and encouraged the es-
tablishment of all beneficial projects, in the ma-
terial and business advancement of town and
county taking an active part. Brave and public-
spirited, he served as a member of the vigilance
committee in the early days, being captain of
the local company. Of thrifty New England
stock, he was Ijorn, September 11, 1845, in New
Hampshire, which was likewise the birthplace
and life-long residence of his parents, Benja-
min Franklin and Martha (Merrill) Kelsea. His
father, a farmer in his earlier days, subsequent-
Iv sold his land and settled as a merchant at
Center Harbor, N. H. He was a Whig until
the formation of the Republican party, when he
liecame one of its stanchest adherents, and was

1848

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

aclive in local affairs, serving as postmaster un-
der both Lincoln and Johnson. He was a man
of high moral principles, and his wife was a
member of the Alethodist Episcopal Church.

After leaving the district school, which he at-
tended six months of the year, H. C. Kelsea
worked for awhile in his father's store, at Cen-
ter Harbor, N. H., and then learned the trade
of machinist. Enlisting, in August, 1861, in
Company I, Fifth New Hampshire \'olunteer
Infantr}-, he served until July 5, 1865, during
which time he participated in thirty-two engage-
ments, including the battles of Gettysburg, Seven
Pines and the Wilderness. Being wounded
in the right lung during the latter engagement,
he was confined in the hospital for two months,
and on being released was sent home on a fur-
lough. He afterwards reported for duty, and
remained with his regiment until the close of
the war. Locating then in Salem, J\Iass., he
learned the trade of a carpenter and builder, at
which he worked as a journeyman for five years,
and as a contractor for himself for two years.
Then, the wounds that he received in the war
beginning to trouble him seriously, he came by
way of the Isthmus to Cahfornia in 1874, hoping
in this land of sunshine to receive permanent
benefit. After spending a brief time in San
Francisco, he came on a coast steamer south to
Santa Barbara, from there going up into the
mountains. He subsequently worked at his
trade in Los Angeles for a year, from there
coming to Compton. Deciding to locate here
permanently he bought a ranch of twenfy-eight
acres and began life as a farmer. He afterwards
purchased another ranch, one containing forty
acres, and in the management of his two farms
has been very successful. He carries on general
farming, making a specialty of raising two of the
staple products of this section of the county, al-
falfa and beets. In addition to ranching he has
carried on an extensive business as a contractor
and builder, having erected many of the larger
public buildings and private residences of Comp-
ton and vicinity, being popular as a carpenter and
a most pleasant and agreeable man to deal with,
as he is upright and honest in all of his trans-
actions.

In 1870, in Danvers, Mass., Mr. Kelsea mar-
ried Mary E.. daughter of Frederick A. Wil-
kins, of ^lassachusetts, and into their home five
children have been born : Frederick, born Oc-
tober 6, 1873, married Sarah Lothrop, and re-
sides in Long Beach ; Frank, living in Los An-
geles, was born July 21, 1875; Chester, also
of Los Angeles, was born August 24, 1879; Har-
old, born October 21, 1883, resides in Los An-
geles; and Gertrude, born August 24, 1887, is at-
tending the University of California at Berkeley.
In national politics ■\Ir. Kelsea supports the can-

didate of the Republican party, but in local af-
fairs he invariably casts his ballot for the men
best fitted in his judgment for the offices, regard-
less of party prejudices. He takes great inter-
est in town and city matters, and has served as
school trustee. Socially he is a member and
the commander of Shiloh Post No. 60, G. A. R.,
of Compton.

ROBERT KIRKWOOD. Familiar with va-
rious portions of California through travel and
brief sojourns in a number of cities. Air. Kirk-
wood on coming to Long Beach was especially
attracted by the possibilities of this city and so
disposed of his holdings in five dift'erent counties
of the state, in order that his investments might
be centered in Long Beach. Here he now lives,
retired from business activities, in the comfort-
able residence which he erected on the corner of
Alagnolia avenue and ^^'est Seventh street. Of
Scotch birth . and ancestry, he was born in the
city of Glasgow, December 29, 1827, being a
son of Robert and Jane (Gilbur) Kirkwood.
natives of Scotland. His father, who was a
steam engineer by occupation, came to the United
States in 1848 and settled near St. Louis, where
a suburb was given the family name. There
both he and his wife remained until deatlT.

In a family of three sons and three daughters
Robert Kirkwood was next to the youngest. Ed-
ucated in the schools of his native city and
reared to habits of industry, he was well quali-
fied to make his own way in the world when, in
1848, he accompanied his parents to the United
States. The trade of machinist, which he had
learned in Glasgow, he followed in St. Louis
until 1856, when he came to the Pacific coast
by way of Panama. For a time he worked in
San Francisco as an employe of the Union foun-
dry (now the Union Iron Works), but in 1857
he went to Angel's Camp to take up the work
of a mining engineer. After working for two
companies he formed the firm of Kirkwood &
Co., but in i860 discontinued activities there and
removed to Sonora, where he was employed in
a foundry for eight years. The year 1869 found
him in Soulsbyville, where he put in mining ma-
chinery and then acted as foreman of the me-
chanical department in the mines. Next he ex-
perimented in a new field of labor, that of grape
culture, purchasing in 1875 a vineyard near
Fresno; however, not finding the occupation
profitable at that time and place, he sold the
vineyard. Later he made his home in Pasadena
and engaged in engineering work elsewhere until
1901, when he came to Long Beach and bought
his present property.

The marriage of Mr. Kirkwood was solemnized

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1849

in St. Louis, Mo., and united him with EHza-
beth Harris, who was born at Worcester, Eng-
land, and died at Long Beach, Gal., in June of
1903. Of their union six children were born
and four are now living, namely: Alfred Rob-
ert, who remains with his father; Mrs. Jeannie
Davies, of Long Beach ; Charles, who is engaged
in mining in Alaska ; and Annie, who has charge
of the famil}' home since the death of her mother.
The only fraternity with which j\lr. Kirkwood
has been identified is the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows; nor has he been active in politics,
taking no part in the same aside from voting the
Republican ticket at elections. Through his
active years the duties of his occupation were such
as to preclude activity in fraternal or political
organizations, and now, when retired from busi-
ness, he finds his greatest enjoyment in the quiet
of his home and the companionship of children
and friends.

WILLIAM EDWARD PHELPS. No
citizen takes a keener interest in the history
of California than does Dr. Phelps, of Red-
lands, and no citizen is more ready and able
to lend an impetus to the upbuilding, of the
section than he. Inheriting from an old New
York family those qualities of character domi-
nant in the life of the early settler, he was
born in Phelps Street, Fulton county, N. Y.,
November 12, i860; his grandfather, Chester,
was born in that place, as was his father,
George R., a farmer, who died in Gloversville
in May, 1903. His mother was a member of
the W^hitney family, her birth occurring in
Saratoga county, N. Y., near Glens Falls ; she
still survives and makes her home in Glovers-
ville. She has two sons and three daughters
living, one daughter being deceased ; one son,
W. W., is now a glove manufacturer in Glov-
ersville.

The second child in the famil_\- of his par-
ents, ^VilIiam Edward Phelps was reared in
the paternal home until he was twent}' years
old, receiving a preliminary education in the
public schools of the state. In Gloversville
he engaged in the manufacture of gloves and
at the same time studied and began the prac-
tice of veterinary surgeon. Severing his busi-
ness relations in that place in June, 1890, he
came to California and located in Redlands,
then but a small place, and here engaged in
the practice of his profession, which he has
since continued, now being the oldest veteri-
nary surgeon in San Bernardino county. He
has been successful in his work and has ac-
quired a competence, and at the same time by
reason of his interest in public afifairs has as-
sumed a place of prominence in the citizen-

ship of the place. He has contributed no lit-
tle toward the upbuilding of Redlands, has
purchased and improved property, and now
owns a comfortable residence on Walnut street,
where he makes his home.

In Fulton county, N. Y., Dr. Phelps was
united in marriage with Miss Emily Banks,
a native of Phelps Street, N. Y., where her
death occurred. She had two children, Jessie
May and Harold Chester, who died at the age
of three months. The second marriage of Dr.
Phelps took place in Redlands and united
him with Miss Hester J. Mums, a native of
Illinois, and born of this union is one son,
Raymond Chester. Dr. Phelps gives his sup-
port to the Baptist Church, of which his wife
is a member. The doctor served as county
veterinarian, having been appointed by the
board of supervisors in June, 1905. Frater-
nally he is prominent, being past grand of the
Odd Fellows, and belonging also to the en-
campment of that organization; the Redmen ;
Ancient Order of United Workmen ; Fraternal
Brotherhood; Knights of the Maccabees; and
the Royal Court, of which he is serving as
trustee. He belongs to the State Veterinary
Medical Association and is prominent in the
Southern California Auxiliary. Politically he
is a stanch advocate of the principles advo-
cated in the platform of the Republican party,
and is serving as a member of the Republican
County Central Committee. He is a member
of the Board of Trade, and in all things gives
his stanch support to the advancement" and
upbuilding of the city. He is justly esteemed
among the representative citizens of Redlands,
and appreciated for the high qualities of char-
acter displayed during his residence here.

IRWTN FELLOWS. Indiana has contrib-
uted her quota of dependable citizens toward
making California the greatest commonwealth in
the west, and among those of her number men-
tion is due Irwin Fellows, who has been a resi-
dent of the state since- 1887. Born in Putnam
county, Ind., May 28, 1858, he is a son of War-
ner and Charlotte (Howe) Fellows, the latter
both natives of the Empire state. In Onondaga
county, where he was born in 1812, W^arner
Fellows was reared to young manhood, and there
also he settled down to follow an agricultural life.
For a number of years after this venture he w^as
well content with his lot, but a desire to settle
in a newer country led to the sale of his eighty-
acre farm and the year 1842 found him among
the pioneer settlers in Indiana. Selecting a lo-
cation in Putnam county, he purchased a fann
of seventy-two acres, upon which he made his
home for nearly thirty vears, his death occur-

1850

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ring there in 1870. Politically he favored Re-
publican principles, and fraternally he was iden-
tified with the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows. Although he was not allied with any re-
ligious organization he assisted in the mainte-
nance of the Baptist Church, of which denomina-
tion his wife was a member.

The parental family comprised twelve chil-
dren, of whom Irwin was the youngest. His
early boyhood years were not unlike those of the
average boy in a new countr_\-, and when not at-
tending the subscription school he was perform-
ing his share of the chores on the farm. This
desultor}- training was found to be a valuable
asset when, at the age of sixteen years, he was
given charge of the home farm, running it for
four years. About this time, 1879, he was mar-
ried and with his bride removed to Missouri, re-
moving back to Indiana two years later, how-
ever. After spending a like period in the Hoos-
ier state he went to Kansas, there learning the
mason's trade. Thus doubly equipped for mak-
ing a livelihood he came to California in 1887,
locating at once in Los Angeles county, and up-
on the property which he then purchased, near
Palms, he has since been a resident. His ranch
comprises eight acres, and in addition to its
care and management he also works at his trade,
the combined income enabling him to enjoy the
comforts of life and to bestow upon his children
advantages of which he himself was deprived.
To himself and wife, fonnerly Martha A. Whit-
taker, two children have been born, Luther J.,
born in 1879, and Warner E., in 1882. All of
the family attend the Baptist Church, of which
'Mr. and Mrs. Fellows are members, and polit-
ically Air. Fellows is a Republican. The only
fraternal order of which he is a member is the
^^'oodmen of the World.

TA:\IES B. PROCTOR. The establishment
of the Proctor family in the United States oc-
curred under circumstances somewhat peculiar.
One of that name was a millwright in a cotton
mill in England and. being a man of unusual
ability and energy, he acquired a thorough
knowledge of the business. With keen foresight
he decided that the United States offered a
splendid field for the establishment of a cotton
mill, for up to that time none had been started
in the new world. However, the English gov-
ernment, naturally averse to the building up of
cotton factories in our country, refused to give
him permission to come to the United States,
but allowed him to go as far as Nova Scotia.
From there he made three attempts to steal
away, but each time was caught by officers until
the third time, when he secreted himself on
board of a vessel bound for Massachusetts. The

officers of the ship and the crew were ignorant
of his presence. Scarcely had the ship set sail
when he was missed and a British war vessel
was dispatched in pursuit of the craft. Soon
overtaken, the officers made a thorough search,
but could not find the missing man, so they de-
parted, and in this way the fugitive reached
Massachusetts in safety. Shortly after his ar-
rival he started the first cotton mill in the United
States and the remainder of his life was devoted
to that occupation.

Among the descendants of this sturdy English
pioneer of JMassachusetts was a grandson, Al-
fred A. Proctor, who was born in New York,
and for years lived in I^lichigan, but about 1872
came to California and started the first black-
smith's shop at Compton. A sincere member of
the Christian Qiurch, he' died in that faith in
Alay of 1904. In early manhood he had married
Margaret Chrysler, who was born in Canada,
removed in childliood to \"ermont, and from
there to r^Iichigan, later coming to California,
where in 1888 her death occurred. Among her
three children there was one daughter, now a
resident of Los Angeles. One of the sons is
living at Norwalk and the other, J. B., makes
his home at Compton. The latter was born at
Lowell. Kent county, ]\Iich., on the 4th of July,
1857, and came with his parents to California,
arriving November 2, 1872, after which he at-
tended school at Compton. At the age of nine-
teen years he became interested in boring wells
and has since engaged in this business, using
two machines in his work. For ten years he
made his home in Riverside, but with that ex-
ception he has resided at Compton since coming
to the coast.

The marriage of Air. Proctor took place No-
vember 2, 1882, and united him with Mary Wil-
son, a native of California. Three children were
born of their union, namely : Mctor E., born
August 9, 1883 : Leona AI., April 26, 1897 ; and
Viola I., August 30, 1899. The father of Airs.
Proctor was William A. Wilson, who was born
in Alissouri and crossed the plains with his wife
in the first train behind the victims of the Moun-
tain Aleadow massacre, from whom they were
distant only forty miles. The savages came upon
their own little party and took all of their stock,
but allowed the men and women to go on
through Utah unmolested. When Air. \\'ilson
arrived in California he had nothing but his yoke
of oxen and fifty cents in money. Notwith-
standing his condition among strangers, with a
family dependent upon him, he was able to sup-
plv the needs of wife and children and gradually
gained a position of prosperity. Of his eleven
children eight survive, four sons making their
home at Long Beach. His death occurred in
1892 and was mourned by the people of Conip-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1851

ton, where he had been one of the earhest set-
tlers. His wife and her mother still survive,
and there are altogether five generations of their
family living in this vicinity. The Republican
party receives the stanch support of j\Ir. Proctor
in national elections, but in local matters he sup-
ports the men he considers best qualified to pro-
mote the local welfare. In fraternal relations
he holds membership with Anchor Lodge, No.
273, F. & A. AL, and has officiated as steward of
the same.

FRED. A. JMcCCRDY. Among the enterpris-
ing and self-reliant men who are actively as-
sociated with the development of the agricult-
ural resources of Los Angeles county is F. A.
McCurd}', a well-known ranchman of Clearwater
township. He pays especial attention to dairy-
ing and poultry raising, and in the management
of his interests shows marked ability and excel-
lent judgment. A son of the late Daniel Mc-
Curdy, he was born January 2.2, 1852, in Waldo
county, ]\Ie., coming from honored New Eng-
land stock.

A native of ]\Iaine, Daniel AJcCurdy there
spent the larger part of his comparatively brief
life, being a true and loyal citizen. In 1862 he
enlisted in his country's service, becoming a
member of the Eighteenth Elaine Volunteer In-
fantry, and in 1864 met his death on the field of
battle, being killed at the siege of Petersburg.
He married Hannah Field, who was born in
Maine, living there until 1880, when she re-
moved to Kansas. From there she subsequent-
ly came to California, and died at the home of
her son, F. A. McCurdy. She was a member of
the Baptist Church, while her husband belonged
to the Christian Church. He was a Republican
in politics, and a man of sterling character.

Brought up in his native town, F. A. JMcCurdy
received hisi early education in the district schools,
and as a youth was well trained in the New
England habits and virtues. Being left father-
less when a boy, he was thrown partly upon his
own resources, and began earning his living by
working as a farm hand in summer and in the
Maine lumber camps winters. Leaving his
native state in 1876. he made his way westward
to Lawrence. Kans., where he was successfullv
employed in the agricultural implement business
for about ten years. Coming to California in
1886, he was for six years engaged as a wind-
mill tank contractor, being located in Alameda
county, near Oakland. Settling then in San
Luis Obispo county, he embarked in agricultural
pursuits, remaining there a number of seasons.
Disposing of his property in that locality, he
purchased his present ranch of twenty acres near
Clearwater, and since devoted himself to the
raising of hay. grain and alfalfa for feed, and

to dairying and chicken raising, carrying on a
large and lucrative business in this line.

In Kansas, in 1879, J^^r. McCurdy married
Rachel Walton, who was born in Indiana. Her
father, Amos Walton, was born and reared in
Ohio, but after his marriage settled first in
Indiana, later moving to Kansas, and is now a
resident of Long Beach, Cal. His wife, whose
maiden name was Sallie Hiatt, died when the
daughter Rachel was a young girl. Of the
union of Mr. and Mrs. McCurdy six children
have been born, and of them we mention the
following: Clemie Raye, who was born in Kan-
sas, died at the age of four years ; Fred, born
in Kansas, lived but two years; Nicholas, also
born in Kansas, is following the carpenter's
trade in Los Angeles county; Helen A., born
in Alameda county, Cal.. is living at home;
Blanche, born in Alameda county, is at the
Home for Cliildren, in Eldridge, Sonoma coun-
ty ; and Joseph F., is the only one of the children
born in Los Angeles county, his birth having
occurred on the home ranch. Politically Mr.
McCurdy is a Republican, and fraternally he
is a member of Alameda Lodge, K. of P. He
is an esteemed and consistent member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, toward the support
of which he contributes generously.

MERCURIAL LUGO. The ranch of eigh-
teen acres now the property of Mr. Lugo was
formerly a part of La Ballon'a rancho, the latter
in times past one of the vast properties held by
the Spanish. A man of progressive ideas, he
looks forward to the betterment of the commun-
ity in which he makes his home, in a special as
well as an agricultural way, giving the best of
his efforts toward this end. A native son of the
state, he was born in Los Angeles county in Feb-
ruary, 1859. (For an account of the parental
history the reader is referred to the sketch of
\'icente Lugo, which will be found elsewhere in
this volume.)

The first seven years of Mr. Lugo's life were
closely associated with his birthplace in Los An-
geles county, the family at this period remov-
ing to a ranch in San Diego county. Ten or
twelve years later Mr. Lugo and his mother re-
moved to the ranch in Los Angeles county which
the latter owned in the vicinity of Palms, the
two making their home together until the son
attained his twenty-fifth year. At this period
in his career he formed domestic ties of his own
and established his home on the ranch of ei'gh-
teen acres which he now owns. This was a gift
from his mother at the time of his marriage and
was a part of the ranch upon which he and his
mother had resided for so many years previously.

Seven children were born of the marriage of

180-2

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mercurial Lugo and Reta Rays, the latter also
a native of Los Angeles county. Named in or-
der of birth their children are as follows: An-
tonio. Francisco. Jean. George. Becinta. Lovena
and Loquano. \Vith the exception of Lovena,
who died when seven years of age, all of the
children are at home with the parents. The
family are communicants of the Roman Catholic
Church, and politically ^Ir. Lugo is a Democrat.
The esteem in which Z^Ir. Lugo is held by his
fellow citizens is well deserved and reflects
further credit on a name already well known in
this part of California.

AMOS DAVIS THATCHER. The Thatcher
family comes of old Quaker ancestry and became
established in the \'irginian colony during the
early colonization of America. One hundred and
fifty-se\'en years ago Jonathan Thatcher pur-
chased from Lord Fairfax a plantation situated
near what is now ^lartinsburg. W. \'a., and the
house he erected still stands, in a fair state of
preservation. The old homestead has been
lianded down from father to son and now be-
longs to Newton J. Thatcher. Perhaps one hun-
dred years ago the then owner of the property
planted an orchard of apple trees and long after-
wards this was still considered one of the finest
orchards in the entire state. A single tree one
year bore one hundred and forty-five bushels of
apples, and some of the trees measured as much
as twenty-six inches in diameter.

The original owner of the plantation was suc-
ceeded by his son and namesake, who was a
native of West \'irginia and spent his entire life
in that state. Next in line of descent was Mark
Carr Thatcher, who was born near Martinsburg,
W. Ya.. and at an early age removed to Ohio and
took up a tract of raw land. During 1839 he set-
tled in the then frontier regions of the territory
of Iowa, where he improved a prairie fami in
Yan Buren county, and continued to reside there
until his death. As early as 1850 one of his sons,
Ezekiel, crossed the plains with an ox team,
arriving in California after a fatiguing journey
of five months. Eventually settling in Shasta
county, he is still one of the leading men and
honored pioneers of that section. On the com-
pletion of the railroad across the continent the
father determined to visit Ezekiel and view the
great and hitherto unknown west. Accompanied
by his wife, in 1868 he went to Omaha and there
paid $600 for two tickets to Sacramento, where
they arrived at the expiration of five days. Dur-
ing the visit in California he lost his wife, who
was Hannah Thomas, a native of the Shenandoah
vallev in West Virginia and a descendant of an
English family identified with the Society of
Friends.

There were nine children in the family of
;\Iark Carr Thatcher and seven sons are still liv-
mg, Amos Davis being sixth in order of birth.
Four of the sons were Union soldiers in the Civil
war, namely: Jonathan, who served in Com-
pany E. Fifteenth Iowa Infantr\- ; Isaac, also of
that regiment, and who was wounded in the bat-
tles of Corinth and Shiloh ; Aaron, a member of
the First Iowa Cavalry : and Amos D.. who
served with the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry. On the
occasion of the Grand Army Encampment at
\\'ashington. D. C, in October. 1902, nine mem-
bers of the Thatcher family marched abreast in
the column down Pennsylvania avenue and were
given a flag bearing the words. "One Family of
Thatchers."

While the family were living near Wilming-
ton. Qinton county, Ohio. Amos Davis Thatcher
was born April 9, 1838. His earliest recollec-
tions are associated with frontier surroundings in
Iowa. Neighbors were few, land was in the orig-
inal condition of nature, and the farmer's task
one of arduous labor and self-sacrifice. Free
schools had not yet been generally introduced,
and he was a pupil in a subscription school con-
ducted in a log building wholly destitute of com-
forts. When the war opened he was eager to
ofl^er his services to the Union, and October 14,
1861, he was accepted as a volunteer in Com-
pany E Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, where he was
first a sergeant and later a sergeant-major.
Among the engagements in which he participated
were those at Shiloh. Corinth. luka. siege and
surrender of \'icksbura:. Oiampion Hill. Jackson
and Black River Bridge. Ill-health occasioned
by exposure to inclement weather and the hard-
ships of long marches forced him to -leave the
army, and he received an honorable discharge in
September. 1863. at the close of little less than
two years of service.

Returning to Van Buren county, Iowa. ^Ir.
Thatcher engaged in the drug business and also
followed farm pursuits. In 1878 he removed to
Kansas and settled on a farm near Topeka. but
after three years on the farm he moved into
town and built a store building on the corner of
Sixth and Clay streets, a locality still known as
Thatcher's Corner. On account of the ill-health
of a son he eventually disposed of his interests
in Topeka and moved to California, settling in
San Diego in 1889. Two years later he went to
Pomona, where first he engaged in the fruit busi-
ness and later was superintendent of a plant
owned by the Deciduous Fruit Growers .Asso-
ciation, his special work being the preparation
of olives for tlie market, and of these he cured
each year ten thousand gallons during the winter
months.

Immediately subsequent to his arrival at O.x-
nard. February 27, 1900. Mr. Thatcher took

0f^/)r^O90-^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1853

cliarge of the business of the CaHfornia Imple-
ment Company. However, within a short time
he organized the Oxnard Implement Company,
which purchased the interests of the former or-
ganization and has continued the business to the
present time, with himself as president and man-
ager. The implement house is the largest busi-
ness of its kind in Ventura county. The company
acts as exclusive agents for the machinery man-
ufactured by the jNIoline, jMcCormick, Stude-
baker and Fish Brothers Companies, also handles
gasoline engines manufactured by the Fairbanks-
Alorse Company, and transacts a large business
in the line of its specialties.

The first marriage of Mr. Thatcher was
solemnized in Iowa and united him with Miss
Alelissa Hartsell, who was born in Indiana. Her
death occurred in 1902, while attending the
Grand Army Encampment at Washington, from
which city the bod}- was brought to Pomona,
Cal., for interment. Five children were born of
their union, namely : George, who died while
his father was at Corinth with the army during
the Civil war; Mark, who died at Topeka, Kans.,
October 15, 1888; Frank, who died at San Diego
in February, 1891 ; Frederick, cashier of the
Bank of Oxnard ; and Hugh, who is engaged in
the drug business at Los Angeles. Four years
after coming to Oxnard Mr. Thatcher was united
in marriage with Mrs. T. E. Parker, who was
born in Massachusetts, and now owns mercan-
tile interests at Littleton, N. H. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Thatcher are members of the Order of the
Eastern Star and both are identified with the
Methodist Episcopal Qiurch, in which he offi-
ciates as a trustee. Politically he supports Re-
publican principles. While living in Kansas he
was initiated into the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows in Topeka Lodge No. 40, and 'also af-
filiated with the Encampment, Canton and
Rebekahs. He was made a Mason in Pomona
Lodge, F. & A. M., and now belongs to Oxnard
Lodge No. 341, and Oxnard Chapter. At the
time of removing from Kansas he was com-
mander of Abe Lincoln Post No. i, at Topeka,
and now has his membership with Vicksburg
Post No. 61, -G. A. R., in Pomona, this state.

WILLIAM WARREN ORR. A Cali-
fornian in ever}- sense of the word save that
of birth, William W. Orr is one of the stanch
supporters of the commonwealth and an im-
portant factor in its upbuilding. He is locat-
ed in Los Angeles county and in the vicinity
of Norwalk is engaged as a rancher, owning
a tract of one hundred and sixty acres highly
cultivated and improved and also forty acres
just north of his home, all of which is devoted
to grain and alfalfa and the pasturage for a

large herd of cows which supplies a fine dairy
kept by Mr. Orr. Born in Union county, Ky.,
February 15, 1832, Air. Orr was a son of Will-
iam and Su.san (Stone) Orr, both natives of
tlie same state, the paternal grandfather, John,
having emigrated from Ireland in an early
day and located in Kentucky where he en-
gaged as a surveyor for many years. Will-
iam W. Orr is the sole survivor of the Orr
family of Kentucky, his brothers and sisters
being deceased.

A limited education was all that Mr. Orr
was able to obtain as he was orphaned by the
death of his father when only five years old,
and with seven children in the family it was
necessar)' for them all to seek some means of
earning their own livelihood. As soon as he
was old enough he assumed charge of his
mother's farm, remaining at home until 1852
when he started across the plains to California.
He arrived in Placerville, Eldorado county,
the same year and engaged in mining for the
ensuing four years. He then went to Alameda
county and purchased a ranch of one hun-
dred and sixty acres and carried on general
farming for about five years, when he dis-
posed of these interests and removed to Con-
tra Costa county and purchased a stock ranch
of one hundred and sixty acres. He followed
this enterprise for a time and then bought
ihe La Fayette hotel at La Fayette and spent
ten years "in that section. In 1864 in com-
pany with Judge \'enable he went to Nevada
and was engaged in the lumber business in
that state for three years, when he returned
I0 Kenetucky via the Isthmus of Panama and
the following year was married to Miss Sarah
E. Ryle, a native of Oldham county, Ky., and
a daughter of William and Annie ( Baldock)
Rvle. Mr. and Mrs. Ryle came to California
aiid spent their last days with their daughter
on the old homestead, his death occurring in
1889 at the age of eighty-four years and hers
at the age of eighty-five years.

In 1869 Mr. Orr and his wife set out for
California with an ox-team, coming via the
southern route, and while camping at Waco,
Tex., their first child was born. Pushing on
toward their journey's end they arrived in
San Diego, where Mr. Orr found himself
without means, but here he received a letter
from his friend and former associate. Judge
Venable, advising him to come on to Los An-
geles. They reached Los Angeles county and
in the vicinity of Norwalk Mr. Orr rented
land and began farming, two years later pur-
chasing the first forty acres he owned, and
where the old home now stands. The coun-
try was then wild, with but few settlers. He
lias since continued to ]nirchase propert)- until

1S54

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

he now owns one hundred and sixty acres in
the home property and a forty-acre tract one
mile north, all well improved and finely culti-
vated. With his general farming he also man-
ages an extensive dairy business, milking over
thirty cows, while at times he has had as
many as eighty in his herd. He has put up
a model dairy, which is sanitary in all its ap-
pointments. He is also interested in the rais-
ing of thoroughbred draft horses. Mr. Qrr
owns a fine residence property on Maple ave-
nue, near Sixteenth, Los Angeles.

Mr. Qrr lost his wife August 21, 1905, at
the age of sixty-three years. He has a family
of five children, namely: Emma, wife of Wal-
lace Randall and the mother of four children,
their home being in the vicinity of the new Riv-
era school house; William, who died at the age
of twenty-one years, John Avho married Mi-
randa Sackett, has two children, and resides
on a forty-acre ranch ; Robert, who married
Mabel Miller and now lives in Tulare county,
Cal. ; and Charles A., who married Grace Gib-
son, and is located on the old place. ^Ir. Qrr
is a charter member of Downey Lodge No.
220, F. & A. 'SL, and is proud of the fact that
all of his sons are identified with the Masonic
organization. Mr. Qrr is one of the esteemed
residents of this section, his home having been
upon this property he now owns for the past
thirty-five years, during which he has taken a
keen interest in the development and upbuild-
ing of his adopted home ; has established for
himself a position of respect among his fellow
citizens for his integrity and personal worth :
and has also accumulated a competence. Al-
though ad\'anced in years he is still actively
engaged in the management of his ranch and
is proud of his superior products. He is just-
ly named among the representative citizens of
Los Angeles county for to such characters as
his is owed the progress of the western com-
monwealth.

JOSEPH ERAXKLIN NADEAU. The
name of Nadeau is inseparably linked with the
history and highest development of Southern
California, and especially is it synonymous with
progress in Los Angeles county and city, where
Remi Nadeau, the father of Joseph Franklin,
became a pioneer settler in i860, and it was he
who erected the first real modern building within
the precincts of the city. The senior Nadeau.
who was born in the province of Quebec, Canada,
was descended from French ancestry and early
settled in Concord, N. H., where he was occupied
as a millwright and built a number of mills.
In 1857 li^ removed to Chicago, remaining there
a short time only before going to Faribault,

Minn., where he erected mills and engaged in
milling operations. Two years later he decided
to push his way further west and crossed the
plains, going by way of Pike's Peak to Salt
Lake City, and after a year's sojourn there
finished his westward trip to the Pacific coast
and became one of the first settlers in Los An-
geles. Upon his arrival here he began to do
heavy teaming, later engaged in merchandising
and again in freighting, using sixteen and twenty
mule teams to haul merchandise to the mines,
returning with loads of bullion. His extensive
business in this line embraced the Owens river
country, and he also brought borax from the
deserts of California and Nevada, for his were
the largest teaming outfits owned bv anyone in
those days.

It was about the year 1884 that he erected
the Nadeau building, which 'was the largest in
the city and the first large building on Spring
street. He had succeeded in accumulating ex-
tensive property interests in various locations, be-
came interested in agriculture and horticulture,
and owned four thousand acres of land embraced
in what is now known as the Cudahy ranch,
adjoining the city on the south, upon which
he planted a twenty-five-hundred-acre vineyard,
making his the largest one in this section of the
state for many years. The remainder of his
land was devoted to the raising of alfalfa hay
and other grain crops. Politically he was a
stanch advocate of the principles embraced in
the platform of the Republican party and was
actively interested in the public welfare of the
municipality in which he lived. His death, in
January, 1887, at the age of sixty-eight years,
removed one of the most prominent and pro-
gressive .citizens this section has known, and a
man whose honesty and integritv of character
were acknowledged by all who had the pleasure
of his acquaintance. His wife, who was before
her marriage Martha Fry, was a native of Con-
cord. N. H., and a daughter of Amos Fry, who
patriotically served his country in the war of
181 2. The death of Mrs. Nadeau occurred in
Los Angeles.

The oldest in a family of seven children, four
of whom grew to maturity, Joseph Franklin
Xadeau was born in 1845 in Concord. N. H.,
and reared in that state until fourteen years of
age, his education being received there in the
public schools and at an academy. In i8>q he
removed with the family to Faribault, Minn.,
and in 1862 became a volunteer in Company
H, First Regiment of Minnesota Cavalry, having
mustered into service at St. Peter. He was
engaged in the Sioux Indian campaign until 186.^,
when the redskins were forced to cross the Mis-
"iouri river, and returning to ^Minnesota he was
mustered out at Fort Snelling in the fall of 1863.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1855

Following this he learned the carpenter's trade
and was occupied as a builder in Faribault for
a time. In 1868 he came to California via Pan-
ama and located in Los Angeles for one year,
ihen removed to the northern states and spent
the subsequent four years in Washington and
( )regon on the Cowlitz and Columbia rivers.

Returning to California in 1873 Air. Xadeau
engaged in the teaming business with his father
in the Nevada and California deserts, becoming
interested in the borax mines at Columbus, Xev.
He built four plants for refining the product
with a capacity of twenty tons daily. The cost
of hauling the borax from Columbus to Wads-
worth was four cents per hundred weight, and
the railroad haul to San Francisco was from
one to two cents, so that when great quantities
were shipped the market was soon flooded and
the operation of the plants became unprofitable.
Again returning to California the father teamed
in Inyo county, forming a partnership with
Judson & Belshaw, known as the Cerro Gordo
Freighting Company, he acting in the capacity
( f manager. The son went to Modoc count}-
and engaged in the cattle business at Goose
Lake for a year, then returned to Los Angeles
and was in busmess with his father for several
years, after w-hich he engaged in farming and
stock-raising on a large scale, operating the Cen-
tinello and White & Denman ranches, and hav-
ing from one thousand to three thousand acres
of land in crops each year. He operated four
steam threshing outfits at one time at an ex-
pense of $250 per day. Later he bought three
hundred and twenty acres of land adjacent to
the city and planted it to grapes. This land now
adjoins Ascot Park on the south and lies be-
tween Central and Main streets. The price
of grapes w-ent down so low as to make their
raising an unprofitable business and he was
obliged to dispose of his vineyard in a few years.
He then engaged in the furniture business in
San Diego, and for the following six years
was interested in the development of that sec-
tion of the state. Returning to Los Angeles
he there continued in the furniture business.

In 1897 ^^''- Nadeau w^ent to Skagway, Alaska,
and inspected the Alton mines, but finding them
commercially unprofitable he settled in Seattle
for five years, occupied as a manufacturer of
show cases and office fixtures. January of 1904
found him again a resident of Los Angeles, and
a year later he located in Long Beach, building
a residence on Riverside Drive and Third street,
and here he h.as since devoted his time to looking
after his large business interests. He subdivided
the Nadeau homestead tract on the Long Beach
car line on Nadeau street, the plat embracing
thirtv-six acres ; laid out thirtv-two acres on
Xadeau street across from the first-named tract

and called it the Edgewood Park tract ; then laid
out ten additional acres adjoining Woodland
Park tract, and has established one large water
plant for the three additions. The Powers pump
over the well has a capacity of two hundred
inches of water. He is interested in the Inner
Harbor tract developed by the Inner Harbor-
Realty Company, of which he is a director, and
owns other valuable real estate in Long Beach.

Politically Mr. Xadeau is a firm believer in
Republican principles and is interested in the
good government of the community. He has
a family of five children ; George J., residing
at X'adeau station, and having charge of his
father's interests there ; Remi, in the real-estate
business at Florence station ; Amos, a fanner
at Florence station ; Laura, the wife of Will-
iam Anderson, of Los Angeles; and Don Cle-
n-iont, living at home. Personally Mr. X'adeau
is a man of quiet habits and modest disposition,
but possesses an innate strength which causes
hi-.n to be immediately recognized as a leader
b\- all those with whom he comes in contact,
i-ither sociallv or in a business wa\-.

WALTER E. BARKER. Xot a few of the
men yet prominent in business affairs and public
life are veterans of the Civil war, whose youthful
participation in the turmoil of a bitterly contested
struggle has been followed by long years of hon-
orable association with civic movements and
peaceful perseverance in commercial pursuits.
Among such men there may be mentioned Walter
E. Barker, for the past few years a resident of
Southern California and a business man of Long
Beach. The year after the beginning of the war,
when he was only seventeen years of age, he was
accepted as a private in Company C, Thirtieth
Maine Infantry, and went to various parts of
the south in company with his regiment, taking
part in the battle of Pleasant Hill under General
Banks and fighting at Cedar Creek with General
Sheridan. The hardships of camp life and the
exposure incident to long marches resulted in a
sickness, which detained him in New Orleans
for a tinie, but with that exception he remained
with his regiment in camp and on the battlefield
until the expiration of his period of ser\'ice in
1864, when he retumed to his northern home.

Descended from an ancient family of New
England, Mr. Barker was one of eight children,
all of whom live in the east with the exception
of himself, and whose parents'. D. K. and Julia
A. (Green) Barker, were natives and lifelong
residents of Maine. It was in Maine that he was
born June 4, 1845, and there he received such
advantages as the con-imon schools afforded, leav-
ing school to march with a gallant troop of Maine
boys to the seat of war in the service of the

1856

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGR-APHICAL RECORD.

Union. From boyhood he had been familiar
with the lumber industry and at the close of the
war he took up tiiat occupation, of which he soon
acquired a thoroug;h knowledge. For eight years
he was engaged in the lumber business in Penn-
sylvania, and from there went to \\'isconsin,
where he remained about one-quarter of a cen-
tury, meanwhile conducting a lumber business
with Chippewa Falls as his headquarters and
place of residence. On coming to California, in
1902, he established his home in Long Beach,
where he has since been a stockholder in a paint
and paper business.

The marriage of 'Sir. Barker occurred in
Wisconsin and united him with ]\Iiss Static,
daughter of Abel Brownell. and a native of Wis-
consin, where her entire life was passed until ten
years after her marriage. In her old home in that
state she has a host of personal friends and was
one of the leading members of the Episcopal
Church, her membership in which denomination
later was transferred to the Long Beach Church.
During the long period of his residence in Wis-
consin Mr. Barker maintained an active part in
local politics and was known as one of the lead-
ing Republicans of his locality, yet he had no as-
pirations toward official honors and never sought
office at anv time or in any capacity. Yet, had
his inclinations turned in that direction, his fel-
low-citizens would have tendered him such of-
fices as were within their gift, for he was a man
of great popularity in his section of Wisconsin,
and since coming to the west has also gained a
circle of warm friends in his new home.

JOHN C. WEES. An identification of more
than thirty years with the city of San Ber-
nardino entitles j\lr. ^^'ees to be numbered
among its early settlers, as also he has been one
of its leading builders. While for some years
he has been retired from business cares, the
work which he did in the past still stands a
monument to his thrift, efficiency and reliability.
\'arious of the houses of worship in the city
were erected by him, as were also numerous
business properties and many residences. Dur-
ing all the years of his energetic devotion to his
trade he has owned and superintended a ranch
of one hundred and sixty acres in Riverside
county, which is in hay and grain, and which
at this writing is operated by a son. Since re-
tiring from his trade he has devoted his atten-
tion to the supervision of his property and to
the discharge of his duties as member of the
citv council from the fourth ward.

The genealogy of the \\'ees family shows that
they removed from Wales to the north of Eng-
land many generations gone by, and some of the
ancestors also came to .\merica from Holland.

John C. Wees was born near Toronto in Belle-
ville, Canada, August 9, 1835, being a son of
Peter and Joyce (Brown) Wees, natives respec-
tively of Canada and England. The parents
were lifelong residents of Canada and followed
agricultural pursuits. Reared on the home farm
and given the advantages of a common school
education, John C. Wees grew to manhood with-
out special incident to mark the passing years of
boyhood and youth. At an early age he began
to learn the carpenter's trade, but he remained
at home until he was twenty-one and assisted
his father in the management of the large farm.
After having completed his trade, in i860, he
crossed into the States and settled at Appleton,
Wis., where he worked at the carpenter's trade,
remaining for a number of busy and uneventful
years.

Coming to California in 1875 Mr. Wees re-
mained in San Francisco from May until August
and then came to San Bernardino, where he im-
mediately secured employment at carpentering.
Such was the success of his work that he was
kept constantly busy, and little by little, with
the proceeds of his earnings from the trade, he
was able to become a property owner and he in-
vested with such wise judgment that he is now
well to do, holding a position among the pros-
perous citizens of the city. His various proper-
ties afford him a sufficient income to render un-
necessary a continuance at carpentering, and ac-
cordingly he has retired from such responsibili-
ties. His home at No. 1334 C street is a modern
structure with attractive environments and sub-
stantial furnishings. Frequently he has been
oft'ered a high price for his ten acres of walnut
land surrounding the residence, but a& yet he
has refused all offers, preferring to retain the
homestead intact. For more than one-half cen-
tury he has had the companionship of an excel-
lent wife, whose cheerful co-operation has en-
hanced his successes and lessened his disappoint-
ments. Mrs. Wees was Louise Wright, a na-
tive of Canada, where she was educated and
where in 1850 she became the wife of the man
by whose side she has since labored for their
mutual welfare and happiness. Three children
were born of their union, namely : Oscar, who
learned the carpenter's trade with his father and
now operates the latter's ranch : Armantha, de-
ceased ; and James H., at home.

Ever since becoming, a citizen of the United
States Mr. Wees has kept posted concerning our
national problems and has maintained a constant
interest in movements for the upbuilding of his
county and state. Politically he votes the
straight Republican ticket and always gives that
party his stanch allegiance. For eight years he
served efficiently in the office of city trustee and
since 1902 he has been a member of the city

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1857

council, representing- the fourth ward, in which
capacity he has given his support to measures
hencficial to the city, yet bearing ever in mind
the interests of the taxpayers. More than forty
years ago, while living in Wisconsin, he became
a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows and now has his name enrolled with Token
Lodge No. 290, in the work of which he has
been warmly interested.

ALLEN W. ANDREWS. Actively and
prosperous!)^ engaged in business as a dealer
in real estate, and as a property owner, Allen
W. Andrews holds a position of note among
the representative men of Compton. Public-
spirited and energetic, he has been a promi-
nent factor in the upbuilding of this part of
the county, his aid and influence being visible
in all movements for the general welfare of the
community. The descendant of an old colonial
family of New England, he was born April 25,
1845, i" McHenry county. 111., a son of George
Andrews.

Born and reared in Massachusetts, George
Andrews left the scenes of his childhood days
when a young man, migrating to Illinois,
where he took up land from the government,
in McHenry county. With true pioneer grit
and courage he cleared and improved a valua-
ble homestead, on which he was prosperously
engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death
in 1903. He married Cordelia Allen, who was
born in Alichigan, and died on the home fann
in Illinois in 1847. Three children were born
of their union, naniel\': Henrv T.. who served
throughout the Civil war in Company C,
Twentieth Illinois A^olunteer Infantry, subse-
quentlv studied law, and now resides in Pres-
cott. Ariz. : John, who enlisted in Company D,
Eighth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, during
the Civil war. and died of measles while in
service ; and ."Mien W., with whom this sketch
is chiefly concerned. Both parents were \Jm-
versalists in their religious beliefs, and in poli-
tics the father was a Republican.

Brought up on the home farm, Allen ^^^ .An-
drews obtained a practical education in the
common schools of his district. Fired with the
same spirit of patriotism that enthused his
brothers, he enlisted, at the age of sixteen
3'ears. in Companv E. First Illinois .\rtillery,
better known as the \A''aterhouse Battery, was
mustered into service on December 13, 1861,
•and remained with his comrades until mus-
tered out, December 24, 1864. He participated
in many of the important battles of the war. in-
cluding the engagement at Pittsburg Landing,
in .\pril. 1862; those at Corinth. ATemnhis.
Guntown. Raymond. Champion Hill, the Siege

of Vicksburg, and at Jackson, :\[iss. During
the summer and fall of 1864 he, with his com-
pany, followed General Price through Arkan-
sas, Missouri and Kansas, from the latter state
going to Nashville, Tenn., where he took an
active part in the engagements of December
15 and 16, just before he was mustered out.

Returning from the scene of conflict to his
home in central Illinois, Mr. Andrews re-
mained there awhile, after which he resided in
Missouri and Kansas for a long time, living in
the former state four years, and in the last-
named ten years. Coming from Kansas to
California in 1887, he first engaged in the liv-
ery business in Pasadena, after which he
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits,
living on a ranch for a number of years. Sub-
sequently settling in Compton, he has since
carried on an extensive business as a general
dealer in real estate, by his systematic meth-
ods and honest dealings building up a fine
trade and winning the confidence and respect
of the people.

In 1892 Mr. Andrews married Nellie Mc-
Nall. daughter of Chauncey McNall, a native
of New York, and into their pleasant home
three children have been born, namely : Nellie,
thirteen years old ; Webb, nine years of age ;
and lohn, seven years old. Politically Mr.
Andrews is a stanch Republican, and takes a
genuine interest in local and national affairs.
Fraternallv he is a Knight of Pythias, and be-
longs to Shiloh Post No. 60, G. A. R., of Comp-
ton. Religiously he is a Congregationalist. He
has accumulated money as a business man,
and in addition to his town property he owns
a ranch of twenty acres, situated one and one-
lialf miles cast of Compton.

_DA\TD MITCHELL is well informed on
scientific farming and the breeding of stock, for
he has spent many years in securing the most
comprehensive training and education in these
lines that could be obtained in the best schools
on agriculture and stock-breeding in England
and Ireland. He is highly esteemed bv all who
know him and enjoys an enviable reputation in
business and professional circles. His ranch of
one hundred and ten acres is well improved and
is devoted to general farming, corn and beans
being the principal crops, although he also has a
walnut orchard and some berries planted and in
bearing.

Mr. Mitchell was born in Londonderr\-. Ire-
land, a son of John Mitchell, a hardy Scotchman,
who died at the age of sixty-four years, when his
son was sixteen vears of age. His mother.
Mariorie (Stewart) ^litchell, was also a native
of Scotland and after locating in Ireland was

1858

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

married to j\Ir. Mitchell. She died in Ireland at
the advanced age of seventy-five years. The
father was engaged as a steward or manager of
a large estate in Ireland during his lifetime. It
was after his death that David attended the Bel-
fast farm schools, which are conducted by the
English government, and in 1870 he graduated
from the model farm school at Cork. He then
attended the Albert institution at Dublin, receiv-
ing further instruction in agricultural work and
the breeding of stock. He did some botany lec-
ture work here and later was given charge of a
model farm located at Tervoe, Limerick, in
which position he remained for one year, when
he went to Ballyclare, North Ireland, to manage
a farm for his brother. In 1874 he decided to
immigrate to this country and made San Fran-
cisco his first objective point. He brought with
him letters of introduction to Steele Brothers in
Edna, who gave him a position in their butcher
business which he held for thirteen years. From
there he moved to his present location, purchas-
ing a ranch of fifty acres, to which he later added
sixty acres, making his ranch today one hundred
and ten acres.

In 1877 Mr. !\litchell was married to Miss
Catherine Donahue, a native of County Kerry,
Ireland, and to them eight children have been
born: Marjorie S., the wife of G. W. Bennett
of San Francisco ; Annie Laura, who is married
to D. C. Isom ; David Francis. Agnes, ^Villianl
Wallace, Ethel Porter, John Alexander and .An-
drew Joseph. Mrs. Mitchell is a member of the
Catholic Church and Mr. Mitchell belongs to the
Presbyterian denomination. Politically he is a
strong believer in the principles advocated by
the Republican party, and he is especially inter-
ested in educational matters, in recognition of
which he has been serving as school trustee of
his district for twenty years.

WILLIAM CARUTHERS. The Caruth-
ers family, represented in Los Angeles county
by William Caruthers, a widely known and
prosperous rancher in the vicinity of Downey,
is of Scotch ancestry and possesses in a large
degree the traits characteristic of these people.
In Missouri John Caruthers first saw the light
of day and ^vas reared to manhood in the vi-
cinity of his birthplace, receiving his education
in the primitive schools of the middle west. In
his native state he met and married Miss Fran-
ces Murphy, and shortly afterward they estab-
lished their home in Louisiana, where, on the
22d of January, 1S30, their son William was
born. Later they removed to southeastern
Texas and located on a farm, where the father
died in 1855 and the mother a year later. They
became the parents of fourteen children, of

whom twelve attained maturity and all, with
the exception of William Caruthers, are now
living in Texas.

Rather limited advantages in an education-
al line were afforded the youth of the south-
west, the .subscription schools leaving the
principal parts of one's training to be acquired
b}' experience and observation. William
Caruthers received his educational training
through this medium and at the same time
Avas drilled in the daily duties of a farmer and
stock-raiser. He engaged in this occupation
in Texas upon attainin;.:' manhood's estate, re-
maining in that lucatiim until 1859, when, with
his family (haxing pri.'\-ioush- married Amar-
ado IV'rryi. lie imirneyed to California, driv-
ing Inis ^t'H-k before liim across the plains. A
brief time w;i< spent at El Monte, Los An-
geles ciinnty, wlience he went to San Luis
( )bis])n oi'inty and there established a farm-
ing enterprise, \vhicli occupied his attention
for the ensuing two years. About this time
he was imjielled to make a trip throughout the
northwest before locating permanently in Cal-
ifornia, and accordingly he spent some time in
Oregon and ^^'ashington. After his return to
California he located for a short time in the
Soledad mines, Kern county, which move
proved a disastrous one indeed, for he lost by
floods everything he had accumulated. In 1865
he came to Los Angeles crmnty and in the vi-
cinity of Downe\' purchased the ranch which
he now owns: this was then bare, wild land,
devoid of all cultivation and giving no prom-
ise of the future productiveness. Mr. Caruth-
ers immediately began improvements and cul-
tivation, setting ont fruit trees, building fences
as needed, erecting substantial buildings, and
to-day owns a seventy-five acre ranch largely
devoted to the raising of English walnuts. Be-
sides this property he also owns another ranch
of eighteen acres in this vicinity. He has met
with success in his enterprises, and although
suffering a misfortune at one time in his life,
he was undaunted at the prospect of again be-
ginning his career, bravely faced the future
and energetically sought to build up his for-
tunes, once more. He is named among the
prosperous land-owners of this vicinity and
esteemed for the business qualities which he
has demonstrated throughout his long resi-
dence in this section.

The marriage of Mr. Caruthers occurred
in 1856, his wife being a native of Tennessee.
Thev became the parents of the following-
children: Zora, wife of L. M. Drider, of Los
Ans:eles, and the mother of two children:
^^'illiam, at home ; Angle, who died at the age
of thirty-three vears : Jefferson D., who mar-
ried Annie L. Ilolmes, and resides in the vi-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1859

cinity of Whittier ; Alollie, wife of J. T. Stev-
ens, of Mississippi; Martha, wife "of Marion
McClure, of Biirbank, and the mother of two
children; Hugh, who is married and has two
children, and resides in Merced county ; and
John P., who married Bessie McMillan and
has one child. The family support the Chris-
tian Church in their religious inclinations,
while politically i\[r. Caruthers adheres to the
principles advocated in the platform of the
Democratic party. Fraternally he is associated
with Downey Lodge No. 220, F. & A. M., and
also belongs to the Eastern Star lodge of this
place. Mr. Caruthers has proven himself a
citizen interested in all movements pertaining
to the advancement of the community in
which he has made his home, and has been
particularly active in educational affairs, serv-
ing for several terms as a member of the school
board. He is an honored and useful member
of the Los Nietos and Ranchito Walnut Grow-
ers' Association, incorporated, and renders
valuable aid in the advancement of these in-
terests.

SAMUEL NEWTON JENNINGS. Con-
spicuous among the more prominent and pro-
gressive agriculturists of Los Angeles county is
S. N. Jennings, one of the leading farmers of
Oearwater, and one of the foremost citizens of
the town. Possessing a good knowledge of the
pleasant occupation in which he has for so many
years been actively engaged, he is carrying on
general ranching in a thorough-going, system-
atic manner, his labors being well repaid by the
generous crops produced in his fertile and well-
tilled fields. A son of the late John Jennings,
he was born, October i, 1843, ^t Mount Pleas-
ant, Brown county, 111., where his parents were
pioneer settlers.

Born and brought up in Kentucky, John Jen-
nings lived there imtil after his marriage with
Mary Fry, who was born and reared in the same
town. Then, in 1838, he went with his bride to
Brown county. 111., where he took up land,
from which he cleared and improved a fine home-
stead. He was successful as a general farmer
and stock-raiser, becoming owner of four hun-
dred acres of valuable land before his death. He
was a man of sterling integrity, highly respected
throughout the community. He was a Democrat
in politics, but belonged to no secret organiza-
tions. Both he and his wife attended the Pres-
byterian Church, being valued members. They
became the parents of five children, one daugh-
ter and four sons. The daughter died in early
childhood, but the sons are all living, two in
California and two in Illinois.

Reared on the homestead, and educated in

the common schools, Samuel N. Jennings be-
came familiar with the numerous branches of
agriculture in his jounger days. Choosing farm-
ing as his life occupation, he remained at home,
taking care of his parents and managing the
home farm until they died. Subsequently, in
partnership with one of his brothers, he owned
over five hundred acres of land in Brown county,
a large part of it belonging to the parental es-
tate. Selling his share of the estate to his broth-
er for $50 an acre, Mr. Jennings left Illinois in
1888, coming from there to Los Angeles county
in search of a favorable location. Renting the
Cox ranch, about five miles from Clearwater,
on the Santa Monica road, he lived there for a
year, and in the raising of barley and other crops
was quite successful. Being thus encouraged, he
then purchased his present ranch, buying first
forty acres of his farm, subsequently adding two
other tracts of forty acres each, then a tract con-
taining fifty-four acres, and still later buying
twenty acres of land. On this extensive ranch
he is carrying on a large and very remunerative
1)usiness, raising fine crops of alfalfa and beets,
and running a dairy. He is a man of excellent
business capacity, influential in public matters,
deeply interested in the growth and prosperity
of his adopted town, ever willing to contribute
of his time and means to further its interests.
He is successful financially, and is a stockholder
in the Commercial Association of Compton, as
well as in the First National Bank of that city.
In 1871. in Brown county, 111., Mr. Jennings
married Emma Haley, daughter of William
Haley, a well-known farmer of that vicinity,
and of their tmion four children have been born,
namely : Clarence ; Eva, who died when eigh-
teen years old; Stella, who died at the age of
fifteen years ; and E. D., who is married, and
with his son, Fred, lives on the homestead with
his parents. Politically Mr. Jennings affiliates
with the Democratic party in national affairs,
luit in home matters votes for the best men and
measures, independent of party restrictions. He
and his family are attendants of the Presbyter-
ian Church.

WILLIAM TURBETT. Many have been
the changes wrought in the history of California
since Mr. Turbett landed at San Francisco in "the
year 1852. after having traveled via the Nica-
ragua route from his eastern home. Then the
country presented an aspect of crudity and of
prinieval wildness strangely depressing to one
fresh from the refining influences of a high civil-
ization. Still sparsely settled, its population was
of cosmopolitan variety, yet among its pioneers
there were young men of remarkable strength
of purpose, integrity of character and force of

1860

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

will, and it was these who laid the foundation up-
on which rests the great commonwealth of the
present century. The pioneers of fifty years
ago have in many instances passed from the
scenes of their labors, but a few yet remain to
•enjoy the fruits of their arduous efforts and the
refinements of the present era of progress.

Honored among the pioneers of California and
for many years a resident of X'entura county,
Mr. Turbett was born near Mansfield, Richland
county, Ohio, being a son of Thomas and Martha
Turbett. the former born in Pennsylvania of
Scotch-Irish descent, and the latter descended
from German progenitors. Both died in Ohio,
the mother passing away when in middle age. Of
their seven sons and two daughters. William
was the youngest. By a second marriage of the
father there were three children. Among the
sons was John, a pioneer of 1849 in California,
who crossed the plains with an emigrant party
and eventually settled in \'entura county, where
he died. The father was a farmer in Ohio from
early manhood through all of his life.
. On the farm where he was born October 16,
1833, William Turbett passed the uneventful
years of youth. For a time he attended school
held in a log building furnished with slab
benches ; public schools had not yet been intro-
duced into the locality and the wages of the
teacher were raised by subscription. When he
left hoine to make his own way in the world he
came to California, which, in those days, was at-
tracting attention by reason of the riches of its
mines. After he arrived in San Francisco he
went to tlie mines in Yuba county and for a
time clerked in a hotel, but after about five years
he abandoned that work and went to Sutter
county. Near Yuba City he bought a farm, set-
tled upon the land and operated the same for
two years. During the fall of 1869 he returned
to Ohio by the newly completed railroad and
visited among friends in the old home locality,
at the same time working for a livelihood. Dur-
■ ing November of 1870" his brother-in-law re-
turned to Ohio from ^'entura county and de-
scribed the opportunities awaiting settlers in this
part of the state. Attracted by the description of
opportunities, Mr. Turbett accompanied his
brother-in-law to CaHfornia. arriving in \^entura
county late in the year 1870. For three years he
worked for his brother-in-law, and meanwhile,
in 1872, he and a nephew, Daniel Gilger, bought
one hundred and sixty acres less than one mile
south of the present site of Oxnard.

Three years after acquiring a partial interest
in the farm, Mr. Turbett secured the deed to
forty acres of the tract and this he still owns.
A year after gaining the title he put down an
artesian well of one hundred and forty feet, using
a sixteen-inch pipe, and he still has an abund-

ance of water from this well which makes it
possible to irrigate his land as needed. How-
ever, since settling on his place he has never
found it necessary to use water to raise his crops
and has raised a crop every year. In former
years he had the land in barley and corn, but
eventually found it far more profitable to raise
beans and beets, and accordingly gives his atten-
tion exclusively to these products. In politics
he is of the Republican faith. Personally he
bears a reputation as an unpretentious, retiring
man, averse to prominence, yet unusually liberal
and public spirited, a friend to all measures for
the development of the county. After coming
to his present place he here married Miss Elzora
Trotter, a native of Illinois, and they are the par-
ents of three children. The sons, Thomas and
John, make their home in Oxnard, and the
daughter, Mrs. Grace Tapee, resides in Santa
Barbara.

STEPHEN H. CARSON. Through an in-
timate association with the commercial and pub-
lic interests of San Bernardino extending over
a long period of years. ]\Ir. Carson has acquired,
a thorough knowledge of the resources of the
locality and has gained a wide acquaintance
among its people. Much of his life has been
passed in this city. In its schools he received
his education and in its stores he gained his ini-
tial experience in business methods. During the
greater part of his business career he has been
interested in the drug business and possesses a
practical knowledge of that occupation. Aside
from the amount he still has invested in that
line of trade, he has other business interests,
besides which he owns residence and business
property in the city.

While he has passed the greater portion of his
life in San Bernardino, !Mr. Carson is a native
of Utah and was born near Salt Lake City, De-
cember 5, 1855, being a son of William and
Trephina Ursula (Goddard) Carson, and a
grandson of Stephen H. Goddard, a pioneer of
San Bernardino, who died in this city at the
age of about eighty-eight years. The father was
born in Pennsylvania in 1818 and died at Fair-
field, Utah, in 1898, while the mother, who was
born in Ohio in 1836, is still living and makes
her home with her children. Brought to Cali-
fornia by his parents at an early age. Stephen
H. Carson received such educational advantages
as the schools of San Bernardino aft'orded, and
after leaving school entered the ofifice of the
Daily Guardian, where he served an apprentice-
ship of three years at the printer's trade. How-
ever, he did not follow that occupation, but
turned his attention to the drug business, in
which he was employed as a clerk by the firm

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1861

of Bowland & Craig for two years. Meanwhile
his health had become impaired and hoping to
regain his strength he went to the mountains
and worked in saw-milling. The change proved
beneficial and soon he had recovered his physi-
cal strength. Returning to San Bernardino he
engaged as a clerk in the grocery business with
Henry Conner, but later again became interested
in the drug business, and still continues in that
occupation, being now a silent partner with his
sons-in-law, Schlott & Clute, in the Owl drug
store.

The marriage of J\Ir. Carson took place De-
cember 30, 1877, and united him with Anna,
daughter of William and Hannah Harrison.
Four children were born of this union, Lillie,
Ada, William S. and Clarence H. The elder
daughter is the wife of D. C. Schlott, and the
younger married William G. Clute. As before
mentioned, the sons-in-law are engaged in the
drug business : the sons also are employed in the
Owl drug store. Throughout all of his active
life, ever since attaining his majority Mr. Car-
son has voted the Democratic ticket. While
maintaining his views with firmness and voting
for them with fidelity, he has displayed no trace
of partisanship, but concedes to those of opposite
beliefs and ideas the same independence of
thought and ballot which he demands as his own
privilege.. At no time has he solicited official
honors, and the only position he has held was
that of member of the city council, to which he
was elected in 1903 for a term of four years.
As a citizen he is honored for the qualities that
have brought him financial success and for the
generosity of disposition and kindness of heart
that have characterized him in his dealings with
others,

WILLIAM SMITH. One of the progress-
ive and wide-awake ranchers of Los Angeles
countv is William Smith, who has succeeded
in building up for himself and family a home
and competence, and at the same time is win-
ning the good opinion of all who know him.
Of southern birth and lineage, he was born in
Monroe county. Tenn., November 20, i860, a
son of William and Elizabeth (Hudgings)
Smith, both natives of the same state, where
the father engaged as a farmer until his death,
which occurred shortly before this son was
born. His mother, whose grandfather Hudg-
ings served in the Revolutionary war, lived in
Tennessee until her death, which occurred at
the age of fiftv-five years. She was the mother
of two children. William Smith was reared
in his native state and educated in its common
schools, after which he worked on the home
farm until attaining the age of twenty-seven
vears. He then set out for himself and not

many years had passed away until he was the
owner of a farm of one hundred and sixty-
acres, all of which were devoted to the raising
of grain. In 1887 he went to Texas and located
in Parker county, thence went to Scurry coun-
ty and made that place his home for the period
of three years, owning a farm of six hundred
and forty acre's and being interested in general
farming and stock-raising, then returned to
Parker county. Going next to Indian Terri-
tory he spent the ensuing four years there and
on leased land raised cirn and cotton. In 1900
he came to LalitHrnia and located on his pres-
ent property, later purchasing the same, which
consists of twenty acres with good and sub-
stantial improvements. Besides his own prop-
erty he leases about sixty acres and raises
grain, while his principal interest is the man-
agement of a dairy of fifteen cows. He is also
giving some time to the breeding of poultry,
having at the present writing about three hun-
dred hens.

In 1888 Mr. Smith was united in marriage
with Miss Willie A. Rogers, a native of
Mississippi, and who came to Texas with her
parents in childhood. They are the parents of
eight children, namely: Guy L.. Izeta M.,
Roger C, Leotha, Ot'tis C, Prilla J., Lowell
J. and William A. In politics Mr. Smith is a
Democrat, and both himself and wife are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church
South.

JAMES H. DOVEY. One of the recent in-
dustries organized in Long Beach is the Orna-
mental Stone and Brick Company, of which Mr.
Dovey was one of the organizers. Until January.
1906, he was superintendent of the plant, and is
still a member of the board of directors. The
company was organized in 1904 with a capital
stock of $25,000, and has since engaged in the
manufacture of fine building stone. Specimens
of the stone turned out from the plant are to be
seen in the structure owned and occupied by the
Bank of Huntington Beach, also in the stone
used in the Harris residence and the McCullough
block at Long Beach. Prior to and also since the
organization of the company Mr. Dovey has been
interested in the laying of cement walks and
foundations; in which industry he has gained a
reputation for skilled and successful work.

The Dovey family is of English lineage, and
was founded in America by William Dovey, a
native of Somersetshire, and an immigrant of
1857 to the L^nited States, where he found em-
ployment in Syracuse, N. Y. During 1869 he re-
moved to Michigan and settled on a tract of land
near Coldwater. where he followed farm pursuits
until his death. His wife bore the maiden name

IHGii

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Elizabeth Telford and was born in Ireland of
Scotch ancestry ; at this writing she continues to
make her home in Michigan. Of their ten sons
and four daughters the eldest was James H., a
native of Syracuse, N. Y., born June 5, 1861, and
reared on the home farm there and in Michigan,
which he assisted in cultivating until he was
twenty years of age. He then served an appren-
ticeship to the miller's trade at Coldwater, and at
the expiration of his time (five years) he went
west as far as Denver, Colo., where for two
years he engaged in the creamery business. In
1888 he secured work as a fireman on the Denver
& Rio Gfande Railroad between Denver and Sa-
lida, where he continued for two years.

It was during 1890 that Mr. Dovey came to
California, wh.ere at first he made his home at
Pasadena and engaged in laying cement walks
and foundations. After eleven busy years in that
city he removed to the then small town of Long
Beach, with whose rapid progress his own for-
tunes have materially advanced, and where he
has had a large number of important contracts,
both for" cement walks and for foundations. As
a business man he is prompt, reliable and re-
sourceful, careful in planning his contracts and
even more careful in executing them. Through
his reliable methods of doing business he has es-
tablished a reputation diat is not limited to his
home town, but extends through this part of
Southern Califoniia.

While living in Denver IMr. Dovey was united
in marriage with Miss Ellen Horan, who was
born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Of this union there
are four sons and four daughters, all of whom
are being given the best advantages which the
means of their parents permit. The family at-
tend the Episcopal Cburch and Mr. Dovey con-
tributes to the maintenance of that denomina-
tion. In politics he supports Republican principles
and keep*; well posted concerning the issues of
the age. In fraternal matters he holds member-
ship with the Independent Order of Foresters.

JOSEPH F. BRYANT. A man of broad
and enlightened views, taking an intelligent in-
terest in local affairs, Joseph F. Bryant is actively
associated with the leading interests of the thriv-
ing village of Palms, where he is serving as post-
master and express agent, and is carrying on a
good business as a dealer in real estate and in
agricultural implements. Wide-awake, energetic
and persevering, he is a true type of the self-
made men of our times, and as a public-spirited
and faithful citizen is ably performing his duties.
A son of Enos Bryant, he was born, December
27, 1855, in Darke county, Ohio, near Green-
ville. His grandfather, David Bryant, spent the
first sixtv-fivc vears of his life in Butler county,

Ohio, where his father, a native of New Jersey,
settled as a pioneer. Going then to Michigan,
he took up land that was in its pristine wildness,
cleared a homestead, on which he resided until
his death, at the advanced age of seventy-nine
years.

Born and brought up in Hamilton, Butler
county, Ohio, Enos Bryant settled as a farmer in
Darke county, Ohio, when young, continuing
his residence in that place until 1870, when he
removed to Iowa. Taking up land in Wood-
bury county, he cleared and improved a home-
stead, and for seventeen years was there em-
ployed in farming and stock-raising. Coming
to Los Angeles county in 1887, he located about
a mile west of Palms, buying a ranch of ten
acres, a part of which he devoted to the culture
of fruit, and was there successfully engaged in
his independent occupation until his death in
1902, at the age of seventy-four years. He was
a man of sterling integrity, an earnest supporter
of the principles of the Republican party, and
an active member of the United Brethren
Church. He married Sarah Ann Townsend,
who was born and reared in Darke county, Ohio,
where her father, Alfred Townsend, settled as a
])ioneer. She died on the home ranch at Palms
in 1897, aged sixty-seven years.

Going with the family to Iowa when a lad
of fifteen years, Joseph F. Bryant assisted his
father in clearing a homestead and completed his
studies in the public schools. A natural me-
chanic, familiar with machinery of all kinds, he
began his active career as an engineer on be-
coming of age, running stationary engines and
threshing machines during summers, while dur-
ing the winter seasons he engaged in carpenter-
ing. He was subsequently employed as a fire-
man for two years on the Iowa divisions of the
Illinois Central and Northwestern Railways. In
November, i88g, he located at Palms, and for
eight years thereafter had charge of the local
water works, the ensuing two years running an
engine at the Downey avenue power house in
Los Angeles. Establishing himself then as a
merchant in Palms, he ran a general store for
about a year, when he closed out all of the stock
with the exception of the agricultural imple-
ments, in which lie still deals, carrying on a sub-
stantial business in that line, and likewise in the
sale and transfer of real estate in this vicinity.
Since 1900 he has served as postmaster at Palms,
and is now agent for the Wells-Fargo Express
Companv, and ticket agent for the Los Angeles
and Pacific Railroad Companv. In these various
positions he is rendering able service, perform-
ing his duties with credit to himself and to the
satisfaction of the general public.

.Mr. Brvant married Martha Devore. who was
born in ^^'inneshiek county. Iowa, and they are

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1863

the parents of three children, namely : Nellie,
wife of Albert LaForge, of Palms ; Nettie A,,
wife of Edward Cook, of Palms ; and ^Marion R.,
associated in business with his father. Polit-
ically Mr. Bryant is a stanch Republican, and
formerly served as school trustee, for three years
being clerk of the Board. He and his family
are consistent members of the United Brethren
Church, in which thev are valued workers.

J. P. CHRISTENSEN. Before the provinces
of Schleswig and Holstein had been incorporat-
ed within the German empire and while they
were yet under the sovereignty of the Danish
government, Mr. Christensen was born in Schles-
wig September 24, 1841, and in childhood he
was a student in the schools of his native land,
where he acquired a fair education in the Dan-
ish language. While still quite young he de-
cided to seek a home and livelihood in the United
States, concerning whose opportunities reports
were many and favorable. Bidding farewell to
the friends of his boyhood and the members of
the family, he set sail for the new world June
26, i860, and after an uneventful voyage landed
in New York harbor on the 19th of July. Im-
mediately after landing he proceeded to Manka-
to, Minn., whither two of his brothers had gone
three -years before and where, in 1859, they had
opened a general store.

Scarcely had Mr. Christensen become famil-
iar with his new surroundings when a heavy
misfortune befell him. While hunting on the
7th of September, less than two months after
his arrival, his gun burst and seriously crip-
pled his left hand. The outlook was discourag-
ing, but with his naturally optimistic disposi-
tion he did not allow the catastrophe to weaken
his energies or lessen his courage. In order
to acquire a more thorough knowdedge of the
English language he attended a select school.
Meanwhile he aided his brothers in their mer-
chandisinig, and bought furs, ginseng and farm
produce, exchanging same for goods at the
store. Times w'ere very hard then, a financial
depression pervading the entire country. Lit-
tle money was in circulation. Eggs brought only
four cents a dozen, butter five cents per pound,
and wheat thirty cents a bushel, and payment
was always made in trade, not in cash.

The great Sioux massacre commenced in Aug-
ust, 1862, and shortly afterward Mr, Christen-
sen secured a government contract to furnish
supplies for all of the military posts south of the
Minnesota river. The money thus paid for pro-
duce by the government greatly relieved the dis-
tresses of the settlers on the frontier, besides
causing an advance in prices paid for farm
products of from two to four-fnUl. Supplies

were furnished to the troops until the summer
of 1864, when they were ordered to South Da-
kota, On discontinuing that work ^Ir, Chris-
tensen bought an interest with his two brothers
under the fimi title of H, P, Christensen &
Brothers, In the spring of 1867 the senior mem-
ber of the firm retired and the business was con-
tinued by C, S, C. and J, P. Christensen under
the title of Christensen Brothers, a large trade
being built up throughout all that section of the
country. After twenty-one successful years in
business they sold out and in the fall of 1889
J, P, Christensen moved to California, arriving
in San Diego on the 9th of September, Since
then he has engaged in the real-estate business
in this cit}- and among other important tasks
carried out by him may be mentioned the plat-
ting of an addition on the west side of City
Park, and the laying out of Golden Park on
Point Loma.

The marriage of Mr. Qiristensen took place
September 24, 1866, and united him with Mary
A., youngest daughter of R. \\'. Warren, and a
descendant of ancestry dating back in America
to the coming of the Mayflower in 1620. As
early as 1834 R. W. Warren left his home in
the vicinit}- of Lake Champlain in New York
and traversed the wilds of what was then known
as the frontier until he arrived in Wisconsin,
then still under territorial government, and
there he became the first settler at Lake Geneva,
where he remained for years, becoming one of
the most prominent and most active business men
in that part of the state. Through all of his life
Mr. Christensen has been an industrious, ener-
getic man, interested in business to such an ex-
tent that he has not participated in politics, nor
has he identified himself with any fraternity
other than the Masonic Order, in which he is
a Master ]\fason. .-Ml who know him unite in
bearing testimony to his upright life and to the
energy with which he has overcome misfortune
and achieved success.

ALBERT C. HAIGHT. A fine old gentle-
man and a pioneer orange grower in San Ber-
nardino county is Albert C. Haight, who has been
a resident of this part of the county for nineteen
years. His ranch comprises nine acres, of which
six and one-half acres are planted to orange
trees, which Mr, Haight himself set out. He
has a fine home with all modern improvements,
his outbuildings are good, and the whole place
has an air of thrift pleasant to note. The birth
of Mr. Haight occurred July 25. 1843, •" Steuben
county, N, Y., where his parents, Peter and Ada
(Crawford) Haight, reared their family, being
themselves natives of that state, in which their
deaths occurred. The father served in tlie war

1864

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of 1 812, and died when the son, Albert C, was
a child of nine months, the death of the mother
occurring when he was seven years old. Of the
twelve children in the family six are now liv-
ing, one son residing in San Diego at the present
time.

Until seventeen years of age Mr. Haight at-
tended the public schools of Steuben county,
and then removed to Belvidere, Boone county,
111., where he engaged in agricultural pursuits
for a time, later continuing the same occupation
in Michigan. He also worked for a time in a
factory in the latter state. His next move was
to Xeljraska. where he remained two years, and
in 1886 he arrived in California. After six
weeks spent in Riverside he came to his present
ranch in San Bernardino county, which has been
his home throughout the succeeding years. Dur-
ing the Civil war he served a year and a half in
Company B, Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteer In-
fantry, but owing to sickness was not engaged
in active warfare. Politically he is a strong
believer in Republican principles, and fraternally
is affiliated with the Loyal Mystic Legion.

In 1875 Mr. Haight was united in marriage
with Miss Josephine Dakin, a native of Mich-
igan, and they have become the parents of seven
children : John, who married Miss Alice Two-
good : Alia ; Adda ; Aflfa, the latter now the
the wife of David Downs of Highgrove : Ira ;
Alzora and Elizabeth. All charitable and b*e-
nevolent interests receive the hearty and liberal
support of the family.

JOHN FAHLER. A man of energy, enter-
prise and wise forethought, John Fabler has
been actively identified with the material and
industrial advancement of San Pedro, and oc-
cupies a noteworthy place among its business
agents. Starting in life for himself when young,
he came to California in search of a favorable
opportunity for gaining a livelihood, and by
means of diligent toil and a wise use of his
faculties he met with a fair degree of success.
The third child in order of birth in the parental
household, John Fabler was born in 1862, at
Malax, near \'asa, Finland, where his father,
Isaac Fabler, was a tiller of the soil.

Immigrating to the United States in 1880,
John Fabler landed in New York, but after a
brief stay in that metropolis came to San Fran-
cisco, where he entered the employ of the Mor-
gan Oyster Company. He was subsequently
engaged in fishing, first in San Francisco bay.
and later on the Columbia river, being located
at Astoria. Ore. Returning from there to San
Francisco, he remained there until 1891, when
he settled permanently in San Pedro. Here he
worked for awhile for the San Pedro Lumber

Company, and has since been profitably en-
gaged in lumbering or sailing, in either branch
of industry meeting with success. He is a man
of wise management and by judicious invest-
ment has accumulated some property. On
Fourth street, between Center and Mesa streets,
he erected the residence now occupied as the
family home.

Mr. Fabler married first, in San Pedro. Annie
Newland, who was born in Finland. She died
in San Pedro, leaving one son, Frederick Fabler.
Subsequently Mr. Fabler married, in San Pedro.
.\nnia Larson, a native of Eskilstuna, Sweden,
and they have one child, a daughter named
Marv. Fraternallv Mr. Fabler is a Knight of
Pvthias.

STEPHEN O. DAVIS. For upwards of
twenty years Stephen O. Davis, now residing at
San Gabriel, has been actively identified with the
advancement of the agricultural interests of Los
Angeles county, holding a noteworthy position
among the foreinost farmers of Southern Cal-
ifornia. He is a broad-minded, liberal man,
enterprising and progressive in all matters, and
in the improvement of his fine ranch, located
two miles north of Long Beach, he has spared
neither time nor expense. He is a native of
New York, and was born in Dutchess county
April 2, 1831. His parents, William and Cath-
erine Davis, were born in New York state, and
lived there until 1837, when they removed to
Williams county, Ohio, where the\- purchased
land and were engaged in farming the remain-
der of their lives, the death of the mother oc-
curring there in 1848. and that of the father in
1857. ^

But seven years old when the family settled
in Ohio, Stephen O. Davis was there educated,
attending the district school until about four-
teen years of age. Beginning life for himself
then, he worked as a farm laborer until 1850.
when he followed the tide of emigration west-
ward, coming across the plains with ox-teams
to California, being six months en route. The
ensuing year he was engaged in mining on the
Scott river, and the next twelve years was sim-
ilarly employed' in Shasta county. Changing
his occupation, Mr. Davis then went to Monterey
county, where he invested a part of his money
in cattle, and for twelve years thereafter was
in the stock business. Coming to Southern Cal-
ifornia in 1884. he purchased forty acres of the
land included in his ranch near Long Beach,
paying $^2 an acre. Beginning at once the im-
provement of his ranch, he met with most sat-
isfactory results, and as a general farmer was
exceedingly successful, meeting with good pe-
cuniarv rewards. Each vear he added to the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1865

value of his estate, which is now worth $500
an acre. In 1900 Mr. Davis bought another
tract of land containing forty acres, and soon
afterward purchased fifteen acres more, and has
now one of the most desirable farms in the
neighborhood. He has a line set of buildings,
which are models of comfort and convenience,
and which, with their attractive surroundings,
evince the thrift and prosperity of their owner.
In the fall of 1905 Mr. Davis bought residential
property in San Gabriel, where he is now living
retired from active pursuits and enjoying the
competency which he has acquired by industr}-,
perseverance and judicious management.

In June, 1885, in Los Angeles, Mr. Davis
married Christie Williams, a native of Wiscon-
sin, and into their household the following chil-
dren have been born, namely : Debnoy, at home ;
Eugenie, wife of Daniel Harbert, of Bakersfield ;
Carl and Arthur. Politically Mr. Davis is a
straight Republican, and fraternally he belongs
to the Masons.

JAjNIES a. S;\nTH. One of the prominent
ranchers of Los Angeles county, James A.
Smith, widely known as Section Smith, was
born in Orange township, Cuy^ahoga county,
Ohio. Eebruary 12, 1830. a son of John G. and
Nancy fBurnside) Smith, natives respectively
of New York and Penn.sylvania. Both parents
lived to a ripe old age, the father, a Whig in
his political affiliations in the early days and
later a Republican, engaging as a farmer up
to the time of his death. The mother was a
first cousin of the celebrated General Burnside
and her great grandfather, James Burnside,
was a fifer in the Revolutionary war. They
were the parents of eight children, five of
whom are still living. James A. Smith ob-
tained his education through tlie medium of
the public schools in Ohio, after which he
learned the moulder's trade and followed it for
a short time in his native state. Finally re-
moving to South Bend, Ind.. he engaged in the
same kind of work and was there married, two
days afterward starting overland with his
bride for California. They drove the entire
distance but arrived safely in Eldorado county
in 1853, and immediately engaged in mining at
Hangtown. The name of the place was
changed to Placerville soon after he arrived
there. He remained for a short time in that
l)lace when he went to Colusa county and en-
gaged in farming, purchasing six hundred and
sixty acres of land, where he carried on the
raising of grain. In connection with his own
property he rented about four hundred acres
for the purpose of raising grain. AFr. Smith
purchased and conducted one of the first

threshing machines in that section of the
country, being interested in this for about five
years.

In the fall of 1864 T\[r. Smith returned to
Illinois and located in Livingston county,
where he purchased a fine farm of four hun-
dred and four acres. He remained there until
3876 when he again located in California, hav-
ing purchased a section of land near Norwalk,
showing his faith in the country and obtain-
ing for him the name his friends like to call
him ; since then he has sold ofi' or given to his
children, and now retains two hundred and
eighty acres two and one-half miles southeast
of Norwalk, where he is engaged in the rais-
ing of alfalfa, stock and sugar beets, a part of
his land being pasture. Mr. Smith owns val-
uable property in Los Angeles consisting of
three hundred and forty-seven and one-half
feet on San Pedro street, near Fourteenth,
and one hundred and sixteen feet on AVest
Eighteenth, near Main.

Mr. Smith's first wife was Miss i\Iaria Han-
son, a native i-^f Indiana, and while living in
Illinois the second time her death occurred.
He then married his wife's sister, Mrs. Mar-
garet L. Furgcrson, a widow, also a native of
Indiana, and her death occurred in 1895. Mr.
Smith has four living children, namely: Will-
iam H., James F.. Jay G. and Bessie: the last
named is the wife of A. M. Costner. A life-
long Republican, 'Mr. Smith was a schoolmate
and personal friend of James A. Garfield, the
martyred president.

JUSTIN ROUSSEY. The family repre-
sented by Justin Roussey is of French origin,
although he himself is a native of the Unit-
ed States, born in Franklin county, Kans.,
June 22, 1869. The first representative of the
family in America was the paternal grandfa-
ther, who emigrated* from France with his
family in 1830, making settlement in Pennsyl-
vania. His son John B. was a lad of only
seven years at the time of the removal to the
United States, and from then until reaching
A-oung manhood he knew no other home than
Pennsylvania. A desire to locate in the newer
parts of the west was the means of his selling
out his holdings in the east and removing to
Kansas, where he purchased a half section of
land. Besides this property, he al.so owned fif-
teen acres of land in Ventura county, Cal.,
upon which he lived until his death in 1900.

Tlie wife of lohn P.. Roussey, before her
marriage Miss Harriet Petit, was also born in
France, and was brought to the United States
bv her parents when she was about fifteen
\-ep.rs old. The Petits also settled in Pennsyl-

1866

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

vania not far from the Roussey family, and
thus the young people became acquainted and
were finall}^ married. Ten children were born
to them, all of whom reached maturity, and
their names in order of birth are as follows:
Charles S., Nicholaus F., Louis F., Addie A.,
Justin. Chloe Elizabeth (who married D. Jor-
dan and lives in Kansas), Jane Delia (^Irs. R.
B. Knipsclmre), Julia B., Margaret _M. and
Catherine E.

From earh' boyhood Justin Roussey had
been associated with agricultural affairs, so
that when he chose his life calling and start-
ed out independently it is a matter of no sur-
prise that he continued to follow the business
with which he was most familiar. At twenty-
two years of age he began farming on a tract
of rented land, his experience on that farm
giving him the training and confidence neces-
sary to insure success in handling a larger un-
dertaking. This resulted m the purchase of a
tract of fifteen acres in the La Ballona district,
and ten acres of this property now comprises
the home place. Besides his own ranch he
rents adjoining land to the extent of one hun-
dred acres, all of the tract under his control
being devoted to beans, hay and barley. By
his marriage v\'ith Anna Luella Kauffman, a
native of Ventura county, two children have
been born, Justin Edward and jMarion Adeline.
Politically ^Ir. Roussey is independent.

JAMES QUILL. Conspicuous among the
pioneer settlers of Downey is James Quill, an
extensive landholder and a citizen of influence
and wealth. Beginning life with scant means,
he labored unceasingly for many years, follow-
ing any honorable occupation, and through his
unaided efforts has attained distinction as a self-
made man and won a position of prominence in
business and social circles. Like many other of
our most respected California residents, he is of
foreign birth, having been born, December 20,
1848, in Ireland. His father, James Quill, Sr.,
immigrated with his family to New England in
1852, locating in Ipswich, Mass., not far from
Newburyport, where both he and his good wife
spent their closing years.

But four years old when he came with his
parents across the broad .\tlantic, James Quill
was educated in the public schools of Massa-
chusetts. April 9, 1865, the very day of Lee's
surrender, he left his Newburyport home. and.
with but $30 in his pocket, went to New London.
Conn., where he was for two months in the em-
ploy of G. G. Hammond. Thinking the outlook
for a young man much brighter in the west, he
proceeded to Illinois, and for a brief time worked
in Mendota. Continuing his journey westward.

he was for awhile located in Iowa, first in Daven-
port, where he received fifty cents a day on a
farm, and afterwards in Muscatine. Subse-
quently going to St. Louis, ^lo., he was em-
ployed as a boatman on the Mississippi river
for a short time, and afterwards became watch-
man on a boat at the dock^ remaining thus occu-
pied for about five weeks. Still hoping to find
something better to employ his time, he then
went to Leavenworth, Kans., where, as an em-
ploye of Burrows & Trowbridge, he engaged in
hauling government freight across the plains.
Having delivered his first cargo at Fort Lara-
mie, he drove to Council Grove, Kans., where
he reloaded, and subsequently started for Fort
Union, N. J\Iex. On the way. while crossing
the creek, he and his companions were snowed in
and had to remain from December 4th until the
ensuing May, during which time he lost most of
his stock. He then continued the journey to
Fort Union, from there returning to Fort Leav-
enworth, traveling on an average thirty miles a
day.

Mr. Quill next went to St. Louis, thence going
up the Ohio river to Cincinnati, Ohio, and from
there to Covington, Ky., but not finding any-
thing desirable to do in either city, returned
again to St. Louis. From there he went to
Omaha, Neb., thence by steamer to Fort Benton,
and after remaining there a short time engaged'
in lumbering in the Nebraska timber-lands.
January 2, 1868, he arrived in Chicago, 111., be-
ing then on his \vay east. Going to New York
City and Boston, he visited his old home and
former friends in Newburyport, Mass., after
which he sailed from New- York for California,
arriving in San Francisco in February, 1868.
Going on to San Jose, he was for a time employ-
ed in prospecting along the Kern river, after
which he came by stage to Los Angeles, where he
worked two months. Returning then to San
Francisco, he proceeded to Emigrant Gap, where
during the summer he drove a logging team to
Putnam's mill. Going to White Pine, Nev., in
the fall, he located several claims, remaining in
that vicinity until August, 1869. Coming to
Southern California that fall, he located in the
Los Nietos valley in October. 1869, and having
rented eighty acres of land embarked in agri-
cultural pursuits.

Meeting with undisputed success as a farmer,
Mr. Quill purchased his first land in 1879, buy-
ing twenty acres now included in his home
ranch. He afterwards bought a tract contain-
ing seventeen acres, and subsequently purchased
forty acres, and again bought twenty acres of
land adjoining his forty acres of grapes and wal-
nuts. Very successful as a general rancher and
fruit grower, he continued investing in real
estate, and more recently bought five acres of rich

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1867

land lying just across from his home estate. He
also owns valuable land adjoining the city of
Downey, and has title to considerable city prop-
erty, being owner in all of one hundred and
seven acres of as fine land as can be found in
this locality. This land he has improved him-
self, each year adding to its richness and value.
Before becoming a landholder Mr. Quill loaned
money, and in connection with farming carried
on a substantial business in buying and selling
grain, his foresight, practical judgment and
sound sense winning him success in his extensive
operations in that line.

February 2, 1882, Mr. Quill married Rosina
Allen, daughter of Judge O. H. Allen and
grand-daughter of Col. James and Mary (Reed)
Allen. A native of Kentucky, Judge O. H.
Allen studied law when young under Benjamin
Harding, and was admitted to the bar in Wash-
ington, D. C. He immediately located in Mis-
sissippi, going from there to Texas in 1832. En-
gaging in journalistic work, he established the
first newspaper in the state, and in it, as an ad-
vocate of the people's rights, he published the
celebrated letter which led to the appointment,
by the Mexican government, of Stephen F. Aus-
tin as grantee of the lands in that vicinity. In
1849 judge Allen came across the plains to
California, and here spent the remainder of his
life, dying. March 13, 1889. in Los Angeles
county. Three children have blessed the union
of Mr. and Mrs. Quill : Oliver James, Charles
A., and Joseph A. Mr. and Mrs. Quill are
highly esteemed throughout the community, and
their pleasant home is a center of gracious hos-
pitality. They have a very conveniently ar-
ranged house, with sanitary plumbing, furnished
with water power and a gas plant. Politically
Mr. Quill is a stanch Republican, and takes
great interest in local matters, although he is no
aspirant for official honors.

ALLAN L. HART. In the business circles
of Santa Monica, no member holds a more
assured position than Allan L. Hart, who is
actively identified with the mercantile inter-
ests of the community as a large and active
dealer in staple and fancy groceries. Begin-
ning life with no other assets than a willing,
courageous heart and strong hands, he labored
industriously, meeting with success in his va-
rious undertakings, and is justly entitled to
an honored position among the self-made men
of the county. A native of New York, he was
born, September 11. 1869, in Chautauqua coun-
ty. His father, Lester Hart, was of New Eng-
land stock, and his mother, whose maiden
name was An.na '\Villiamson, was of thrifty

Scotch descent. She died in 1901, aged fifty-
nine years.

The oldest child and only son in a family of
four children, Allan L. Hart was reared and
educated in the Empire state. Thrown upon
his resources when young, he worked at any
honorable employment for many years, and
by perseverance, thrift and wise management
acquired some money. In August, 1903, he
came with his family to Los Angeles county in
search of a favorable opening for business,
and October 10 opened his present grocery,
in the Columbian block. Starting in on a
broad scale, he carries a complete line of fine
groceries, tea and coffee, his stock compar-
ing favorably in regard to quantity and qual-
ity with any in the vicinity, while his store is
a model of cleanliness and thrift.

While living in New York, Mr. Hart mar-
ried Cora D. Skinner, the descendant of an
old New York family. Politically he is a loyal
supporter of the principles of the Republican
party. He is a man of upright character, well
worthy of the success he has attained in so-
cial and financial success, and is held in high
regard by his associates and friends.

CHAUNCEY B. PETTIS. A man of un-
questioned business tact and judgment, possess-
ing strong and intelligent convictions, Chauncey
B. Pettis is identified with the mercantile pros-
perity of Ocean Park as junior member of the
firm of Devore & Pettis, carrying on an extensive
hardware business. Beginning on a small scale,
these enterprising men have established a fine
trade, which has kept pace with the rapid growth
of the town, and have thoroughly identified them-
selves with the leading interests of this section
of the county, becoming prominent in financial,
social and fraternal circles. A son of Willard H.
Pettis, Chauncey B. Pettis was born in Canas-
tota, Madison county, N. Y., of English ances-
try, among his early progenitors being one of the
heirs of the famous Richards estate in England.
The founder of the Pettis family in this country
came to the United States in early colonial days,
and the brother of Mr. Pettis's grandfather
served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war.

A life-long resident of New York state, Wil-
lard H. Petds was born in Oswego, where he
learned the trade of carpenter and builder. He
subsequently lived in different parts of the state,
including Canastota and Newark, and died at
the age of seventy-eight years, beloved and re-
spected bv all. He married Jeanette Scott, who
was born and reared in Glasgow, Scotland, and
of the children born of their union Chauncey B.
was the third in order of birth.

Educated in the public schools of New York,

1868

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Chauncey B. Pettis was graduated from the high
school at Newark, after which he studied draw-
ing, draughting and architecture. Thus equipped,
he worl<ed with his father for awhile at the
carpenter's 'trade, and then started in business
for himself as a builder and contractor, remain-
ing in the east a number of years. In 1886 he
came to California, arriving in Los Angeles in
December. For fourteen years he resided there,
and during the time was .actively identified with
the upbuilding of the city, working sometimes
with a partner, and sometimes alone. Locating
at Ocean Park in December, 1900, he formed a
co-partnership with Mr. Devore, with whom he
has since built up one of the largest and most
profitable hardware trades in Southern California.
As their patronage has increased, this enterpris-
ing firm has enlarged its operations, from time
to time adding to its stock, which is now valued
at $50,000. Their fine double store, on Pier
avenue, is one of the largest of the kind in the
county, exceeding in size that of any on the
beaches outside of Los Angeles. Aside from
their varied stock of hardware they carry a good
line of paints, oils and glass, and in every depart-
ment have a most satisfactory trade.

In Los Angeles, Cal., ]\Ir. Pettis married Mrs.
Sarah Haulenbeck, a daughter of James H.
Young, of Massachusetts. Politically Mr. Pet-
tis is an independent Republican, and fraternally
he is a member of Ocean Park Lodge, F. & A.
M. ; of the W^oodmen of the World ; and of the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Pettis are held in high esteem, and are
members of the Qiristian Science Church.

AUGUST CARL HEISTERAIANX. Some
men's lives are passed quietly in the enjoyment
of their homes, while others are so rudely buf-
feted in the voj^age through life, and they meet
with so many strange adventures, that the his-
tory of their wanderings is more like a tale of
fiction than that of sober biography. Among
those whose life work has been of this character,
and whose wanderings have been far and wide,
is August Carl Heistermann, of San Pedro.
Resolute, self-reliant, energetic and enterprising,
he has kept busily employed since a boy of ten
years, having been associated with various oc-
cupations, and is now carrying on a substantial
business as proprietor of the Home dairy, the
largest institution of the kind in this part of Los
Angeles county. A native of Germany, he was
born, December 23. 1861. in Kiel, duchy of Hol-
stein. His father, the late Carl Hei-stermann,
was born at Lippe-Detmold, Germany, where he
learned the trade of brick maker, which he sub-
sequently followed at Kiel until his death, about
1872. His wife, wliose maiden name was Char-

lotte Groath, was born in Gikon, Holslein, and
died, August 16, 1904, in San Pedro, Cal.

The oldest of a family of four children, Au-
gust Carl Heistermann was brought up on a
farm near Kiel. When he was but ten _\ears of
age he was left fatherless, and from that time be-
came self supporting. From then until sixteen
years old he worked on a dairy farm, receiv-
ing his board and clothes for his labor, and hav-
ing two half school days each week. The follow-
ing two years he was employed in the Kiel na\7
yard, after which he followed the sea for a long
time, being engaged principally in the coasting
trade. Subsequently he made three trips around
Cape Horn, going first to Iquique, Chile, and re-
turning. On his second voyage he visited ^'al-
paraiso, Chile, and then, after making a trip to
Hamburg, a home port, he came to California by
way of the Horn, being one hundred and sixty-
five days on the way, and arriving in San Fran-
cisco in October, 1880. While following the sea,
he had many perilous adventures. While sail-
ing on the Magdalena, a two-master, the ves-
sel was ship-wrecked off the coast of Mecklen-
burg, but no lives were lost, the entire crew be-
ing saved. During his last voyage around the
Horn his vessel lost nearly ever}- sail while
rounding the Cape, and for seven weeks laid off
the coast, being on the beam end for three days,
during which time the men on board came very
near being frozen to death.

Locating in San Francisco soon after the ves-
sel landed, Mr. Heistermann worked for four
months at the confectioner's trade, receiving $4
a week wages. The ensuing five years he was
in the employ of the Pacific Coast Steamship
Company, and during the time made two voy-
ages to Honolulu on sailing vessels, and two
to Australia on the steamship Australia, land-
ing at Sydney, on one of the latter trips
going as quartermaster. Again giving up
his seafaring pursuits, he was for a num-
ber of years employed in dredging in dif-
ferent localities, first as leverman for the Smith
Company assisting in dredging the Oakland
basin, and afterwards the San Pedro bay. Then,
as captain of the men employed, he dredged the
San Diego bay, and afterwards the Oakland
channel. Giving up his position with the Smith
Dredging Company, he was subsequently asso-
ciated with the San Francisco Bridge Company
for fourteen months, being captain of the dredg-
ing company that dug the tidal canal. Coming
again to San Pedro in 1890 he served as captain
of the dredging company that made the channel
in the harbor, and filled in Bosco Island, work-
ing for Captain Polhamus. Giving up his
position in 1893, he opened a feed and gro-
cery store at the corner of Fourth and ]\Iesa
streets, in San Pedro, and continued there until

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1869

1895, when he moved into a store which he had
built, and there remained two )'ears, meeting witli
excellent success. His health failing, he then
gave up all business for four years. Then, ac-
cepting the position of foreman of the Coast Con-
tracting Company, in San Francisco, he had
charge of the blowing up of Shark Rock and
Arch Rock, at the first charge of Shark Rock
using ten tons of gelatine. Returning to San
Pedro in the spring of 1902, Air. Heistermann
started in his present business, locating at the
corner of Fourth and Mesa streets. He sub-
sequently enlarged his operations, buying
another firm's stock, and in November, 1902,
locating at his present place, one mile from the
city, where he is carrying on a large and remun-
erative business under the name of the Home
dairy. He keeps about seventy-five cows. Jerseys
and Durhams, and in supplying the demands of
his numerous customers runs three wagons.

In Alameda, Cal, in 1885, Mr. Heistermann
married Annie Nicolai, who was born in New
York, but when two years old was taken to
Germany, remaining there until sixteen years
of age. She then returned to the United States,
locating in San Francisco, and subsequently, in
Alameda, was married to Mr. Heistermann.
Their marriage has been blessed by the birth
of eight children, namely : Gustav, Bertha, Mag-
gie, Tina, Carl, Cora, George and Henry. Polit-
ically Mr. Heistermann is identified with the
Republican party in national afifairs : fraternally
he belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men ;
and religiouslv he is a Lutheran.

ROBERT E. L. SACKETT. The univer-
sal esteem of a communit}- is given to Mr.
Sackett for his demonstration of business qual-
ities which have placed him in the front rank
of ranchers in Los Angeles county, where he
was born December 3, 1869. the son of a
worthy pioneer. His father, Thompson D.
Sackett, was born near Quincy, 111., in 1827,
while his mother, Rebecca M. Evans in maid-
enhood, was a native of Alabama. The par-
ents were married in Arkansas, and lived in
that state until their removal to Texas, whence
they came overland to California in 1857.
From San Bernardino county they went to
Visalia for a few years, then returned to Los
.\ngeles county in 1867. While in the north
he had engaged in the cattle business but dur-
ing the dry 3'ears lost all of his stock, and
when he came back to Los Angeles county he
had to begin at the foot of the ladder once
more. He established his home in this com-
munity and spent the remainder of his years
on the old homestead, passing away in 1892
at the age of sixty-five years. The mother

died in 1906 at the age of seventy-four years.
They were the parents of eight children, of
whom four are now living. Mr. Sackett was
a lifelong Democrat politically, and in religion
both himself and wife were devoted members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Nor-
walk.

The preliminary education of Robert E. L.
Sackett was received in the common schools,
after which he took a commercial course in
the Woodbury Business College, of Los Ange-
les. After the close of his schooldays he re-
turned to the home ranch and worked with his
lather, until the latter's death, when he went
to work upon the forty-acre tract which he
had inherited. He is progressive and enter-
prising and it was not long before he pur-
chased thirt}'-five acres of land adjoining his
jiroperty, and has since added twenty acres,
and a fifteen-acre tract, while he also owns a
lot in Long Beach. The home place is in
grain and the management of a dairy occupies
a large part of his attention, fifty cows sup-
lilying this department of the work, the milk
being sold to the Alpine Farm and Dairy Com-
pany, of Los Angeles. A considerable portion
of his other property is devoted to the raising
of grain, although he intends to set out fifteen
acres in gum trees in the fall of 1907. In 1893
Mr. Sackett was united in marriage with Miss
Millie Beasle>% a native of Oregon, and a
daughter of David I. Beasley, who at the time
of his death was in the employ of the govern-
ment in .Arizona. Mr. and Mrs. Sackett are
the parents of the following children: Edward
B., Irene, Dorothy and Robert G. :Mr. Sackett
is a member of Camp to. K. O. T. AI.. of Ar-
tesia, and is also identified with the Indepen-
dent Order of Foresters. Politically he is a
stanch Democrat. Regarding the upbuilding
of this section no citizen has been more promi-
nent than Mr. Sackett: he has done much to
|:)romote the improvement of the San Gabriel
river in this vicinity, serving as secretary and
the superintendent of the new San Gabriel cor-
poration organized to improve and straighten
the river. Mr. Sackett was the right of way
man and the successful completion of this un-
dertaking was largely due to his efforts and
those of a brother.

WALTER J. MAIN. Ever since crossing
the ocean from his native land and identifving
himself with the citizenship of the United
.States, Mr. Main has been a resident of Cali-
fornia, and of recent years he has made his
home and business headquarters in Downey,
where he owns and operates a blacksmith's
shop. In a shop in Scotland, under the over-

1870

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sight of a skilled blacksmith, he learned the
trade while yet a boy and by reason of thor-
ough practical training and industrious per-
severance there are few now who can surpass
him in skilled workmanship along the line of
his chosen occupation. Those who have once
entrusted him with their work afterward feel
every confidence in his skill and painstaking
care.

There were ten children, seven boys and
three girls, in the family of Alexander and
Margaret (Grant) Main, natives of Scotland,
and they were reared to habits of industry and
honesty characteristic of their race. Some
years ago the father passed away, but the
mother kill survives and remains in her na-
tive country, where also the majority of the
children reside. One brother who came to
California is married and occupies a ranch in
the vicinity of Santa Barbara. Walter J., who
was next to the youngest of the ten children,
was born in Scotland April 27, 1873, and re-
ceived a common-school education. Leaving
school at the age of thirteen years he became
an apprentice to the trade of a blacksmith, at
which he served for three and one-half years,
and then became a journeyman in the employ
of others.

Crossing the ocean to New York in 1897 Mr.
:\rain proceeded direct to California and settled
at Santa Barbara, where he secured employ-
ment at his trade and remained about five years.
From there he came to Downey and after nine
months in the employ of others he bought his
present shop, which he conducts with care and
skill. While living m Santa Barbara he was
married, in September, T901, to Mary Ann
Downev, a native of Scotland, but a resident of
California from early girlhood. One child,
Ann, blesses their union. The family are iden-
tified with the Presbyterian Church, and fra-
ternally l\Tr. Main holds membership with the
Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of
the Maccabees and Knights of Pythias.
Though deeply interested in all the questions
pertaining to the welfare of his adopted coun-
try he has never become an adherent of_ either
of" the dominant political parties, but maintains
independence of opinion and ballot.

CECIL L. GRIFFIN. Descended from
Welsh ancestry, the Grififin family has been iden-
tified with the development of the United States
from an early period and its members have made
their homes principally in the north and east. In
New York state, near the city of Buffalo, D. C.
Griffin was born and reared and there he learned
the trade of a carpenter, which for some years he
followed in the vicinity of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Upon removing to Michigan he took up land near
Charlotte, in Eaton county, and there not only
tilled the soil, but also devoted considerable at-
tention to the building business. Emigration was
drifting steadily toward the undeveloped west,
and he followed the tide of population to Kan-
sas, where in 1881 he secured farm land near
Wellington, Sumner county. Ten years later
he removed to the newly opened territory of
Oklahoma and opened a mercantile store at Hen-
nessey, continuing the same until his retirement
from business cares. That town continues to be
the home of himself and wife, the latter of whom
was Amanda Potter, a native of the vicinity of
Buft'alo, N. Y. Of their two sons and two
daughters all are living except one daughter,
Ida. Cecil L., the youngest, was born near Fort
Wayne, Ind., April 29, 1867, and was two and
one-half years of age at the time of the re-
moval to Michigan. Hence his early recollec-
tions are of the farm near Charlotte and the
public schools of that neighborhood, where he
gained his primary education. After removing
in 1 88 1 to Kansas he completed his grammar-
school studies.

On crossing the continent to California in
1887 Mr. Griffin became an employe of the Grif-
fith Lumber Company of Santa Ana. Under
their supervision he learned tlie industry from
the foundation and acquired a trustworthy and
important knowledge of the many details con-
nected with the work. After he had been with
the firm for eighteen months he resigned his po-
sition and returned to Kansas, where he spent
four years, a part of the time as a farmer and
the remainder of the period as a clerk in a store.
On his return to the Pacific coast he secured a
position with the Newport Lumber Company as
a clerk and afterward was promoted to the
charge of their shipping department in the whole-
sale yards. When the business was sold to the
Nofziger Brothers he continued with the new
owners, by whom he was entrusted with the
management of the Santa Ana yards. In a
short time the company sent him to Los An-
geles to superintend the building of their whole-
sale huTiber yard on Palmetto avenue and Sixth
street, and he remained in that place until the
yard was in running order. In September of
1 901 he came to Redondo as tallyman for the
company, and here in July of the following year
he took an influential part in the organization
of the Lumber Surveyors' Association of South-
ern California. This enterprise has since num-
bered him among its most active members, and
at this writing he holds the office of vice-presi-
dent and agent for Redondo, his home town.

The marriage of Mr. Griffin took place in
Santa Ana and united him with J\Iiss Campbell,
who was born in Nova Scotia, but has resided in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1871

Southern California since girlhood. Five chil-
dren comprise their family, Leslie, Perc}', Fay,
Clifford and Ralph. After coming to his pres-
ent location Mr. Griffin was made a Mason in
Redondo Lodge No. 328, F. & A. M., in the
philanthropies of which he has ever been in-
terested. During his residence in Santa Ana
he was an active member of the Knights of
Pythias and the Tents of the Maccabees in that
city. Though he has never been prominent in
politics nor sought the emoluments of office, he
has firm convictions upon all public questions
and gives his support to the Republican party

CHARLES E. FULTON. Among the
talented and progressive residents of San Pedro
is Charles E. Fulton, a skilful and capable
mechanic, who, as a member of the Fulton &
Iversen Ship and Boat Building Company, is
actively identified with one of the leading in-
terests of Los Angeles county. Dependent upon
his own resources from boyhood, he has labored
with untiring diligence, steadily climbing the
ladder of success, and is to-day a fine represen-
tative of the self-made men of our country. Of
New England ancestry, he was born, February
17, 1871, at Port Ludlow, Jefiferson county.
Wash., a son of William Fulton, and a lineal
descendant of Robert Fulton, the inventor, who,
in 1807, built the first steamboat, the Clemiont,
which was launched on the Hudson river.

William Fulton was born and reared in East
Machias, Me., and there followed for awhile the
business of a lumberman. Being attacked with
the gold fever in 1849, he came overland to Cal-
ifornia, and in common with the thousands of
other emigrants embarked in mining pursuits.
Unsuccessful, however, he went northward to
Port Ludlow, Wash., where he was for ten years
engaged in the manufacture of lumber. Giving
up that occupation, he was subsequently em-
ployed in logging until his death, at a com-
paratively early age. He married Mary Ann
Guptill, who was born in East Machias, Me., and
died in Chico. Cal., in 1879.

After the death of his mother which occurred
wrhen he was but eight years of age, Charles E.
Fulton attended school a very short time, and at
the age of ten years began life as a wage-earner,
from that time until the present being self-sup-
porting. At the age of fourteen he went into
the woods to work, and for a number of seasons
was employed in a logging camp. Subsequently,
while thus employed, a thirst for knowledge
came upon him, and he eagerly seized upon every
opportunity afforded him- for study. In 1891,
at Port Blakeley, Wash., he entered the employ
of Hall Brothers, and there began to learn the
trade of shipbuilder. Going to San Francisco

in 189s, he accepted a position in the Fulton Iron
Works, working a year as ship carpenter, and
afterwards being foreman. While there he at-
tended the Lincoln night school, studying marine
architecture and mechanical drawing, in both of
which he became proficient. Returning then to
Washington, he located at Bellingham, where
he built the four-masted schooner Sehome, the
schooner Cecilia Sudden (both of which are
still in commission), a tug-boat seventy-five feet
in length, and several launches. Locating* at
San Pedro in 1904, he was for a year employed
in the shipyard of the Wilmington Transporta-
tion Company. In the spring of 1905 he re-
signed that position to become the partner of
Peter Iversen, since which time business has
been carried on under the name of the Fulton
& Iversen Ship and Boat Building Company.
By his wise management and good judgment
Mr. Fulton has advanced the interests of the
company and extended its business. Among
some of the better known boats built by this
firm may be mentioned the steamships Long
Ik'ach and Empress, the latter the largest glass-
bottomed boat in the world.

In Tacoma, Wash., Mr. Fulton married Car-
rie Linnie Johnson, who was born in Chicago,
III, where her parents settled on coming to this
country from Cliristiania. Norway. Of their
union two children have been born : Clara May
and Robert W. Politically Mr. Fulton is a true-
blue Republican, and fraternally he was made
a Mason in San Francisco Lodge No. 212, F.
& A. M.

WILLIAM SHEPPARD. As proprietor of
the Hemet dairy, which is supplied by a herd of
twenty-five high grade Jersey cows, William
Sheppard is known as one of the most enter-
prising and energetic citizens of Riverside coun-
ty. He is of German descent, the name having
originally been Schaefifer, and his father, George
Sheppard, was brought to this country by his
parents from his native land when but seven
years of age. The family settled near Catawissa,
Pa., where the son attended the common schools
and later learned cabinetmaking and the painter's
trade, attaining great proficiency in the work. He
afterwards resided in Maryland for ten years,
then went to Beaver Dam, Wis., and in 1856
settled in Fillmore, Minn., where he engaged in
agricultural pursuits and lived until his death
in 1906, at the age of eighty-seven years. His
wife, who was Hannah Yost before her mar-
riage, was born in Pennsylvania near Catawissa,
and her death occurred in 1904.

The birth of William Sheppard occurred at
Fillmore, Minn., November 10, 1857, and his
education was received through the medium of

1872

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the common schools of that state. From boy-
hood he liclped his father on the farm and when
a young man contracted to conduct the place
for a number of \ears. In 1893 he went to
Kingfisher county, Okla.. and purchasing a
homestead relinquishment on a claim near
Okarche, proved up on the place and engaged in
grain and stock raising. He also ran a thresh-
ing outfit there and continued to live in that
state until 1902, when he sold his interests and
located in Hemet, Cal. He first purchased five
acres of land on Florida avenue, adding sub-
sequently by purchase fifteen acres more, which
now gives him a twenty-acre ranch, sixteen
acres being in alfalfa and the remainder devoted
to horticultural purposes, a fine olive orchard
occupying the most of the plot. He established
his dairy business in 1903 and has since done
an excellent retail business.

The marriage of Mr. Sheppard took place in
Fillmore, Minn., Miss Lillian F. Young, a
native of that place, becoming his wife. They
have become the parents of seven children, three
sons and four daughters: George Nelson, liv-
ing in ^Minnesota, Lee, Mabel, Jennie, Rose, Aloa
and Wallace. ]\tr. Sheppard was made a Mason
in Chatfield, Minn. ; he also belongs to the
Knights of the Maccabees at Hemet; Independ-
ent Order of Foresters, jNIodern Woodmen of
America, Fraternal Aid and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, J\Irs. Sheppard being a
member of the Rebekah Lodge.

FREDERICK BLUEMLE. Qoselv identified
with the industrial prosperity of Los Angeles
county is Frederick F)luemle, a representative
farmer, and a true type of the energetic, hardy
and enterprising men who have actively assisted
in the development and advancement of this
fertile and productive agricultural region. His
ranch, lying seven miles north of San Pedro, is
one of the best in the vicinity, and under his in-
telligent management is highly cultivated and
improved. A German by birth and ancestry, he
was born, November 4, 1855. in Baden, Germany.
His parents, George and Karoline (Riess)
Bluemle, were born in Germany, where the father
was engaged in tilling the soil until his death, in
1856. The mother survived her husband, and is
now living in the Fatherland, a bright and active
woman, seventy-nine }'ears old.

Leaving the public schools at the age of four-
teen years, in 1870 Frederick Bluemle immigrat-
ed to the Ignited States, hoping in this land of
plenty to find remunerative employment. Going
to .Somerville. Ind., he worked by the month for
about eight years, and being industrious, and
prudent in his habits, accumulated some money.
His health failing, he came to California, ar-

ri\ing in Los. Angeles county September i"],
1878, and locating in the German settlement,
where he worked by the month for a year. His
health improving, he then rented land, which he
managed successfully for a number of seasons.
Purchasing forty acres of the land now included
in his home ranch in 1884. he has since been
prosperously employed in agricultural pursuits.
A systematic, thorough-going farmer, he has
made all the improvements on his ranch, which is
advantageously located seven miles north of San
Pedro, his ranch, with its large dwelling house
and fine outbuildings, being one of the most
attractive in the communit}-, while everything
about the premises indicates the existence of
a cultivated taste and ample means. His farm-
ing implements are of the most approved pattern,
and all things are in keeping with the appliances
of a first-class agriculturist. In 1903 he added
to the size of his ranch, buying sixty acres of
land near the German Church, and to this he
is making extensive improvements also.

March 29, 1883, in California, [Mr. Bluemle
married Elizabeth Anna Rockensuess, a daugh-
ter of the late William Rockensuess, of Germany.
Seven children have been bom to Air. and Mrs.
Bluemle. namely : William Ludwig. Rudolph
Henry, Frederick Johann, Emma Helen, Lillian
Mina, Alaria Karolina and Anna Elizabeth
Thusnelda. Politically Mr. Bluemle is identified
with the Republican party, and for a number of
years has been clerk of the Lincoln school board.
Btoth ]\Ir. and Mrs. Bluemle are members of the
German ]\Iethodist Episcopal Church, of which
he was one of the organizers and served on the
building committee of the church. He is now
a trustee and serves as local preacher of the
church. For over twenty years he served as
superintendent of the Sunday School. He has
always supported movements that have had for
their object the upbuilding of the county.

WILLIA:\I I. STE\'ENS. Prominent among_.
the well-known and thriving business men ot
Compton is ^^■illiam I. Stevens, who has spent
nearly three decades of his life in this commun-
ity, being formerly engaged as a lumber dealer
in Gardens, but now employed by the San Pedro
Lumber Company at Compton. He enjoys the
many improvements that have been made in this
locality since he first came here, the establish-
ment of home industries and local benefactions
being with him of paramount importance and
well worthy of the aid he so willingly gives. A
son of S. C. Stevens, he was born in St. John,
New Brunswick, September 5, 1853.

Coming from old Virginia stock, S. C. Stev-
ens was horn, reared and educated in Canada.
He was engaged in seafaring pursuits during

^CuuJ ^iS^-^T^jc?^ ^^csu^xe^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1873

his active career, living in New Brunswick dur-
ing his earlier life, but subsequently settling in
Maine, where he lived for twenty-five years,
dying there when well advanced in years. His
wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Jones, also
died in Maine. They were the parents of five
children, namely : Mrs. Maud Bryan ; Mrs.
Eliza Holmes ; William I. ; Mrs. Catherine Mc-
Afee ; and Clarence H.

Acquiring a good education in the district,
subscription and normal schools, William I. Stev-
ens was employed as a teacher while a young
man. Subsequently learning the business of a
lumber manufacturer, he followed it for some
time, but was unfortunate, losing considerable
money in his transactions. Departing from his
eastern home, he went to Illinois, arriving in
Chicago with but fifty cents to his name. Ship-
ping before the mast, he went froiu there to
Green Bay, Wis., where he secured a position
with a lumber company, receiving a salary of
$80 a month. At the end of a year and a half
he established himself in business in Oiicago as
a lumber manufacturer and dealer. A few years
later, in 1874, he came to California, locating in
Compton, where, with the exception of three
years spent in Gardena, where he was in busi-
ness for himself, he has since been similarly em-
ployed, the San Pedro Lumber Company appre-
ciating his knowledge and experience. In his
operations he has met with good success, by his
industry, thrift and force of character arising
from a condition of comparative poverty 'to a
place of afffuence. He owns considerable city
property in Compton, and has recently erected a
fine residence in a pleasant part of the place.

In 1876 Mr. Stevens married Mrs. Nancy
(Gaines) Rogers, a native of Kentucky, who
presides over their new home with grace and
hospitality. She is a member of the Christian
Church, but, with Mr. Stevens, attends the Con-
gregational Church. Politically Mr. Stevens af-
filiates with the Socialist party.

HOX. PRESCOTT E. COGS\\'ELL. The
California Assembly' has acquired a distinc-
tion among tlie states of the nation because of
the men of ability and enterprise who are
lending their eflforts to advance the interests
of the people through legislation, and holding
]3lace as a representative of his district is the
Hon. Prescott F. Cogswell, a pioneer \^alnut
grower of the Mountain \''iew section in Los
Angeles county. Mr. Cogswell is of English
ancestry, the records tracing the name to the
year 1064, in the county of Essex, England,
where it was then known as Coggeshall. John
Cogswell was born in Westbury, Leigh, Wilts
county. England, in 1592. and in 163 ^ he came

to America on the ship Angel Gabriel, which
was wrecked off the coast of Maine on the
16th of August of that year. He escaped by
swimming to the land. He finally settled in
Massachusetts and there the name flourished
lor generations; his son, William, born in
\\'estbury, Leigh, Wilts county, England,
married and located in Massachusetts, where
his son, William Jr., was born in Ipswich and
married Martha Emerson ; their son, Edward,
was born in Gloucester, while his son, Sam-
uel, was born in Ipswich, to which place the
family returned. The family fortunes were
changed to Preston, Conn., where another
John Cogswell Avas born, who in young man-
hood located in South Britain and there
reared a family, a son, Eerris, marrying and
passing his remaining years in that section.
His son, Eranklin Eerris Cogswell, moved to-
ward the north, passing some time in Sand-
gate, Vt., where was born a son, Asa H., the
father of Hon. Prescott E. Eranklin E. lo-
cated in . Ontario, where he engaged as
a farmer until his death which occurred at an
advanced age.

Asa H. Cogswell became a minister in the
Methodist Episcopal Church in Ontario and
continued so occupied for a number of j'ears,
finally, however, engaging as a farmer in that
section until his removal to Los Angeles, Cal.,
where his death occurred in 1896. His wife
was formerly Mary L. Allen, Avho was born
in Ontario, a daughter of Nathan Prescott Al-
len, of Port Plains, N. Y., and granddaughter
of Nathan Allen, of Pomfret, Conn., who mar-
i-ied into the Goodell family of Mayflower an-
cestry. Mrs. Cogswell died in Los Angeles in
1906, leaving a family of two daughters and
three sons, namely: Prescott Eranklin, of this
review; Mary, wife of J. R. Davis, sheriff of
Luzerne county. Pa.; Elizabeth, wife of Rev.
lohn P. .MacPhie, of Lynn. Mass.; A. Horatio,
head of the Latin department of the .Alameda
high school, and a prominent baritone singer
of that section : and Trvin Roy, of Los .An-
geles.

Prescott E. Cogswell v.-as the oldest in his
father's family and was born October 23, 1859,
in the vicinity of Ingersoll. Ontario, and there
spent the first nine years of his life. In 1868
he was taken bv his parents to Afton, Iowa,
where his father engaged as a merchant for
the period of two years; they then returned to
the old home in Ontario, where Mr. Cogswell
completed his education in .Albert University
of Belleville. He came to California in 1883
and in the vicinity of Tustin purchased an
orange ranch of twenty acres, which he culti-
^•atcd and impro:-cd for a few years, disposing
of the same during the real estate excitement

1874

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of 1888. That same 3-ear Mr. Cogswell be-
came associated with B. F. Maxson in the
purchase of the AlcLeaii ranch of five hundred
and fifteen acres in El Alonte, which they sub-
divided, putting in streets and laying oiT
blocks, and disposing of the greater part of it
advantageously. Mr. Cogswell set out the
first walnut orchard in Mountain View district
and continued to add to his interests until he
now owns one hundred and one acres in wal-
nuts, whiie he also owns an alfalfa farm ad-
joining El Monte. He has laid out several
tracts in this vicinity, one of which, one hun-
dred acres, is known as the Cogswell tract.

In Montreal Mr. Cogswell married ]\liss
Jane Belcher, a native of Calcutta, and a
"daughter of the Rev. Canon S. Belcher, of
Grace Church, Montreal. He was born in
London, England, and was sent as a mission-
ary to India and later to INIontreal. Mrs.
Cogswell died in 1898, leaving a family of
three children, namely: Frederick A., attend-
ing the University of Southern California ;
Harold G. and Irene, in the high school of El
Monte. Mr. Cogswell has always taken a
prominent part in matters of public import
and is especially interested in educational
work, now serving as secretary of the board
of education of the Union high school, of El
Monte, whidi position he has occupied since
the organization of the district. He was
prominent in the organization of the First
National Bank of El Monte and is still con-
nected with the institution as a director. He
also is a director in the Mutual Fire Insurance
Company, of Los Angeles. In religion he was
reared in the ^Methodist Episcopal Church and
is numbered among those who may be count-
ed upon to support all worthy' charities of the
church or community. In politics he is a Re-
publican and it was on this ticket that he was
nominated and elected in 1906 as representa-
tive from the Sixty-eighth district, having a
plurality of thirteen hundred and eighty-five
votes. His liberality and enterprise have won
for him a wide friendship and given him a
place among the representative citizens of this
section.

E. M. JOURDAN. Generations of the
Jourdan family have lived and died in sunny
France, content with her surroundings and ad-
vantages, but the continuity was broken when
E. M. Jourdan set foot on American soil in 1876.
Closely following the discovery of gold in Cali-
fornia and while the prospects for obtaining sud-
den wealth in this locality were still at high tide,
he was born January 6, 1854, in Hautes-
Alpes, France, a son of Pierre and Edelean

(Joubert) Jourdan. Neither of the parents
ever left their native land, and throughout his
entire life the father was a tiller of the soil.

Nothing of unusual interest transpired during
the early life of E. M. Jourdan, and as was
natural he gave a helping hand in relieving his
father of such farm duties as his strength would
permit. An irreparable loss in the death of his
mother when he was only nine years old sad-
dened his young life, and before long he was
made to realize the necessity of self mainte-
nance. A period of nine months in the public
schools constituted his school life and formed
the foundation for the later knowledge which he
obtained from reading good literature. His first
independent work was herding cattle for neigh-
boring farmers and during the two years that he
was thus employed he made his home with his
father and assisted him as his other duties would
permit. AMien onh thirteen years old he entered
the coal mines, but soon found a better opening
in a foundry, where the work was more in keep-
ing with his tastes and inclination, and he soon
became an expert in his particular line, receiving
eight francs or $1.52 per day for his services.
Although his business undertakings had been
successful in his native land, he was filled with
an ambitious spirit to advance still further, and
in order to carry out his plans he set sail from
France in December, 1875, and in due time ar-
rived in San Francisco.

.Since locating in the United States Mr. Jour-
dan "has been interested in various undertakings,
in all of which he has met with the success
which his efiforts and determination made pos-
sible. It was not long after locating in San Fran-
cisco that he entered the employ of G. \'enard,
dealer in tea, coffee and spices, with whom he re-
mained for five years. After severing his con-
nection with Mr. Venard in 1881, he went to
Los Angeles, and for one year worked in the
foundry of Powers & Baker, his experience in
this branch of mechanics during early life thor-
oughly qualifying him for the position. Later,
going to Riverside, he established a "restaurant,
which he conducted for three years, giving it up
at the end of that time to engage in mining in
the Ferris district. It is safe to presume that his
efforts as a miner were not as remunerative as
he had hoped, for he soon afterward went to
Santa Ana, where he engaged in the liquor
business for one year. In 1886, having again
located in Los Angeles, he followed brick-
making for one year, and in 1887 came to San
Pedro, with whose interests he has since been
identified. During the eleven years which he
had spent in the state he had resided in a num-
ber of the larger and more important cities, but
in none had he found the opening which he
sought until locating in San Pedro. In partner-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1875

ship with George H. Peck he purchased two
blocks of land, which has since been divided and
is now known as blocks Nos. 15 and 17, Jour-
dan's subdivision, and block No. 11, Hill & Jour-
dan subdivision. During the twenty years which
Mr. Jourdan has made his home here he has been
fairly successful in the handling of real estate,
making a specialty of subdividing and improv-
ing large tracts and selling in small lots for
homesteads.

In San Francisco, January 8, 1881, Mr. Jour-
dan was united in marriage with one of his
countrywomen, Victonne Maouconl, and two chil-
dren have blessed their union, E. A. and Edward
J., both of whom are at home with their parents.
True to the faith in which they were reared,
Mr. and Mrs. Jourdan are adherents of the
Catholic Church and contribute generously to its
various benevolences.

CHARLES FREMONT PITCHER. The
Pitcher family is of English descent, although
the branch to which Qiarles Fremont Pitcher
belongs has lived in America since Revolutionary
days, and his great-grandfather, who was a set-
tler in \'ermont, served in that struggle. The
grandfather, Oren, was born in Vermont, after-
wards removed to New York, served in the war
of 1812 and later went to Bremer county, Iowa,
where his death occurred. The father was or-
iginally a farmer in New York, but removed to
Iowa in 1859, improved a farm there and resided
on it during his lifetime. At the breaking out
of the Civil war he volunteered in an Iowa regi-
ment, but was rejected. His wife was Phoebe
Ann Smith, who was born in New York, a daugh-
ter of Hiram, also a native of that state, who
removed to Bremer county, Iowa, in an early day
and remained until the time of his death. He
served in the Civil war in an Iowa regiment, and
was wounded in battle. After the war he did
militar}- service on the Texas frontier and was
engaged in the Maximilian troubles. Mrs Pitcher
died in November, 1905, at her home in Iowa.

The oldest in a family of five children Qiarles
F. Pitcher is the only member living in Califor-
nia. He was born October 2, 1856, in Cat-
taraugus county, N. Y., and when only three
years old was taken with his father's family to
Iowa, where his boyhood days were spent on
the farm. He was educated in the public schools
and when eighteen years of age came to Cali-
fornia, locating at Vacaville, where he worked
at his trade of blacksmith and machinist. He
rem.ained there until 1878, when he removed to
Mendocino county to work in the lumber mills.
He stayed there but a few months, however, in
the fall coming to Ventura county and locating
on a ranch on the Conejo, upon which he en-

gaged in grain raising and the stock business.
After a term of four years he removed to the
Ocean View district and devoted himself to grain
raising. His present home is on a ranch of three
hundred acres which was formerly in the seaside
tract of the Colonia grant. One hundred dnd
twenty acres of the land are in beets and the re-
mainder in grain and hay. He has some very
finely bred cattle and horses, among the latter be-
ing Young Mac, a black twelve-year-old by j\Ic-
Kinney, dam by A. W. Richmond. He also has
a blacksmith shop on the place and does a good
business working at his trade.

In 1879 Mr. Pitcher was married to Miss
Emma Arnold, a native of Susanville, Lassen
county, Cal. To this union seven children were
born, namely: William, a farmer in Ventura
county; Fannie, the wife of Joseph Thompson,
of Phoenix, Ariz.; Oscar, in the United States
navy service aboard the ship Paul Jones ; Grace,
a student at the University of California; Ray,
Etliel and Percy, the last three named being
still under the parental roof. Mrs. Pitcher is
a school trustee of their district and j\lr. Pitcher
has served on the board of school trustees of
Ocean Mew district several terms in the past.
He is a Republican in politics and is a man who
takes a keen interest in everything pertaining to
the welfare of the community in which he lives.
In 1898-99 he was engaged on the coast survey
under A. T. Mossman, remaining with the party
until the survey from Santa Barbara to Yuma
was completed. In every enterprise which en-
gages his attention Mr. Pitcher gives faithful
and efficient service and he has earned the high-
est esteem of all who have the pleasure of "his
acquaintance.

EDWARD ATHERTON BRUNSON. A
resident of Downey, Los Angeles county, for
nearly a quarter of a century. Dr. Edward Ath-
erton Brunson has been actively identified with
the best interests of the people and the place,
and has contributed his full share in advanc-
ing and promoting the agricultural and in-
dustrial prosperity of the community in which
he resides. For the past year he has been en-
gaged in the real-estate business, and in his
operations has met with uniform success. A
son of the late Robert A. Brunson, he was
born, in 1844, in Arkansas, and was there
brought up and educated.

Although born and reared in North Caro-
lina, Robert A. Brunson migrated when a
young man to Tennessee, thence to Arkansas,
and for many years was one of the leading phv-
sicians of the community in which he resid-
ed. In 1876 he came to California, locating
near Downey, where he purchased land from

1876

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

which he improved a good ranch. In addition
lo his agricultural labors he was also actively
employed in the practice of medicine until
1890, having an extensive patronage through-
out this section of the county. Retiring from
the profession in that year, he lived on his
home farm, enjoying a well-merited leisure,
until his death, in 1902, at the venerable age
of eighty-one years. His first marriage unit-
ed him with Mary J. Johnson, who was born
in Arkansas, and there spent her entire life,
dying in 1863. In 1865 he married Annie Shep-
perd, a niece of L. E. Conway, distinguished as
the first governor of Arkansas, and also a cous-
in of ex-governor Rector of Arkansas. She
survived him, passing away in 1903, at the
age of sixty-live years.

Having completed the course in the public
schools of his native town, E. A. Brunson con-
tinued his studies at Bardstown, Ky., after
which he attended medical lectures at the Uni-
\ersity of Louisiana. Beginning the practice
of his profession in 1872, he was located at
Columbus, Ark., for fifteen years, and dur-
ing that time built up a large and lucrative
business. Listening to the persuasions of his
father, he finally came to Los Angeles county,
locating in Downey, where for three years he
leased about five hundred acres of the Cen-
tenilla ranch. He also invested in land, buying
a farm of twenty acres, which he still owns.
A man of much enterprise and energy, far-
sighted and practical, he became one of the
promoters of the Arroyo Ditch and Water
Company, which he served as president one
year, as director five years, and as superin-
tendent two years. The latter position he was
urged to accept for another term, but refused,
sending his resignation in January, 1905, since
which time he has devoted his attention to the
buying and selling of real estate.

br.Brunson married, in 1876, in Arkansas,
Susie E. Kinsvvorthy. a native of that state,
and into their household three children have
been born, namely: Mary L., a teacher in
the Lugo district; Lillian M., a medical stu-
dent in Los Angeles ; and Zekie K., a graduate
of the Downey high school and teacher of mu-
sic. Fraternally Dr. Brunson belongs to Dow-
ney Lodge No.'220, F. &. A. M., and religious-
ly he is a consistent member of the Presbyte-
rian Church.

THOMAS H. JAMES. Occupying an as-
sured position among the representative citizens
of Santa Monica is Thomas H. James, city en-
gineer, who has attained marked distinction in
his profession, and is widely known as a gen-
tleman of scientific attainments. Since his ap-

pointmcrt lo this office in 1895 he has devoted
his attention to the duties devolving upon him,
giving most satisfactory service, his quick, keen
intellect, his training and his wide experience
eminently qualifying him for his responsible posi-
tion. He was born, November 4, 1857, in county
Devon, England, near the city of Exeter, which
was likewise the birthplace of his father, Thomas
James.

Born of Welsh ancestors, Thomas James was
reared and educated in his native county, liv-
ing there for a number of years after his mar-
riage with Anna L. Wright, by whom he had
eight children. He died in England in 1868;
subsequently emigrating with her family to the
United States, Airs. James in 1874 settled in
Cleveland, Ohio, where she had been preceded
two years by her son Thomas H. She passed
away in that city in 1878.

After locating in Cleveland, Thomas H. James
continued his studies under private instructors,
receiving excellent educational advantages. In-
terested in mechanical pursuits, he subsequently
entered the city engineer's office in Cleveland,
where, under such men as Morse, Force and Rice
he received his principal training. For four
years he ser^-ed in the engineer's department of
different railroads, including the New York,
Chicago & St. Louis, known as the Nickel Plate,
and the Alichigan & Ohio, while thus employed
doing a good deal of bridge and construction
work. April 10, 1888, he took up his residence
in Los Angeles, Cal, where he soon accepted a
position in the city engineer's office, in the con-
struction department. He afterwards assisted
in the construction of the outfall sewers of the
tunnel portion at Inglewood.

Starting then in business on his own account,
]\Ir. James had an office in the \\'orkman block,
and was kept busily employed. Subsequently
becoming identified with the Terminal Railroad
Company, now the Salt Lake Railroad Com-
pany, he served as assistant engineer until the
fall of 1893, winning a fine record for his achieve-
ments in that capacity. In November, 1893, he
came to Santa Alonica to take charge of the
laying of the foundations of the North Beach
bath house, also the general construction work
for the Santa Monica Land and Water Company,
at the same time doing some special engineer-
ing for the Los Angeles and Pacific Railroad
Company. He afterwards served, by appoint-
ment, as city engineer and street superintendent
for two years, but since 1895 has served in the
capacity of city engineer, rendering distinguished
service. He also does engineering to some ex-
tent in other portions of Southern California,
being frequently called upon for work requiring
special care, among which may be mentioned
work for the Western Pacific Development Com-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

187:

pany in laying out Brentwood Park and all the
Palisades improvements. In the pursuit of his
profession, Mr. James has accumulated a fine
property, including a handsome home at No.
322 Fourteenth street, in which he resides. He
is maintaining an office in Los Angeles at No.
611 Fay building to look after his outside in-
terests.

January 6, 1881, Mr. James married Mary
Rose Lucas, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio,
a daughter of M. S. Lucas, of that city, and
they are the parents of three children, Clarence
v., Grace L. and Myrtle H. The son, a mechani-
cal engineer and electrician, was for some time
in the employ of the Los Angeles Pacific Rail-
road Company at Sherman, Cal, but is now as-
sociated with the Wilson Electrical Company
in Santa Monica. The oldest daughter, Grace
L., is a member of the senior class in the Le-
land Stanford, Jr., University and Myrtle, the
youngest child, and the only one born in Cali-
fornia is in the freshman year in the above in-
stitution. Politically Mr. James is a sound Re-
publican, and fraternally he is a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

ROBERT ALLEN CRAWFORD. Con-
spicuous among the men of prominence and in-
fluence in San Pedro is Robert Allen Crawford,
who is distinguished alike for his own sterling
qualities, and for the honored ancestry from
which he is descended. As a civil engineer in
the employ of the government, he has done much
to advance the commercial interests of this part
of Los Angeles county, and by careful atten-
tion to those things conducive to the welfare
and progress of business and social affairs he
has shown himself a public-spirited and useful
member of the community. As to his private
business, he has never allowed anything to es-
cape his observation which might be of benefit
to him in carrying on his trade, or rather his
art, for his work in this vicinity has almost
amounted to a fine art, so well has it been exe-
cuted. The descendant of an honored southern
family, he was born September 19, 1864, in
Richmond, Va., a son of John A. Crawford.
His grandfather, John Crawford, was born in
Georgia, of substantial Scotch ancestry, and dur-
ing his active life was a banker in the city of
Athens.

William H. Crawford, Mr. Crawford's great-
grandfather, was a very prominent figure in pub-
lic life during the first quarter of the nineteenth
century. He was born in Georgia, studied law,
and was among the leading attorneys of the
south. From 1807 until 181 3 he was a mem-
ber of the United States senate, after which he
served as a cabinet officer, first as secretary of

war, and later as secretary of the treasury. At
one time he was minister to France, and in that
capacity was a personal friend of Lafayette. He
was a man of strong individuality, possessing a
keen intellect, and in his religious beliefs was
a Scotch Presbyterian.

Born and reared in Athens, Ga., John A.
Crawford received a legal education, becoming
an attorney of note. For a few years he fol-
lowed his profession in Richmond, Va., being
while there a court reporter, also serving as
a representative to the state legislature, as state
senator, and as private secretary to General
Cobb, secretary of the treasury. At the close
of the war he returned to Athens, Ga., where
he was engaged in the practice of law until his
death. He married Ellen Peebles, who was
born in Richmond, Va., where her father, Allen
Peebles, was a jeweler. She is now living in
Athens, Ga. She bore her husband three chil-
dren, of whom two survive, Robert Allen, the
special subject of this sketch, being the first
born.

Educated in Athens, Ga., Robert Allen Craw-
ford was graduated from the University of
Georgia with the class of 1884, receiving the
degree of C. E. He was subsequently princi-
pal of a school in Mitchell county for two years,
when he resigned the position. Locating in
Kansas City, Mo., in January, 1887, he was for
two years employed as a civil engineer with the
firm of Tuttle & Pike, while there gaining val-
uable experience in his special line of work.
Since February, 1889, with the exception of six
months that he spent in superintending the con-
struction of the grounds for the St. Louis Expo-
sition, he has been in the service of the United
States government as a civil engineer. In 1889,
as assistant engineer, with headquarters either
in Kansas City or Jefferson City, he was em-
ployed on construction work, which he followed
in that vicinity for twelve years, buijding dikes,
revetments, dams, etc. From 1901 until 1902
he was engaged in dredging at Memphis, Tenn.
Coming to San Pedro in 1902 as assistant en-
gineer he had charge of the Inner Harbor im-
provements, in which capacity he designed and
built the new government dredge. During the
comparatively short time that he has been a
resident of this city he has won a place of in-
fluence in business and social circles, and is now
one of the directors of the First National Bank.

In Jefferson City, Mo., Mr. Crawford mar-
ried Pauline Brace, a daughter of Judge Theo-
dore Brace, chief justice of the supreme court
of Missouri. The judge, a native of Maryland,
is a skilful and able attorney, well known
throughout the western central states. His
wife, whose maiden name was Roanna Penn.
was a descendant of William Penn, the English

1878

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Quaker who founded Pennsylvania. Mrs.
Crawford is a woman of talent and accomplish-
ments, and is a fine musician, having been
graduated from the Conservatory of Music at
Jacksonville. 111. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have
one child, Robert Brace Penn Crawford. Mr.
Crawford, true to the religious training of his
youth, is a member of the Presbyterian Church,
and Mrs. Crawford belongs to the Christian
Church.

LOUIS F. STEPHENS. Although not a
native of Southern California, Mr. Stephens has
made his home in this part of the state since
youth and is a thorough Californian b}' birth,
training, education and ideals, keenly in sym-
pathy with the progressive spirit that has con-
verted the barren wastes into scenes of "beauty
that are a joy forever." The property which
he owns and operates lies one and one-fourth
miles south of Palms, Los Angeles county, and
comprises twenty-five acres of large monetary
value, in addition to which he owns thirty acres
in another tract. A native of San Francisco, he
was born in that city October 29, 1861, and is
a son of Andrew and Rosina (Wetzel) Steph-
ens, natives of Germany, who immigrated to the
LTnited States in early life and were married in
New York City. The father, who was twenty-
one years of age at the time of landing in the
new world, secured employment on a steamer
plying the waters of the Hudson river between
New York and Albany, and remained with the
same steamboat company for nine years, during
a part of which time he acted as third mate. On
resigning his position on the steamer he came
to California and settled in San Francisco, where
for nine years he was a clerk in the large mer-
cantile establishment of Redington & Co. From
1868 to 1878 he made his home in Santa Clara
county, where he owned one hundred and eighty
acres and engaged in general farming. In the
mean time he also became interested in the cul-
tivation of large areas of wheat land in the
Salinas valley, but several seasons of protracted
droughts ruined his crops and left him without
means to continue agricultural pursuits.

While making his home in Santa Clara coun-
ty Andrew Stephens was bereaved by the death
of his wife in 1876. Discouraged by this loss
and by the failure of his industrious efforts to
gain a livelihood, he decided to seek a new loca-
tion, and in 1878 came to Los Angeles county.
Having practically no capital, he was obliged to
begin farming upon a very small scale, but grad-
ually he increased his holdings, and with the sav-
ings of these years he invested in a tract of one
hundred and fifty acres near Palms. To this he
subsequently added by the purchase of one hun-

dred and sixty-three acres, owning in all three
hundred and thirteen acres. On that place he
was actively engaged in farming until a .short
time before his death, which occurred at sixty-
eight years. After becoming a citizen of the
United States he voted the Republican ticket at
both local and general elections. At his death
he was survived by four children, namely : An-
drew C, now residing in Fresno county ; Louis
F. and Carl E., ranchers near Palms, Los An-
geles county; and Edith, who is the wife of
Luther Washburn.

When the family left the Santa Clara valley
and established a home near the southern coast,
Louis F. Stephens was a youth of seventeen
years, alert, keen and vigorous, therefore capa-
ble of assisting his father in the difficult task
of renewing the family fortunes. His time was
given to his father until 1885. when he married
Mercy, daughter of Jacob Brown (see sketch else-
where in this work) and established a home of
his own. Since then he has been interested in
general farming, at first as a renter, then as the
owner and operator of one hundred acres near
Palms, and still later, selling that place, becom-
ing the owner of his present homestead. With
his wife he holds membership in the United
Brethren Church and they are rearing their chil-
dren, Louis Reuben and Melzina, in the faith of
that denomination. In political views he has al-
way been independent, voting for the man rather
than the party, and with strong leanings toward
the cause of prohibition as a principle rather than
as a party issue.

JOSEPH H. :McCULLOUGH. Identified
with the industrial and mercantile interests
of the city of Downey is Joseph H. ]McCul-
lough, who is carrj'ing on an extensive and re-
munerative business as a dealer in farm im-
plements and machinery of all kinds, and also
in buggies, wagons, carriages and vehicles.
One of the early settlers of this part of the
countv. he is widely known, and as a man of
upright character and fine moral principles is
held in high esteem. A son of the late Thomas
McCullough. he was born, January 23, 1859,
in the province of Quebec, Canada.

A native of England, Thomas McCullough
immigrated to America when a young man, lo-
cating in the province of Quebec. Purchasing
land at North Hatley, he engaged in agricult-
ural pursuits for many years, and in addition
was interested in the mercantile prosperity of
ills adopted town, keeping a general store. He
died at the ripe old age of eighty-two years, in
Canpda, where his wife, wdiose maiden name
was Martha Irwin, is still living, having come

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1879

to Quebec when a girl from Scotland, her na-
tive country.

Educated in the common schools of North
Hatley, Quebec, Joseph H. McCullough re-
mained on the home farm until attaining his
majority. Learning then the blacksmith's
trade, ht followed it at Ayer's Flat, Quebec,
until 1887, when he came to California in
search of a favorable opening for business.
Spending the first winter of his stay in this
genial climate at Santa Ana, he located in Dow-
ney in the spring of 1888. and has since resid-
ed here, having now a pleasant and attractive
home of his own. After working at his trade
for six years, he purchased a smithy, and in ad-
dition to carrying on general blacksmithing
dealt in farm machinery, buggies and wagons,
in both branches of industry being very suc-
cessful. In December, 1904, he sold his shop,
and has since confined his attention to mer-
cantile pursuits only, handling farm imple-
ments, machinery, wagons and buggies, as be-
fore mentioned, and having a fine trade.

June 7, 1894, in Downey, Mr. McCullough
married Julia Ardis, who was born December
II, 1873, a daughter of John and Fanny (Har-
ris"! Ardis, and they have two children, name-
ly: Ardis Irwin, born December 4, 1895, and
Katherine, born Januarj' 17, 1903. Political-
ly Mr. ]\fcCullough is a stanch supporter of
the principles of the Republican party. Fra-
ternally he belongs to the Independent Order
of Foresters, to the Modern Woodmen of
America and to the Knights of the Maccabees.
He and his family attend the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, their religious belief being in
sympathy with the teachings of that denomin-
ation.

BYRON S. COLE. Distinguished as a na-
tive-born citizen of Los Angeles county, and
as one of its most prosperous and practical ag-
riculturists and horticulturists, Byron S. Cole is
worthy of special mention in this volume. A
man of enterprise and keen foresight, possess-
ing a thorough knowledge of ranching in all of
its departments, he is meeting with signal suc-
cess in his operations, his fine ranch, with its
many substantial improvements, comparing fav-
orably with any in this part of Southern Cali-
fornia. A son of George W. Cole, he was born,
December 21, 1871. in Los Angeles county, near
Downey, and in this section of the state he has
spent his entire life.

After leaving the district school, Byron S.
Cole continued his studies for awhile in \\niit-
tier Academy, completing his early education in
the Baptist College at Los Angeles. From earli-
est boyhold he was familiar with farming pur-

suits, being well trained in the science of agri-
culture by his father, and on attaining his ma-
jority selected as his life work the free and in-
dependent occupation to which he was reared.
He now owns forty acres of the old Cole home-
stead, and to its care and management is devot-
ing all of his energies. His ranch, one of the
most fertile and productive in the neighborhood,
contains a bearing walnut grove of twenty acres,
from which he receives good annual returns,
and on the other twenty acres he raises excel-
lent crops of corn and alfalfa.

In Whittier, Cal., October 13, 1892, Mr. Cole
married ;Mayme King (daughter of John King,
a highly respected citizen of this place), and they
have one child, a son, named Clifford Raymond.
Mr. Cole is financially interested in horticultural
organizations, and is a member of the Los Nietos
and Ranchitos Walnut Growers' Association.
Politically he supports the principles of the Dem-
ocratic party by voice and vote, and fraternally
he is a member of Oro Lodge No. 315, I. O.
O. ¥., of Wliittier.

REINHOLD BOETTCHER. While retain-
ing a deep affection for the land of his birth and
the home of his ancestors, j\lr. Boettcher is a
typical Californian, loyal to the country of his
adoption, interested in its progress and firmly
persuaded that no other land can surpass it in
climate, soil and other advantages. Identified
with California since he was a young man of
twenty-two years, he is by birth a German, born
in Posen, Prussia, July 23, 1850, being a son of
Frederick and Wilhelmina (Bledow) Boettcher,
natives and lifelong residents of Prussia, where
the father followed the blacksmith's trade through
all of his active life. Both are now deceased, but
all of their six children survive them, and of
these Reinhold was next to the youngest. Fol-
lowing the usual German custom he was sent to
school until fourteen years of age and then was
apprenticed to a trade, serving for two years
under a blacksmith of the home neighborhood.

Wien only sixteen years of age Mr. Boettcher
came to the United States and settled in Pennsyl-
vania, completing his trade in Philadelphia and
Shamokin. For a time he was employed in the
Pennsylvania railroad shops, where he had the
heavy blacksmith's work in connection with the
building of coal cars. From Pennsylvania he
came to California in 1872 and secured employ-
ment in San Francisco, where he held various
positions, including a brief period of work in the
Fulton iron plant. Next he spent six months as
an employe in a foundry at Greenville, Plumas
county, after which he worked at the blacksmith's
trade in Susanville for two years. For several
\ears afterward he carried (^n a blacksmith's

1880

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

shop at Buntingville, Lassen county. The year
1883 found him a newcomer in Los Angeles, and
there he worked in the Baker iron foundry (at
that time on Second street), as well as with other
companies or men engaged along the line of his
specialty. For several years he carried on a
shop at Anaheim and later worked at the trade
in Pomona, after which, in 1894, he was em-
ployed in the factory at Chino in the capacity of
blacksmith. At the time of the laying of the
foundation of the Oxnard factory he came to the
new town and has since been in the employ of the
American Beet Sugar Company in the position
of chief blacksmith, which responsible work he
discharges with characteristic efficiency and
promptness.

In the numerous places whither work at his
trade has taken him Mr. Boettcher has made
many friends, so that his circle of acquaintances
and weJI-wishers is unusually large and widely
scattered throughout the state, ^^'^^ile giving his
attention principallv to his chosen occupation, he
has been interested in other enterprises and has
the credit of erecting the Pomona house, a build-
ing of twenty-three rooms, situated on A street
near Fifth. Formerlv he was quite an active
worker in the Odd Fellow encampment, but of
more recent years he has relinquished his asso-
ciation with anv section of that order besides the
local lodge. While living in Anaheim, on April
28, 1887. he married Miss Dolores Portio, who
was born in San Diego county and is a member
of an old family of Southern California. The
heaviest bereavement of their married lives came
to Mr. and Mrs. Boettcher when tliev lost their
onlv child, Sylvester, who died at the age of
eighteen vears.

GEORGE P. SHANKS. Fortified bv the
experience gained while following agricultural
pursuits successively in Iowa, Oregon and South
Dakota, INIr. Shanks was prepared for the prac-
tical conduct of farm aflfairs upon coming to the
southern coast of California in 1891. For a
year he remained at Norwalk, Los Angeles coun-
ty, and then removed to Palms, in the same
county. For thirteen vears he rented three hun-
dred acres or more of the Hammel and Dinker
ranch, and utilized the land in the raising of corn
and beans, also had a portion of the property in
meadow and pasture. Meanwhile the savings of
these years were invested in property and he
thus acquired a five-acre tract with a house, also
another place near by, where he has recently
erected for his family a comfortable residence
costing $4,000, also has erected a substantial
barn for the shelter of stock and storage of grain.
as well as one hundred acres of orange land

in the Lindsay district, Tulare county. His
present possessions are the result of judicious
investments since coming to California, as pre-
vious to that he had lost practically everything
through crop failures in South Dakota.

Born in Chicago, 111., September i, i860,
George P. Shanks was a son of John and Ellen
(Sharp) Shanks, natives of Scotland. His
father, who was born March 8, 1828, immigrated
to Chicago about 1849, and for some time was
connected with a general mercantile business of
that city, also engaged in merchandising in El-
gin, 111., for a few years. About 1867 he be-
came a pioneer merchant of Waterloo, Iowa, but
a few years later took up farm pursuits on rent-
ed land in Blackhawk county, Iowa. Eventually
he purchased farm land near Cedar Falls, Iowa.
On account of ill health he came to California
in 1899 and now resides at Pomona, where he
has an orange grove of two acres. Since coming
west his health has been restored and he is now
robust and vigorous for one of seventy-nine
years. While he was still a lad in Scotland he
became acquainted with Ellen Sharp, who was
born January i, 1831, and an engagement was
entered into, which was consummated in their
marriage at Chicago, she having crossed the
ocean alone to join him in his new location. Her
death occurred in Chicago, September i, i860,
when she was twenty-nine years of age and
when her son, George P., was an infant.

After having completed such advantages as
the public schools offered, George P. Shanks
started out for himself at nineteen years of age
and for three years rented land in Plymouth
county, Iowa. Later he went west to Oregon
and experimented with farming as conducted in
that state, carrying on a farm near Lebanon,
Linn county. However, prospects and condi-
tions were not satisfactory and he soon returned
to Iowa, thence went to South Dakota and
bought a tree claim relinquishment near Cham-
berlain, Brule county. Three years we're suffi-
cient to convince him that success could not be
gained in that region. During the last two
years a drought set in, attended by frequent high
and hot winds, and as a result he lost his crops
and was forced to start anew. In November of
1 89 1 he came to California, a decision which he
has had no reason to regret, for he has enjoyed
a delightful climate, has earned a livelihood for
his large family and in addition has reaped the
benefits accruing from the increase in land val-
ues. Through all of his active life he has
stanchly supported Republican principles, but at
no time has he solicited office. During the strife
in the location of the state capital in Soutli Da-
kota he took an active part in advocating Pierre
as the desirable location. The only position

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1881

which he has filled, that of school trustee, he held
for several years in the interests of the educa-
tional advancement of his district. Fraternally
lie affiliates with Palms Camp No. 567, W. O.
W., and in religion favors the doctrines of the
United Brethren Church, in whose faith he was
reared.

The marriage of Mr. Shanks in 1883 united
him with Ida Le Forge, who was born in New
York, a descendant of French ancestry. They
are the parents of eight children, namely : .Ray-
mond, who is employed as a clerk in Los Ange-
les; Ethel May, who is a graduate of the Palms
grammar school and the Santa Monica high
school; Mabel, George P., Jr., Edna, Pearl, Lu-
cile and Wesley James, all of whom are receiv-
ing excellent educational advantages in the
schools of the countv.

GEORGE E. MOE. Among the prominent
and progressive agriculturists of Ventura county
who are turning their attention to the culture
of lima beans, and in this comparatively new line
of industry are meeting with noteworthy suc-
cess, is George E. Moe, living near Oxnard, on
the Schiappa Pietra ranch. Believing that from
health and labor, wealth and contentment spring,
he had bent every energy toward the perfect-
ing of his agricultural projects, and now occupies
a foremost position, not only among the pros-
perous farmers of the community in which he
resides, but among its most valued and highly
esteemed citizens.

A son of Elmore Moe, he was born, May 3,
1856, in Sherbrooke, Quebec. His father was
born in England, immigrated to Canada when
young, and was there a resident until his death.
May 24, 1895, at the age of seventy-seven years.
He married Mary Robert, who was born in
Germany, and died in Quebec, in 1899, in the
seventy-third year of her age.

At the age of seventeen years, having acquired
a practical education in the public schools, George
E. Moe began work for himself as fireman on
the Passumpsic and International Railroad, sub-
sequently obtaining a similar position on the St.
Francis Railroad. Coming to the Pacific coast
in February, 1877, he located in Marin county,
and for awhile worked on the North Pacific
Coast and Narrow Gauge Railway. From there
he went to Occidental, Sonoma county, where he
was engaged in the livery business until 1881,
when he removed to Seattle, Wash., obtaining
a position on the Lake Shore and Eastern Rail-
road, for twelve years thereafter being either
conductor or engineer. In 1893 he came to
Ventura county, and for a year was employed in
ranching on the old Gilger place, near Oxnard.
The following eiglit years he carried on general

farming on the McCoy ranch, on the old Huen-
eme road. In the meantime, in February, 1898,
he made a trip to Alaska, taking passage on the
ship Corona, which was rock bound for four
days. In October of that year he came back to
his farm, and the following spring returned to
the Alaska mines for another season's work.
Locating then on his present ranch, he rents four
hundred and fifty acres of land, the larger part
of which he devotes to the raising of lima beans.
Although renting the land, he bought all of the
improvements that had been previously made, and
to these has made valuable additions, having a
substantial set of farm buildings. In carrying
on his work he makes use of the most modern
machinery and appliances, this year, 1906, intro-
ducing a bean thrasher.

July 4, 1876, in Canada, Mr. Moe married
Delia Annable, who was born in Canada, a daugh-
ter of J. M. Annable. Mr. Annable was a native
of New England, \'ermont being the state of his
birth. He subsequently removed to Canada, and
there spent his remaining years. In Vermont,
he married Eunice Dean, who was born in New
Hampshire, came to California with her daughter,
Mrs. Moe, and died here, September 25, 1899,
at the advanced age of eighty-four years. Of
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Moe five children
have been born, namely : Harry Elmore, of Kelso,
San Bernardino county, who married Bertha
Pasold, of Oxnard: Daisy, wife of Gale Dixon,
of Los Angeles ; Lawrence, of Los Angeles ;
Lotta, of Los Angeles : and Ernest, at home. Fra-
ternally Mr. Moe is a member of the Ventura
Court,' Palm City No. 1800, I. O. F.

JAMES SHEDDEN. As general superin-
tendent of the Gage Canal System, Mr. Shedden
has charge of eight miles of irrigating canal
which carries water for irrigation purposes into
Riverside and San Bernardino counties. He has
charge of from twenty to one hundred and forty
men at different seasons of the year, the latter
force being necessary at times when there may
be a threatened break in the levees after heavy
rains. Mr. Shedden is a native of Scotland, born
in Glasgow, March 21, 1864. His parents, Rob-
ert and Mary (Shearer) Shedden, were both
natives of Scotland and lived in that country
throughout their lives. The father was a tanner
by trade and was for a number of years superin-
tendent of a large tanning establishment. James
Shedden spent the first nineteen years of his life
in his native country, where he received a good
common school education, and, following in the
footsteps of his father, learned the trade of tan-
ner. On the completion of his apprenticeship,
which was spent under his fatlier, he immigrated

1882

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to Canada in 1882 and located at Gananoque,
where he worked at his trade for a time and later
for five and a half years was in the employ of
Carranton & Son, who carried on an extensive
leather business. When he came to California
in 1887 he first stopped at Riverside and found
employment on the Gage Canal. In 1889 he
assumed his present duties as general manager
of the Gage Canal System and has since filled
the position with entire satisfaction to all con-
cerned.

The marriage of Mr. Shedden occurred June
19, 1888, Miss Elizabeth Hewton, a native of
Canada, becoming his wife. The union has been
blessed by the birth of the following children :
Winnifred (a high school student), Howard
B., Allen J., Robert H. and Archie G. Both
parents are active members of the First Presby-
terian Church of San Bernardino and contribute
liberally to the support of the various charities
and benevolences connected therewith. Fra-
ternally Mr. Shedden is a member of San Ber-
nardino Lodge No: 348, F. and A. M. ; Wood-
men of the World ; Token Lodge No. 290, I. O.
O. F., and of Morse Encampment No. 51, all of
San Bernardino.

\VILLIAMA._ WALLS. Preceded by sev-
eral years of indifferent success in \-arious lo-
calities in the state, Mr. Walls came to Po-
mona in 1891, two years later purchased his
ranch of ten acres two and a half miles south-
east of town, and in 1898 established the nu-
cleus of his present dairy business, now grown
to be one of the substantial enterprises of the
kind in the locality. When he purchased the
ranch in 1893 no buildings had as yet been
erected, but as soon as it came into his pos-
session he built a comfortable residence for
his family and later such outbuildings as were
necessary for the prosecution of his dairy in-
dustry. He now has thirty-five head of liiilch
cows, in the care of which and in handling
the products of the dairy he gives employ-
ment to two men in addition to his own labor.

Born in Iowa county, Wis., September 3,
1857, William A. Walls is a son of Daniel
and Margaret (Bernard) Walls, who were
both born on Prince Edward Island. Both
parents removed to the United States and set-
tled in Wisconsin prior to their marriage, for
the ceremony which united their lives and in-
terests was performed in the latter state, and
in that state also a number of their family of
eight children were born. Later years found
the family in Taylor county, Iowa, where Mr.
^Valls had purchased a quarter section of land,
and there as in Wisconsin he continued his
grain and stock enterprises. Selling out his

interests in Iowa in 1886 he came to California
and located at Santa Ana, Orange county,
where he lived retired from business cares
until his death, at the age of sixty-seven years.
Mrs. Walls still survives, and at the age of
eighty-two makes her home in the Santa Ana
residence, which has been her home for twenty
years. Politically Mr. Walls was a Repub-
lican, and with his wife was a member of the
United Presbyterian Church, she still wor-
shiping v.^ith that congregation. Uf the eight
children originally comprising the parental
family only three are now living, William A.,
John W. and A[rs. F. L. Benedict, of Los An-
geles.

During his boyhood years the ill-health of
the father made it necessary for William A.
Walls to shoulder much of the responsibility
coimected with the management of the home
farm in ^Visconsin, with the result that his
education \\'as sadly neglected, but such op-
portunities as he had he improved with greater
zeal for that very reason. At the time of the
removal of the family to Taylor county, Iowa,
he was eighteen years old, and there as in
Wisconsin he continued to work for his father
on the home farm until 1884, that year wit-
nessing his rem.oval to the west and his set-
tlement in Los Angeles count}-. He became
foreman of the Hollenbeck fruit ranch, but his
position Avas destined to be shortlived owing
to the disastrous fire which destroyed the en-
terprise. For a short time thereafter he was
engaged in the dairy business in Los Angeles,
but later established himself with his brother
in the butcher business in Santa Ana, his par-
ents having located there in the meantime.
During the two years in which he carried on
business there he was quite successful, and
with the money thus accumulated he joined
interests with his brother in the purchase of
a forty-acre ranch. This was during the boom
days, and the fate of their undertaking went
the way of the majority of investments dur-
ing those unstable times. Putting his losses
and disappointments behind him Mr, Walls
came to Pomona in 189T and began a fruit-
ranching enterprise which he conducted with
splendid results for the following seven \-ears.
During the past nine years he has demon-
strated his ability along the special line of
agriculture which he has chosen, and is now
recognized as one of the most thoroughly
versed and successful dairymen in the vicinity
;;f Pomona.

The y-ear before coming to the west, in
1883, Mr. Walls was united in marriage with
Hattie E. Landcn, who was born in Iowa, the
daughter of Capt. S. N. Landon, a well-known
resident of that commonwealth, where his

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1883

death occurred. Mr. and JNIrs. Walls are the
parents of two children, Roy and Guy, both
of whom are receiving the careful training
which their parents are well qualified to De-
stow. Both are members of the Presbyterian
Church. As was his father, Mr. Walls is an
advocate of Republican principles, and the
only order of which he is a member is the
Fraternal Aid. ]\Iuch praise is due Mr. Walls
for what he has accomplished since locating
in the state, for in spite of discouragements he
still kept his courage high and forged ahead,
with the result that he is now one of the well-
to-do ranchers of Los .Angeles county.

GEORGE H. PECK, SR. The life which
this narrative depicts began at Burlington, Vt.,
March 4, 1819, in the home of John and Almira
(Keyes) Peck, and closed in Southern Cali-
fornia in 1903. The intervening years repre-
sented a period of wide travels in our own land
and other countries and a long identification
with the educational interests of the Pacific
coast, as well a,s association with enterprises of
a commercial order. At no time robust in
health as a boy, when Mr. Peck was graduated
from the University of Vermont in 1837 his
delicate constitution had been so undermined
by overstudy that he was unable to take up the
activities toward which his aspirations pointed.
It was thought that sea-air might prove bene-
ficial, and accordingly he shipped on a cod-fish-
ing voyage through the straits of Belle Isle, as
far north as the missionary settlements of Okak
and Nairn, off the Labrador coast. During the
winter of 1839-40 he visited the Danish West
Indies and the islands of St. Thomas, Porto
Rico, Hayti and Jamaica. Returning to Ver-
mont much improved in health, he took up the
study of law and in 1841 was admitted to the bar,
but again ill-health took him to the sea. From
1842 until 1846 he was a sailor before the mast
and visited many ports of the United States,
South America and England, after which he re-
turned to Vermont and took up mercantile pur-
suits.

When the discovery of gold in California
turned the tide of emigration • across the then
so-called American desert into the far west, Mr.
Peck was among the young men who determ-
ined to seek his fortune in the new country.
December i, 1849, ^'^ landed in California,
where he found conditions unsettled and con-
stantly shifting. During his first summer he
farmed fifty miles south of San Francisco. The
next year he engaged in the produce business in
the citv, and in 1851-52 mined on the middle
fork of the American river, investing his earn-
ings in several (hnusand acres in Yolo cnuntv.

where he remained for two years. February 14,
1854, he opened in Sacramento the first public
school in the state outside of San Francisco. In
1857-58 he practiced law at Dutch Flat, Nevada
county, and then visited old friends in Vermont.
After his return he taught bookkeeping in San
Francisco, where he was the first to teach the
double entry system. In May of i860 he
opened the San Francisco industrial school, and
from 1861 to 1863 he was grammar master,
which, in those days, was the highest educa-
tional position in the state. On reliquishing the
work of teacher he returned to merchandising
and continued at the same until his removal
to the southern part of the state.

A steamer brought the Peck family from San
Francisco to San Pedro in 1869, and soon after-
ward they settled on a ranch of about five hun-
dred acres at El ]\Ionte. While it was possible
to raise crops in those days, it was not possible
to find a market for them, and consequently the
family endured many privations and vicissitudes
during those first years in Los Angeles county.
By means of teaching Mr. Peck was able to eke
out a livelihood, and for two years he acted as
county superintendent of schools. After a time
markets opened up, settlers came into the
country, improvements began to be made in
lands and the fortunes of the early settlers
changed for the better, so that thereafter he en-
joyed a gratifying degree of prosperity. WHiile
living in Northern California he established do-
mestic ties, his marriage, April 30, 1864, unit-
ing him with I\Iary W. Chater, who was a mem-
ber of a New England family early established
in the west. Four children were born of their
union, namely: John H. F., a merchant of Soda
Springs. Idaho: George H., whose sketch ap-
pears elsewhere in this volume : Kate, wife of
Albert Gibbs, of South Pasadena, and Marv C,
Mrs. John E. Jardine, also a resident of Pasa-
dena. The closing years of Mr. and Mrs. Peck
were passed in quiet retirement in their Pasa-
dena liome. where to both came the end of ac-
tivities. United in life, in death they were not
long divided, the wife sun'iving her husband
for onlv one vear.

JAMES H. RITCHIE. A pioneer of Los
Angeles countv and a citizen well known and
respected by all, James H. Ritchie was born in
Nova Scotia May 7. 1843, and educated in the
common schools of that section. He was one of
eleven children born to his parents, Andrew and
Elizabeth (Jefferson) Ritchie, both natives of
the same place, and both now deceased, the
father dying at the age of forty-seven and the
mother at eighty-two. The father was a farmer
ihroughnut his entire life and owned a valuable

1884

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

property in Nova Scotia. Seven of the children
are at the present writing making their home in
Nova Scotia, while James H. is the only one in
California.

In Nova Scotia James H. Ritchie learned the
trade of blacksmith, and after serving his ap-
prenticeship at Yarmouth he came to California
and in San Francisco engaged in the prosecution
of his trade. He was next located in Stockton,
where the ensuing three years were similarly
spent. Coming to Los Angeles in 1869 he first
worked for John Toller, a pioneer blacksmith of
tliis section, and later for the Cerro Gordo
Freight Company. For about three years fol-
lowing this last employment he worked for I.
F. Nadeau, after which he went to the mines in
Arizona and there followed his trade for about
three years. Returning to Los Angeles county
he established a blacksmith shop on Florence
and Compton avenues and has since been occu-
pied in the conduct of this enterprise. During
the years in which he has been located here he
has made one trip to Arizona.

In 1872 Mr. Ritchie married Miss Mary F.
Jennings, a native of Illinois, and born of this
union are the following children : Elizabeth,
who married Charles D. Burt, of Los Angeles;
Harry Clifton, who died at the age of three
years: Georgia L., J. Harry, Jr., Frances G.
and Charles E. The family homestead is a hand-
some structure, surrounded by ample grounds,
on Compton avenue. Mrs. Ritchie is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Ritchie
has been a member of the Masonic organization
for many years, having been associated with a
lodge in Nova Scotia. Politically he is a Re-
publican and takes an active interest in public
affairs.

CLARENCE E. COE was born in Iowa,
January 23, 1873, a son of N. F. Coe, who is
represented elsewhere is this volume. Mr. Coe
was about ten years of age at the time the
family removed from Iowa to California, and
the greater part of his education was, therefore,
received in the latter state. As soon as he
reached his majority he started out on his inde-
pendent career, renting a ranch of three hun-
dred acres in close proximity to Santa Monica.
Some time after he took charge of his father's
ranch, which he later purchased. By his intelli-
gent industry and devotion to the welfare of
Los Angeles county he gained the esteem of ac-
quaintances and a fair competence as well.

Mr. Coe's marriage. October 23, 1895, united
him with a native daughter of the state. Miss
Laura E. Bauder, whose father. Rev. T. J.
Bander, was a presiding elder in the ITnited
J'.rctliren denomination for man\- A'ears. Bv his

wife, formerly Miss Electa M. Clifford, five
children were born, as follows : Minnie, Lelah,
Myrtle, Laura E. and Talmage. Prior to her
death, in 1895, Mrs. Bauder was an active
vi'orker in the United Brethren Qiurch, and took
an equal interest in the work carried on by the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Four
children have blessed the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Coe. Named in order of birth thev are
as follows: Theron E., Etta E., Mildred E. and
Clifford B. Following the teaching of her
parents Mrs. Coe is an adherent of the
United Brethren Qiurch, the welfare of whose
interests she has at heart, and both by personal
efforts and financially she assists in carrying
on the work of that organization.

GUSTAV FERDINAND JOHNSON. Many
of the most active and prosperous business men
of Los Angeles county are of foreign birth, and
have transported to this land of fertility and
plenty the habits of industry and thrift that win
success. Prominent among these is Gustav Fer-
dinand Johnson, of San Pedro, who is identified
with the advancement of the lumber trade of
this part of the state as a surveyor and tally-
man, in both of these lines being without a peer.
The youngest of a family of seven children, of
whom three daughters and one son are living,
he was born, September 26, 1864, in Nikolaistad,
Finland. His father, the late John Johnson,
was there engaged in merchant tailoring during
his actiA'e career, and there his mother, whose
maiden name was Louisa Vickstrand, still re-
sides.

Having completed his studies in the common
schools of his native land, Gustav Ferdinand
Johnson went to sea when a boy of fourteen
years, going first on a coaster, and afterwards
sailing on an English vessel to Pensacola, Fla.,
from there going to Malaga, Spain, and thence
back to Liverpool. Shipping then on the Eng-
lish vessel Loyola, he came around Cape Horn
to the Pacific coast, landing in San Pedro in
1881, after a tedious voyage of one hundred
and sixty-two days. The ensuing four years,
he was here employed in the coasting trade, the
last year being second mate. Giving up sea-
faring pursuits in 1885, he entered the employ
of the San Pedro Lumber Company, beginning
in the very lowest position to learn the business,
at first being- a lumber carrier. From time td
time he was promoted, at the end of three years
becoming lumber surveyor, a position that he
retained until 1899, when he severed his con-
nection with the company. Since that time
he has been engaged in business on his own
account, and as a lumber surveyor and tally-
man has met with marked success. .\ man

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1885

of good financial judgrnent, industrious and sav-
ing, he has accumulated a fine property, and on
O'Farrell street, Barton Hill, has erected a sub-
stantial residence, which, with its beautiful lawn,
adorned with magnificent roses and evergreens,
is one of the most attractive in the cit}-. He is
interested to some extent in fruit culture, and has
a grape vine which is said to be the largest in
San Pedro. In ig02 he assisted in organizing
the Lumber Surveyors' Association, and has
since been a member of its finance committee.

In Astoria, Ore., Mr. Johnson married Wen-
dla Nelson, who is also a native of Nikolaistad,
Finland, and they became the parents of three
children, Ida, Otto and Carl, the last named dy-
ing June i6, 1906. Mr. Johnson was made a
Mason in Wilmington, demitted from that lodge,
and became a charter member of San Pedro
Lodge No. 332, F. & A. M. He is likewise a
member of the Ancient and Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, being past grand of his lodge,
and is a member of the Rebekah Lodge. In na-
tional politics he is a Republican, but in local
affairs votes for the best men and measures, re-
gardless of party prejudices.

OSCAR FITZALLEN PALMER. In every
progressive city the time comes when the old
must give way to the new, and in the case of
buildings, too valuable to be destroyed, the busi-
ness of house-moving becomes important, render-
ing possible the removal of the structure to a
lot less centrally located or of less financial value.
Reasons of this character, supplementing the
need of the wreckage of buildings no longer hab-
itable, caused the organization of the firm of
Palmer Brothers in 1901, the members of the
finn being Oscar, William and Edward Palmer,
who have established the largest business of its
kind in San Diego and devote their attention to
the filling of contracts for the moving, remodel-
ing or wrecking of houses. They are the own-
ers of various lots and houses in the city and
some years ago purchased the old Horton house,
the annex of which they removed to their lot on
Union street to be used as a hotel.

The founder of the Palmer family in San
Diego was John D., a native of Ohio, a soldier
in an Ohio regiment during the Civil war and a
manufacturer of lumber for many years. Re-
moving from Ohio to California in 1884, he set-
tled in San Diego, where he took contracts to
remove and remodel houses, continuing actively
engaged in business until his retirement in 1904.
His death occurred in this city in February of
1906 and was mourned by the large circle of
friends he had formed in this city since coming
here as a citizen and business man. For vears

he was identified with the Grand Army of the
Republic and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and in religious views he was of the
Methodist Episcopal faith. His wife, who bore
the maiden nam,e of Lydia Swift, was born in
Ohio and now makes her home in San Diego.

The familv of John D. and Lydia Palmer con-
sisted of four sons and four daughters, namely:
Mrs. Ida McCann; Oscar FitzAllen ; William,
who is sewer inspector in addition to being a
member of the firm of Palmer Brothers ; JMrs.
Maggie Ferguson and Mrs. Mollie Crane
(twins) ; Scott, manager of the Pickwick thea-
tre, a first-class playhouse leased by the firm of
Palmer & Ferguson; Edward and Mrs. Bessie
A. Jones. All of the brothers and sisters make
San Diego their home.

Oscar FitzAllen Palmer was born in McCon-
nelsville, Morgan county, Ohio, February 18,
1868, and received a fair education in the com-
mon schools of his native town. On accompany-
ing his parents to San Diego in 1884 he began
to help his father in the moving of houses and
soon learned the business in all of its details,
proving himself so reliable and efficient that his
father gradually turned over to him the manage-
ment of affairs, and in time he and his brothers
acquired the business which they have conducted
with exceptional enterprise and intelligence. In
San Diego he has a comfortable home, presided
over by his wife, formerly Lillian Pray, who was
born in Kansas, but came to the Pacific coast in
early girlhood and was married in this city.
Aside from identification with the Fraternal Aid
and Fraternal Brotherhood he has no affiliation
with orders or organizations, it being his pref-
erence to devote himself to the business estab-
lished by his father and built up to its present
dimensions largely through his efforts. Modest
and unassuming, he takes little credit to himself
for what he has accomplished, but gives the
greatest praise to his father, whose uprightness
of life, intelligence, sagacity and genial tempera-
ment gave him an honored place in the estima-
tion of his acquaintances and in the hearts of his
children.

EMIL J. EISENMAYER. As treasurer and
general manager of the Colton Grain and Mill-
ing Company, E. J. Eisenmayer is recognized as
one of the most progressive and thorough-going
business men in this city. The close of his school
training found him eager to begin his business
career, and from that time to the present he has
been interested in the milling business, a line of
endeavor for which he seems to have a special
aptitude. Born in Illinois, March 8, 1871, he is
a son of P. H. and Emma (Wise) Eisenmayer,
the father also being a native of Illinois. From

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

there he removed to Missouri in die early days
of the settlement of that state.

The preliminary education of Emil J. Eisen-
mayer was received in the common schools and
later he took a course in a manual training school
in St. Louis, Mo. His initiatory training in the
milling business was obtained in Illinois, and
was continued in Newton, Kans., and Missouri,
in which states he was a resident for a number
of years. In 1902 he came to Colton, Gal, and
became the principal organizer of the company
which built the Globe mills here. After 1903 the
business was conducted under the name of the
Colton Grain and Milling Company, with officers
as follows : W. E. Keller, president ; J. B. Alex-
ander, vice-president ; \\". H. Joyce, secretary,
and Emil J. Eisenmayer, treasurer and general
manager. The plant is modern and up-to-date
throughout, both buildings and machinery being
the best of their kind. One hundred and fifty
horse-power is required to operate the mill, which
has a capacity of two hundred and fifty barrels
of flour, fifty barrels of corn and one
hundred tons of barley and feed per day.
In connection with the plant are steel
storage tanks of one hundred thousand
bushels capacity, in addition to which there are
several large warehouses throughout Riverside
county. Taking the equipment throughout, it is
probably the most complete of its kind in South-
ern California today. In addition to the milling
enterprise, INIr. Eisenmayer is connected with a
number of other industries in this section. He
is a stockholder in the First National Bank, and
has a large interest in a seventeen thousand acre
ranch, the owners having incorporated in 1905
with H. E. Harris, president; E. J. Eisenmayer.
vice-president ; Thomas Keefer, secretary.

Mr. Eisenmayer's marriage occurred in 1892
and united him with Miss Alice A. Burton, a
native of Trenton. Ill, and a daughter of John
H. and Helen (Douglas) Burton, the family be-
ing an old and prominent one in Illinois. Mr.
and Mrs. Eisenmayer have one daughter. Mil-
dred A. Mr. Eisenmayer is especially talented as
an organizer and promoter of business enter-
prises and his energ>- and enthusiasm, when ap-
plied to the furthering of any undertaking, are
factors which insure its successful consumma-
tion.

JOHN WEBER. The business interests of
Pomona have an able representative in Mr.
^^''eber, who is the sole proprietor of the soda
works in this place. He is a native of Illinois,
horn in St. Clair county, June 14. 1855. and is
a son of Henry and Barbara (Rock) Weber.
Both of the parents were born in the Fatherland,
but as they were brought to this country when

mere children (tlie father at five and the mother
when three years of age) they never knew any
other home than the United States. As pioneers
they settled in St. Qair county, Illinois, when
Indians were still plentiful and wild animals
were so commonly seen as to cause no comment.
Clearing his farm of the underbrush with which
it was covered, the father prepared the soil for
seed and made a specialty of raising grain. When
a comparatively young man, at the age of forty-
nine, the father's earth life came to a close, the
mother surviving to reach her sixty-sixth year.
Of the eleven children originally comprised in
the parental family only three besides our sub-
ject are now living, all daughters, one residing
in Los Angeles, one in St. Louis, and another in
Illinois.

A student in the common schools of St. Clair
county, Illinois, during his boyhood, John Weber
later matriculated as a student in Central Wes-
leyan College, of Warrenton. Mo., and after a
two years" course in that institution took a normal
course in order to fit himself for teaching. For
this field of endeavor he seemed to have a spe-
cial inclination and fitness, and no doubt would
have followed teaching indefinitely had not the
ill-health of his family necessitated removal to a
more salubrious climate. His career as a teacher
in St. Clair and Clinton counties, Illinois, was
therefore brought to a close in 1887 and the
same year he brought his family to California,
locating in Pomona, which has ever since been
their home. Two years later, in 1889, Mr. Weber
bought a half interest in the soda works of this
place, and two years afterward bought his part-
ner's interest, since which time he has been sole
proprietor.

In Illinois Mr. Weber was married in 1880 to
]\Iiss Elizabeth Koob. a native of that state and
a daughter of Philip H. and Mary A. (Huebsch)
Koob. the father settling in Illinois as a pioneer.
The following children were born to the mar-
riage of 'Sir. and Mrs. \\'eber : Philip H., Edna
(now the wife of Houston Browning and a resi-
dent of Illinois). Bertha, Olive, John R. and
Francis G. Mrs. Weber is a devoted member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, toward the sup-
port of which Mr. Weber is a liberal contributor,
as he is to all enterprises of an uplifting and
benevolent character. With wise foresight he
appreciated that with the gro^vth of the town
rea! estate values would necessarily advance, and
soon after locating here he invested in consider-
able property, and also erected the commodious
residence now occupied as the family home. Fra-
ternally he belongs to the Fraternal Aid of Po-
mona, and in his political sympathies he is a Re-
publican. In whatever community he has re-
sided he has always been alert to the best in-
terests of his home town, and ^vhile in Illinois

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1887

was for eight years village clerk of New Baden,
Clinton county. This same interest has been mani-
fest in Pomona, and for eight years he has been
one of the most efficient members of the board
of education. The fact that his election immedi-
ately preceded the expenditure of about $80,000
for school extension and improvements is an in-
dex to the value placed upon his ability and
judgment along these special lines.

MISS IDA E. WARFIELD. Eminently
qualified by birth, training and experience for
a business career, Ida E. Warfield has achieved
acknowledged success in her realty dealings,
by honest, earnest work, and much persist-
ency of purpose, winning a place of distinc-
tion among the leading real estate agencies of
Venice. A native of New York, she was born
in Ontario count}-, the only child of Leonard
K. and Mary E. (Antisdale) Warfield, the for-
mer of whom is a resident of Ocean Park, Cal.,
while the latter died, in 1896, in Michigan.

The Warfield family originated in England,
and was first represented on American soil
by two brothers, who immigrated to the Unit-
ed States in colonial days, and were after-
wards prominent in public life, descendants of
both taking an active part in the Revolution-
ary war. The brother from which Miss War-
field descended settled in ^Maryland, where her
great-grandfather, Zadock Warfield, Sr., was
born and reared, although he subsequently be-
came a pioneer settler of New York state. His
son, Zadock Warfield, Jr., the next in line of
descent, was born in Maryland, but when a
child was taken to New York state, where he
engaged in agricultural pursuits during his
active life. He married Chloe Knapp, who
lived and died within half a mile of the house
in which she was born. This energetic cou-
ple began their married life with scarce any
capital, he owning a pair of oxen, while each
had ten sheep. He was industrious, prudent
and thrifty, becoming a large landholder, and
rearing a fine family of children, eight in num-
ber, Leonard K. being the oldest of this fam-
ily, all of whom at the present writing, in
1905, are living.

A native of New York, Leonard K. W^arfield
was educated in the common schools, and like
his ancestors chose farming for his life oc-
cupation. About twelve years after his mar-
riage he removed to Michigan, where he con-
tinued in agricultural pursuits for many years,
living first in Hillsdale county, and afterwards
residing on a farm in St. Joseph county, and
meeting with excellent results in his under-
takings. In May, 1900. he came to Los An-

geles county, and has since lived retired from
business activities in Ocean Park.

Educated in the schools of Michigan, and
receiving her diploma from the State Univer-
sit}^ at Ann Arbor, Ida E. Warfield is highly
cultured and accomplished. Before her grad-
uation, at the age of sixteen years, she began
teaching, entering upon a profession for which
she was naturally fitted by birth and inher-
itance, as in her mother's family, which con-
sisted of seven children, there were six teach-
ers. She subsequently taught school in Mich-
igan for a number of years, having a teacher's
life certificate in that state. Afterwards com-
ing west, she taught in California and Arizona,
from the latter place going back to Michigan
to visit her parents and friends. Returning to
the coast in 1900, she settled with her father in
Ocean Park, and with a few hundred dollars
at her command entered into her present bus-
iness as a dealer in real estate, having an of-
fice at No. 3 Ocean Front. In July, 1905, Miss
Warfield removed to her present spacious of-
fice in Ocean Park, where she is managing her
afifairs with characteristic enterprise and abil-
ity, her dealings in real estate in this part of
the county being extensive and noteworthy.
Miss Warfield is a most estimable woman in
every respect, highly esteemed by all, and is
a valued member of the Presbvterian Church.

FR.-VNK C. HOSSLER. During the entire
period of his residence in Southern California
Mr. Hossler has been associated with the lumber
industry, first in Newport and later in other
towns of the same locality, eventually coming
to Redondo, where he has made his home for a
number of years. Every detail of the business
has been learned thoroughly by him, but of re-
cent years his specialty has been surveying, and
ever since the organization of the Lumber Sur-
veyors" Association of Southern California, of
which he was a charter member, he has main-
tained an active identification with its interests
and has accomplished much in the promotion of
its usefulness.

Mr. Hossler is now in the prime of life, hav-
ing been born February i, 1872. His earliest
recollections are of Springville, in Linn county,
Iowa, where his father worked as a carpenter
and builder. The latter, M. V. Hossler, was a
native of Pennsylvania, but passed the years of
youth in Ohio and became a pioneer of Iowa,
eventually, however, removing to Nebraska and
settling at Hastings, Adams county, where he
remained until death. After he had passed away
his wife, Catherine (Bowers) Hossler, a native
of Ohio, removed to California, and here spent
her closing days. In their family of three sons

1888

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and three daughters, Frank C. was the youngest
child, and he was primarily educated in his na-
tive town of Springville, Iowa. When nine years
of age, in 1881. he accompanied the family to Ne-
braska, where he became a pupil in the Hastings
schools and later took a complete course in the
Grand Island Business College.

After his graduation from the commercial
school Mr. Hossler came to California in 1893
and secured employment with the Newport
Lumber Company, under whom he began at the
bottom and learned every detail connected with
the industry. Proving efficient and competent,
he was sent to Santa Ana as a clerk in the com-
pany's wholesale yard, and there not only pro-
moted the fimi's interests, but also broadened his
own knowledge of the business. When the yard
was sold to Nofsinger Brothers, he began tally-
ing in Los Angeles for the new proprietors, and
in their interests came to Redondo in Septem-
ber of 1901. Subsequently he took a leading
part in the organization of the Lumber Sur-
veyors' Association of Southern California, an
institution that has accomplished much for the
promotion of the industry and the men con-
nected therewith, as well as advancing the gen-
eral welfare of the people.

It has been necessary for i\Ir. Hossler to give
his attention very closely to the details of his
business, hence as yet he has taken no part in
politics aside from voting the Republican ticket,
nor has he identified himself with any of the
social or fraternal organizations with the sole
exception of the Fraternal Brotherhood. Au-
gust 3, 1902, he was united in marriage with
Nellie Walch, who was born in San Francisco,
but at the time of their union was making her
home in Riverside. Both are cordially esteemed
in their home town and have many friends also
in other parts of Southern California.

JOSEPH FELLOWS. A prominent repre-
sentative of the manufacturing interests of
Southern California, Joseph Fellows, of Ter-
minal, has acquired distinction along the entire
length of the Pacific coast as a skillful boat
builder, his productions being in great demand,
and as president of the Joseph Fellows Yacht
and Marine Construction Company is widely
and favorably known. Joseph T. Pugh is sec-
retary and treasurer of the company. Possess-
ing great mechanical ingenuity and much art-
istic "ability, with a well-trained eye and a skill-
ful hand, Mr. Fellows draws his own plans, be-
ing an expert draughtsman, and in the building
of sea-craft of all kinds has no superior, his
yachts, pleasure launches, fishing smacks, light-
ers, sail boats, etc., being well made, and meet-
ing the approbation of his numerous patrons.

A son of Isaac Fellows, he was born Alay 31.
1865, in Staffordshire, England, where his an-
cestors on both sides of the house originated.

Isaac Fellows spent his early life in England,
emigrating from there with his family to On-
tario, crossing the Atlantic on the Severn. In
1873 hs migrated to Iowa, settling as a carpen-
ter and builder in Decorah. From there he went
to Minneapolis, J\Iinn., where he was engaged
at his trade until his death, in 1901. He mar-
ried Mary Millward, who w^as born in England
and died in Minneapolis in March, 1902. Nine
children were born of their union, seven of
whom grew to years of maturity. One of these,
John Fellows, a fireman, was killed in the mem-
orable fire at Minneapolis December 20, 1894,
going down with a burning building, so tliat
but six children are now living, Joseph, the sub-
ject of this sketch, being the third child in or-
der of birth.

Receiving a common-school education in De-
corah, Iowa, Joseph Fellow-s acquired a prac-
tical knowledge of die use of tools while work-
ing with his father, and at the age of fourteen
years began to learn the trade of a boat build-
er, working day times and attending a business
college evenings. Subsequently going to Wash-
ington, he located at Spokane, where he built
boats for several residents of Portland, and was
by them ofifered a good-paying position in the
city of Portland. Going, however, to Seattle,
Wash., he built several boats for people of prom-
inence in the west, and likewise built pleasure
and fishing boats for firms in San Francisco
and Astoria, Ore. In 1896 he accepted the po-
sition of superintendent of the yards of the San
Francisco Launch Company in San Francisco,
and during" the eighteen months diat he remained
with the company manufactured many boats
and steamers. Coming to San Pedro in 189S
to take charge of the construction of the J. C.
Elliott, a sixty-foot launch, he met with good
success, and soon had so many orders to fill in
that line that he has since remained here. Estab-
lishing himself as a boat builder in 1899 ^''^ ^''^^
been actively employed ever since, and as a
builder of yachts, launches and sailboats has
won an extended reputation, being the only man-
ufacturer of the kind in this part of the coun-
ty. He has built twenty-four launches, twenty-
six feet each, and several of his boats exhibit
great speed, the Venus having w'on thirteen
straight races. He constructed the Mischief, a
fine boat, and also the Minerva, which weathered
one of the worst storms ever known on the Pa-
cific coast. One of the boats, the Myth, which
he owns, is a noted racer, and usually comes in
winner. Mr. Fellows and his partner, J. T.
Pugh, have their factory in Terminal, which is
an up-to-date plant, finely equipped, and em-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1889

ploys about thirty hands. Tliey have had as
many as seven boats in process of construction
at one time. Mr. Fellows assisted in organiz-
ing the Southern Coast Yacht Club, of which
he is an active member. During the summer of
1906 the races of the season were held, the
competing boats being Mischief II, designed and
constructed by Mr. Fellows for Walter Folsom,
and the Monsoon, owned by Mr. Gardner of
New York. The latter boat was also construct-
ed on the coast, by J. T. Pugh, the latter de-
signer up to this time having the reputation of
designing the fastest boats in the world. The
average winning time of all the races was six
minutes and fifteen seconds, this result show-
ing the superior ability in building craft for
speed and giving Mr. Fellows a world-wide
reputation.

In San Francisco Mr. Fellows married Josie
K. McMeans, who was born in Nebraska, the
daughter of James A. McMeans, state senator,
and they have two children, Robert Millward
Fellows and an infant not named. Politically
Mr. Fellows is a Republican. The family at-
tend the Methodist Episcopal Church.

D. C. REED. An upbuilder of the city of San
Diego is named in the person of D. C. Reed,
one of the enterprising citizens of this section.
He was born in Madison county, N. Y., in 1847,
a son of Oliver, born in the same place in 1800,
and a grandson of Charles, who was a native
of Genesee county, same state, a descendant of
English ancestry, which has been represented
in America since 1665, members of the family
being prominent in Massachusetts for many
generations. Farming was the chief occupation
of earlier members of the family. Oliver Reed
engaged in this occupation first in his native state
and later in Wisconsin, having located in Green
Lake county in 1858. He followed an active
life as a pioneer settler and died at an advanced
age. His wife, formerly Elizabeth Brewer, was
also born in New York of English ancestry and
died in Wisconsin.

D. C. Reed was reared to young manhood in
Green Lake, Wis., receiving a preliminary edu-
cation in the common schools of Madison, sup-
plemented by a course at the Universitv of Wis-
consin. Desirins- to take up the studv of law
he entered the office of Dobbs & Foote. being ad-
mitted to the bar in i86c), and the following
year he came to California. January 20. 1870,
he located in San Diego, which was then only
a small town with a few houses on Fifth street.
He immediately established an office here and
shortly afterward was made deputy district at-
tornev under W. T. Neeley. The .great possi-
bilities of this section early appealed to Mr.

Reed and it was in 1878 that he became active-
ly engaged in real-estate operations. With a
partner he established an abstract business and
incorporated the same under the title of the Reed
& Burt Abstract Company, which made up the
first set of abstracts in the county. In Febru-
ary, 1884, they purchased two tracts of land,
one of two hundred and twenty acres and the
other of one hundred and sixty acres, and two
years later laid out the Reed & Daily addition
of forty acres, the Reed & Hubbell addition of
one hundred and sixty acres, and also laid out
the Reed-Central addition of twenty acres, the
Reed & Swaynes addition of forty acres, the
Bird Rock City of eighty acres and also a forty-
acre tract on L'niversity Heights. It was
through his instrumentality that Pacific Beach
became a city. He continued actively interest-
ed in the abstract business until 1899 when he
sold out to the LTnion Title & Trust Company
of this city.

In spite of his absorbing busiiiess cares 'Sir.
Reed has always found time to take an active
interest in the public welfare of San Diego. He
has served as director of the Bank of Commerce
for many years, was president of the Gas Com-
pany from the time of its organization, and has
served as a member of the city council many
years. In 1897 he was elected on the Republican
ticket to the office of mayor of the city and
served one term. He has always been intensely
interested in the advancement of his party's
principles and in 1884 was a delegate to the
National Convention in Qiicago, which nom-
inated J. G. Blaine for president, and was a
member of the notification committee, going
with the committee to Bar Harbor. He is a
life member of the Chamber of Commerce and
seeks in every way to promote the welfare of
the city.

In San Diego Mr. Reed married Juliet C.
Guiou, who was born in Grass Vallev, Cal., a
daughter of Daniel Guiou, who came from Ban-
gor, Me., to California in 1851, and twenty
years later located in San Diego. Thev Jiave
three children: Ethel B.. Vida B. and Ruth.
Mr. Reed was made a Mason in San Diego
Lodge No. 35 and is now a member of the chap-
ter, commanderv and consistory.

GEORGE C. SAWTELLE. The son of an
early settler. George C. Sawtelle inherits the
sturdy qualities and independent characteristics
which distinguished the pioneers of California
and has in his work since attaining manhood
sought to advance the standards set by the men
who laid the foundation for statehood. Born in
Harvard, Clay county. Neb., March 8, 1876, he
is a son of J. F. and Adalina Sawtelle, natives

1890

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

respectively of New Hampshire and Maine.
Previous to his removal from New England the
father had operated a shoe store on Hanover
street, in Boston, Mass., which he sold in 1866.
Later he removed to Lynnfield, same state, where
he engaged in the manufacture of ladies" and
men's shoes, continuing in this business until
1868, when he sold out and removed to Cleve-
land, Ohio, in the latter city having the agency
of the Gold Medal sewing machine. From
Cleveland he went to Nebraska in 1870, and in
Harvard, Clay county, conducted an extensive
general merchandise establishment. Disposing
of a $25,000 stock, he removed to Wyoming in
1885 and followed merchandising for three
years ; thence removing to Simi, Ventura coun-
ty, he established the store which is now con-
ducted by his son, the first mercantile enterprise
in Simi. Ever since its establishment this store
has been known as the Pioneer store. Mr. Saw-
telle brought to bear in his work business abil-
ity, increased .by a wide experience in the east,
and since locating in California he has also de-
voted considerable time to ranching, his home
still being in the Simi valley.

George C. Sawtelle received his education
through the medium of the public school of Simi,
after which he immediately engaged in business
with his father. The qualities which had dis-
tinguished the efforts of his father have also
been noticeable in his career, and the energy of
his youth added immeasurably to the advance-
ment of the enterprise. For some time the firm
name was J. F. Sawtelle & Son, but in 1902 he
purchased the entire interest of the concern and
has since conducted it alone. In addition to his
dual interests in the conduct of the store and
livery stable he also owns a ranch of one hun-
dred and two acres. In San Diego, June 25,
1903, he married Miss Elma M. Ecoryd, a daugh-
ter of John Ecoryd, of Simi, and they have one
son, George John. They attend the Methodist
Episcopal Qnirch, to which Mr. Sawtelle gives
a liberal support, as he does to all public mat-
ters which have for their end the upbuilding of
the community at large.

OSCEOLA C. ABBOTT. Since the firm
of Abbott & Stacy opened their doors for bus-
iness in San Pedro in 1899 they have estab-
lished a reputation for reliable commercial
transactions and have acquired a business sec-
ond to none of its class in the town. They
started in a very modest, unpretentious way, but
month by month and year by year they have
added to their real-estate holdings until today
they handle property in all of the additions in
San Pedro. While it may be said that they
make a specialty of buying and selling and ex-

changing real-estate, \et that by no means repre-
sents the scope of their undertakings, for they
write considerable insurance with many of the
old-line companies, among them the Fire As-
sociation of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Under-
writers. Germania, the Casualty, Etna and
Northern. They have also built a number of
residences in San Pedro.

Descending from a long line of southern an-
tecedents, O. C. Abbott was born in Kouts, Por-
ter county, Ind., September 5, 185 1, a son of
Edwin C. and Mary Ann (Wright) Abbott.
From old \'irginia, where he was born and
where he spent his early years, the father first
removed to Porter county, Ind., and soon after
the birth of his youngest child removed to Fay-
ette county, Iowa, locating not far from Fair-
bank. By occupation he was a farmer, and
followed that vocation in the various states in
which he made his home. He died in Fayette
county when his son, Osceola, was a child of
five years. His wife was also of southern par-
entage, and was born in Kentucky. She sur-
vived her husband about thirty-two years and
died in Delaware county, Iowa, whither she
had removed from Fayette county after the
death "of her husband. The parental family
originally comprised five children, four sons and
one daughter, but two of the sons are now de-
ceased. One of the sons, John W., gave up his
life in the cause of his country, dying two weeks
after his return home, from disease contracted
in the army while a member of tlie Thirty-fifth
Iowa Volunteer Infantry.

As he was the youngest child in his parents'
family O. C. Abbott was a small child when
the family removed to Iowa, and he therefore
has little or no recollection of his native sur-
roundings in Indiana. He was reared on his
father's farm in Fayette county, and attended
the schools in that locality until the latter's death,
when his mother located in Delaware county,
and he completed his education in the latter lo-
cality. When twenty }-ears of age he was in-
terested in a mercantile business in Hopkin-
ton, Delaware county, and eleven years later, in
1882, removed to Albion, Boone county. Neb.,
and established a grocery. During the eight
years in which he resided in Nebraska he took
an active interest in public aft'airs and for three
years of this time filled the office of city treas-
urer of Albion. Since coming to San Pedro in
1890 his qualifications as a public official have
become recognized by his fellow-citizens and
for four years lie has served them as city clerk
and two years as custom house inspector, besides
serving as city assessor and deputy county as-
sessor for several years.

Near Dixon, Lee county. 111., Mr. .\bbott was
miited in marriage with Miss Emma E. Carna-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RF,CORD.

1S!)1

han in 1875. She was a native of Malugin
Grove, Lee county, that state, in which vicinity
she taught school five years prior to her mar-
riage, taking her first school when only seven-
teen years of age. All of the five children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Abbott are living, as follows :
Edwin S., a butcher in San Pedro; Claire C.
and Osceola C, Jr., both residents of San Pe-
dro, the latter foreman of the machinists in the
S. P. planing mill at Los Angeles ; Lula E. and
John D., who are attending college in Los An-
geles. All of the family are well liked by their
many friends and acquaintances, and at their
home on Tenth street they dispense a gracious
hospitality. Fraternally Mr. Abbott is a Ma-
son, being initiated into the order in Malugin
Grove, 111., and he was made a Master Mason
in Hopkinton, la. Upon his removal to Albion,
Neb., he transferred his membership thither, and
later to San Pedro. He is also identified with
the Foresters of America, in which he served as
master of his lodge : and his wife is a member
of the Order of the Eastern Star. At one time
he was an officer in the Royal Arcanum, an in-
surance order with which he is identified, and
he is also a member of the Chamber of Com-
merce and now vice-president of that body. His
political affiliations ally him with the Repub-
lican party, in which he takes an active inter-
est, to the extent that he has been a member
of the county central committee. The family
find their church home in the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, in which Mr. Abbott is now serv-
ing as president of the board of trustees. Few
residents of San Pedro have achieved a suc-
cess more noteworthy than that w-hich has re-
warded the efforts of Mr. Abbott and to none has
success come more deservedly than to him. Re-
cently he has been elected as free holder of the
city of San Pedro, to draft the city charter for
a fifth class city, and is now engaged in the
duties of his office.

OSCAR C. WILLIS. Conspicuous among
the attractive country homes of \'entura county
is the ranch near Moorpark which is owned and
occupied by Oscar C. Willis and utilized by him
in the raising of barley and the pasturage of
stock. Every ranchman has his specialty and
that of Mr. Willis is the raising of horses, in
which department of agriculture he has been re-
markably successful. As a judge of horses he
has few superiors, and his opinion concerning an
animal is usually accepted as authoritative. At
this writing he acts as manager of the Moor-
park Horse Companv, owners of the Percheron
stallion Sampson, No. 22104, which won the
first prize at the Illinois .^tate Fair in 1004 and
has a reputation as the finest animal of its class

in \'entura county. Besides having charge of
this horse, Air. Willis owns the trotting stal-
lion Buster, and has engaged in the raising of
standard-bred trotting horses. One of his mares,
Tempest, has raised ten colts, six of which he
sold for $1,160, and the remaining four he yet
owns, one of them being a very promising colt
by Zolock. The ranch which he owns com-
prises five hundred acres and in addition he
leases three thousand acres for the pasturage of
his stock.

Born in Dallas county, Iowa, December 28,
1862, Mr. Willis is a son of Jonathan and Lu-
cinda (Beeson) Willis, natives of Indiana, but
after 1857 residents of Iowa, where the moth-
er died during October of 1865. For years the
father was one of the most extensive stock-
raisers of Dallas county and was one of the first
to bring in Percheron horses to Iowa. At one
time he served as a member of the board of su-
pervisors of Dallas county. During 1893 ^^
removed from Iowa to California, bringing with
him three of the finest horses ever brought to
the coast. Two years later he returned to Iowa
and established his home at Perry, where he
died July 27, 1903, at the age of seventy-six
years.

Educated in the public schools of Perry, la.,
Oscar C. Willis left school to take up ranch pur-
suits. On starting out for himself he came to
California in the spring of 1882 and settled at
A acaville, Solano county, where he engaged in
the fruit and tobacco business for three years.
After a visit of three months among old friends
in Iowa he came back to the Pacific coast and
settled in Ventura county, where he began to
operate a ranch near Saticoy, although it was
not until 1889 that he began ranching independ-
ently. In 1891 he removed from his Saticoy
ranch to the Los Posas estate, where he had two
hundred acres under cultivation to beans. The
Los Posas rancho stood along the route of the
old pioneer stage line from Los Angeles to San
Buena Ventura and Santa Barbara, and formed
a portion of the old Spanish grant of that name.
A number of years he remained on that place,
but in the fall of 1903 he traded property in Los
Angeles county for his present ranch near Moor-
park, which is improved with a comfortable
ranch house, substantial bams and the other
equipment essential to a model estate of the
twentieth century. The pleasant home is pre-
sided over by Mrs. Willis, formerly Anna Du-
val, who was born and reared at Saticoy, and
was there married November 9, 1889. Five chil-
dren brighten the home and the hearts of their
parents, namely: Marie, Louise, Lester, Law-
rence and Gertrude. In religious views Mrs.
Willis is identified with the .Advent Church and
her children are being trained in that faith.

1892

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Politically [Mr. Willis gives his support to the
Republican party in local and national elections,
and fraternally he affiliates with the Independ-
ent Order of Foresters. Though averse to fill-
ing positions of a public nature, his interest in
educational work led him to accept the office of
school trustee at Moorpark, and during his bcrv-
ice he has favored measures for the benefit of
the school and the welfare of the students.

O. J. SOL.\RI. The establishment of the
Solari family in \'entura county dates back to
the pioneer period of the American occupancy
of California, and its first representative in this
country, Augtistin Solari, came from his native
land of Italy ere yet he had formed domestic
ties or drifted into the settled routine of business
affairs. The superior qualities coming to him
as an inheritance from a long line of cultured
Italian ancestors soon made him a conspicuous
figure among the ranchmen of the then sparse-
ly settled regions along the coast. Eventually
he became the owner of one-fourth interest in
the Santa Clara Del Norte rancho, containing
fourteen thousand acres, and conceded to be
one of the finest estates of A^entura county. The
other owners of the rancho were Don Antonio,
who had one-half interest, and Leopoldo Schi-
appa Pietra, who owned the remaining one-
fourth interest.

Upon the death of Augustin Solari, which
occurred in Ventura county March i8, 1888,
twenty-six years after his arrival in CaUfomia,
his portion of the rancho was divided among his
heirs, comprising wife and children. His wife
was !Mercia Cota, a native of Santa Barbara
county and a member of an old Spanish fam-
ily. Their marriage was solemnized in A'entura
county, where she yet makes her home. Ten
children comprised their family, namely: Iso-
dro, who died in 1885; Elvira, wife of E. M.
Wagner, of Ventura county ; Amalia, deceased ;
Ermina, wife of T. C. Lutneskey, of Los An-
geles; O. J., a farmer near Oxnard; Emma,
who married O. C. Dempsey and lives at Re-
dondo; Lena, ]\Irs. E. F. Kohlar, of Pasadena;
Elizabeth, wife of J. J. Judd, of Los Angeles;
Delia, who married George Phillips and resides
in Santa Barbara; and Eva, wife of A. L. Qiaf-
fee, of Ventura.

A lifelong resident of A'entura county, O. J.
Solari was "born here April 26, 1868, and re-
ceived his education in the public schools of the
county. In 1895 he settled upon land formerly
owned by his father and here he has since fol-
lowed farm pursuits, having a tract of one hun-
dred and seventy acres, of which seventy-five
acres are under cultivation to lima beans, and
the balance is in barley. The neat residence is

presided over by his wife, whom he married in
Ventura December 5, 1895, and who was I'etra
Ruiz, a native of California. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Solari are devout believers in the doc-
trines of die Roman Catholic Church and in that
religion they are training their two sons, Augus-
tin and Grabil, who at this writing are respect-
ively nine and six years of age. In fraternal
relations Mr. Solari holds membership with the
Native Sons of the Golden West, being an act-
ive worker in the Ventura Parlor. In addition
he affiliates with the Ancient Order of United
Workmen at Ventura and is prominently asso-
ciated with Union Latina Americana No. i at
Ventura, which has the distinction of being the
only lodge of its kind in California. The in-
terest which Mr. Solari maintains in the prog-
ress of local educational matters led him to ac-
cept the position of clerk of the school board in
the Del Norte school district, and in this ca-
pacity he has given painstaking and efficient
service. By his activity as a citizen and his
capability as a rancher he has added luster to
the honorable reputation established by his fa-
ther during the pioneer history of our common-
wealth.

JOHN BUNYAN GOODLETT. A promi-
nent business man of San Bernardino is John
Bunyun Goodlett, who was born in Greenville
district, S. C March 31, 1840, the son of Wil-
son N. and Lena Ann (Prince) Goodlett, both
of whom were natives of South Carolina. Leav-
ing their native state in 1852, they removed to
Texas and there remained the rest of their lives.
In Texas the father was engaged as a farmer,
planter and large cotton grower. The paternal
grandfather was William Goodlett, and the
maternal grandfather was Harvey Prince, the
latter born in Scotland. The first twelve years
of the life of John Bimyan Goodlett were spent
in South Carolina and from there he went to
Texas with the family. There he attended a
private school and assisted his father on the
large plantation until grown to manhood.

In 1879 ^^i"- Goodlett came to California and
located in San Bernardino county. The follow-
ing fifteen years he was engaged in ranching
and horticultural pursuits, improving a ranch of
forty acres, which he superintended until 1894,
when he removed to the city of San Bernardino.
On the Democratic ticket he was elected to the
office of city recorder in San Bernardino for two
terms and gave to the municipality most effi-
cient service in that capacity.

Mr. Goodlett's marriage to Miss Julia Mc-
Donald of Grimes comity, Tex., occurred in that
state, and at her death in 1881 she left one child,
a daughter. J. Hope, who is now the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1893

wife of Arthur Clark. The present Mrs.
Goodlett was formerly Miss Anna Maria
McGee, of San Bernardino, who although a na-
tive of Missouri has spent the most of her life
in California, having- come here when she was
yet a young girl. Mr. Goodlett was for several
years connected with the banking interests of
this city, and at one time served as a director of
the First National Bank of San Bernardino, in
which his wife was also a stockholder. They
are both active and devoted members of the
Baptist Qiurch of San Bernardino, and their
present home is on a valuable tract of land lo-
cated within the corporate limits of the city. Mr.
Goodlett is a typical southern gentleman and his
home is noted for that refreshing hospitality for
which those born and reared in the south are
noted.

CAPT. G. L. F. FALK. In reviewing the
career of Captain Falk one is impressed with
his indomitable spirit, showing the possession
of mettle which has never known the word de-
feat. His early life was associated with hap-
penings in and around Hallen, Sweden, where
he was born October 28, 1843, ^nd in which vi-
cinity he was reared until he was fourteen
years of age. With the daring of youth he
shipped as a sailor before the mast in 1857, lit-
tle thinking at that time, perhaps, that so large
a part of his life would be spent on the water.
As one of the crew on an American vessel,
which shipped from London in 1861, he made
the long and perilous voyage around the Cape
of Good Hope, and finally reached Calcutta.
After exchanging cargoes the return trip was
undertaken, the ship reaching London just sev-
enteen months after leaving port. Subsequently
he made the voyage from Liverpool to New
York, this being his first trip to America, and
later he sailed from Havre to New Orleans. In
1868, on the ship Taylor, he rounded the Horn
in making the voyage to San Francisco, the
trip consuming one hundred and twenty days.
The second day after landing he shipped as
second mate on the schiDoner Eurenta, and be-
fore returning to San Francisco, twenty months
later, had touched at the ports of Australia,
Sandwich Islands and Mexico.

It was after this voyage that Captain Falk
determined to embark in business on his own
account. Purchasing a scow he engaged in the
transportation business on the bay between
Stockton and Sacramento, following this until
1870. from then until 1874 giving his attention
more especially to the handling of firewood.
About this time he built the Pauline Collins, a
vessel which he used in the lumber trade until
T877. in that rear building the George R. Hig-

gins, in Humboldt count}', which plied the
coast from San Francisco as far north as
Alaska for a number of years. It was about
this time, 1880, that he made a trip to Europe,
and upon his return he purchased the schooner
Bonanza, and for two years carried on a coast-
ing trade along the coast from Mexico to
Alaska. In 1882 he built the schooner Mary
and Ida, in the Dickey shipyards at San Fran-
cisco, running this boat as a coaster until 1888.
Going again to tlie Humboldt docks that year
he built the Glendale, but after sailing her for
two 3'ears gave up life on the sea and settled
down as a landsman in San Pedro. It was while
master of the George R. Higgins, in 1877, that
he had first became acquainted with the town,
and so favorable did it impress him as a desir-
able place to locate that the thirteen years which
had intervened had not effaced the idea from
his memory. For three years, from 1890 to
1893, he was interested in the liquor business
at the corner of Sixth and Fronts streets, prop-
erty which he had previously purchased, but in
the year last mentioned, he rented the property
and took a trip to Europe. Since 1898 he has
not taken any active interest in business aside
from looking after his property, and in 1905 he
erected a new building in San Pedro, 25x50
feet. Captain Falk has not severed his connec-
tion with nautical affairs entirely, and is still
interested in the schooner Glendale and the
steam schooner Marshfield, both of which are
employed in the lumber trade.

In San Pedro, in 1893, Captain Falk was
united in marriage with Miss Ida Campbell, a
native of Detroit, Mich., and of the children
born to them seven are living. Captain Falk
is identified with the Master Planners Associa-
tion of San Francisco, and with the Eagles of
San Pedro, and in his political sympathies he is
a Republican. In retrospect Captain Falk can look
back upon a life checkered with high hopes fol-
lowed by disappointments and discouragements,
for his life on sea was not always the most pleas-
ant, nor was it at all times profitable, but he
has weathere'd these breakers and is now living
in the comfort which his previous years of
hardship and toil have made possible. In his
various trips and travels he has acquired a fund
of general information, and is as familiar with
the famous seaports throughout the world as he
is with his home siuToundings in San Pedro.

J. J. COLBY, of the Colby Real Estate Com-
pany of Long Beach has been a resident of Cal-
ifornia since 1900. first locating in Redlands,
where he set out an orange orchard. This he
sold and in T903 located permanently in Long
Beach, where he has since made his home, taking

1894:

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

an active interest in the growth and development
of the city, in whose future he has unbounded
confidence. Mr. Colb}' is a native of Vermont,
and was born November 6, 1842. His boyhood
years were spent in the schools of the Green
Mountain state, and upon the completion of his
scholastic training he engaged in the manufac-
ture of children's carriages, clothes wringers and
other small articles, having charge of two hun-
dred men in this work. He was very success-
ful and remained thus occupied until 1890. In
that year he made a trip to California and al-
though he returned home and spent the ensuing
ten years he was so pleased with the conditions,
climate and opportunities of the Pacific coast
that in 1900 he came west for a permanent set-
tlement. After spending one summer in Long
Beach he decided to locate here, and according-
ly purchased a lot on East Ocean Park avenue,
where he built a comfortable residence. He en-
gaged in the real estate business, buying acreage
and subdividing, having put on the market
Eagle Park and Signal tracts. He has made a
success of his undertakings and has had no cause ■
to regret coming to California.

In Vermont Mr. Colby was united in marriage
with Alice Hutchins and they are now the pa-
rents of the following children : Bessie J. : Ed-
win A., in the National Bank at Redlands ; Jesse
J., Jr., in the Long Beach Bank : and Alarv, wife
of k. C. Wells, of Redlands. Mr. Colby is a
member of the Royal Arcanum, and in religion
is a charter member of the New Plymouth Con-
gregational Qiurch, which was organized in
1904 with forty members and now (1905") has
one hundred and fiftv. Politically he has always
been a staunch Republican and a loyal supporter
of the government at all times. In 1862 he en-
listed in the United States navy in the paymas-
ter's department, and during his two years' ser-
vice participated in the blockade of the Gulf of
Mexico. He was honorably discharged at the
expiration of his service. He is associated w'ith
the veterans of the Civil war as a member of the
Long Beach Post, G. A. R.

PETER H. SCHWARTZ. The life which
this narrative sketches began in Columbiana
county, Ohio, June 22, 1842, and was brought to
a close May 2, 1903. The intervening years
w-ere filled with hard work, noble service in the
cause of his country, and latterly in making a
name and place for himself on the western coast.
His father, Jacob Schwartz, was a fanner in
Columbiana county, Ohio, and it was there that
he rounded out his years, his wife passing away
in Kansas.

Of the six children born to his parents. Peter
H. Schwartz was next to the youngest. His

earliest recollections were of his father's farm in
Ohio, upon which he worked during the summer
seasons when not attending the village school.
Later training was received in Mount Union
College, an institution under the care of the
Methodist Episcopal denomination in Mount
Union, Ohio, but his studies there were brought
to a sudden close by his response to his coun-
try's call for volunteers during the first year of
the Civil war. After the expiration of his first
term of enlistment, which was for three months,
he joined Company C, Eighty-sixth Ohio Vol-
unteer Infantry', enlisting as corporal; later was
sergeant of Company B, Twelfth Ohio Cavalry;
and finally, as second lieutenant, joined Company
B of the One Hundred and Eighth United
States Volunteers. At the time of his discharge
from the army, in the fall of 1865, he was a
young man of only twenty-three years, but even
though young in years the hardships and trials
of warfare had opened up experiences to him
that men thrice his age might not have met as
bravely. He was accidentally wounded while in
camp, although the accident \vas not of such a
serious nature as to disable him from further
service. Mr. Schwartz took pride in the fact
that while he entered the service as a non-com-
missioned officer, he was promoted from time to
time, and at the time of his discharge was first
lieutenant of the Second L^nited States Volun-
teers, his commission bearing date of March 24,
1865.

August I, 1872, Mr. Schwartz was married to
Miss Isabella Hoiles, a native of ]\Iahoning
county, Ohio, and a daughter of James Hoiles,
the latter born in New Jersey. The grandfather,
Levi Hoiles, left his home in the east, and be-
came one of the early settlers in Mahoning
county, both himself and his son becoming farm-
ers in that locality. James Hoiles passed away
on his Ohio farm., and his wife also died in that
state. She was, before her marriage, Barbara
Oyster, and was a natii;e of Pennsylvania. Fol-
lowing his discharge from the army Mr.
Schwartz returned to his old home in Ohio and
soon afterward embarked in the wholesale and
'"etail hardware business in Alliance, that state.
This proved a profitable and congenial under-
taking, judging from the fact that he continued
in the business for over twenty years, but he
was seized with the western fever about this time
and the year 1887 witnessed his arrival in Cali-
fornia. For about a year he engaged in the real
estate business in Santa Ana, but on coming
to San Pedro in 1888 he entered the employ of
the Southern Pacific Lumber Company, branch-
ing out from this into contracting and building
on his own account. During his later years, and
at the time of his death, he was engaged in the
real estate business, a line of endeavor into which

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1895

he could and did put his whole soul, for his faith
in the future of San Pedro was unbounded and
he had the happy faculty of inspiring his patrons
with the same hope. For four years he served
his fellow-citizens as constable.

Two children blessed the marriage of Mr.
and Mrs. Schwiirtz, Clifford D., who is now in
Mexico, and Myrtle, who makes her home with
Jier mother. Since the death of her husband
Mrs. Schwartz has continued to reside at the
old home on Palos Verdes street near Ninth.
Politically Mr. Schwartz was a Republican, and
in his fraternal associations he belonged to the
Masons, having attained the Roa al Arch degree ;
he also belonged to the Knight of Pythias. As
was natural for one who had served long and
faithfully in his country's behalf he was also a
comrade in the Grand Army of the Republic, and
his widow is now a member and active worker in
that kindred order, the Woman's Relief Corps.
\Vhile Mrs. Schwartz is a Lutheran in her re-
ligious preferences, she attends the services of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, there being no
Lutheran congregation in San Pedro. Mr.
.Schwartz was also of the same belief as his wife,
passing .iway with the Christian's hope and as-
surance of a life hereafter. His bod\- lies Jiuried
in the cemetery at Wilmington.

GEORGE BEARD. With the larger growth
of Long Beach noticeable during the recent years
of its history Mr. Beard has been intimately as-
sociated and, as a contractor and builder, he has
accomplished much toward the permanent up-
building of the city. With the assistance of the
fifty men now on die pa}--roll he is able to take
charge of large contracts and fill them without
delay or needless annoyances. Since coming to
this city in 1901 he has built many residences
and public buildings, including the Congrega-
tional Church, Hoag and Yoeman residences,
Butte block, ]\Iasonic Hall. Alamitos schoolhouse,
Flint and Barndollar block, Pine street school,
the remodeling of the Alamitos school and the
finishing work on the high school, the building
of the convention hall and Cynthia annex. The
hall is a casino, 152x257 feet in dimensions, a
wooden structure three stories in height, with a
seating capacity of ten thousand, giving the
people of Long Beach adequate facilities for the
accommodation of the vast throngs attending their
assemblies and other public meetings.

The Beard family is of German extraction.
John Beard, who was born in Hessen-Darmstadt,
came to America alone at seventeen years of age
and in 1837 became a pioneer of South Bend,
Ind., where at different times he conducted a
bakery and hotel and carried on a farm consist-
ing of t^vo hundred and fift\- acres. At the time

of his death, whicli occurred at South Bend, he
was seventy-eight years of age. When a joung
man he had married, at Columbus, Ohio, Miss
Magdalena Barth, who was born at Baden-Baden,
Gennany, and accompanied her parents to the
United States, settling in Sidney, Shelby county,
Ohio. When seventy-eight years of age she
died in South Bend. Of the marriage there were
five sons and six daughters, George being the
seventh in order of birtli, and he was born at
South Bend, Ind., November 2, 1849. The fam-
ily being poor and the children numerous, it be-
came necessary early in boyhood for him to
earn his livelihood. At fifteen years he became
an apprentice to the trade of carpenter and builder
with James Million, of Mishawaka. His em-
ployer had been a school teacher in Maine and
was a man of fine educational attainments, so
that the lad enjoyed the advantage of being in-
structed by him, not only in a trade, but also in
the rudiments of an education. Indeed, this
was all the education he enjoyed in life, with
the exception of a year at Notre Dame, South
Bend, where he paid his expenses 1iy working for
others.. On the completion of his apprentice-
ship he traveled for three years in Illinois and
Iowa, the most of the time working in the bridge-
building department of the railroads.

On his return to South Bend in 1870 ^Ir.
Beard there married ]\Iiss Clara Spaun. who was
born and reared there and died in El Paso, Tex.
The two sons of their union died at an early age.
The older daughter, Bertha, is the wife of T. W.
Dougherty, of Tocsin, Wells county, Ind. ; and
the younger daughter, Grace, married John
Fochtman, of Petoskey, Ind.

Upon first coming to California in 1875 Mr.
Beard took charge of a cattle ranch near Bakers-
field. At that time many settlers were coming
into that locality, without means to pay for the
building of homes, and to help them in getting
a start he donated his labor in the building of
houses for their families. During 1878. he went
to Sacramento and for three years worked at
his trade with Henry Coates. When Tombstone
was in its balmy days as a rich mining region he
went to that town overland and from there pro-
ceeded to El Paso, where he worked at his trade.
After the death of his wife he took a position
with the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad as foreman
of their bridge-building department and while
filling that position he had charge of the building
of the first bridge erected across the Colorado
river at the Needles, on the road now owned
by the Santa Fe. In 1884 he settled in Los
Angeles, where for three years he engaged in
the planing-mill business with J. M. Griffith
and for six years was in charge of a department
with Perry & ]\Iott, also \\'orked with Arnold as
foreman for a time. From that citv he came to

1896

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Long Beach, where he has a large shop equipped
with the latest appliances for his work and con-
taining a department for the manufacture of
mission furniture and bank fixtures. During the
summer of 1905 he enjoyed a needed relaxation
from business cares, at which time he returned
to the east and visited tlie scenes familiar to his
toyhood days. Since commg to Long Beach he
has been made a Mason in the blue lodge in this
city. Politically he favors Democratic principles
in national issues, but in local matters is indepen-
dent. Interested in everything pertaining to
his occupation, he was prominent in the Car-
penter's Union while living in Los Angeles and
often aided in settling disputes which arose be-
tween capital and labor.

NELLIE H. AND ETTA C. WILLIS. Con-
spicuous among the transformations wrought
during the latter part of the nineteenth cen-
tury and the opening years of the twentieth cen-
tury has been the entrance of women into com-
mercial affairs. There are now few occupations
and few professions in which at least a few
women have not gained distinctive success, and
more and more it is being commonly recognized
that the mental capacities of the sex are far
broader than former ages supposed. Scattered
through every part of California are women who
alone and unaided have gained success in their
chosen callings : some may be found on ranches
superintending the care of stock and cultivation
of the land : some have entered professions,
where their knowledge, skill and quickness have
won recognition : and some have selected a cer-
tain sphere of business activity for the exer-
cise of their special talents. In the list of the
business women of Ventura county appear the
names of the Willis sisters, who for some years
have engaged in the restaurant business in Ox-
nard and also during the busy season operate
a restaurant at the sugar factory.

The history of the Willis family is traced back
to the eastern states. Jonathan and Lucinda
(Beeson) Willis, natives of Indiana, became
pioneers of Iowa as early as 1857, settling in
Dallas county, where he served as supervisor
and attained a high position as a progressive
citizen. Wliile carrying on a large farm he made
a specialty of raising fine horses and imported
a number from Europe in order to secure the
finest strains for his own herd. Coming to Cal-
ifornia in 1893 he remained on a ranch near Sat-
icoy about two years, but then went back to
Iowa, where he died at Perry, July 27, 1903. at
the age of seventy-six years. His wife had died
in Iowa during October of 1865. Among their
children were the son. Oscar C. (who is repre-
sented elsruliere in this work) and the (laittjh-

ters, Nellie H. and Etta C, both of whom were
born and reared in Dallas county, Iowa, and re-
ceived fair education in the schools of their
home neighborhood. During 1887 Miss NeUie
came to California and settled at Saticoy, where
she made her home for three years, and then
her sister joined her. The two had very limit-
ed means, but they were energetic, capable and
resourceful, and soon found the business open-
ing they desired.

Coming to Oxnard the sisters started a deli-
catessen store on a very small scale. It was
not long before the superior quality of their
bakery goods attracted attention and their cus-
tomers grew in number. Gradually they changed
the business into a restaurant and as such they
now successfully conduct the store. The heavi-
est hardship of their business experience came
to them in 1904, when a fire destroyed their
building and equipment, and they were left
without insurance to cover the loss. However,
undiscouraged by this catastrophe, they soon
resumed business, and by their large trade were
enabled to recompense themselves for their
losses. Their restaurant has no superior in the
city, and among the towns-people it is recog-
nized that their establishment is a credit to the
place as well as a tribute to the energy and cul-
inary abilities of the proprietors.

JOHN CAMIMACK WILHOIT. In the
period subsequent to the Revolutionary war the
people of the east began to drift toward the
frontier regions and at that time many of the
colonial families of Virginia became established
in the wilderness beyond the mountains, where
they built up the commonwealth of Kentucky.
Among those who followed the trend of emigra-
tion westward was Hiram Wilhoit. who was
born in Culpeper county, Va., in 1797, and was
only a lad of fourteen when, in company with
his father. Elijah, he blazed a path through the
wilderness into the blue-grass region of Wood-
ford county, Ky., where he turned the first fur-
rows in the soil of a frontier plantation. After
his settlement in that region he met and luarried
Miss Sophia Thornton, a native of Kentucky, and
both remained in that state until they died.

In a family of three sons and two daughters,
all of whom except one son attained mature
years. John C. Wilhoit was the second in order of
birth, and was born in Frankfort, Ky., February
6, 185 1. As a boy he alternated attendance at
school with work on the home farm, and in young
manhood continued with his father until the
latter's death, which occurred in 1876. After-
ward he remaiuv^d Tor some years in Woodford
county, where lie cultivated a farm and, like the
majority of Kontuckians. became a fine judge

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1897

of horse-flesh, owning a number that were of the
choicest stock and excellent pedigree. From
Kentucky he removed to Missouri and settled
in Cass county in 1881, but a few years of farm-
ing in that locality did not prove satisfactory,
and in 1887 he removed to the Pacific coast, set-
tling two and one-half miles northwest of Long
Beach, which at that time contained but one
house. The tract of five hundred acres which he
leased was in part under cultivation to alfalfa,
which proved a profitable crop. Meanwhile he
bought and sold horses and made a specialty
of raising the trotting breeds, notable among
which was Italic, an exceptionally fine animal.
With the disposal of his ranch he sold his stable
of horses, but he continued to be interested in
that industry and is an authority in equine values.
On removing from his ranch into town JNIr.
Wilhoit from igoi to 1903 conducted a grain,
hay and feed business, and since then has been
somewhat retired from commercial activities, al-
though he personally superintends his real-estate
interests. In addition to his residence at No. 424
American avenue. Long Beach, he owns one-
quarter of a block on Fourth street, on which
he has erected business houses for rental.
While living in Kentucky he was married at
Nicholasville, that state, to Miss Nannie Haw-
kins, a native of Kentucky. They are the parents
of five children, namely: Bessie, who married
Allen Walker and lives at Long Beach ; Lulu,
wife of J. F. ^IcSwain; G. C, a bookkeeper;
Pearl F. and J. ^\^allace, who reside with their
parents. The family attend the Christian Church,
of which Mrs. Wilhoit long has been an earnest
and faithful member. Though Mr. Wilhoit is
iiot active in politics, he is stanch in his adherence
to Democratic principles and stands firm by the
faith of the old party.

WILLIAM L. RUST. In tracing the line-
age of the Rust family the records show that
they come from old and honored English stock,
whose members hold prominent positions in
commerce and the professions. For years Abra-
ham Rust was an extensive manufacturer en-
gaged in business in the city of London. Among
his children was a son. Rev. A. Rust, who was
born and reared in London and received a thor-
ough classical education at Cambridge, afterward
taking up the study of theology and fitting him-
self for the ministry of the Episcopal denomina-
tion. Immediately after he was ordained to the
ministry he went to India, where he had been
appointed a vicar in Calcutta. On his return
from that county he became vicar at Dunkirk,
France, and in 1886 returned to London, where
he has since been vicar of an Episcopal parish.
Widelv known throughout his denomination, he

is honored as a man of broad knowledge, earn-
est life and consistent Christian character, and
his influence has tended toward the spiritual up-
lifting of mankind.

The ministerial labors of Rev. A. Rust have
been deepened in their usefulness through the
capable assistance of his talented wife, who was
a descendant of a family noted for its clergymen.
Her father. Rev. Joseph Webster, was a gradu-
ate of the University of Edinburgh and became
an ordained minister in the Presbyterian denom-
ination. For a time he was a chaplain in the
English army, and during his service in that ca-
pacity he took part in the Crimean struggle, the
Egyptian campaigns and many other historic
events in English history. Finally he died in
England when a very aged man. His daughter,
Elizabeth, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, while
he was stationed with the army on that island,
and she was reared principally in England, where
she died in 1898.

Among seven children, all but one of whom are
still living, William L. Rust was the eldest in .
order of birth, and was born in the city of Cal-
cutta, India, while his father was stationed there
as vicar of an Episcopal Church. Born Febru-
ary I, 1874, he was four years of age when he
accompanied his parents to Dunkirk, France, and
in t886 he went with them to England, where he
was apprenticed to the machinist's trade at Birm-
ingham in one of the many large factories of that
city. In the iron works there he completed his
trade after a service of several years, during
which time he had acquired a thorough theoret-
ical and practical knowledge of his chosen occu-
pation. Crossing the ocean to the United States
in 1891, he proceeded direct to California and
joined his brotlier, Henry, at Santa Barbara.
Soon afterward they became interested jointly in
cattle-raising in the San Raphael mountains, but
at the expiration of three years William disposed
of his interest and turned his attention to his
trade. For five }ears he was employed as en-
gineer for the Seaside Oil Company at Summer-
land. On resigning from that position he became
chief engineer with the Guarantee Oil and Re-
fining Company at Beaumont, Tex., where he
assisted in the building of the company's plant
and lielped to place the works upon a substantial
basis for practical operation.

Ill-health resulting from an attack of the Texas
fever led Mr. Rust to resign his remunerative po-
sition at Beaumont and for a time he devoted
himself to recreation and travel until he had "re-
gained his former state of health. During 1901
he came to Oxnard and has since been employed
by the American Beet Sugar Company in the
capacity of engineer, his special line being the
engine and power work. For some years he has
been associated with the National Association of

1898

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Stationary Engineers, Santa Barbara Local. In
political matters he gives his support to the Re-
publican party, while in his religious views he ad-
heres to the doctrines of the Episcopal denomina-
tion, in which he was reared. After coming to
California he formed domestic ties through his
marriage at Summerland to Miss Ethel Opple, a
native of Michigan, and now the mother of one
son, Frank Rust. At an early age she accom-
panied her father, Andrew, from JNIichigan to
California and settled at Summerland, where Mr.
Opple afterward made his home. During the
Civil war, while he was making his home in
Michigan, he enlisted in the service of the Union
and was enrolled as a member of the Seventh
Michigan Infantry, with which he went to the
front and bore a gallant part in various engage-
ments with the enemy.

WILLIAM J. ALLEN. A considerable pro-
portion of the population of Southern California
consists of men who, having accumulated com-
petencies in other sections of the country, have
sought in the evening of their years the climate
of the Pacitic coast in order that they might en-
joy the superior advantages it affords. Included
in this class of citizens is William J. Allen, who
came to Inglewood in 1903, purchased two lots
in the town and erected the comfortable resi-
dence now occupied by himself and wife. In
genealogy the Allen family is of colonial ances-
try, having been identified with the original set-
tlement and early development of New England.
The family records show that Ebenezer Allen,
who was a native of either Connecticut or Mas-
sachusetts, became a pioneer of Vermont, and
in 1796, on the occasion of the marriage of his
son, Noah, he presented the young married
couple with a deed to a tract of farm land in
Vermont, which state up to that time had at-
tracted comparatively few settlers. Afterward
that same farm became the centre of Noah Al-
len's activities and there he and his wife, who
was Mary Woods, spent the remaining years of
their busy lives, she dying on the home place at
the age of forty-five, while he survived until sev-
enty-four years of age. The Woods family set-
tled in America at an early date, and her father,
Daniel, enlisted as a private in the war of 1812
and was wounded while on picket duty during
the battle of Ticonderoga.

At Goshen, in the county where Noah and
Mary Allen for many years made their home, a
son, William J., was born February i, 1829, and
there he early learned lessons of frugality and
industry. When he was fifteen years of age he
lost his father by death and afterward was em-
ployed by an elder brother as a farm hand for
three rears, later starting out to earn his own

livelihood in the world. In the fall of 1851 he
sold his interests in Vermont and removed to
Michigan, where he bought a timber farm in
Van Buren county and devoted several years to
the clearing of the land. For twenty-five years
he continued upon the same place, meeting'with
his share of reverses and also not a few suc-
cesses. Aleanwhile his sons had grown to man-
hood and started out for themselves, going to
Dakota and becoming prominent in their locality.
While visiting them in their new home, Mr. Al-
len took up a homestead under the Dakota laws,
and shortly afterward disposed of his Michi-
gan property and moved to his newer posses-
sions. The claim was placed under cutivation
and improved with the necessary buildings, and
he remained there until his retirement from ag-
ricultural pursuits in 1903, when he removed to
California and settled on his present property.

The marriage of Mr. Allen was solemnized
December 3, 1850, and united him with Lucy
A. Brown, a native of \'ermont. They became
the parents of four children, namely: Anthony,
who is engaged in the hardware and furniture
business at Fairmount, Richland county, N. Dak.,
and also owns farm lands in that vicinity; John,
a partner with his brother in business : Nettie,
wife of E. A. Spaulding, a well-known real-es-
tate man whose sketch appears elsewhere in this
volume; and Mrs. Mary IMosier, who died on
the last day of the year 1904. The family are
identified with the Free Methodist Church and
Mr. Allen has officiated as a steward in that de-
nomination. Both by precept and example he
has given his influence toward the cause of tem-
perance and in politics sympathizes with the Pro-
hibitionists. For several years while living in
North Dakota he filled the office of supervisor
of Richland county, but with that exception has
declined ofiice. preferring to devote his atten-
tion to private aft'airs. Though not a man of
large wealth, he has gained a competency by
constant labor through a long and active life and
is fully deserving of the success he now enjoys.

FRANCISCO MARCOVINA. In noting the
various members of any California community
it is interesting to observe how all of these people
Avere gathered together from difterent countries,
states and localities, and how well they usually
combine to form an intelligent and prosperous
town, village or city. Francisco IMarcovina, a
well-known resident of San Pedro, was born
June 10. 1848, in Austria, on the Island of Cur-
zola. where his father. John Marcovina. now a
venerable man of eightv-nine years, has spent
his entire life, during his active career having
been a shipbuilder. There, also, his mother.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1899

whosf maiden nanit was Maria Kercenich, lived
until her death, in 1901.

The second child in order of birth of a family
of four children, of whom two sons and one
daughter are living, Francisco Marcovina is the
only one in America. At the age of twelve years
he began a seafaring life on a coasting vessel
visiting the Mediterranean ports. Four years
later he went into tne deep waters, making voy-
ages to China and the East Indies, and in 1866
coming across the Atlantic to New York and
Boston. At the age of twenty-one years, he was
made mate of tlie barque A. A. Drebbett, and in
1868, on the ship John Bright, he came to Cali-
fornia, and there left his vessel, locating in San
Francisco, where he was for a while engaged in
coasting and freighting for himself. Going then
to Contra Costa county, he was employed in
farming in the Pacheco valley for six years, the
following year being employed as a stevedore at
Port Costa. Then, on account of his wife's
health, he came, in 1882, to San Pedro, and hav-
ing purchased a lot on Palos A'erdes street erect-
ed a substantial residence.

j\lr. Marcovma subsequently entered the em-
ploy of the Wilmington Transportation Company
as stevedore, and after a few months was made
assistant foreman of the San Pedro Wharf &
Transportation Company. This responsible po-
sition, with the exception of five years spent as
foreman of the v/harf at Port Los Angeles for
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, Mr.
Marcovina has since held, and during hi^ long
term of service has performed the duties devolv-
ing upon him with ability and fidelity. In 1902
he sold his residence rm Palos Verdes street and
bought his present fine dwelling-house at No.
lOii Beacon street, near Tenth street. In north-
ern California Mr. Marcovina married Mary A.
Markey, a native of Canada, and they are the
parents of two children, John Franklin and Edith
Emilia. In national politics he is a stanch Re-
publican, but in local matters he votes according
to his best judgment for the men and measures
advocated by the most intelligent and practical
citizens. Fraternally he belongs to the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows.

JESUS SAEXZ. For thirty years or more
Mr. Saenz has been numbered among the busi-
ness men of Los Angeles county, where he has
built up a substantial mercantile establishment at
Palms, on First street and Washington street
road. In an early day this place was a part of
La Ballona grant and the postoffice was known
as Machado. For ten years he held the office of
postmaster, the office being in his store. The
success that has rewarded his efforts is especially
noteworthy from the fact that the business pre-

viously had been conducted at a loss, and when
he assumed the management it was necessary to
establish credit among business men and awaken
confidence among possible customers, a task that
called for his persistent application and mental
alertness. In addition to his store building and
his beautiful home he owns about sixty-five acres
of property, in five, ten and seventeen acre tracts,
the whole representing an important investment
owing to the high valuation of the land. This
is devoted to alfalfa, beans, corn, etc., and two
acres are in oranges. Believing that increased
transportation facilities would benefit the com-
munity he donated without charge to the electric
railway company the right of way through his
lands, and in many other ways he has proved
his public spirit and enterprise.

Near the gulf of California, at Guaymas,
Sonora, Mexico, Jesus Saenz was born Novem-
ber 14, 1844. In his veins flows the blood of
Castilian and Indian ancestors, of both of which
he is proud ; but in appearance and enterprise he
shows a spirit decidedly American. He was the
only son of Dionisio and Andrea (Rodriguez)
Saenz, natives respectively of Durango and Guad-
alajara, Jalisco, Mexico. His father, who was
the son of wealthy parents, came to California
during the eventful year of 1849, with associates
chartering a schooner and bringing men and pro-
visions sufficient for a prolonged sojourn in the
mining regions. The venture, however, proved
very costly and unremunerative, and eventually
about 1863 he came to Los Angeles county,
where he died April 10, 1887, at sixty -two years
of age. In 1891 his wife died, her son having
taken care of her in her declining years.

When quite a small child Jesus Saenz accom-
panied the family to San Francisco. Owing to
his father's heavy losses he was unable to at-
tend school longer than two years, after which
he earned his livelihood as an errand boy in a
store. Gradually, as he was proved to be trust-
worthy, he was given greater responsibilities, and
in time became a trusted clerk in Martinez and
Ventura. At eighteen years of age he came to
Los Angeles and for some years held a clerkship
in this city, and then spent two years at the trade
of iron-shutter maker in San Francisco, but the
latter occupation did not prove congenial and he
abandoned it for the management of the store he
now owns. Many years ago he attended the first
sale of lots in Santa Monica, but the condition of
his finances did not permit him to purchase an\-
real estate in the new town. During the long
period of his residence here he has witnessed the
growth and prosperity of the county, the devel-
opment of its resources and the improving of its
lands, and no one maintains a greater pride than
he in the present prosperity of the people. Oc-
tober I. 1883, he was united in marriage with

1900

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

J\Iiss Amada Garcia, a native of Los Angeles
and a member of an old Spanish family. Ten
children were born of their union, but five died
at an early age. Those now living are Amadita,
]\Ianuel E., Teresa, Andrea, and Bernardo, all
of whom are yet at home. Mr. Saenz is a mem-
ber of Court Columbus, Foresters of America,
and tlie auxiliary. In national politics he is a
Republican, casting his first vote for A. Lincoln,
but in local matters selects men best qualified for
the office.

\\'. PATTON WILSON. During a pros-
pecting tour in Southern California made in the
fall of 1893 Mr. Wilson was so attracted by the
possibilities of the coast region that he pur-
chased ten acres on Signal Hill and planted the
tract to lemon trees, since which time increase in
land values has made the investment remarkably
profitable. Determined to settle in this locaHty
he brought his family to the west in April,
1894, and after a year on Signal Hill removed
into Long Beach, where he became interested in
a drug business and also carried on a carriage
and wagon manufacturing plant and repair shop.
After having disposed of these enterprises, in
1899 he embarked in the undertaking business
and until November, 1905, conducted a modern
and well-equipped establishment at No. 115
East Third street. In addition to the industries
named he has been active in many other enter-
prises vitally important to the permanent devel-
opment of Long Beach. At the time the Citi-
zens' Water Company was established he be-
came one of the first stockholders in the con-
cern and he was active in the starting of the
Oceanside Development Company, in which he
officiates as a member of the board of directors.
As a director and original stockholder in the
United Improvement Company he was inter-
ested in the establishment of a gas plant for the
city of Long* Beach. The building business also
has attracted his attention and besides erecting
dwelling houses he built the Wilson block, a
modern" two-story brick structure on the corner
of Third and Pine streets.

Mr. Wilson was born at Crawfordsville, Ind.,
May 2, 1851, and is a son of Hugh B. and Nancy
Ann (Patton) Wilson, natives respectively of
Hamilton, Ohio, and Dayton, Ohio. His father,
who was born in March of 1810, learned the
tanner's trade in youth and after settling in In-
diana conducted a small tannery, but later
moved to Crawfordsville, and in 1854 embarked
in the grocery business at Cincinnati. Ohio,
where misfortune followed his arduous efforts.
In 1856 he returned to Indiana and opened a
grocery at Anderson, but reverses overtook him
and he closed out at a heavy loss. In 1864 he

went to Greenfield, Ind., and while carr\ing on
a tannery there he saved enough to pay his debts.
For ten years he served as postmaster at Green-
field, and after resigning from that position he
led a retired life. Both he and his wife, who
was two years his junior, died at the age of
eighty-seven.

In a family of five sons and six daughters W.
Patton Wilson was ninth in order of birth and
is the only survivor among the sons. Primarily
educated in the common schools of Anderson
and Greenfield, he was later privileged to at-
tend Wabash College at Crawfordsville for two
years, but on account of his father's ill-health
and financial reverses he gave up a scholarship
tendered him by the county of Hancock and
took up work more immediately remunerative.
At eighteen years of age he began to learn the
cabinet-maker's trade. From 1875 to 1878 he
was employed as clerk in a drug store at Green-
field. . Resigning that position in 1878, he went
to Colorado and secured employment as a cab-
inet-maker at Colorado Springs. After a few
months he removed to a stock ranch, hoping the
change would benefit his wife's health, and for
eight years he remained a rancher in Colorado.
At the expiration of that time he spent six
months in Kansas and then returned to Green-
field, Ind., purchasing the furniture and under-
taking establishment in which he had learned
his trade. The business had become demoral-
ized and it required constant application to bring
it to a profitable basis, but he was successful in
the attempt, and continued in charge of the store
for seven years. From there he went back to
Colorado and bought fifty acres adjoining Colo-
rado Springs, but not being satisfied with the
country he came to California on a tour of in-
spection and was so attracted by the country
that he became a permanent resident.

While living at Greenfield, Ind., Mr. Wilson
married Ella M. Crawford, a native of that state.
They are the parents of three children, namely :
Hugh C, formerly engaged in the undertaking
business with his father ; Annie and Bessie, who
are with their parents. The family are com-
municants of the Presbyterian Qiurch and Mr.
Wilson officiates as an elder, in which office his
father and grandfather likewise served. Fra-
ternally he is connected with the lodge and
chapter of Masonry at Long Beach and in poli-
tics casts his vote with the Republican party.

AUGUST SEDERLUND. The name of this
gentleman is well and favorabl\- known through-
out San Pedro, where he is carrying on a large
and lucrative mercantile business, dealing in gro-
ceries, feed and grain. He is a man of great
business capacity, possesses keen judgment, is

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1901

enterprising and progressive, and by industry,
diligence and Vv-ise investments has acquired a
fine property. A native of Sweden, he was born
January 3, i860, in Skaraborg hasn, where his ■
father, Lars Anderson, was engaged in agricul-
tural pursuits until hi.= death. His mother, a
life-long resident of Sweden, died on the home
farm in 1866, leaving three daughters and one
son.

The youngest child of the parental household,
August Sederlund immigrated to America soon
after becoming of age, at Gothenburg, where he
embarked, taking the name of Sederlund, on ac-
count of difficulty in getting mail by the Ander-
son name. Arriving ni New York in 1882, he
went directly to the Northwest Territory, where
he worked on the Canadian Pacific Railroad for
a number of months. Coming from there to Cali-
fornia, he located in San Pedro February 10,
1884, and has since resided here. For about ten
years he was in the employ of different lumber
companies, including the San Pedro, K. C. M.
& L. Co., and the Perry companies. The ensu-
mg three years he was engaged in the teaming
and transfer business on his own account, meet-
ing with good success while thus employed.
Opening then a store in San Pedro, he started
in the grocery business on a small scale, and as
his increasing trade demanded more commodious
quarters he changed his location to Beacon street,
between Fourth and Fifth streets, where he re-
mained until 1904, when he returned to his orig-
inal site. As a merchant he has been very pros-
perous, and in the spring of 1906, he completed
the Sederlund block, which is a fine two-story
building, 28x54 feet, with pressed brick front,
and has ample accommodations for his entire
stock of groceries. Mr. Sederlund was one of
the original stockholders of the First National
Bank of San Pedro, which he assisted in organ-
izing, and of which he was one of the directors
until he sold his stock therein. He also owns
valuable real estate, and is proprietor of the Se-
derlund hotel, a large and commodious building,
on the corner of Second and Palos Yerdes
streets.

In San Pedro I\Ir. Sederlund married Anna
Sophia Jacobson, who was born in Finland, and
they have two children, Rudolph Augustine and
Jacob Hjalmar. Mr. Sederlund is a member of
the Chamber of Commerce, and in his political
affiliations is a Republican. Religiously he be-
longs to the Lutheran Giurch.

HARRISON J. BLOOD. The highest hon-
ors lielong to those brave men who responded to
the appeal of their country in her hour of need
and offered their services to aid in tlie defense of
the Cnion ; and especially should due praise be

given where, as in the case of Mr. Blood, the
hardships and exposures of army life and the
wounds received on the battlefield so injured
them that they were permanently disabled and
prevented thereby from gaining success in com-
mercial activities. Shortly after the opening of
the Civil war Mr. Blood enlisted in the Union
army and from that time until peace again
reigned throughout the land he was a soldier at
the front. Many were the perils he braved and
many the hardships he endured : more than once
his life was in danger, but he bore the gallant
front of a brave soldier. When in later years he
suffered from the effects of his army service he
came to California in the hope that the genial
climate of the coast might rebuild his strength,
but the hope proved futile and his last days were
passed in Ingle wood.

A native of \'ermont, Mr. Blood was born
January 20, 1835, and he remained at home until
sixteen years of age, when, having secured a
common-school education, he started out in the
world to earn his own livelihood. Going to Wis-
consin, he worked in the lumber woods and later
found similar employment in ^Minnesota. De-
cember 24, 1861, he enlisted as a private under
Capt. William Clayton in the First ^Minnesota
Regiment of Light Artillery. At the expiration
of his time he was honorably discharged at
Yicksburg November 30. 1863, and the follow-
ing day re-enlisted in the same company and regi-
ment, remaining with the same command until
July I, 1865, when he was honorably discharged
at St. Paul, Minn. During the battle of ShUoh
he was wounded by a gunshot in the spine. The
bullet was removed by an operation, but the in-
jury caused him much suffering in later years.
After the siege of A'icksburg he remained in the
south and later accompanied Sherman on the
famous march to the sea.

On the close of the war Mr. Blood settled in
Iowa and engaged in farming near Sumner, Fay-
ette county. After a number of years he sold
his farm there and moved into the town of Sum-
ner, where he engaged in buying and selling
stock. In 1897 he came to California and bought
an acre of ground at Ingelwood. where he erect-
ed a residence. However, it was not his privi-
lege to long enjoy the climate of the coast, for
death came to him November i, 1898, and
brought him release from his sufferings. While
living in Iowa he had met and married Mrs.
Mary (Treloar) Kilby, who was born in Eng-
land March 19. 1845, and at the age of three
years was brought to the United States by her
parents, growing to womanhood in Wisconsin
and Iowa. Her father was successful in his
lalx)rs and accumulated a competency, a portion
of which .she inherited at his death. Her first
marriasre was solemnized in AA'isconsin and unit-

1902

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

cd her with Alfred S. Kilby, a native of that
state. At his death he left his widow with one
child, William C, now a merchant of Perth,
Okla. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Blood was
blessed with a daughter, Edith M., who is now
the wife of J. W. Benn and resides in Ingle-
wood. In politics Mr. Blood supported the Re-
publican part)- and was a firm believer in its
principles, while in religion he was of the Pres-
byterian faith and Mrs" Blood also holds mem-
bership with that denomination. A lady of at-
tractive manner and kindly disposition, she has
won many friends since coming to the coast and
has a high position in Inglewood social circles.

ALEXANDER SCHELLING. The wealth
and prosperity of Southern California are whol-
ly due to the men whose judgment singled it
out as an eligible point for business, being in
the midst of a country possessing vast resources
ready for development by master hands and
minds. Prominent among these men is Alex-
ander Schelling, who has for many years been
actively identified with the horticuftural and
business interests of Los Angeles county, and is
now one of the leading horticulturists 'of Bur-
bank, where he has a most pleasant and attrac-
tive home. He was born. October lo, 1841, in
Switzerland, where he grew to man's estate, liv-
ing there for a number of years after his mar-
riage. For some time he was engaged as a
teacher, also held a prominent state office for
several years.

In 1885 Mr. Schelling came to America to
see the country of which he had heard so much,
and for the benefit of his health. Being espe-
cially impressed with the wonderful climate and
the rich resources of California, he returned af-
ter a few months to his native country for his
faniil\-. bringing them to Los Angeles Septem-
ber 17, 1886. Very soon after his arrival he
bought forty acres of land in the San Gabriel
valley, ten acres of which was a vineyard, which
he operated for a short time. Selling out, he
purchased a half (and later on the whole) in-
terest in the California Vinegar and Pickle
Works, with which he was connected until 1895.
when he sold out. Embarking then in business
as a real-estate agent and notary public, he rent-
ed an office at No. 139 North Spring street, where
he was located a few months. In 1887 he had
purchased the corner of Fifty-first and South
Main streets, making his home there until Jan-
uary, 1902, during which time he engaged in hor-
ticultural pursuits on a small scale. In the
month and year just mentioned he sold the prop-
erty, although he continued his residence there
for two years longer. In February, 1904. he
removed to Burbank. where in 1894 he had

purchased twelve acres. This he improved by
erecting his beautiful residence and also set out
vines and trees and has since made this village
his home. In addition to caring for his vine-
yard and walnuts, he also has a valuable apiary,
and as a bee raiser is meeting with excellent
success.

In Switzerland, ■May, 1875, :Mr. Schelling mar-
ried Ursula Muller, and of their union five chil-
dren have been born, of whom we mention the
following: Oscar, educated in Switzerland and
at the Los Angeles high school, is now fore-
man in the electric department of the Los An-
geles City Electric Railway Company; Armin,
also educated in his native country and at the
Los Angeles high school, is bookkeeper in the
Farmers" and Merchants' Bank, at Los Angeles ;
Eugene, educated in Los Angeles, is now a
street grading contractor in Los Angeles ; and
Minnie and Lucy are living at home. In poli-
tics Mr. Schelling is Independent, voting for
the best men and measures. By a former mar-
riage in Switzerland Mr. Schelling was united
with Katherine Muller. who died in 1874, and
by the union one son, Gottfried, was lx)rn. He
received his preliminary education in his native
country, and obtained his degree of M. D. in
Los Angeles, where he was successfully em-
ployed as a physician until his death, in April,
1894. Both Mr. and Mrs. Schelling are con-
sistent members of the German Evangelical
Church of Los Angeles.

JOHN E. LOGAN. In 1887 John E. Logan
came to California, and in the same year located
in San Pedro, Los Angeles county, remaining in
this locality for one year, after which he removed
to Los Angeles and made that city his home
until 1901, when he returned to San Pedro. Mr.
Logan is a native of Newport. Vt., his birth oc-
curring on his father's farm, December 25, 1865.
His father, Martin C. Logan, engaged in farm-
ing in the Green Mountain state until his death,
Avhich occurred when his son was about nine
years old. His wife, Mary A. (Golden") Logan,
survives him and now makes her home in San
Pedro. Of the seven daughters and one son
born to her, all but one daughter are now living.

Until attaining the age of nineteen years John
E. Logan remained on the paternal farm, receiv-
ing his education in the public and high school
of Newport. He then engaged as brakeman on
the Boston & Maine Railroad, being located at
Lowell, Mass., from which position he was pro-
moted to that of conductor after one year. He
performed the duties of this position for two
years, when he came to California, in San Pedro
engaging with the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company for one year. Locating in Los Angeles

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1903

lie becariie a switchman and later engine fore-
man. Step by step he advanced to higher posi-
tions, becoming assistant yard-master and fol-
lowing this as night yard-master. His fidelity
to duty and his loyalty to the interests of the
company he was serving continued to bring him
reward and in 1901 he was transferred to San
Pedro, where he became master of the yard
which was just at that time established, as up
to that time all work had been done by the road
crew. The business has continued to grow, the
number of switch engines being increased from
one to four in the four years in which the }ard
has been established.

In addition to his railroad interests Mr. Logan
has also become identified with real estate oper-
ations in this city, now owning a home on Ninth
street, near Palos A'erdes, presided over by his
wife, formerly Lena Schlenker, a native of Des
Moines, Iowa, whom he married in Los An-
geles. They are the parents of two children,
Helen M. and Jack. Fraternally I\Ir. Logan is
a charter member of the Elks Lodge of this
place; was made a Mason in San Pedro Lodge
No. 332, F. & A, M., and belongs to Los An-
geles Division No. in, O. R. C, and Los An-
geles Lodge No. 2, K. O. T. M. Politically he is
a stanch adherent of the principles advocated in
the platform of the Republican party.

VICTOR :^rOLLE. Since coming to Califor-
nia Victor J\Iolle has acc|uired a success which
has made him look upon this as the land of
opportunities, and his adopted city, San Pedro,
the place for a man to develop his native talent
in many lines of business. He is a native of
France, his birth having occurred in Haute-
Garonne, near Toulouse, September 30, 1867.
His father, Louis Molle, was also born in that
locality, the son of Frank, the representative of
an old and honored family. Both were black-
smiths by trade, which occupation they followed
throughout their entire lives in that section.
Louis iNIolIe married Pugo Pujo, also a native
of that locality, who survives her husband, being
the mother of six children, of whom Victor
Alolle is the fourth in order of birth.

Reared in France ]\Ir. Molle learned the black-
smith's trade under the instruction of his father,
after which he traveled as a journeyman
throughout various portions of his native coun-
try. Deciding to emigrate he came to America
in 1889, locating at once in Los Angeles, Cal.,
where he engaged at his trade for the ensuing
three years. In Tehachapi, Kern county, he was
next engaged as a blacksmith until 1897, in
which year he came to San Pedro, where he has
since made his home. He began at the bottom
in his work, renting a shop, and taking up the

business in an energetic manner. \\'ith the pass-
ing of time he has built up a profitable trade,
and has also become interested in the real estate
of the city, building a residence for himself on
Sixteenth street, between Mesa and Pacific.

In Tehachapi Mr, Molle married Mary Mari-
tinto, a native of France, and they have one
child. Euphrosia. Fraternally Mr. Molle is a
member of the Knights of David, and in his
political affiliations adheres to the principles of
the Republican party.

GAWN JACKSON LINDSAY, As a ma-
chinist Gawn Jackson Lindsay has developed his
native talent and is considered a man of excep-
tional ability in his line, his position now being
superintendent of the E. K. Wood Planing mill
at San Pedro. He is a native of Ireland, his
birth having occurred in Belfast, April 25, 1862,
the seventh in a family of nine children, of whom
eight attained maturity and are now residents of
the Pacific coast country. His father, George
^Mathews Lindsay, was born in County Down,
of Scotch descent, and engaged as a farmer until
his death. He was a member of the Presbyte-
rian Church, in which faith he had been reared.
He was survived by his wife, Alice, also a native
of County Down, but of English descent, whose
death occurred in San Francisco in December,
1903.

Reared on the farm in County Down until he
was thirteen years old, Gawn Jackson Lindsay
received his preliminary education in the public
school in the vicinitv of his home. He was then
sent to London, England, where he was appren-
ticed to learn the trade of carpenter and builder.
He remained in that city until 1880, when he
came to California in Pasadena, Los Angeles
county, engaging at his trade with two brothers,
George and Charles, under the firm name of
Lindsay Brothers. Tliey then built a shop and
three years later a planing mill, in which business
they engaged for two and a half )ears, when it
was destroyed by fire. In 1889, with his brother
George he went to Redondo and built the first
planing mill in that place, there carrying on
business for five years. The death of his brother
at this time left him alone in the work, when he
Iniilt a feed mill and an electric light plant, fur-
nishing light and power for Redondo for five
years. He then sold out to the A. B. Steel &
United Gas & Electric Light Company, after
whicli he engaged in the foundry and machine
business in Pomona, same county, in partner-
ship with a Mr. Addison, under the firm name
of Lindsay & Addison. They built up a fine
business, which Mr. Lindsay managed success-
fully for two years. In April, 1904, he sold out
and in Los Angeles accepted a position with the

1904

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

E. K. Wood Lumber Company, serving first as
superintendent of the mill in Los Angeles, and
in January of the following year assuming the
same position at San Pedro, where they then
began the construction of the mill, which was
opened in April of the same year.

;\rr. Lindsay's home, which is in Los Angeles,
is presided over by his wife, formerly Nellie
Leonard, a native of England, whom he married
in Pasadena. They are the parents of four chil-
dren : Genevieve, Cecelia, George Mathews and
Charles. Fraternally Mr. Lindsay was made a
JXIason in Redondo Lodge No. 328, on the 29th
of November, 1900, and in religion is a member
of the Presbvterian Church.

ALEXANDER OLSEN. An old citizen of
San Pedro, Los Angeles county, and a man of
liberality and enterprise, Alexander Olsen has
assisted in the growth and upbuilding of this
western country. Like many of the citizens
whose best years have been spent in this section
he is not a native of this country, but has brought
with him to his western home the qualities which
distinguish the best nations of the European
countries. He was born in Carlstadlsn, Sweden,
near Arvika, on the B\elven, June i, 1850, the
youngest of a family of five children and the only
one in America of the four who are now living.
His father, Ole Olsen, was born on the farm
where he spent the ninety-one years of his life,
while his mother, Annie (Person) Olsen, also
a native of Sweden, died at the age of sixty-nine
years.

Alexander Olsen was reared on the paternal
farm and received an education in the common
school in the vicinity of his home. He learned
the bricklayer's trade under the instruction of
an older brother, a contractor, with whom he
worked until the spring of 1871, when he came
to America. Landing in New York City, he
continued west to Nevada, where he began work
in the mines, and finally drifted north into the
mines of Idaho, being located in Silver City.
After one year he returned to Nevada and en-
gaged in clerking and farming, improving three
different farms in Star vallev. He built irri-
gation ditches under great difficulties, but this
proved a source of revenue to him. A sheep-
man, who owned two sections of land in that
locality, offered him half of the property if he
would bring water to it. He succeeded in the
enterprise, after which he sold his property and
Iwught land farther out. He built the ditch
to this third piece of land and continued to im-
prove it until February, 1882, when he sold out
once more. These farms are still operated and
are under the ditch irrigation which ^Ir. Olsen
built. Following his last sale he went to So-

corro, N. I\Iex., but after die brief stay of two
months came on to California, passing through
Sau Diego and coming on to Wilmington, Los
Angeles county, in the spring of 1882. On the
loth of September he located in San Pedro, just
about the time the town was laid out, and here
entered the employ of John Swan. The follow-
ing year he was able to purchase Mr. Swan's in-
terest in the business, which he continued suc-
cessfully for ten years. At the same time he
purchased business and residence property and
assisted materially in the development and up-
building of the city. He is now one of the com-
mercial factors of the place, being engaged with
his son in the hardware business.

In Nevada Mr. Olsen married Emma McAr-
thur, a native of Kansas, and a daughter of Dan-
iel McArthur, who crossed the plains from Mon-
roe county, Alich., and died at Humboldt, Nev.
l\Ir. and ]\[rs. Olsen became the parents of the
following children : C. Henry, proprietor of the
Olsen Hardware Company, of San Pedro, lo-
cated on Beacon street and pronounced one of
the finest and most complete establishments of its
kind in the city : Annie, wife of \\'. W. Speckler,
of San Pedro; Roxie ; Arthur and William, at
home. Mr. Olsen is a Lutheran in religion, as
were his parents, and fraternally is a charter
member of San Pedro Lodge No. 126, K. P., in
which he served as treasurer for four years. He
has taken an interest in the aifairs of the city,
having served as a member of the board of trus-
tees for one term.

JOSEPH F. BODWELL. Having by means
of industry, wise management and judicious in-
vestment acquired a goodly share of this world's
goods, Joseph F. Bodwell is now living retired
from active labor, owning and occupying a well-
improved ranch in Burbank, where he has an
attractive home, it being situated on the Fer-
nando road, about two miles south of the village.
A native of Ohio, he was born, July 19, 1841,
in Huron county, where, with the exception of
ten years, from 1847 ""til 1857, when he lived
with his parents in Wisconsin, he was brought
up and educated.

As a boy and youth, Joseph F. Bodwell assist-
ed his father in the various labors incidental to-
farm life, after which he learned the carpen-
ter's trade. Going to Douglas county, Kans., in
1867. he lived there a number of years, follow-
ing his chosen occupation the greater part of the
time, although for six years he carried the
United States mail. Coming to the Pacific coast
in the spring of 1883. he spent a few months in
Portland, Ore., after which he located in San
Francisco, where he worked as a carpenter for
two years. Proceeding then to Alaska, which at

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1905

that time was a comparatively new and little
known country, he worked as a millwright for
the Treadwell Gold Mining Company, serving
as foreman tmtil 1901, and while thus employed
made several trips to his California home. On
one of these visits, in 1895, he purchased the
ranch on which he now lives, located his family
thereon, and in 1901 came here himself to re-
side permanently. His ranch contains fifteen
acres, a large part of which is improved, having
a vineyard of two acres, some small fruits, and
the remainder devoted to the raising of alfalfa
(a staple crop in this section), and grain. In
the care of this property he now takes much
pride and pleasure, and is continually adding
to the excellent improvements alreadv inaugu-
rated.

While living in Ohio, Mr. Bodwell married
Emma Barnum, and of the children born to their
union five are living, namely : Grace, wife of
Robert Brunson, of Nevada : Oiarles L., at
home : Maude, wife of Charles Hill, of Chand-
ler, Okla. ; Catherine, wife of John Powers, of
Franklin county, Kans. ; and John L., of Bur-
bank. Politically Mr. Bodwell is an active sup-
porter of the principles of the Prohibition party,
and religiously he and his family are members
of the Holiness Qiurch of Burbank, in which
he is a deacon.

E. R. ERICKSON. In 1889 E. R. Erickson
came to California and in the same year located
in San Pedro, where he has since made his home.
He is a native of Sweden, his birth having oc-
curred near Eahhin, April i, 1866, one of a
family of three children, of whom another, An-
drew, is also located in San Pedro. The father,
Erick, a farmer in Sweden, died when his son
E. R. was sixteen years old, being survived by
his wife, who still makes her home in her native
land. In the common schools of that country
E. R. Erickson received an education, after
which he worked on farms until his emigration
to the United States. In Minneapolis, Minn.,
he learned the trade of butcher, serving an ap-
prenticeship of two years. Following this he
came to California and took up his residence in
San Pedro. He first entered the employ of
George Hinds and James Dodson, and finally
worked for J. L. Grififui. In March, 1902, in
parnership with Mr. .^bbott, he bought out the
market managed by Mr. Griffin and the two re-
mained together until April, 1905, when Mr.
Erickson became sole owner. The San Pedro
market, of which he is proprietor, is one of the
most extensive and thoroughly equipped in the
city or surrounding country, having a large re-
frigerator capacity and other modern equipment.

Mr. Erickson is carrying on a large business and
is one of the commercial factors of the place.

In San Pedro Mr. Erickson married Qiristine
Erickson, also a native of Fahlun, Sweden, who
was brought to America when six years of age.
They have had two children, only one of whom,
Esther, is living. Fraternally Mr. Erickson is
a member of tjie Knights of Pythias, and polit-
ically is an adherent of the principles advocated
in the platform of the Democratic party.

JOHN N'ALLANDINGHAM FORD. In
the days when Kentucky was attracting fron-
tiersmen from the older commonwealth of Vir-
ginia the Ford family became established in
the blue grass section, and from there Samuel
Ford, a Kentuckian by birth and training, re-
moved to the newer regions of jMissouri. The
tract of raw land, which he placed under culti-
vation, afterward was made the family home-
stead. With hnn from Kentucky came his
family, including a son, Josiah P., who became
a fanner in Missouri, and in 1850 crossed the
plains to California with ox teams. An experi-
ence of two years in the mines did not prove
profitable enough to induce him to remain, and
lie returned to his Missouri homestead. Next
removing to Kansas he took up two hundred
acres in Linn county, but later sold out and
returned to Platte comity, IMissouri, where he
died in 1887, at sixty years of age. Of south-
ern blood and sentiment, he did not, however,
believe in the institution of slavers', yet he loved
the old south too much to- take up arms against
her during the war, hence he was placed in a
position peculiarly trying. The respect in which
he was held by all, whether of northern faith or
southern views, alone removed him from suffer-
ing hardships and dangers. His wife, Minerva,
was a daughter of John Estes, a pioneer of
Platte county. Missouri, and she was born in
that locality, but now resides at Redondo. In
her familv there are four daughters and two
sons still living. One of her sons. Dee, enlisted
in a California regiment at the opening of the
Spanish-American war and died at the Presidio
during the period of his service.

On the homestead, near Parkville, Platte
county, ^lo., John V. Ford was born jMarch 21,
1863, and in neighboring schools he received a
fair education. At the age of twenty-two years
he came to California and secured employment
on a ranch owned by the Los .\ngeles Farming
and Milling Company, where he remained for
ten years. On taking un farming for himself
he spent a vear near Compton, and in 1896
farmed near Redondo, after which he was sim-
ilarly occupied at San Fernando, and in 1897
returned to the vicinit\- of Redondo. where now

1906

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

he cultivates a hay and grain farm, near
Wiseburn. This ranch originally comprised
four hundred and tifty acres, but he has sold a
portion of it and contracted for the purchase of
three hundred and twenty acres near the town
of Tulare, in the great San Joaquin valley, being
attracted there by the cheapness of the land and
the fertility of the soil. On the latter ranch it
is his intention to engage in more diversified
farming, such as raismg grain, fruit, alfalfa and
also stock-raising. At this writinghe-ownstwenty-
five acres in the McDonald tract of the San
Pedro ranch, and also owns a residence ( erected
by himself), at Ford's Crossing, on the Los
Angeles & Redondo Railroad. After coming
to Los Angeles county he married JMiss Nettie
May Howard, who was born, reared and edu-
cated in California, and is a member of the Re-
dondo Congregational Church, and a devoted
mother to their two daughters, Lucille and
Mercv ]\lav.

FRANK KARR. Prominent among the active
and capable lawyers of Los Angeles county is
Frank Karr, a young man of culture and ex-
cellent mental attainments, who has already
made for himself an honorable record in the
legal profession, and is widely and favorably
known. The family is of Scotch origin, the
name, which was formerly spelled Kerr, having
been anglicized to its present form. A native of
Illinois. Mr. Karr was born February i8, 1875,
in Heyworth, INIcLean county, a son of H. A.
Karr, and grandson of \\'alter Karr, a pioneer
settler of that place. He is distinguished not
only for his own substantial qualities, but for the
honored ancestry from which he is descended,
the blood of patriots running in his veins.

Capt. John Karr, the great-grandfather of i\Ir.
Karr, served as captain of a company in the Rev-
olutionary war, taking an active part in the fa-
mous battle at Cowpens. He subsequently re-
moved from Sussex county, N. J., to Ohio, set-
tling in that state as a pioneer, but later in life
he went to Illinois, where he died and was buried.
The emigrant ancestor was a kinsman of ]\Iary
Queen of Scots, and, being obliged to flee his
native land, came to America, locating in Sussex
county, N. J.

Walter Karr was born and bred in Sussex
county, N. J., and went with his parents to Ham-
ilton county, Ohio, where he was for a number
of years engaged in agricultural pursuits. Re-
moving to Illinois, he settled as a pioneer in
AIcLean county, and there followed his inde-
pendent calling until his death, in 1879.

A native of Hamilton county, Ohio, H. A.
Karr was but four years old when he was taken
by his parents to Heyworth. 111., to the very

farm on which he has since resided, and in the
improvement of which he assisted. He learned
the trade of carpenter when a young man, and
for a number of years carried on an extensive
business as a contractor and builder. He is a
man of influence in the community, and an active
member of the Masonic fraternity. He married
Martha Elizabeth Storey, who was born in Ten-
nessee, a descendant of two of South Carolina's
n:ost prominent families, the Storeys and the
Aliens, her father, wh.o died from injuries re-
ceived in one of the engagements of the Civil
war, having married a jNIiss Allen. Of the union
of IMr. and Mrs. H. A. Karr, four children were
born, namely : Grant, principal of the Normal
school in New York City ; Lyon, a banker at
Eureka, 111. : Mary, an actress, known on the
stage by her maiden name, Mary Karr, and the
wife of Robert McDowell, of New York City;
and Frank, the subject of this sketch.

Completing his early education at the State
Normal school at Normal, III, Frank Karr was
subsequently employed m teaching for five years,
being for four years employed in McLean
countv, and for one vear as principal of the
Garfield school at Pekin, 111. In the fall of 1898
he entered the law department of the Leland
Stanford, Jr., University, and having taken the
prescribed course of study was admitted to the
bar in June. 1901. Locating in San Pedro in
November, 1901, he immediately entered upon
the duties of his profession, and so rapid and
honorable was his advance that he soon won
recognition as a young man of ability and prom-
ise. For four years he was city attorney, to
which position he was appointed in May, 1902.
He enjoys a large and lucrative practice. ■

In Los .A.ngeles, in 1903, IMr. Karr married
Dora ^'an Ordstrand, a native of McLean
county, 111., and they have one child, Frank Ran-
dolph. Politically Mr. Karr is a Democrat. Fra-
ternally he was made a Mason in Illinois, joining
Heyworth Lodge No. 231, from which he de-
mitted, and is now a member of San Pedro
Lodge No. 332, F. & A. M. : of San Pedro
Chapter No. 89, R. A. M. : of San Pedro Chap-
ter, O. E. S. ; and of San Pedro Lodge No. 966,
B. P. O. E. Mrs. Karr is a woman of culture
and refinement, and a consistent member of the
Pre,=bvterian Church.

EDWARD H. BAUTZER. The postmaster
of San Pedro, Los Angeles county, Edward H.
Bautzer. is a young man of ability and energy
who bids fair to take rank with the successful
men of this section. He is a native of Missouri,
his birth having occurred in Linn. Osage ceunty,
January 31, 1876. His father, Edward F. Baut-
zer, a native of ^^'iesbaden. Gernianv, came to

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1907

America when a young man and located in the
state of Missouri. In Osage county lie held the
position of county recorder for twenty \ears, and
since that time he has been engaged in the news-
paper business in St. Louis, editing the Squib.
In Missouri he married Nannie Benson, a native
of Linn, that state, and the descendant of Scotch-
Irish ancestry whose iirst emigrant located in
the eastern states during the colonial period of
our history. They became the parents of three
children, all of whom are living, a brother, Paul,
also being in San Pedro.

Edward H. Bautzer was reared in Linn, where
he attended the public and high schools in pur-
suit of a preliminar}- education, after which he
entered the University oi Missouri at Columbia,
from which institution he was graduated in 1893
from the normal course. P'ollowing this he en-
gaged in teaching for one year and was then em-
ployed by the government in the engineering
department of the Missouri river commission.
For four years he engaged as payroll clerk for
R. A. Crawford, when he came to California and
located at once in San Pedro and became pro-
prietor of the San Pedro News Company, while
he at the same time engaged as reporter for the
Los Angeles Times. In March, 1902, he was
appointed postmaster of this office by President
Roosevelt, the receipts at that time being about
$4,000, since which time they have more than
doubled.

Mr. Bautzer has also become interested in the
real estate of San Pedro and is a motive power
in the upbuilding of the place, being a member
of the Chamber of Commerce. As a Republican
he seeks to advance the principles he endorses.
In fraternal relations he is a member of the
Knights of Pvthias, and is a charter member of
San Pedro Lodge No. g6C\ B. P. O. E., of which
he is esteemed lecturing knight.

ROBERT M. LYNX, one of the old resi-
dents of Long Beach, is responsible for the first
daily paper of the city. The Eye, which was es-
tablished by him and published as a weekly, a
well-edited, clean sheet, elegant in workmanship
and in every way a credit to its manager. Mr.
Lynn inherited his strong, literary traits of char-
acter, his forefathers being founders of many en-
terprises in the pioneer days of Kentucky, from
which state the paternal grandfather removed to
Indiana and became a factor in its upbuilding.
His father, E. K. Lynn, a native of Kentucky,
engaged in the Presbyterian ministry in Indiana
after graduating from Hanover College, in his
native state. About 1857 '^^ removed to Allen
county, Kans., and in the town of lola built the
first church, and later assisted materially in the
establishment of colleges and schools throughout

the entire state. He was a man of strong per-
sonality, highest integrity and honest purposes,
and let nothing come between him and the ful-
fillment of his kiighest aim for the betterment of
mankind. His death occurred in Kansas, as did
that also of his wife, formerly Plarriett B. Briggs,
a native of Massachusetts and the daughter of
George Briggs, a native of the same state but for
many years a contractor and builder in Madison,
Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Lynn became the parents of
eight children, two of whom are now surviving.
Samuel, a participant in the Civil war in a Kan-
sas regiment, now residing in Butler, Mo., and
Robert M., of Long Beach. Cal.

Born in New Philadelphia, Ind,. October -19,
1849, Robert M. Lynn received his education in
the schools of Indiana, Illinois and Kansas, com-
pleting his schooldays in lola. In the office of
the lola Register he learned the trade of printer
and this work has occupied his attention for the
greater part of his manhood years. He was
employed for a time following his mastery of
the trade on a Lyndon (Kans.) paper and in
the same state later worked for the Ottawa Daily.
He then employed his accumulated means in
studying music, for which he had strong tastes
and talent, entering a conservatory at Madison,
Ind., and completing the course with honors.
He then followed teaching of music for a time,
eventually returning to his trade, however, in
assuming charge of the Greenfield (Ind.) Re-
publican; later he went to Franklin, Ind., and
assisted in the publication of the Daily Star,
remaining so occupied until 1894, when his de-
cision to change his location resulted in his re-
moval to Long Beach, where he has ever since
resided.

Long Beach was then a very small beginning
of what is now the city of that name, and only
to a far-seeing judgment did the future offer
returns for efforts put forth here. On the corner
of Second and Pine streets Mr. Lynn put up a
small building, 12x20 feet in dimensions, and
established a weekly paper, known as The Eye,
which was later published as a weekly and daily
and continued successfully for eighteen months.
For a time following his discontinuance of this
publication he engaged as ticket agent for the
Salt Lake Railroad Company, then was engaged
in job printing, and later published the One-
Horsc Printer, a weekly which grew to a circu-
lation of one thousand per week. In the mean-
time he had gradually assumed a place of im-
portance among the representative men of Long
Beach, and in 1902 he was honored with the
election on the Republican ticket to the office of
constable of Long Beach township for a term
of four years. He also served as deputy city
marshal under Marshal Williams, and in this
public ca]iacity proved his fitness for official duty.

1908

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Ijringing to hear in llu- discharge of his work
the strong integrity and honorable purpose which
was his by inheritance. As a member of the
board of education durmg the erection of the
magnificent high school building on American
avenue he proved a practical promoter of the
good work.

In 1906 Mr. Lynn began a real estate enter-
prise which has been successful when viewed in
the light of financial returns, and has evidenced
his faith in the -future of Long Beach by the
erection of a comfortable home at No. 243 Locust
street. In Whiteland. Ind., he married Miss
Carrie C. Covert, a daughter of Dr. G. W. Co-
vert, an early settler of Long Beach, and born
of this union is one daughter, Theta Mae. who
has inherited the musical talent of her father
and has cultivated her talents to a high degree,
not only having graduated from a conservatory
in this country, but has also studied in Paris.
Mr. Lynn is associated fraternally with the
Knights of Pythias, having been a member of
this organization for twenty-five years, and is
now serving as prelate. He belongs also to the
Uniformed Rank. Knights of Pythias. He is a
member of the Fraternal Aid Society, and in re-
ligion is active in the Presbyterian Church,
which denomination has held his loyal allegiance
throughout his entire life since manhood. He
has served efficiently as musical director of the
Presbyterian Church of Long Beach. He is a
stanch adherent of the principles advocated in
the platform of the Republican party, but al-
though strong in his allegiance does not allow
this to prevent him giving his strongest support
to men and measures best calculated in his opin-
ion to advance the general welfare. Above all
he is a patriotic and loyal citizen, intent upon the
general good of the community, the city and the
state which he has made his by adoption.

MATTHEW JONES AUSTLN. The family
represented by this retired old settler of Pomona
traces its lineage back to England, where its
members were well known prior to the days of
the Revolution. With convictions and inde-
pendence of thought that would no longer brook
adherence to the Established church, the great-
grandfather left the home of his forefathers and
established the family in America, locating in
^^irginia. All of his seven sturdy sons partici-
pated in the Revolutionary war, among the
number being the grandfather, John Austin, who
became a well-known and wealthy planter in
Louisa county, Va. He in turn reared a stal-
wart family who were destined to shed even
more lustre upon the family name. One of the
sons of this Revolutionary soldier. David Sbel-
ton Austin, born on the home plantation in

Louisa county thirty miles east of Richmond, en-
tered the second war with England with no less
ardor, and throughout his service in that con-
flict he was stationed at Norfolk, \'a. With the
return of peace he resumed agricultural affairs
in Louisa county, but subsequently removed to
the adjoining state of Tennessee, locating near
Gallatin, Sumner county. There his death oc-
curred, resulting from a runaway accident. In
his }oung manhood he had married Mar\- Low-
rey, like himself a native of old Mrginia. and
the daughter of Overton Lowrey. The latter
was also a native of the same state, but some
time after the birth of his daughter established
his home near Nashville. Tenn., passing his en-
tire life thereafter in that vicinity. Ten chil-
dren were born to David S. and Alary (Lowrey)
Austin, eight of whom grew to maturity, and of
these seven were sons, .\mong the gold-seekers
who crossed the plains in 1849 none set out with
more enthusiasm than did five of the afore-
mentioned sons, lohn O., Brice, A. W., T. T. and
M. J.

At this time Alatthew J. Austin was a youth
of nineteen years, his birth having occurred on
the old family homestead in Louisa county, \'a.
When he was two years old the family home was
transferred to Tennessee, and near Gallatin,
Sumner county, he was reared and educated.
The death of his father when he was a lad of
twelve years brought another change into his
life. For a time thereafter he attended a sub-
scription school, and later apprenticed himself
to learn the blacksmith's trade in Russellville,
Ky. When he was seventeen years old he was
a full-fledged blacksmith and with this asset he
established himself in business in Independence,
Mo., following it there for two years. The
rumors of the finding of gold in California put
a quietus upon all other ambitions which he
might have had. and all thought and surplus
means were devoted to preparation for crossing
the plains with his four brothers. With wagons
drawn by four ox-teams they left Independence,
Mo., May 10, 1849, following the Platte and
Sweetwater routes to South pass, and from
there by the Carson route to Sacramento, the
journey consuming just five months. At Car-
son sink Matthew and two of his brothers aban-
doned the wagons and made the rest of the way
on foot, reaching Sacramento ahead of the two
other brothers. In order to replenish their de-
pleted finances they worked at cutting hay for
a number of days on the Sacramento river, haul-
it to Sacramento, where it readily brought them
$40 per ton. This good luck enabled them to
lay in a supply Of provisions and necessities
preparatory to going to American bar. where
tluy mined with excellent results, making on
an average of one ounce per day. During the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1909

latter part of the winter of 1849-50 they went
to Georgetown by way of Caiion creek, mining
there with varying degrees of success until Au-
gust of 1850. Later they went to San Fran-
cisco and boarded a boat for Panama, and after
crossing the isthmus boarded another boat which
landed then in New Orleans. By way of the
Mississippi and Red rivers they made their way
to Bonham, Fannin county, Tex., where each
purchased land and engaged in farming. There
Matthew J. bought eleven hundred acres of
land upon which he carried on farming and
stock-raising for three years, or until his sec-
ond removal to California in 1853. Following
the Platte route from Missouri, as he had done
on the journey four years previously, he located
this time near Yreka, Siskiyou county, where
he remained for ten years engaged in mining.
During this time the Modoc Indians gave evi-
dence of their resentment of the invasion of the
white man, and in the disturbances which fol-
lowed J\Ir. Austin took a prominent part, serv-
ing as lieutenant of Company A, under Gen.
John D. Cosby.

From Siskiyou county Mr. Austin subsequent-
ly went to Sonoma county and opened a cop-
per mine, but the venture proved a failure and
in 1865 he went to Virginia City, Nev., where
until 1870 he carried on mining and also worked
as an engineer. The latter year found him lo-
cated once more on his farm in Texas, continu-
ing farming there for a number of years, be-
sides which he erected a building in Bonham.
While there, too, he invented and patented a
ditching machine, used for tile and fence ditch-
ing, and for the purpose of manufacturing this
machine he removed to Danville, 111. The Aus-
tin ditching machine was well received wherever
introduced and proved a boon throughout Illi-
nois, greatly facilitating the laying of drain tile.
In 1886 Mr. Austin discontinued the manufac-
turing business in Illinois and the same year
came to California, and for one year worked as
a blacksmith in the Baker foundry and machine
shop in Los Angeles. His identification with
Pomona dates from the following year,
when he bought ten acres of the Phil-
lips tract, which was then a barley field,
and set it out to deciduous fruits. Subse-
quently he substituted alfalfa and walnuts and
now h'^s a fine ranch devoted entirely to these
commodities. He also erected the famil\' resi-
dence on South Ellen street.

Mr. Austin's home is presided over by his
wife, who was formerly Miss Annie Layton,
a native of Vermilion county. 111., and to whom
he was married in Danville in 1881. Two chil-
dren have blessed their marriage, William Shel-
ton, who is an electician in San Pedro, and
Grace, now the wife of W. B. Binklev, of Los

Angeles, Fraternally Mr. Austin is an Odd
Fellow, and politically he is a Democrat of the
Jeffersonian type. With his wife he is a mem-
ber of the Cliurch of Christ, in which he is
serving as elder, and both exemplify in their
daily hving the principles of the religion which
they profess.

J. ROSS JMALKIM. At first glance the
name Malkim does not suggest the good old
Scotch cognomen of Malcolm, but such was the
spelling of the patronymic down to the time of
the great-grandfather of our subject. For some
reason not known to the writer the grandfather
changed the spelling to its present form, and
succeeding generations have adhered to the re-
formed usage. For many years the name was
well known in Oakland county, Mich., which was
the birthplace of the father, Crawford Malkim,
and also of the mother, Susan Case, For many
years the Case family was identified with the
east, the immigrating ancestor coming from Ger-
many and settling in New York state, and
Grandfather Case was the first to represent the
family in the west. He came to Los Angeles in
1887 and from then until his death was engaged
in the real estate business in that city. Crawford
Malkim also engaged in the same business in
Los Angeles until his death.

The only child born to his parents, J. Ross
Malkim is a native of Michigan, born near Pon-
tiac, Oakland county, ]March 28, 1879. He was
about eight years old at the time his parents came
to California and settled in Los Angeles, and as
he was then of school age entered at once upon
his studies in that city. He remained at home
until reaching his eighteenth year, having by
this time determined to learn the trade of elec-
trician and stage mechanism. It was for this
purpose that he went to San Francisco in 1898,
and as soon as he was competent he was made
theatrical property man and electrician at Fish-
er's theatre in that city. The destruction of San
Francisco by earthquake and fire on the morning
of April 18, 1906, razed the Fisher theatre among
hundreds of other buddings, and thus Mr. Mal-
kim was thrown out of employment. In less
than a month, May 10, he was located in Long
Beach as proprietor of the Tal!y-Ho livery stable
at No. 337 East Fourth street, having purchased
the business from L. H. Moore. The stable,
which has a frontage of sixty feet and a depth of
one hundred and fifty feet, furnishes accommo-
dation for boarding horses as well as the animals
kept for hire. Feed of all kinds is also kept for
sale, and all in all Mr. Malkim has one of the
largest and best-patronized livery stables in Long
Beach.

In Salinas, Monterey county, Cal., Mr. Alal-

1910

HISTORICAl. AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

kini was married to Miss Grace Munro, who was
born in Hartford, Conn., the daughter of Wal-
lace Munro. The latter was a native of Inver-
ness, Scotland, while his wife, Catherine Thomp-
son, was born in. Glasgow, their marriage occur-
ring in the latter city. Upon immigrating to the
United States Mr. Munro settled in Connecticut,
whence after some years he went to Chicago, 111.,
where for a time he worked as an electrician.
During the >ear 1893 he came to California and
settled in San Francisco, from which city he trav-
eled as salesman for a time, but at the close of
the season of 1005-1906 was advance man with
the Lewis James Company. Mr. and Mrs. Munro
became the parents of two children, the only one
living being Mrs. Malkim, who was educated in
San Francisco. Mrs. Malkim is a member of
Trinity Episcopal Qmrch of San Francisco, in
which city both Mr. and Mrs. Malkim are well
known. He is a member of the Theatrical Me-
chanical Association and is trustee of the organi-
zation in San Francisco.

REV. HENRY WHITE JONES. The in-
fluence which emanates from a life of self-sac-
rilicing devotion to the cause of the Christian re-
ligion is be_\ond human calculation, but tlie lec-
ords of Heaven will show multitudes of souls
turned thitherward by the spoken and written
words of one filled with the Spirit. Though he
has passed from earth the men;ory of the noble
life of Rev. Henry W. Jones will ever remain
to refresh and encourage those who were
brought under his influence during the long
years of his ministry in the Congregational
Church. Though by reason of his professional
affiliations his time and thought were devoted
laigely to the upbuilding of his denomination,
yet his mind was never tinged by narrowness of
views. With a broad outlook upon mankind
and the destiny of the human race, he aimed
within the chosen sphere of religious and intel-
lectual activity to make the world better for his
presence therein. To him religion was a har-
monious rounding of the soul, the perfect in-
dwelling of the spirit of love and truth, the un-
conscious imitation of Qirist in daily acts and
solitary thoughts. To such as he the ministry of
the Gospel was a priceless privilege.

Among the sturdy band of Mayflower immi-
grants who came to our shores in 1620 was one
Elder White Jones, from whom Rev. Henry
White Jones was descended in the eighth gen-
eration. He was born in Southampton. :\Iass.,
October 17, 1830. the son of Bela B. and Sabina
Jones, they also being natives of the Bav state.
The father, who was by profession a practicing
physician, removed from the east and estab-
lished himself for practice in Hudson, Lenawee

county, j\Iich., where his death occurred. The
mother was born in Whately, i\Iass.

As have so many of the brightest lights in
both the business and professional realms of ac-
tivity, Rev. H. W. Jones had to work out his
own financial problem. He was given a fair
start in the primary and public schools in both
Southampton, Mass., and Hudson, Mich., but
all of his later training was gained as the result
of his own labors in the line of telegraphy. He
is credited with the establishment of the first
telegraph connection between Hudson, Mich.,
and Chicago and southern Illinois. When he
had accumulated sufficient means to warrant him
in again taking up his studies he entered Mon-
son (Mass.) Academy as a student and gradu-
ated from that institution in 1853. Subsequent-
ly taking a course in Amherst College, he gradu-
ated therefrom in 1857, and received his diploma
from East \\'indsor Seminary (now Hartford
Seminary) in i860. In the meantime, however,
in 1858, he had received his license to preach by
the Michigan Association, although it was not
until two years afterward that he entered regu-
larly into the duties for which he had been fit-
ting himself. During the years from i860 un-
til 1866 he supplied the pulpit of the Congre-
gational Church in Hadlyme, Conn., and there-
after became associated with the Christian Com-
mission board, from May 24, 1866, until June
4, 1871, serving in Hingham, Mass., from July
6, 1871, to June 17, 1874, in Swampscott, Mass.,
and from October 14, 1875, to October 8, 1885.
in St. Johnsbury, Vt. With a record of over a
quarter of a century of self sacrificing labor to
his credit in the east he came to the Pacific coast
in 1885, and from October 14 of that year until
October 21, 1890, he filled the pulpit of the Con-
gregational Church at ^'acaville, Cal. From
June, 1 89 1, until July of 1893, he supplied pul-
pits throughout Southern California without
holding any regular charge, and thereafter, from
September 10, 1893, until February 23, 1896.
he ministered to the spiritual needs of the con-
gregation in Claremont. From the latter date un-
til his death, February 14, 1904, he lived re-
tired from active work in the ministry, though
at no time did his influence for good cease. His
example of high and noble living will ever be a
benediction to those who came under his influ-
ence, and many there are who have cause to re-
member his many helpful acts in time of need.
Large-hearted generosity was one of his most
dominant characteristics, which he exercised to
no better advantage, perhaps, than in assisting
struggling young men to gain their ecclesiastical
training.

Rev. H. ^^^ Jones was first married in \\"ind-
liam. Conn.. September 2. i860, to Isabella Fan-
ny Foster, the daughter of Sherlock and Abi-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1911

gail Ga)- (Bradford) Foster. Mrs. Jones died
in Hingham, Mass., in 1867, leaving one son,
H. Foster Jones, who graduated from Amherst
College and is now professor of English in Em-
poria (Kans.) College. Mr. Jones' second mar-
riage occurred in Grand Haven, Mich., Decem-
ber 25, 1872, and united him with Hannah E.
Ferry was a native of Granby, Mass. He grad-
daughter of Rev. William M. and Amanda
(White) Ferry, the latter a daughter of Thomas
White. A remote ancestor, John White, was at
one time lord mayor of London. William M.
Ferry was a native of Granby, Masss. He grad-
uated from Union College in New York and al-
so from New Brunswick (N. J.) Seminary. His
first ministerial work was among the Indians
of Mackinac Island, from there in November,
1834, going to Grand Haven, Mich., where he
served the congregation gratuitously until it
was able to keep the pastor. In later years he
engaged in the general merchandise and lum-
ber business there, and there he and his wife
died at advanced ages. Mrs. Jones' brother,
Thomas White Ferry, was at one time president
of the United States senate. During his early
life Mr. Jones was a supporter of Republican
principles, but in his later years he became a
Prohibitionist. A woman of fine intellectual at-
tainments, and a great reader and student, Mrs.
Jones was indeed a helpmate to her husband.

JOHN JOHNSTON. Prominent among the
pioneer settlers of California is John Johnston,
who came to the state soon after the discovery
of gold and has since been a respected and
valued citizen in the various communities in
which he has been located in business. In
common with other pioneers he has experienced
all the ups and downs of life in a new coun-
try and has watched with keen interest its
transformation into one of the finest spots on
the continent. For almost a quarter of a cen-
tury he has made his home in Pomona, where
at one time he conducted a large and lucrative
hardware business, but is now retired from
active business, finding his time sufficiently
occupied in looking after the property which
he has accumulated from time to time.

Air. Johnston is of Irish birth and parentage,
born in Comber, county Down, October 14,
1829, the youngest of four children born to his
parents, George Washington and Sarah
(Moore) Johnston, born in Lurgan, county
Armagh, and Downpatrick, county Down, re-
spectively, and both also were of Scotch de-
scent. The father carried on a large distillery
in Comber, and throughout his life remained in
Ireland, as did also his wife, the latter passing
awav in Comber. The eldest of their four

children, George, came to the United States
one year prior to the finding of gold in Cali-
fornia, and when he finally came to the state,
in 1852, he was not lured into the gold fields ;
his tastes being rather in the channel of me-
chanics, he became well known as an inventor,
his name being perpetuated in what is known
as Johnston's concentrator, an apparatus em-
ployed in separating ore from the rock ; he is
now associated with the Risdon Iron Works in
San Francisco. Peter Johnston also came to
the United States in 1848. and like his brother
George came to California in 18^2 ; for a time
he carried on a hardware business in Grass
Valley, Nevada county, this state, was subse-
quently president of the Nevada County Nar-
row Gauge Railroad, but is now living retired
in Grass Valley ; the next child in the parental
family, Eliza, still resides in the Emerald Isle.
The youngest child in his parents' family,
John Johnston was given a good educa-
tion in a private school in his native country,
and when fifteen years old was apprenticed to
learn the hardware and grocery business. It
was with the knowledge of both of these sub-
stantial trades that he set sail for the new
world when he was twent3'-one years of age,
in 1850, going direct to Farmington, Van
Buren county, Iowa, where both of his older
brothers were located, and there the three were
engaged in the grocery business for the follow-
ing two years. With the proceeds of the sale
of their stock they purchased horse teams and
other essentials preparatorj' for a trip to the
coast, and between Council Bluffs and Placer-
ville, the journey consumed just eighty days.
From Placerville George and John went to
Marysville and under the firm name of John-
ston Brothers started a grocery business under
conditions which seemed very favorable, but
the location did not prove as desirable as they
had expected and in 1853 they removed their
stock to Grass Valley. Disaster in the form
of fire overtook them in that place and they^
lost all of their investment. After this misfor-
tune John mined for two years, but at the end
of that time once more resumed mercantile
life and from 1856 until 1883 was engaged in
the grocery business in Grass Valley. During
his life in that place he was looked upon as one
of the town's stalwart citizens, and was one of
the promoters and builders of the Nevada
County Narrow Gauge Railroad. L'pon dis-
posing of his mercantile interests in Grass Val-
ley in 1883 Mr. Johnston came to Pomona and
established himself in the hardware business in
a brick building which he erected for the pur-
pose at the corner of Ellen and Second streets.
Three years later, however, he disposed of his
stock and thereafter spent one year in San

1912

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

I'rancisco. at the ciul of that time returnino-
once more to Pomona, where he has since re-
sided continuously. From time to time he has
accumulated considerable property in Pomona,
and aside from the store building which he
erected for his own use as a hardware store in
18S3, also erected two other stores on Second
street, although he has since disposed of one of
them. He has also built a number of resi-
dences, and has also included in his landed pos-
sessions a number of choice fruit ranches, his
holdings now, however, comprising property in
the city onlj'.

In Grass Valley JNIr. Johnston was married
to Aliss Annie Taylor, who though born in Ire-
land was reared in Kentucky and in 1863 came
to California by way of Panama. In his re-
ligious training Mr. Johnston was reared in the
faith of the Episcopal Church and throughout
his life he has adhered to his early teachings.
Politically he is a Republican, and at one time
he was an active !\Iason, having joined the or-
der in Grass A'allev, but he is now demitted.

tliis union two children were lx)rn : Ormiston
is married and lives in Palms, Los Angeles coun-
ty : and Isabel! is the wife of A. B. Burnett, of
this place.

JOSE J\I. GONZALEZ. As a pioneer set-
tler and one of the most prominent and influ-
ential citizens of Temecula Jose M. Gonzalez
has a wide and favorable acquaintance through-
out Riverside and San Diego counties. He
owns and occupies a si.xty-acre ranch two miles
north of Temecula, where he also rents land and
is engaged in the raising of beef cattle. On De-
cember's, 1834, he was born in Cadiz, Spain, the
son of J. J\I. and Candelaria (Pery) Gonzalez,
both parents being natives of Spain. The
father's death occurred in that country, but the
mother came to the United States later and
made her home in Nevada, where she died at
the advanced age of ninety-two years.

The recipient of a good education in his na-
tive country, Mr. Gonzalez remained there until
1868, when he came to the United States and
located in California in the San Joaquin valley.
In 1874 he removed to the place where he now
resides and bought a part of an old grant upon
which he built his present home — a modern
adobe house. In 1884, when this part of River-
side countv was still embraced within the bound-
aries of San Diego, Mr. Gonzalez was. appoint-
ed deputv assessor and with the exception of one
term has continuously filled that office until the
present time. Politically he is a leading man in
the Republican ranks and is now serving his
county as deputy clerk. • Fraternally he is affili-
ated with the Ancient Order of United Work-
men.

Bv his marriage in Temecula in 1876, Mr.
Gonzalez was united with Miss Grace Street, a
native of the southern part of England, and of

ALEXANDER M. HAM. By reason of its
location in the midst of a prosperous and dense-
ly-populated region the city of San Bernardino
offers excellent advantages for mercantile en-
terprises. Among its merchants to whose en-
ergy and sagacious judgment the commercial de-
velopment of the place may be credited, mention
belongs to Alexander M. Ham, for more than
twenty years a progressive and infltiential busi-
ness man of the city. Dating his residence here
from November, 1882, he dates his identification
with the grocery business from a period imme-
diately following his settlement in the town. For
a time he was associated with his brother, H. H.,
under the firm title of Ham Brothers, but after
several years in that connection he purchased his
brother's interest, and has since carried on a
large trade alone.

Prior to removing to Southern California Mr.
Ham made his home in Missouri, where he was
born in Benton county, near Warsaw, September
19, 1848. The family is of southern lineage.
His father, Harrison Howard Ham, was a na-
tive of Kentucky, whence he removed to Mis-
souri as early as 1818 and devoted his attention
to transforming a tract of raw land into a culti-
vated farm. For years he was successful as a
farmer and his place was stocked with horses,
cattle and mules of the best breeds. .Throughout
the remainder of his life he continued interested
in and identified with agricultural pursuits, and
made his home on the farm which he had trans-
formed from the primeval condition of nature.
Dtiring early manhood he married Lucy Frances
Parazetta, who was born in Virginia and at an
early age, in 1818, removed to ^Missouri in com-
pany with her parents, with whom she remained
until her marriage. Eleven children were born
of their union. Of these five sons and four
daughters attained years of maturity. Of the
sons, two are now living in Alissouri, one in
Kansas and two in California.

At an early age Alexander M. Ham became
familiar with every detail of farm work and was
instructed in the occupation, so that he was pre-
pared for independent work. After having ac-
quired a common school education, he left school
when in his eighteenth year and thereafter as-
sisted his father in the cultivation of the home
farm. Subsequently he began independent op-
erations in raising, buying and selling cattle and
horses. On disposing of his interests in Mis-
souri he came to California during the latter
part of the year 1882 and settled in San Ber-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1913

nartlino, where since he has biiiU up a large gro-
cery business. In addition to owning the store
of which he is proprietor, he owns a fruit fann
of forty acres, ten of which are in oranges, while
the balance is devoted to other products. He is
also a stockholder and director in the San Ber-
nardino County Savings Bank.

.Stanch in his allegiance to the Republican
party, Mr. Ham is recognized as one of the ac-
tive local workers of that organization, and has
done much to promote party success in the local-
ity. For four years he served as a trustee of the
city and in other ways he has proved himself in-
terested in the welfare of the town, as well as a
forceful contributor to its commercial develop-
ment. When in his twenty-eighth year he mar-
ried Lenora Parazetta, of Henry county. Mo., a
daughter of Thomas Parazetta. Three children
came to bless their union, namely : J. Garfield,
who is now a student in the University of South-
ern California ; Frances, at home ; and Howard,
now attending the Harvard School in Los An-
geles.

ERNEST E. FELLOWS. The business in-
terests of Long Beach have an enterprising
representative in E. F. Fellows, who has been
located in this city since December, 1902, en-
gaged in the grocery business at No. 120-122
West Second street. Mr. Fellows is a native
of Newark, Wayne county, N. Y., being the
second in a family of two sons and one daugh-
ter, of whom he is the only one now living.
His father, Edgar B. Fellows, is also a native
of the Empire state, where he is now making
his home retired from the active cares of life.
He is a very prominent man in Monroe coun-
ty, having served for twelve or fifteen years as
deputy sherifif. He is a veteran of the Civil
war, having served over a year in the One
Hundred and Fifteenth New York Volunteer
Infantry. His wife, formerly Samantha A.
Osborne, a native of Wayne county, N. Y.,
died in her native state.

E. F. Fellows received his education in the
public schools of Monroe county, N. Y., where
he was reared from early childhood, after which
he attended the Brockport Normal and also
took a commercial course in Oberlin, Ohio.
Following his business training he engaged
in the grocery business in Brockport in 1877
and continued successfully in that location for
sixteen years. On account of his health he
gave up his busine.ss and coming to California
located in Pomona, where he purchased a fruit
ranch of citrus and deciduous trees. Two years
later he sold and entered the employ of the
Chino Valley Beet Sugar Company in the
capacity of bookkeeper, in which position he
91

continued for two years, w^hen, in January.
1897. he came to Los Angeles and with a
]5artner established a retail grocery business
at the corner of Pico and Trenton streets. The
new firm met with success in their enterprise
and remained in that location for six years. In
June, 1902, Mr. Fellows sold out his interests
and in December of the same year came to
Long Beach and purchased his present grocery
business, located at No. 120-122 West Second
street, where he has since built up an extensive
and lucrative custom, enlarging his stock and
in many ways improving the business. He has
also taken an active interest in the real-estate
development of Long Beach and has invested
in several lots.

In Brockport, X. Y., Mr. Fellows was united
in marriage with Jennie R. Hoyt, a native of
that state, and thev have one daughter, Maud,
tlie wife of W. W. Martin of Pasadena. In his
fraternal relations Mr. Fellows is a member of
Long Beach Lodge No. 327, F. & A. M. Politi-
cally he is a Republican and in religion belongs
to the First ^[ethodist Episcopal Church. At
the organization of the Sons of Veterans in New
York he was elected captain of Milo Stork
Camp No. 30. elected to major at the state en-
campment and the following year, 1888, elected
colonel of the state division, taking a very act-
ive interest in the organization.

BLAS OLIVARES. Another of the residents
of Sherman who are descended from a long line
of Spanish antecedents is Bias Olivares, who was
born in Los Angeles county in 1850, this also
being the birthplace of his father, Esmerorgildo
Olivares, On the ranch which he ran for a
number of years in this county his earth life came
to a close in 1851, when his son Bias was still
a child in arms. He was the only child born
to his mother, who before her marriage was
Cornelia Lopez.

At the age of nineteen years Bias Olivares
formed domestic ties by his marriage with To-
masa Toromio, and three children were the re-
sult of this union, named in order of birth, as
follows: Phillip, Teofilo and Cornelia. Some
time after the death of hi?, first wife Mr. Olivares
was united with Delia Limares, who was also born
in Los Angeles county, in 1875, she being the
only child born to her mother, who in maiden-
hood was Marv IMorano. Michael Limares was
also a native of the Golden state, and has known
no other home. During his earlier years he ob-
tained a grant of land from the Spanish govern-
ment which became well known as the Limares
rancho, and was located not far from Pomona.
In addition to this propertv he also owned eisht
acres in Colegrove. but of late Acars he has dis-

1914

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

posed of all of his property and is now making his
home with Air. Olivares, the subject of this
sketch.

Mrs. Delia Olivares died in Colegrove in 1899,
leaving two children, Susie and Bias, since which
time Air. Olivares has made his home in Sher-
man, where he owns considerable valuable prop-

ROBERT STRATHEARN. Preceded by
nearly a quarter of a century as an architect and
builder in the state of Montana, Mr. Strathearn
came to Long Beach in 1905, and has already
made a name and place for himself in his adopted
city, regardless of his former accomplishments.
A direct descendant of Scotch antecedents, he
was born in Milwaukee, Wis., a son of William
and Janet (Merrie) Strathearn, both natives of
Ayrshire, Scotland. By trade William Strath-
earn was a builder, having mastered it in his
native country, and after coming to the new
world added contracting, following this dual oc-
cupation in Milwaukee, Wis., for many years.
Not only in that city, but throughout Southern
\Msconsin there are many fine specimens of his
handiwork to be seen in large and valuable
structures erected during his residence there. To
himself and wife (the latter of whom died in
Wisconsin) seven children were born, six of
whom are livitig and have been trained to lives
of usefulness.

Next to the eldest of the children born to his
parents, Robert Strathearn was born February 4,
1857, and was reared to manhood in his native
city, Milwaukee, Wis. His educational ad-
' vantages were perhaps above the average, for
in addition to attending the city schools he was
given a course in the Spencerian Business college
of Milwaukee. Inheriting from his father a
predilection for work at the carpenter's trade as
soon as he was out of college he began work at
the trade in earnest, having prior to this time
worked side by side with his father at the bench
for many years. The same association was re-
sumed and continued after his college days were
over, and in much of the work previously allud-
ed to in Alilwaukee and Southern Wisconsin as
performed by his father he assisted. A tempo-
rary change of occupation entered into his life
when he accepted a position as foreman of the
Wisconsin ^^alley division of the Chicago, Mil-
waukee & St. Paul Railroad, a position which
he held for three years. Leaving his native state
in 1881. he first went to Livingston. Mont., later
to \\'hite Sulphur Springs, and still later to
Helena, in all of which places he worked as a
contractor and builder, and remaining in the
latter city from 1884 until 1896. His ability
does not seern to be limited to any special char-

acter of architecture, planning and executing
with equal facility the modern business struct-
ure and the palatial residence. During the year
last mentioned, 1896, he was engaged in build-
ing for the Golden Sunlight Company, a mining
corporation of Montana, and the year following
went to Whitehall, that state, where for three
years he did contracting and building continuous-
ly, and during that time practically built up the
town. His next removal found him in Sheridan,
Madison county, Mont., there, as elsewhere, con-
tinuing to work at his trade and meeting with uni-
form success until 1905, the year in which his
name became associated with Long Beach. His
worth and ability as a thorough artisan was im-
mediately recognized, and it goes without say-
ing that he has had unprecedented success and
has built up a large and influential business, con-
trolling much of the work of that character in
Long Beach and vicinity.

While in Montana Mr. Strathearn was mar-
ried to Miss Helena Aleier, a native of Dubuque,
Iowa, and two children have been born to them,
Olive Lois and Roland J. Mr. Strathearn's
political sympathies bring him into association
with others of like faith, being a strong supporter
of the Republican party. His fraternal associa-
tions are no less stanch, and among his asso-
ciates in the Knights of Pythias, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of the
Maccabees he is universally esteemed and re-
spected.

ALBERT M. COSTNER. One of the pro-
gressive dairymen of Norwalk, Los Angeles
county, is Albert M. Costner, who has. made a
success in his work by careful and steady atten-
tion to business and has won the esteem of his
fellow citizens through the display of personal
characteristics of merit during his residence
here. Mr. Costner is a native of Blount county,
Tenn., his birth having occurred sixteen miles
from Knoxville, January 4, 1861. His parents.
Philip and Mary (Hays) Costner, were both
natives of North Carolina; the father enlisted in
the Lnion army during the Civil war, and was
captured and confined in Libby prison, where his
death was caused through exposure. He had
three sons in the same struggle, one of whom
lost his life by drowning while attempting to
ford a river, another was crippled through a
wound received in the service. The mother died
in Tennessee at the advanced age of eighty-one
years, leaving a large family, of the eight sons
and two daughters born to her two sons, Albert
M., of this review, and Spencer, of Stanislaus
county, living in California.

Albert M. Costner received his early educa-
tion in Blount county, Tenn., where he spent the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1915

first twenty-three years of his life. He came to
California in 1884 and from here went to Wash-
iriton, where he remained a short time. Return-
ing to California, for one year he had charge of
a large wheat ranch in ^lodesto, Stanislaus coun-
ty, then came to Los Angeles county, and after
a brief time went north to Stockton, where he
took a commercial course in the Stockton Busi-
ness College. Returning to ^\'ashington he en-
gaged in ranch work for a time and also in the
sawmill business. After a few years he returned
to Los Angeles county and in the vicinity of
Norwalk established his present dairy business.
He was married here to Aliss Bessie Smith, a
daughter of James A. Smith, a pioneer of Cali-
fornia, whose biography is given at length on an-
other page of this volume. She was born in Illi-
nois and brought to this state when only three
months old. Mr. and Mrs. Costner have three
children, Sybil, Sylva and Ford. Fraternally he
is a member of Lodge No. 331, I. O. Q. F., of Ar-
tesia ; and in national politics is a Republican. He
has lived upon his present ranch for sixteen
years and has placed upon it all the improve-
ments which make of it one of the valuable prop-
erties of this section, having built a large barn
and stable for the care of his dairy herd, consist-
ing of twelve milch cows. He has a fine artesian
well which supplies an abundance of water. Be-
sides his dairy interests and the cultivation of
alfalfa and pasture of thirty-five acres he en-
gages extensively in the raising of poultry.

WILLIAM ELLIOTT BEWLEY. The
earliest records of the Bewley family trace their
ancestry to French soil, whence the emigrat-
ing ancestor located the name in Cumberland,
England, and finally in JNIount ?\Iellick, Queens
county, Ireland. In the city of Dublin the name
became prominent in commercial activity, Mungo
B. being the owner of large spice mills there.
His son, Thomas B., who was born near Dublin,
was reared to young manhood in his native
country and trained to a practical business life
in his father's establishment. Seeking broader
opportunities, he immigrated to America and in
Cincinnati, Ohio, engaged as a grocer. Later
he followed a similar occupation in Butlerville,
Ind., where he was also occupied as a lumber
manufacturer and an extensive farmer. His
death, which occurred in 1892, removed from the
community a man of strong worth, his connection
with public afifairs always resulting in a move-
ment towards advancement. He was a member
of the Society of Friends. He is survived by
his wife, formerly Ann R. Thomas, a native of
Elkton, Ind., a representative of an old south-
ern family long established on American soil.
She makes her home in Long Beach. Of the

seven sons and two daughters born to her, James
is a railroad man of Indiana : Edward is a farmer
in Indiana ; Thomas is engaged in the lumber
business in Indiana ; George is a real-estate
dealer of Long Beach ; Qiarles is located in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio ; William E. is the subject of this
review ; Frank is located in Los Angeles ; Eliza-
beth is the wife of Elmer Allen of Whittier,
Cal.; and Isabelle is the wife of L. J. Neill and
located in Westfield, Ind.

William E. Bewley was born August 18, 1875,
in Butlerville, Ind. He was educated in the
public and high schools of his native city, and
after completing the course went to Cincinnati,
where, under the instruction of G. N. Merry-
weather of that city he learned the tea and coft'ee
business. After four years he went to Denver
and in 1897 entered, the employ of Sanders
Brothers as a salesman in the tea and coffee de-
partment. He filled this position successfully
for four years, when he came to Southern Cali-
fornia and in Long Beach established a grocery
enterprise under the firm name of Bewley
Brothers. In 1903 he accepted a position in
Los Angeles with the Wells-Fargo Company
Express, continuing with them for two years,
when he resigned to engage in the real-estate
business in Long Beach. He has since been so
occupied, his office being located in the Wells-
Fargo Company Express office at 429 Pine street.
He has made a success of his enterprise thus far
and bids fair to take a prominent place among
the business men of this city.

Mr. Bewley has been twice married, his first
union occurring in Denver, Miss Carrie Wilhelmi
of that city becoming his wife. Her death oc-
curred in Long Beach. In Los Angeles he was
united in marriage with Miss Luzina Kellum, a
native of Indiana. Both are members of the
Society of Friends. ]Mr. Bewley is a Republican
in politics, and although not seeking personal
recognition gives his active support to the men
and measures of his party.

JOHN B. B. DeLONG. The life which this
narrative sketches began in the city of Los An-
geles May II, 1852, and closed in the county
of the same name May 11, 1905. The DeLong
family is of French extraction, Martin DeLong
having been born and reared in France, whence
he came to America in early manhood and settled
in the then Spanish town of Los Angeles. After
coming to this city he met and married Miss
Josephine Alinez, a native of California, but of
direct Spanish descent. The remaining days of
his life were passed in this locality and here he
passed awa\- at the age of forty-nine years.
Among his children was a son, John B. B., whose
name introduces this article, and who remained

1916

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a lifelong resident of the count}- of his birth.
Educated principally in St. Xincent's school in
Los Angeles, he gained a knowledge of both
French and Spanish, and used these languages in
preference to the English language, with which
he was less familiar.

When a young man and ready to start out for
himself, Mr. DeLong received from his mother
thirty-two acres of bare, unimproved land, then
of little value. Through his efforts the land was
made attractive, the soil produced excellent crops
of their various kinds, improvements were made
that greatly added to the desirability of the place
as a homestead, and all in all the tract was
transformed from its original appearance to an
abode of comfort and simple content. Immedi-
ately before settling on the ranch he was mar-
ried, February 8, 1875, to Miss Julia Ruiz, who
was born in Los Angeles January 25, 1855, ^^'-^
received a fair education in the Spanish tongue.
Her father, Martin Ruiz, was a native of Chi-
huahua, Mexico, and a son of a Spanish gentle-
man who came to the new world as a representa-
tive of the king of Spain ; her mother, who bore
the maiden name of Florence Raildez, was a
native of Los Angeles and a member of a Span-
ish family.

Always interested in educational matters, Mr.
DeLong officiated as a school trustee for years
and maintained a warm interest in the building
of schools. Politically he stanchly supported
Democratic principles, while in religion he was
an earnest Roman Catholic, and all of his family
adhered to the same faith. Fraternally he was a
member of the Foresters of America. Surviving
him are his widow and the following children :
Conception. Mrs. Joseph Cyprien, of Fullerton,
this state; Constance, widow of Joseph Toussau,
also of Fullerton : Alexander, at home : Jessie,
who married Joseph W. Reve, of Los Angeles,
her wedding and that of her eldest sister being
solemnized on the same day ; Oiarles, who makes
his home at Sherman, this state ; Ortense, at
home ; Henry L., who is employed in Los An-
geles ; "Vernie, Mary, Josephine and Barnaby,
who remain with their mother on the home
ranch.

MICHAEL OSMUND. But a brief time has
elapsed since the death of Michael Osmund, one
of the enterprising and progressive ranchers of
the El Monte district, where he had located
about fifteen years ago and began the accumu-
lation of the property which placed him among
the .successful men of this section. He was a
native of Norway, his birth having occurred in
Farsund. where his parents were born and mar-
ried. The father died there, and the mother
later joined her son in Iowa, where her death
occurred. He was educated in the common

schools of Norway, after which he went to sea,
finally locating permanently in America, where
he first engaged as a lumberman. Later fol-
lowed farming in Cass county, Iowa, for some
time and then came to California in 1891. For
a time he was located in Pasadena, but later
purchased the property now owned by his
widow, improving the land from a wild state,
and building a comfortable residence and sub-
stantial barns and outbuildings. While he car-
ried on general farming, he made a specialty of
raising celery and walnuts. He was a Mason
fraternally, being identified with Lexington
Lodge No. 104, of El Monte, and also belonged
to the Order of Eastern Star and the Foresters.
He was a Lutheran in religion and in politics
a stanch Democrat. His death occurred Jan-
uary 16, 1906, and removed from the community
a worthy citizen, a helpful friend, and one who
tried to live according to the Golden Rule.

Mr. Osmund was married in Farsund. Nor-
way, June 12, 1895, to Miss Christine Hansen, a
native of that place, and daughter of Ole and
Martina Hansen, her father being a builder and
farmer in Norway, where both parents still live.
Since her husband's death Mrs. Osmund has con-
tinued to conduct the ranch, which she has
managed profitably. She is the mother of four
children. May, Carl, Albert and Myrtle. In re-
ligion she is a member of the Lutheran Church.

_ JOHNMcCLURE. In those, rich and fer-
tile districts of Southern California that are
devoted to the raising of luscious fruits there
has been established no more important branch
of horticulture than that relating to the grow-
ing of grapes. Prominent among the men
who are doing much to promote this special
branch of horticulture is John McClure, a
well-known resident of Los Angeles, pleasantly
located at No. 3425 Downey avenue. Ener-
getic, progressive, and a man of excellent judg-
ment and ability, he is one of the leading vine-
yardists of Los Angeles county, and the pro-
prietor of an extensive winery. A native of
Ireland, he was born in 1854, in County An-
trim, the home of his ancestors for many gen-
erations.

Immigrating to this country in early man-
hood. Mr. AlcClure came to California in 1875.
and for a brief time resided at Los Angeles.
Looking about for a favorable location, he
settled in the San Fernando valley, buying land
at Roscoe, which was then in its infancy, there
being but very few houses in the entire valley,
and for a while was successfully employed in
grape raising. Here he demonstrated that by
careful cultivation grapes could be raised with-
out irrigation and was the pioneer in this

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

um

undertaking. He subsequently carried on an
extensive business in the same line as junior
member of the firm of Dillon, Kenealy &
AtcClure, the partnership continuing until 1902.
In 1896 Mr. McClure purchased a thousand
acres of raw land, lying just north of the
village of Burbank, and on it has made note-
worthy improvements. He has erected a fine
set of buildings, and has set out three hundred
and fifty acres to wine grapes, having one of
the most extensive and best bearing vineyards
in the vicinity. He also carried on a substantial
business at Dolgeville, where he had a winery,
with an annual capacity of one hundred thou-
sand gallons of sweet wine, and where he also
manufactured some dry wines. On his ranch,
which is known as the "Sunnyside Vineyard,"
he also raises bees on a large scale, having
three apiaries, stocked with about four hundred
hives. On this ranch he erected in 1906, con-
crete wine cellars, with about five thousand
tons yearly capacity and a complete modern
manufacturing plant.

In 1891 Mr. McClure married Nellie M.
Ouayle, a native of Michigan, and a resident of
California since 1889. Of their union five chil-
dren have been born, namely : Mona, John Q.,
Edmund H., Robert G. and Marcus A. Politi-
cally Mr. McClure is independent, voting ac-
cording to the dictates of his conscience, re-
gardless of party prejudice. Fraternally he is
a member of Los Angeles Lodge No. 290, F.
e^ A. M.

ROLLIE FRANK De GARMO. Located in
the vicinity of El Monte, Mr. De Garmo is en-
gaged in the raising of alfalfa and the conduct
of a dairy, in both of which enterprises he has
met with success. He was born in the vicinity
of Girard, Crawford county, Kans., June 8, 1877;
his father, Robert M. De Garmo, was born near
Bloomington, 111., and there enlisted in the
Fifty-fifth Regiment Illinois Infantry for service
in the Civil war, after which, in 1867, he became
a pioneer of Kansas, and in Crawford county
engaged in general farming and cattle-raising
until his death in the fall of 1893. The paternal
grandfather, Marion, was also born in Illinois,
and served in the Fifty-fourth Regiment Illi-
nois Infantry; he was the representative of an
old New York family of French origin. Robert
M. De Garmo married Elizabeth Willey. a na-
tive of Illinois, who survives and now makes her
home in Marshall, Mo. She was the mother of
five children, three of whom are living, Rollie
Frank De Garmo being the youngest and the
only one in California. He was reared in Kan-
sas on the paternal farm and educated in the
public schools, completing his education in Baker

University, at Baldwin, Kans., after which, in
1894, he came to California and in Pasadena at-
tended Williams Commercial College, from
which institution he was later graduated. He
then engaged in ranching near San Gabriel, pur-
chasing a five acre tract, and later purchasing
fifty-three acres adjoining El Monte. This was
semi-damp land, upon which he engaged in gen-
eral farming, remaining so occupied until 1899,
when he leased the ranch and located in Long
Beach. He established a dairy at the corner of
State street and American avenue, where he
purchased forty acres of land, and conducted the
same successfully for four years. Disposing of
this business at the time mentioned, he then
engaged in the dairy business in El Monte, and
also raised alfalfa without irrigation. He has
installed a pumping plant on his ranch and is
occupied in the raising of cabbage and potatoes,
in addition to his ranch renting forty acres ad-
joining his property.

In Savannah, Cal., JMr. De Garmo was united
in marriage with Miss Etta Renfro, a native of
Missouri, and born of this union are three chil-
dren, Alva, Glenn and Velma. Mrs. De Garmo
is the daughter of George B. Renfro, an early
settler of the state, who was born near Collins-
ville, Aladison county. 111., a son of James Ren-
fro, who engaged as a farmer in that state. The
elder man removed to Harrison county. Mo., in
187-I, his death occurring in Bethany in 1881.
He served in the Civil war in the Thirty-sixth
Regiment Illinois Infantry and was wounded at
the battle of Franklin. He was a Mason fra-
ternally, and politically was a strong Republican.
In religion he was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Qiurch. His wife was Martha Reed,
born in Missouri, and whose death occurred in
California at the age of eighty-three years. They
had three children, of whom the eldest was
George B. ; William is located in Los Angeles,
and Thomas is in Missouri. George B. Renfro
was born October 9, 1843, anc^ reared in Illi-
nois, where he attended the public schools. In
T862 he volunteered in Company E, Eightieth
Regiment Illinois Infantry, and was an active
participant in a number of important battles,
among them Roseburg, Chickamauga, Lookout
Mountain, jMissionary Ridge, Resaca. Buzzard's
Roost and siege of Atlanta. In the fall of
1864 he went home on a furlough and was ill
for about fifty days ; rejoining his regiment in
February, 1865, he served until the close of
the war. He was mustered out of service and
honorably discharged in Springfield, 111.. June
19, 1865, and upon returning to civic pursuits
engaged in general farming in Jefiferson county.
In 1872 he removed to Missouri and in Vernon
county purchased a farm, which he cultivated
for four years. In T876 he went to Harrison

1918

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

count}-, Mo., and this property he disposed of
in 1882 and came to CaHfornia. He located at
Sierra ]\Iadre, where he set out an orchard and
improved the property for two years, when he
sold out and in the spring of 1885 purchased the
property in Savannah. He owns twenty-four
acres, of which twenty are devoted to alfalfa,
raised without irrigation. He was married in
Jefferson county, III, to Margaret Williams, a
native of Kentucky, and they became the parents
of four children:" Alva, of Tonopah ; Lutie,
who became the wife of Brace S. Gibson, and
is now deceased ; Adella, wife of Charles Gidly,
of El INIonte; and Etta, Mrs. De Garmo. Mr.
Renfro is a Mason fraternally and prominent in
the order, his wife also belonging to the Order
of Eastern Star. In politics he is a Republican.
Mr. De Garmo is associated fraternally with
the Masonic organization, belonging to Lexing-
ton Lodge No. 104, F. & A. M., of El Monte ;
also Lexington Chapter No. 172, R. A. M. His
wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Politicallv ]\Ir. De Garmo is a stanch Republican.

ALBERT B. CLAYTON. The principal of
the high school of Long Beach. Albert B. Clay-
ton is a man eminently fitted for tlie position
he holds, as he has made educational work his
life studv. at the same time bringing to bear the
natural 'abilitv which has distinguished his
efforts as a teacher. He is well and widely
known throughout this section of the state, his
birth having "occurred near Downey, Cal., No-
vember 2. 1876, and in that location he spent
the vears of his boyhood. His father, P. O.
Clavton, was a pioneer of 1850, who crossed the
plains from Kentucky, his native state, and
located in California, where he passed the re-
mainder of his Hfe. As a minister of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church South he gave his best
efforts toward the moral uplifting of 'the com-
munity in which his life-work was directed, and
became a popular friend of all movements which
tended toward the upbuilding of the western
statehood. His wife, formerly Lennie L. Walker,
a native of Illinois, survives him, and now re-
sides at No. 930 Pine avenue, Long Beach.

A. B. Clavton spent the first years of his life
in Downev where he attended the public school
until qualified to enter the high school of Los
Angeles. He was graduated from this institu-
tion in 1893, when" he went east to Franklin,
Tenn., and enrolled as a student in the Battle
Ground Academy. Three years later he was
graduated from the classical course and imme-
diatelv entered Vanderbilt University, at Nash-
ville, Tenn. Graduating in 1900 with the degree
of B. A., he returned to California and took the
same degree in the l^niversity of California, at

Berkeley. Subsequently, in 1902, he was se-
cured by the Japanese government to work in
the high schools and universities of Japan as a
teacher of English, in which position he re-
mained for two and a half years. Deciding to
return to his native country and state he located
in Long Beach about 1904, when he was made
vice-principal of the high school here, holding
the position for one year, when he assumed the
duties of principal. Although but a brief period
has elapsed since his assumption of these duties,
yet he has evinced the qualities of leadership
and the possession of executive ability, which is
necessarily an essential factor in the accomplish-
ment of results ; both speak eloquently of future
success which shall place the schools of this city
in the front rank of those in Southern Califor-
nia.

]\Ir. Qayton, in addition to his educational
work, has taken a prominent part in the social
life of Long Beach, where he is granted the
position won by his personal attributes. He is
a valued member of the Methodist Qiurch South,
and fraternally is identified with Long Beach
Lodge No. 327, F. & A. M. ; Qiapter No. 84,
R. A. M. ; the Knights Templar and the Knights
of Pythias. Throughout his entire career, even
as a student, he was prominent in social orders,
at Berkeley being an active member of the
Young Men's Christian Association. Thus far
in life Mr. Clayton has made his success by the
exercise of his own ability and energy, starting
in the world without capital, but allowing no
obstacle to daunt nor dismay him. Whatever the
future holds for him he carries that force within
himself that enables him to give his best eft'orts
toward the fulfillment of his desires — the bet-
terment of humanity through educational forces.

JAMES G. COX. The citizens of Long
Beach are a unit in their unquestioning and per-
fect faith in the future prosperity of the town
and its increasing growth in population. A
number of the influential men of the place have
given evidence of this faith through their invest-
ments and their close identification with the
buying and selling of real estate. Among this
class stands James G. Cox, member of the firm
of Cox & Cox, organized September i, 1904,
for the general handling of real estate, with
loans and insurance as auxiliaries of the main
business. Though primarily the removal to Cal-
ifornia was made for the benefit of the health
of himself and wife, he has had no reason to
regret the change from a financial standpoint,
for he has met with a gt-atifying degree of suc-
cess in his investments and has become an in-
fluential member of the Board of Trade and a
contributor to the advancement of the citv.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1919

Indiana is well represented in the citizenship
of Long Beach, and Mr. Cox is one of those who
from that state have sought the wider oppor-
tunities of California. Born near Rockville,
May 25, i860, he passed the years of boyhood
as a farmer's son, helping with the many duties
connected with the care of a large tract of land
and attending the country schools in the winter
seasons. After having completed the studies of
the common schools he had the privilege of at-
tending the Indiana State Normal School, where
he availed himself of the opportunities for study
offered him. On leaving school he established
himself in the mercantile business at Coloma,
Parke county, and conducted a general store in
that village. For sixteen years he also held the
ofifice of postmaster, having the office in his
store, and superintending it with the same fidel-
ity characteristic of him in other duties.

On coming to Southern California in Novem-
ber, 1899, Mr. Cox settled at Long Beach and
later erected his present residence at No. 535
East Third street. The first business in which
he engaged was that of merchandising, which he
conducted in a brick block purchased by him for
that purpose. However, the life of a merchant
proved too confining and in a year he disposed
of the stock of goods and the building at a fair
advance. Gradually he drifted into the real-
estate business through the buying of lots and
improving of the same, and he still continues in
the business, which as yet has been limited to
his home city. In the future of the beach towns
he has the greatest confidence. With their un-
rivaled climate and beauties of scenery he be-
lieves they will attract a constantly increasing
number of guests, and the present rapid growth
of Long Beach justifies his faith in its prosper-
ity. Charities and churches receive his support,
and his influence is given to all movements for
the upbuilding of the city along lines of perma-
nent advancement. He is a member of the
Friends Church of Long Beach, which he has
served in the capacity of trustee for the past
four years, and was also treasurer of the Pasa-
dena quarterly meeting. While living in the
east he married Miss Sallie Lindley, of Illinois,
and they have had two daughters, one of whom
died at four years of age and the other, Mary
Esther, is now the chief joy of their cozy home.

HON. FREDERIC W. GREGG. The lin-
eage of the family represented by this influen-
tial attorney of San Bernardino and popular citi-
zen of Redlands is traced back to the north
of Ireland and to Scotland, but from an early
period in American colonial history the family
has been associated with the development of
New England. The genealogy shows that Alex-

ander M. Gregg was a native of Medford,
Alass., and established the family in New Hamp-
shire, where, to his marriage with a Miss Clark,
there was born, January 21, 1823, a son, Robert
M. During early manhood he met and married
Eliza M. Buxton, whose ancestors came from
England to America during the colonial era and
settled in New England. When the second war
began with England, her father, William Bux-
ton, who was a stanch defender of American
rights, enlisted in the service on board a priva-
teer which captured many valuable British ships.
His father was also a sailor in the American
navy and served during the Revolutionary war.

Among the children of Robert M. Gregg there
was a son, Frederic W., who was born in Ver-
mont on Christmas day of 1856. It was his
privilege to receive better advantages than fell
to many of his day and locality, and of these
privileges he availed himself to the utmost. On
the completion of the studies of the common
schools he matriculated in Dartmouth College,
where he took the classical course of study and
was graduated with the class of 1878. Immed-
iately after leaving college he began the study
of law in the office of Hon. Frank Plumley,
L'nited States district attorney for Vermont. La-
ter he pursued his law studies in the Columbia
Law School. On being admitted to the bar he
sought a field of practice in the west and in
June 1881, opened an office at Tucson, Ariz.,
where he soon acquired prominence through his
high mental attainments and broad knowledge of
the law.

Less than one year after he had established his
office in Tucson Mr. Gregg was appointed
l'nited States commissioner for the first judic-
ial district of Arizona, which position he filled
for three years. In November of 1882 he was
elected a member of the board of school trustees
of Tucson. As the nominee of the Republican
party in 1884 he was a candidate for district at-
torney, but was defeated by a few votes. Upon
the petition of the bar of the county in March,
1S85, he was appointed county judge of Pima
county. At the expiration of the term of two
years he was elected to the office as his own
successor, being honored with a larger vote than
any other candidate on the Republican county
ticket.

On leaving Tucson in the summer of 1887
Judge Gregg removed to California and opened
an office at San Bernardino, where he formed a
])artnership with William A. Harris under the
firm title of Harris & Gregg. Since coming to
this city he has acquired a large practice in all
of the courts, and has won local distinction
through high attainments and attractive personal
qualities. After coming to California he re-
mained a bachelor for some years, but July 31,

1920

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lyoi, he established domestic ties through his
marriage to Miss Agnes Wilson, an accom-
plished and cultured young lady residing in Los
Angeles, of which her father, Peter Wilson, was
an early settler. Her death, which occurred
April 30, 1906, was a bereavement not only to
Judge Gregg and members of her father's fam-
ily, but also to the large circle of warm personal
friends to whom she had become endeared
through the possession of refinement of manner,
gentleness of temperament and a cultured mind.

CODY J. FREDERICK. A short distance
north of \ enice lies the homestead of Mr. Fred-
erick, embracing a small tract which cost him
only $47 an acre at the time of its purchase.
Owing to the proximity of the markets, the place
afforded ideal conditions for a dairy, and this
industry has engaged the owner's attention. Al-
falfa can be raised exceptionally well, hence ha\-
is provided for the milch cows of excellent qual-
ity and in large quantities. (Jn the building of
the Short Line electric railroad, the track crossed
one corner of the farm, giving fine facilities for
reaching the city as well as other suburbs. Re-
cently Mr. Frederick sold eight acres for $950
an acre, reserving for himself five acres on the
car line, just outside of the city limits of Venice.
The five acres are estimated to be worth $2,000
an acre, and he has erected thereon a comfort-
able residence, besides making other improve-
ments of value.

The birth of Cody J. Frederick occurred in
Branch county, Mich., February 5, 1854, his
parents being Alexander and Emeline (Cody)
Frederick, natives of New York. The paternal
grandfather was born in Germany and the ma-
ternal grandfather, John Cod}-, was of Holland-
Dutch extraction, while the maternal grand-
mother, who bore the maiden name of Hannah
Hubbs, was of Scotch lineage. While Michigan
was still a new country, on whose broad acres
few furrows had been turned, Alexander Fred-
erick sought its opportunities and identified him-
self with its pioneers, clearing a farm where for
years he made his home. For a time he also
engaged in teaming and in addition he carried
on a hotel situated on the main thoroughfare be-
tween Qinton and Detroit. His death occurred
when he was fifty-six years of age, and his wife
survived him some time, passing away on the
Michigan homestead at the age of sixty-five
years.

When eleven years of age Cody J. Frederick
was orphaned by the death of his father, and two
vears later he began to earn his own livelihood.
To an exceptional degree, therefore, whatever,
of success he has attained may be attributed to
his unaided exertions begun at a period when

most boys are enjoying the advantages of nun:'
training in school. For six years he worked out
on farms for neighboring farmers and then he
rented the old homestead, which he operated
until the place was sold in 1893. During the lat-
ter year he came to California and settled at
Santa Monica, where he was employed in team-
ing and sundry other occupations such as pre-
sented themselves for the obtaining of a liveli-
hood. After six years in that town he came to
his present location and purchased fourteen
acres, a part of which forms his present home-
stead. While living in JNIichigan he married
Sarah L. Purdy, who was born and reared in that
state, and whom he had known from early child-
hood. They became the parents of three chil-
dren, but two died young and onlv one survives.
Alma, wife of William Lowe, who operates a
large dairy at Palms. In politics Mr. Frederick
always votes with the Republican party, while in
fraternal relations he holds membership with the
Ancient Order of L^nited Workmen and the Fra-
ternal Brotherhood.

CLAUDIUS LEE E]\IERSON, cashier of
the First National Bank of San Jacinto, River-
side county, is one of the foremost business men
of this section, having risen to the position of
esteem in which he is universally held by the
demonstration of superior business ability. The
institution with which he is connected was first
organized as a state bank in 1886 and from a
modest beginning acquired a financial standing,
which in January, 1906, led to its establishment
as a national bank, A. W. \\Tight being presi-
dent ; John Shaver, vice-president ; C. L. Emer-
son, cashier ; and J. C. Wright, assistant -cashier.
Mr. Emerson is a native of California, his birth
having occurred in Fresno county in 1872 ; his
parents, J. H. and Nellie (Neal) Emerson, na-
tives of Missouri (the gateway for the vast tide
of emigration which swept toward the Pacific
coast in historic '49), crossed the plains with
ox-teams, and after a six months' trip located in
Grass valley, where, following the example of
the majority who came west in that year, the
father engaged in mining. This occupation he
followed until injured by the caving in of a
mine : at that period he located in Fresno county
and made that place his home until 1886. when
he came to Riverside county, and in San Jacinto
engaged in business. Failing health induced his
practical retirement from business activity some
time previous to his death, which occurred in
1897, at the age of sixty-one years. He is sur-
vived by his wife, who is now seventy-one years
of age, her home remaining in San Jacinto.

In the public schools of San Jacinto C. L.
Emerson received a good education, after which.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RLCORD.

1921

in young manhood, he engaged as a clerk in a
general merchandise store of this place. In
1900 he went into business for himself, purchas-
ing a grocery store which he operated for three
years, when he was chosen assistant cashier of
the First National Bank, which was then, how-
ever, the State Bank of San Jacinto. Upon its
being made a national bank Mr. Emerson be-
came its cashier and this position he is filling at
the present writing. At the same time he has
retained an interest in the agricultufal life of the
community, owning and operating a ranch in the
vicinity of San Jacinto.

In San Jacinto Mr. Emerson was united in
marriage with Miss Zelma Shultz, and born of
this union are two children, Marjorie and Nellie.
Air. Emerson is identified with several fraternal
organizations, being a member of San Jacinto
Lodge No. 383, I. O. O. F. ; Independent Order
of Foresters; and San Jacinto Camp No. 100,
W. O. W. He is also a member of the Native
Sons of the Golden West, being associated with
the San Jacinto Parlor. He takes a deep in-
terest in the general welfare of the community,
and gives his best efforts toward all forward
movements, being particularly associated with
the educational affairs as trustee of the public
and high schools. He is in no sense a partisan,
but seeks to advance the interest of the entire
section in which he makes his home.

ALBERT JOHNSON. It has been a matter
of frequent comment among the people of Cal-
ifornia that the young men who have come
hither from Germany and who have learned their
trades in the old country are unusually skilled in
their special craft or occupation ; as workmen
they have few superiors, and their knowledge of
their trades is both thorough and extensive. Such
in general may be stated of Mr. Johnson, whose
proficiency in the building business has brought
him into prominence in Ventura county and given
him a goodly proportion of such business in his
home town of Oxnard. Of German birth, he
had the advantage of serving an apprenticeship
of three years at the carpenter's trade in his
home land, begining to serve at the age of four-
teen and remaining under a master carpenter
until he was seventeen and thoroughly grounded
in the occupation.

Oldenburg is Mr. Johnson's native place, and
.\pril 19, i860, the date of his birth, his parents
being John and Helen (Torhorst) Johnson, who
were likewise natives of Germany and lifelong
residents of that country, the father being a
farmer in Oldenburg. Six children comprised
their family and all but one are still living, Al-
bert being next to the youngest and the only
one in the L^nited States. It was his good for-

tune to receive an excellent education in the
German language in the schools of Oldenburg,
and immediately after leaving school he was ap-
prenticed to the carpenter's trade. In 1878 he
crossed the ocean to try his fortune in America.
Proceeding west to Nebraska, he secured em-
ployment on a farm in Webster county, and re-
mained in that postion for fifteen months. At
the expiration of that time he began to work at
carpentering at Guiderock, \\'ebster county, and
later was similarly employed in Alilwaukee, V\'is.,
from which city he came to the Pacific coast, ar-
riving in Los Angeles February 6, 1885, and se-
curing employment as a carpenter in that city.

Upon his removal to Hueneme in 1888 Mr.
Johnson entered the employ of a contractor,
with whom he remained for three years, mean-
while acquiring a valuable insight into the con-
tracting business with its multitudinous details.
After leaving his employer, JMr. Wilson, he be-
gan to take contracts to erect buildings and suc-
ceeded so well that he was encouraged to con-
tinue. At the time of the founding of Oxnard,
in 1898, he came to the new town and com-
menced to build on contract. Since then he has
erected scores of residences, some among them
being as elegant and substantial as any to
be found in Ventura county. In 1903 he brought
his family to Oxnard, where he owns and oc-
cupies a neat residence near the corner of A
and Third streets. In \'entura county he mar-
ried Mrs. Freda (Bulla) Engle, who was born
in .Saxony, Germany, and is a lady of fair educa-
tion and the highest refinement, an earnest mem-
ber of the Lutheran Church and a contributor in
missionary" and charitable movements. Reared in
the Lutheran faith, Mr. Johnson always has been
identified with that denomination and gives his
support to its doctrines. \\'ell informed con-
cerning the national government of the United
States and the policy of each administration, he
casts his ballot for Republican principles at all
elections. Fraternally he hold membership with
the Sons of Herman, and has been honored with
the office of president, which he now holds.

RICHARD W. SERVICE. Associated with
the real estate firm known as Service Brothers,
of Los Angeles, with a branch ofiice in EI Monte,
Richard W. Service is active in business aft'airs
of the county and as a man of sagacious judg-
ment and executive ability has proven a factor
in the upbuilding and development of this enter-
prise. Mr. Service came to California in 1900
from his birthplace in Ontario, where he was
born April 24, 1869, a son of Rev. Richard
Ser^-ice. of English and Scotch ancestry, the
paternal grandfather, David, having emigrated
from England and located in the province of

1922

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Ontario. Richard Service became a minister in
the 2\Iethodist Episcopal Church, attending the
Niagara conference and later the London con-
ference. His death occurred in Ontario. His
wife, formerly Julia Bristol, was born near
Tcnawanda, N. Y., a daughter of Rev. Emerson
Bristol also a native of New York and a lumber-
man in the northern part of the state on the
Erie canal. Later in life he entered the ministry
of the iNIethodist Episcopal Church, preached in
his native state and later went to Ontario, where
he served as presiding elder for thirty years.
?klrs. Service still survives and makes her home
in El Monte. She has three sons : Emerson,
a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
located in Howard Lake, Minn. : Richard W.,
of this review ; and William E., in partnership
with his brother in the real estate business.

Richard W. Service was reared in St. Mary"s,
Ontario, and received his education in the pub-
lic and high schools. With his brother he en-
gaged in a real estate enterprise in their native
city, the two remaining there until 1900, when
they came to California and in Los Angeles es-
tablished a similar business, at the same time
opening an ofifice in El Monte, the first of its
character in the place. In Los Angeles they are
located at No. 302 Frost building, where they
make a specialty of handling farm lands, being
the exclusive selling agents for the E. J.
(Lucky) Baldwin ranches. They have met with
success in their enterprise, and have laid out
Baldwin's addition to El ^lonte, also the Brock-
way tract.

In Los Angeles Richard W. Service was
united in marriage with Miss Venie Ruland. a
native of Colorado, who was reared in Califor-
nia, a graduate of the State Normal School in
Los Angeles, where she engaged in educational
work. %It. Service is a Methodist, and political-
ly votes the Republican ticket. In all matters of
public import he takes an active interest and
seeks in every possible way to advance the gen-
eral welfare. He is a leading citizen in El
Monte, and holds a high place in the regard of
his fellow citizens.

JOHN G. FRENCH. A man of advanced
ideas, practical and progressive, possessing men-
tal vigor and business aptitude, John G. French
occupies a fine position among the representa-
tive citizens of \''enice, Los Angeles county, and
is among the foremost to forward all enterprises
conducive to the best interests of the place. A
native of Ohio, he was born. October 22, 1855,
in Miami county, a son of Asa D. French.

Having spent his earlier life in Oliio, Asa D.
French subsequently moved to White county.
Tnd., buying land, and being extensively engaged

in farming and stock-raising for man}' }ears.
In 1880 he migrated to Oregon, locating in
Morrow county, where he continued in agricult-
ural pursuits for several years. On July 13,
1891, he died at his home in Oregon, where his
widow, whose maiden name was Ruth E.
Glancy, now lives, her home being in Heppner.
Brought up on the home farm, John G. French
early became acquainted with the various
branches of farming, including grain and stock-
raising. He' received excellent educational ad-
vantages, and after his graduation, in 1872, from
the Brookston Academy, in \Miite county, Ind.,
he taught school in that locality for three years.
Going then to Kansas, he taught school for a
>-ear, and was aftenvards engaged in the cattle
business for awhile, shipping stock to different
points. In 1877, i" Halstead, Kans., he built
the first steam elevator on the Santa Fe Rail-
road, and after operating it successfully for three
years went to McPherson, Kans., where he built
the first steam elevator on the line of the LTnion
Pacific Railway. Selling out of the grain-re-
ceiving business in 1881, he located in Atchison,
Kans.. becoming buyer for the Atchison Eleva-
tor Company. Three years later, in 188..1, he
closed out his interest in the grain trade and
embarked in the wholesale grocerv business with
\\\ F. Dolan & Co., having his western head-
quarters in Newton, Kans., and while thus en-
gaged invested in Kansas property. Retiring
from this business in 1887 he was for two years
in the retail drv-goods business in Newton. Dis-
posing of his stock in 1889, he opened a retail
hardware and implement house in Pratt, Kans.,
where he Was located two years. Selling out
in 1891, he came to the Pacific coast as agent for
manufacturing companies, his territorv extend-
ing the length of the coast, with headquarters in
San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1898 he
organized the wholesale department of the Will-
iam H. Hoegee & Co. firm in Los Angeles, with
which he was connected for five years. Sever-
ing his relations with this firm in 1904, he re-
sumed his former position w-ith the manufactur-
er's agency, and soon after was made general
manager of the Abbot Kinney Company in the
building of \'enice, remaining as such from Janu-
ary, 1905, until July, 1905, when he assumed
the management of the land department, with
headquarters at Venice. On January i. 1906,
he organized the Venice of America Land Com-
pany, a corporation, paid-up capital $30,000, of
which he is vice-president and general manager,
and promoting along with other \''enetian inter-
ests. East Venice of America, a beautiful resi-
dence suburb of Venice.

Jn the upbuilding of \'enice Mr. French lias
t-\ken an active part, lending his aid and influ-
ence toward the establishment of beneficial proj-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1923

ects. He is a firm believer in the advanced ideas
of education and was one of the first board of
trustees, and the first president, of the Ocean
Park school board, a position that he still re-
tains. Many of the new ideas used in erecting,
equipping and furnishing the first grammar
school building in Venice were his, and have
proved useful and practical, and of great benefit
to teachers and pupils.

In 1879, in Kansas, :\Ir. French married
Birdie L. Pence, of Leavenworth, Kans., a grand-
daughter of Louis Burns, a prominent citizen of
Kansas, and of their union three children have
been bom, namely : Ruth E., Elma P. and
Dorothy G. Politically Mr. French is a Repub-
lican, and fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias.

JOSEPH L. COLEMAN. Two and a half
miles northeast of El Monte is located the ranch
owned by Joseph L. Coleman, one of the pro-
gressive and enterprising citizens of this section
of Los Angeles county. The family of which.
Mr. Coleman is the California representative is
of English origin, the grandfather, Steven, hav-
ing emigrated from England and located in Vir-
ginia, where he engaged as a farmer until his
death. The father, Richard D., was born in
Tazewell county, Va., there reared to manhood,
when he followed a mercantile enterprise until
the breaking out of the Civil war. He enlisted in
the Union army in Company H, Thirty-ninth
Regiment Kentucky Infantry, as first lieutenant
and was killed at the battle of Round Bottom, in
Kentucky, in 1863. He was survived by his
wife, formerly Nancy King, a native of Ken-
tucky, and daughter of Louis King, also a native
of that state, who engaged in farming until the
breaking out of the Civil war. He participated
as a soldier in Company H, Thirty-ninth Regi-
ment Kentucky Infantry, after which he removed
to Alinnesota. Still later he removed to Arling-
ton, Tex., where his death eventually occurred.
]\Irs. Coleman died in Minnesota, leaving a fam-
ily of eight children, of whom five are now liv-
ing

Next to the oldest child in a large family, Jo-
seph L. Coleman was born in Tazewell county,
Va., July 9, i8s2, and passed the first ten years
of his life in Virginia, the family removing to
Kentucky in 1862. After his service in the Civil
war the father located in Hutchinson, Minn.,
with his family and there carried on farming un-
til the death of the mother in 1864. Little more
than a child in years, Joseph L. was forced to
take up the burden of self-support, the only work
at hand being on a farm or steamboating on the
^[ississippi river, both of which he did. In 1869
he went to Montana and near Helena worked on
a stock range. Up to the time he was eighteen

years old he had never had any educational ad-
vantages, but the desire for knowledge was
strong within him, and when opportunity pre-
sented he attended the district school for about
seven months, working on a farm during the
summer. In 1875 he went to Northern Califor-
nia and near Yreka engaged in the stock busi-
ness. Four years later he bought a ranch in
Lake county and engaged in the sheep and horse
business in which he was uniformly successful.
In 1901 he sold his stock, leased his lands and
came to Southern California, locating in Mon-
rovia. In 1903 he purchased sixty-five acres of
the Peck tract and Chicago Park, considered
waste land with deep ditches through it, but un-
daunted by its uninviting appearance, he spent
time and energy upon it and has turned it into
a profitable walnut grove and alfalfa farm. He
installed a pumping plant, the largest outside of
the city of Los Angeles, and has one engine of
sixty horse power.

In Los Angeles Air. Coleman married Miss
Lena Linder, a native of Switzerland, and they
are the parents of three children, Nancy, Magda-
lene and Mary E. Mr. Coleman is a Republican
in his political convictions and seeks to advance
the principles he endorses, although he has never
cared personally for official recognition. In his
religious views he has endeavored to live up to
the teachings of Qirist and do the will of the
Lord in his every movement, word, thought and
act. Mrs. Coleman has devoted her time to
spreading the Gospel for the past thirteen years.

CHRISTIAN KORTNER. From the pictur-
esque mountains and bracing air of Norway have
come many of the most capable ranchers in Santa
Barbara county. The sea and farming have al-
ways been the special province of the people nf the
Northlands, steeped in their beautiful legends of
sailors and knights, with their simple attitude to-
wards life and its responsibilities, their love of
home, and' their appreciation of the common,
homely virtues. It is to the call of the sea. h<iw-
ever, that the Norseman listens most readily
in his youth, and thus in mature life there are
those who, living in our midst, and pursuing pas-
toral callings, still in memory recall the boom of
the waves, the raging of the elements, and the
joy of sighting distant ports. Such a one is
Christian Kortner, an extensive rancher near
Santa Maria, who came to this country with a
seaman's stipend, speaking an alien tou'^fue.
knowing nothing of the habits or customs of his
associates, and who now is the possessor of a
competence won through untiring perseverance.

Mr. Kortner was born in Norway, January 14,
iS.:|5, and while still the school room should liavc
claimed him, went to sea as a deck hand. In

1924

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

this lie had a precedent in his father, who touched
at many ports during a long sea-faring career,
and who finally died of yellow fever on ship
Ixiard, and was buried in the cemetery of the sea.
Ole Kortner was forty-six years old at the time
of his death, and he left a tamily of seven child-
ren, three of whom are living in California. His
wife, in girlhood Gurna Nelson, survived him
manv years, her death occurring at the age of
seventy-three. Christian Kortner followed the
uncertain fortunes of the ocean for seven years,
and finally touched at New York, from where he
shipped in the American vessel Twilight for the
long vo\age around the Horn to San Francisco.
Here terminated his nautical career, and soon
after began his agricultural efforts in Alameda
count}'.

After two years in Alameda county Mr. Kort-
ner spent two years in the San Joaquin valle}.
moving then to Monterey county, where he re-
mained four years. He next farmed for thirteen
years in San Luis Obispo county, and in 1892
came to Santa Barbara county, locating on his
present ranch of two hundred and fifteen acres.
He also farms a tract of one hundred and forty
acres, and another of eighty acres, devoting his
land principally to grain, beans and stock. He
is a studious and industrious farmer, and has
always adhered to the first principle of saving as a
guarantee of financial success. However, the
habits of thrift and economy have not prevent-
ed his adoption of American comforts and con-
veniences, or his appreciation of the diversions
and refinements made possible by the larger op-
portunities by which he is surrounded.

In 1887 Mr. Kortner married Mrs. Maria Han-
son, who was born in Denmark, and who. through
her former marriage, is the mother of four chil-
dren : Ellen, wife of George Tunnel ; Rasmus,
Maria and Jens. To Mr. and Mrs. Kortner have
been born four children : Olga, Laura, Christian
and Henrw Mr. Kortner is a Democrat in ]3ol-
itics and a member of the Lutheran Qiurch. He
is a public spirited and enlightened rancher, an
enthusiastic supporter of schools and general
improving agencies, and an admirer of the gov-
ernment and institutions of his adopted coinitry.

CHARLES GROSJEAN. A lumberman of
practical experience and judgment Mr. Grosjean
is connected with the San Pedro Lumber Com-
pany as order clerk. Like many other enterpris-
ing young men of the east, he left home soon
after attaining his majority to seek a new and
wider field of operation, coming to the Pacific
coast in search of a favorable opportunity for
improving his financial condition. Eor the past
twelve years he has lived in this thriving city,
and during the time has labored with persistency

of purpose and has acquired a nice property.
A son of Edward Grosjean. he was born, Octo-
ber 2, 1854, at Mount Eaton, Ohio, where his
paternal grandfather, Charles Grosjean, was a
pioneer settler, and from the wild tract of land
which he bought reclaimed a good farm.

Born in canton Berne, Switzerland, Edward
Grosjean came with his parents to the United
States when }Oung, and in the clearing and
improving of the parental homestead was an
able assistant. He subsequently engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits, carrying on general farming,
and also owning and operating a saw-mill. In
1852 he came across the plains to California,
and after mining for a time with good success
returned, on the Golden Gate, which was sub-
sequently burned, going home by way of the
Isthmus. Erecting a large mill in Ohio, he
was afterwards engaged in the manufacture of
lumber until his death, at the early age of forty-
one years. He was a man of sterling integrity
and worth, and occupied a place of prominence
in Masonic circles, having taken the thirty-
second degree in that order. He married Caro-
line Wisen. who was born in Berne, Switzerland,
and died in Mount Eaton, Ohio. Of the ten
children born of their union, four sons and one
daughter are living. Charles being the oldest son.

Brought up on a farm, and educated in the
common schools, Charles Grosjean was trained in
early life to habits of industry and thrift. As
a bo_\- he worked in his father's saw-mill, be-
coming expert in all departments connected
with its management. In 1887 he came to Cali-
fornia, locating at Guerneville, Sonoma county,
where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber,
in the mill running everything from the plane
to the big saw, and serving as tallyman. Go-
ing to San Francisco in 1881, he was tallyman and
foreman for the Moore & Smith Company for
four years, and the following seven years was
similarly employed in Oakland, with the Puget
Sound Lumber Company. He was subsequently
foreman for eight months for Simpson & Gray,
in Stockton, afterwards being foreman for the
Glenwood Lumber Company in San Jose. Com-
ing to San Pedro in 1893, he accepted the posi-
tion of foreman with the San Pedro Lumber
Company, and in that capacity rendered ac-
ceptable service until 1899. when he resigned.
He has since continued his residence here, and
is now order clerk for the same firm. Familiar
with the manufacture of lumber from his earlier
years, he brings to the business experience, in-
dustry and a large amount of ability. He has
accumulated some property of value, and at No.
270 Fifth street has erected a fine residence.

In Millersburg, Ohio, January i, 1881. Mr.
Grosjean married Lina M. Beckler, a native of
that place, being the daughter of Eugene Beckler,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1925

who settled there on coming to this country from
France. Fraternall_v Mr. Grosjean is a member
of the Foresters of America, and of the Inde-
pendent Order of Foresters. He is a man of
high moral standing in the community, and be-
longs to the Congregational Church.

LEAXDER COLUMBUS MILLER. Since
1886 L. C. Miller has been heavilx- interested
in Los Angeles county property and in the past
twenty years has bought and improved many
pieces of land which he afterwards platted and
sold as town lots. He is of German descent.
his grandfather, John Miller, being a native of
Germany, where in early manhood he was en-
gaged as a potter and farmer. Later he emi-
grated to America and becamfe a pioneer of
Union county, Ind., where he pre-empted the
first piece of government land, and resided un-
til his death in 185 1 at the advanced age of
eighty-three years. His wife was Phoebe Mc-
Clure before her marriage in 1792, and her
death occurred in 1848, aged seventy-seven years.
Mr. Miller's parents, Abraham and Susanna
(Lybrook) Miller, were both natives of Indiana,
the former born in 1810, died July 9, i860, the
latter bom May 2, 1830, died October 30, 1883.
They were the parents of seven children, six of
whom are living, and the father was a firm be-
liever in the principles of the Republican party.

In the middle of the past century when
the central states were really the frontier border-
land, it was not easy to secure an education. Mr.
Miller who was born near College comer, Ohio,
on the Indiana side, October 9, 1846, was obliged
to be content with what he could learn in from
three weeks to three months a year at the dis-
trict school. His father died when the son was
fourteen years old and until he was twenty-eight
years of age he worked on the farm for his moth-
er. He then married and came to California but
soon returned to Indiana and again conducted the
home farm, his mother being in ill health. After
her death he sold the place, settled and divided
the estate and came in Glendale, Cal., where he
purchased twenty acres of land, subdivided and
sold it and then in company with three others
bought a tract of eighty acres and disposed of
it in the same way. The Santa Monica district
attracted him next, and selecting a tract of forty
acres which was then bare and desolate h^ im-
proved it and gradually added more acres to his
original purchase until he had seventv-five acres.
Again he decided to subdivide a portion of the
land, and choosing the fortv acres Iving nearest
to Venice he made the addition of East Venice.
In addition to his other properties Mr. Miller
also owns a fine residence on Thirtieth street in
Los Angeles where he makes his home.

His wife was Katharine Smith whose parents
and grandparents were natives of North Caro-
lina, with the exception of her father, Alexander
Smith, who was born in Butler county, Ohio,
where he engaged as a farmer, and stock dealer,
later removing to Indiana, where he married
and spent the rest of his life. Her mother
came to California and her death occurred at
Santa Monica. Mrs. Miller was born Septem-
ber 16, 1848, and became the mother of seven
children, five of whom are still living. They are
Olive Leona, married to Mr. Spencer, now de-
ceased : Glen G., a dentist ; Myron C, fomierly
manager of the telephone office, and now of
Whittier : Laurel Revel, a high school student ;
and Zelma K., at home. Religiously the fam-
ily attend and support the INIethodist Episcopal
Cliurch, and politically Mr. Miller is a stanch
believer in the principles advocated by the Repub-
lican party. He is accorded a prominent place
in the ranks of the leading citizens of Los An-
geles and has alwa}S been ready to lend a hand
in the forwarding of progressive enterprises.

OLOF NELSON. The material upbuilding
and practical development of San Diego have
been promoted by the arduous efforts of the men
who directly or indirectly are connected with the
building business, and in this class Olof Nelson
occupies an important place. Although fully
competent to engage in any department of the
building industry he has limited his attention to
cement work and teaming contracts. For a time
prior to 1905 he was a member of the firm of
Engebretsen & Nelson, but during the latter year
he sold his interest in the business to Mr. Enge-
bretsen and since then has engaged independ-
ently in contract grading and teaming, for which
purpose he utilizes about ten teams. As a con-
tractor he has proved prompt and reliable and
has carried out all work with energy and dis-
patch.

Near Gottenburg, Sweden, Olof Nelson was
born April 11. 1858, being a son of Nels Ander-
son by his marriage to Caroline, daughter of
Andreas, all natives of the same part of Sweden
and farmers by occupation. In the parental fam-
ily there were four sons and three daughters,
all of whom are still living, Olof being the
\-oungest of the seven and the only one to settle
in the United States. During boyhood he worked
on the farm in summers and attended school in
the winter, receiving such educational advan-
tages as the time and place afforded. After he
had attained his majority he continued on the
old homestead, but it was his ambition to emi-
grate to the new world, and at the age of twentv-
five years he was able to carry out his wishes in
that respect. April 20, 1883. he set sail for the

1926

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

western hemisphere, and i\Iay 14 he landed at
Galveston, Tex., where for some months he re-
mained as an employe of the Santa Fe Railroad
Company.

From Texas removing west to California in
February, 1884, Mr. Nelson settled in San Fran-
cisco, where he was employed in cutting stone
blocks used in making pavements. November
27, 1887, he arrived in San Diego. Shortly after
his arrival he began to take contracts for grading
and opening roads. From quarries that he leased
he secured blocks which he used in the paving
of streets, and he soon came to be known a,s a
reliable workman with a thorough knowledge of
his work. In street paving and in cement' work
he was at first associated with another gentleman
under the title of Engebretsen & Nelson, but
more recently he has been alone in business.
When he came to Southern California he was a
single man, and here he established a home of
his own through his marriage, December i, 1900,
to Miss Carrie Johnson, who was born in Helge-
bode, Varmland, Sweden, and like himself is of
the Lutheran faith. They are the parents of one
son. Chester Odell. Since becoming a citizen of
the United States l\Tr. Nelson has voted with
the Republican party and has displayed a deep
interest in all measures relating to the progress
and prosperity of his adopted countn,'. On the
organization of the Scandinavian Club of San
Diego he became one of its charter members and
still retains his connection with that bodv. Fra-
ternally he holds membership with the Woodmen
of the World and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, having been mitiated into the latter
order in Sunset Lodge No. 328. besides which he
is also connected with the encampment and the
canton.

PETER HORTON CO\TNGTON. In 1876
Mr. Covington came to California and since that
time he has proven himself one of the most de-
voted upbuilders of the commonwealth and a
citizen of unusual worth and ability. He was
born near Grenada, Miss., April 4, 1847. His
father, Daniel A., was born in North Carolina,
A'larch 27, 1812, and was thence taken by his
father, Matthew, a native of the same state, to
Hinitingdon, Tenn., and there reared to young
manhood. The grandfather, wlio was of English
descent, was a farmer in North Carolina, and
there gave his strength to the American forces
in the war of the Revolution. 1775-83. Daniel
A. Covington followed farming for a livelihood,
being first located in Tennessee, and later, in
1835, coming south to Mississippi and locating
in the vicinity of Grenada. He engaged as a
cotton planter on a two thousand acre plantation
until 1870, when he came to California and lo-

cated in San Timoteo canon and there home-
steaded a ranch. After his retirement from pub-
lic activities he removed to San Bernardino and
made that city his home until his death, which
occurred in 1897, at the age of eighty-five years.
He was a Mason fraternally, and in religion
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South. He served in a Mississippi regi-
ment during the Civil war. His wife, formerly
Mary Horton, was born in Huntingdon, Tenn.,
a daughter of William Horton, a planter in that
state ; her death occurred in Alississippi in 1867.

Peter Horton Covington was reared in Mis-
sissippi and educated in a private academy, af-
ter which, in 1864, he enlisted in the Second
Mississippi Cavalry, in Company E, and served
until the close of the war. He returned home
and continued Vith his father until attaining
his majority, when he engaged in farming on
his own resources. In 1870 he took charge of
the old home, dividing up the property and dis-
posing of the interests, after which, in 1876,
he came to California. He entered forty acres
of land in San Timoteo canon, and purchased
adjoining land and there he engaged as a horti-
culturist, raising principally peaches and apricots.
In 1900 he grubbed out these fruit trees and set
out seven acres in oranges, devoting forty acres
to alfalfa and the remainder of two hundred
and seventy-five acres to hay and grain. This
ranch is situated three and a half miles from
Redlands and is one of the valuable ranches of
this section, being equipped with a pumping
plant. He now rents this ranch and his dairy
herd. Since 1897 he has made his home in
Redlands, and in 1899 built his present residence
at No. 104 East Fern street. For two- years he
was successfully engaged in the furniture busi-
ness on West State street.

In Mississippi, near his birthplace, October i,
1869, Mr. Covington was united in marriage
with Miss ^Martha Cruthirds, a native of that
state, and a daughter of Alexander Cruthirds, of
Scotch ancestry, and a planter by occupation.
He served in the Civil war as a member of a
Mississippi regiment. Mr. and ]\Irs. Covington
are the parents of the following children : Will-
iam, a dairyman an<l horticulturist near Redlands ;
Anna, wife of William Picst, of Santa -\na ;
Hester, a music teacher of Redlands : Wal-
ter, engaged in the undertaking business in
Houston, Tex. : Archie, in the real-estate bus-
iness in Redlands ; and Harry, a student at
home. Mr. Covington served for years as
a member of the school board in the Rail-
road district and officiated as its clerk. Fra-
ternally he was made a Mason in Qiapel Hill
Lodge No. 227, of Chapel, Miss., and is past
master of the lodge. In religion he is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1927

which he officiates as chairman of the Ijoard of
trustees. PoHtically a Democrat, he has taken
a keen interest in public affairs. He is a citizen
who can always be counted upon to further
any movement inaugurated for the benefit of
the community, and is liberal and progressive
in every sense of the word.

WAYMIRE BROTHERS. The above named
gentlemen are leading citizens of Norwalk,
where they are conducting a general hardware
and implement store, carrying a very extensive
stock in all articles usually found in an estab-
lishment of this kind, and also sell buggies and
wagons and carry on a general plumbing and gas
fitting business. Although young men they are
decidedly progressive and enterprising and have
risen to a high position among the citizens of
the place, who holds them in esteem and re-
spect for their straighforward methods in con-
ducting their enterprise and for their integrity
and uprightness of character. Their parents,
David and Margaret (Urmston) Wayniire, were
natives respectively of Indiana and Ohio. Af-
ter engaging in ranching in various states the
father finally located in Kansas, where his death
occurred in 1895. He was a veteran of the Civil
war. having enfisted in Company I, Forty-ninth
Indiana Infantry, and served for three years,
being wounded in one of the leading engage-
ments. He was a member of the Masonic or-
ganization. Mrs. Waymire is still living and
is a resident of Norwalk.

The eldest brother, Jack \\'ayniire, was born
November 19, 1873, in Clay county. 111., also
the scene of the birth of S. .\. Waymire, who
was born May 18, 1875. The brothers grew to
young manhood together, receiving their pre-
liminary education in the public schools, the
elder learning the iron moulder's and tinner's
trades, at which he worked in Illinois until he
came to California. ■ The younger brother com-
pleted his business education in the Cem City
Business College of Onincy, 111. He then came
to California (in 1894), but returned to Illinois,
coming Ijack to California to make his home in
I go I, accompanied by the youngest brother, F.
D. Wavmire, who was born in Gay countv, Til.,
August 24, 1878, and like him educated in the
public schools and the Gem City Business Col-
lege. He had been engaged in business in Illi-
nois and after the three brothers came to Cali-
fornia they engaged in ranching for some time,
when thev established their present business in
Norw-alk.' The eldest brother. Jack Waymire. is
the inventor of the Reliable Acetylene Genera-
tor, patented in January. 1906. this part of the
brother's business being under bis management.
He has also followed the tinner's trade in Cali-

fornia. He is identified fraternally with the Mod-
ern Woodmen of America, the Fraternal Brother-
hood, the Fraternal Aid, and in politics is a
stanch Republican.

S. A. Waymire was married in 1905 to Miss
Ada Brissenden, a native of Illinois, and they
have one son, Robert, He is a member of the
Knights of the Maccabees and Modern Woodmen
of America, and politically votes the Republican
ticket. His wife is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.

F. D. Waymire is also a Republican politically
and with his' brothers wields a strong influence in
political circles in the town. He has been very
successful and owns a half interest in several
lots in Long Beach.

MERRITT H. DAILEY. Probably there is
no one in Los Angeles county who takes more
pride in his ranch than M. H. Dailey, his tract
of forty acres at Lemon being equally divided
among oranges and walnuts. The entire ranch
is under irrigation, water for which is supplied
from a pumping station on the premises. Mr.
Dailey 's advent into California came about as
the result of a visit to the state in 1902, in that
year meeting with the Shriners in San Fran-
cisco. The impressions which he then gathered
concerning the country and its possibilities were
lasting ones, and it was in the fall of that year
that he carried out his intentions to locate in
the Land of Sunshine and Flowers.

Mr. Dailey is a native of New York state,
born in Oakfield, Genesee county, June 15, 1848,
into the home of Morril T. and Adelia Ann
(Moody") Dailey, both of whom were natives of
the Empire state also. By trade the father was
a mechanic. During the Civil war he enlisted
in Company H, Eighth New York Heavy Ar-
tillery, in which he served for three years, and
during the engagement at Maryland Heights re-
ceived an injury which later resulted in his
death. Politically he was a believer in Repub-
lican principles, and with his wife was a devoted
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of
the five children originally comprised in the
parental family only two are now living, M. H.
and his sister,' Mrs. Alice Talbot, the latter re-
siding in Akron, Erie county, N. Y.

Mr. Dailey received a good education in the
common schools of Oakfield, N. Y., and there-
after attended the Oakfield Collegiate Semi-
nary. At the age of eighteen, when his school
days were over, he went to .\kron, Erie county,
that state, and took up the study of dentistry,
completing the course in New York City, where
he passed his final examinations and received
the title ]\r. D. S. Going back to .Akron he be-
gan the practice of ilental surgery, later remov-

1928

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing to Buffalo, and during the twenty-eight years
which he practiced in these two cities became
known as a thoroughly competent and conscien-
tious practitioner. It was during this time, in
1902, that he came to California to meet with
the Shriners in San Francisco. During the fall
of the same year he located on his present ranch
of forty acres near Lemon, Los Angeles county.
Twenty acres are in walnuts, and the remainder
of the land is set out to Valencia and navel
oranges, all of which are well adapted to this
special climate and soil, and it is needless to say
that he is making a success of his ranch. To
some extent he has resumed the practice of his
profession since coming to the west, but jnerely
as an accommodation to friends and to keep occu-
pied, rather than for financial gain.

In 1868 Mr. Dailey was married to Miss Annie
E. Wainwright, a native of Akron, N. Y., who
spent her entire life in the east. It was in the
fall following her death, which occurred in
April, 1902, that Mr. Dailey came to California,
and in 1903 he was married to Miss Ella M.
Persons, she also being a native of New York
state. Politically Mr. Dailey is a Republican,
and it was on the ticket of this party that he
was elected town clerk of Newstead, Erie county.
N. Y. His fraternal associations are numerous
and include membership in Blue Lodge No. ^2y.
A. F. & A. M., in Akron, N. Y. : Western Star
Gnapter No. 34, Batavia, N. Y. ; Lake Erie
Commandery No. 20, Buffalo, N. Y. ; Ismalia
Temple of Shriners, Buffalo, N. Y. ; and he is
also a member of Pomona Lodge No. 789, B. P.
O. E., of Pomona. Since locating in the west
he has united with the Visiting Shriners Gub
of Los Angeles. In the vicinity of his old home
in the east he still owns considerable valuable
property. Personally he is a man who makes
friends readily, and what is still better, has the
happy faculty of retaining them.

JOHN H. SCHINTZ. While making his
home in California ever since early boyhood the
duties attendant upon his various positions as
steamship electrical engineer have taken Mr.
Schintz to various parts of the world and par-
ticularly to lands lying on the shores of the Pa-
cific ocean. Through his travels he has ac-
quired a wide knowledge of people and nations,
for his habits of close observation have enabled
him, during brief stops at prominent ports, to
gain a comprehensive idea of the locality, cli-
mate and people. During the period of his em-
ployment as steamship electrician he visited the
Isthmus of Panama, the countries of Japan and
Giina and even traveled as far as the island of
Australia, as well as northward along the Ameri-
can coast as far as Puget Sound. No land, how-

ever, of those visited by him during his voyages
seemed as fair as California nor does any coun-
try in his opinion offer more desirable oppor-
tunities to young men.

The Schintz family was founded in America
by an attorney from Switzerland, who became
a pioneer of Wisconsin and secured the first
Havana tobacco seed ever planted in that state.
The crop proved a success and the ensuing year
he furnished seed free of charge to neighbor-
ing farmers who wished to embark in the rais-
ing of tobacco. Eventually he returned to his
native land and there died. His son, John
Plenry. was born at Zurich, Switzerland, and
engaged in the banking business in that city in
early life, but after coming to America he en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits and was a pioneer
tobacco raiser of Wisconsin, where later he fol-
lowed the building business in Oshkosh. Re-
moving- to California in 1876 he settled in San
Francisco and engaged in the manufacture and
sale of cigars, remaining in that city until his
death in 1898. While living in Wisconsin he
married Bertha Isler, who was born in Switzer-
land, thence came to the L^nited States with her
father and is now a resident of San Francisco.

The third in order of birth among six chil-
dren, John H. Schintz was born in Oshkosh,
Wis., February 12, 1871, and received a public-
school education in San Francisco. L'pon leav-
ing school he became an apprentice to the trade
of electrical engineer in San Francisco under
D. D. Wass, with whom he served for three
and one-half years. The first practical experi-
ence which he gained of his trade as a salaried
worker was when acting as assistant to an en-
gineer on a boat running to Coos Bay.. After
a year in that capacity he went to Panama as
steamship electrician, and later sailed as elec-
trician on the Mariposa to Sydney, Australia,
via Honolulu and Auckland. On his return to
California he was employed as electrician with
the American Steamship Refinery Company
A year later he was sent to China as sugar
electrician on the Peru and during that voyage
visited Japan and Yokohama. Returning to the
L'nited States he sailed for seven months on the
\A'alla Walla between San Francisco and Puget
Sound. At the expiration of that period of
service he left the sea and in 1896 came to Los
Angeles, but soon went to Giino as electrician
with the American Beet Sugar Company, later
filling the position of mechanical engineer. His
residence in Oxnard dates from 1898, when he
came to the new town as superintendent of the
wiring of this plant, and aided in installing the
machinery. Upon the starting of the plant in
1899 he was appointed electrician and mechani-
cal engineer, and the following year became as-
sistant engineer, since which time he has re-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1929

mained with the company, and is regarded as
a thoroughly trustworthy and efficient engineer.
The comfortable home owned by Mr. Schintz
and erected under his supervision stands on
South C and Seventh streets. It is presided
over by his wife formerly Miss Claudia B. Por-
tillo, who was born in Mexico, but from girl-
hood made her home in Pomona, where her mar-
riage was solemnized. Their family consists of
four children, John Henry, Irene Clara, Arthur
and Marie Patricia. Since coming to Oxnard
Mr. .Schintz has affiliated himself with the Citi-
zens Club and the Sons of Herman, and has
given his support to all measures for the per-
manent advancement of the citv.

S. A. CLINE. The interests with which Mr.
Cline has been identified since beginning his
business life have been of a varied nature and
indicate his adaptability to different enterprises
and the resourcefulness of his mind. By trade
he is a cooper, a business which he followed
more or less prior to coming to California in
1876, but after locating here gave his attention
particularly to ranching until establishing him-
self in the express business, in which he is mak-
ing an eminent success.

Born in New York state May 28, 1843, S. A.
Cline is a son of John A. Cline, the latter a
wheelwright by trade, who in his boyhood was
a close friend of Peter Cooper, the noted inven-
tor, manufacturer and philanthropist. Many of
the wagons turned out of Mr. Cline's shop were
shipped to the southern states. He gave up fol-
lowing his trade after locating in Rochester, be-
coming interested in the real-estate business in-
stead. It was while a resident of the latter city
that he was united in marriage with Catherine
North, and to them were born two children.

When fourteen years old, his school days
over, S. A. Cline began an apprenticeship at the
cooper's trade, which he later followed for eight
years in both New York City and Rochester.
The call to arms to aid in the suppression of
hostilities which had arisen between the north
and the south caused thousands of young, able-
bodied men to desert business for duty to home
and country, and among this number was Mr.
Cline. In April, 1861, he enlisted in the Thir-
teenth New York Infantry, and after the term
of his nine months enlistment had expired he
went to Detroit, Mich., and enlisted in the Sev-
enteenth Michigan Infantry. After a service of
two years in that company he was transferred
to the Second Michigan Infantry. His war rec-
ord shows him to have been a participant in
numerous battles and skirmishes, among the for-
mer being the battle of Bull Run, siege at Knox-
ville, battle of Lowden, Vicksburg and Jackson,

92

Tenn., and he was in the battles of the Wilder-
ness and Petersburg. His honorable discharge
was tendered him in Detroit, Mich., in 1865, af-
ter four years of faithful service.

Returning to New York state, Mr. Cline left
there soon afterward to take up work in the oil
fields of Pennsylvania, and three years later re-
sumed work at the cooper's trade in the Em-
pire state. His next removal was to Michigan,
locating first in Detroit and then in East Sagi-
naw. In that state he engaged in the stone busi-
ness, taking out rock that was used in the con-
struction of the state prison. From Black Rock,
N. Y., a suburb of Buffalo, whither he later re-
turned, he went to Rochester, going from there
to Chicago, 111., but soon afterward went to New
York state and remained one year. He next
went to Philadelphia, Pa., later returning again
to the Empire state, whence he left for Iowa in
1871. From Iowa he went to Nebraska, taking
up a homestead claim in the vicinity of Lincoln,
after which he was in Des Moines,' Iowa, for a
short time. The next two years were spent in
Nebraska, after which, in 1876, he came to Cali-
fornia, as previously stated. In the vicinity of
Kingsburg, Fresno county, he bought one hun-
dred and sixty acres of land which at first he de-
voted to general farming, but later set out one
hundred and forty acres to grapes and ten acres
to prunes. From Fresno county he went to
Hanford, Kings county, from there coming to
Los Angeles in 1896. After one year's residence
in the city he made his home in Pasadena for
nine months, in 1898 coming to San Pedro, which
has since been the scene of his activities. Al-
though he has changed his place of residence
many times since leaving the parental home it
is safe to predict that he will spend the remainder
of his life in this town, as he has erected a beau-
tiful family residence and given evidence of his
contentment with the locality in various ways.

In Iowa, in 1874, Mr. Cline married Eliza-
beth Case, who was born in Kansas, and they
have three children, as follows : Fred and Harry,
both of whom are married and live in San Pedro ;
and Edith. In memory of the years spent on
the battle-field in the service of his country Mr.
Cline finds recreation in associating with old
comrades in Harbor City Post, G. A. R., of which
he is a valued and interesting member.

WILLIAM REIMANN. The life history of
\\'illiam Reimann, who is one of the leading
ranchmen of Oxnard, Ventura county, is a
forcible illustration of the exercise of persever-
ance and resolution under the pressure of finan-
cial disaster as well as amid the sunshine of
prosperity. Coming here from the Fatherland
nearly twenty years ago, he embarked in agri-
cultural pursuits, and, although he has met with

1930

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

reverses, at one time being entirely burned out,
be has surmounted all obstacles, and is now
numbered among the substantial farmers and the
most respected citizens of this part of the coun-
try. A son of Christopher Reimann, he was
born, January 5, 1844, in Sachsen, Germany,
where he lived until six years old. His fatlier
spent his entire life in Germany, his birth oc-
curring in 1800, in Sachsen, and his death in
1878. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza-
beth Drost, spent her fifty years of life in the
Fatherland dying in 1866.

Removing with his parents to Hanover, Ger-
manv, in 1850, William Reimann was there
reared and educated. He subsequently learned
the trade of a furniture maker, serving an ap-
prenticeship of three years, in addition paying to
his employer $30 in money. He afterwards fol-
lowed his trade in his native land, but not finding
it sufficiently remunerative determined to see
what he could do in a newer countr_\-. Accord-
inglv, in 1884, leaving his family at home, he
came to California, and for two years remained
here, in the meantime visiting the more impor-
tant cities and towns. Going back to Germany
in 1886. he spent two vears in his native land,
and ^lav 2-j. 1888, he returned with his family
to this state, coming with a party of twelve peo-
ple. He located at once on his present ranch,
starting in as a farmer by buying out the horses,
farm machinerv. etc.. of a neighboring ranch-
man. He had' just become well established in
his agricultural venture when, November 5,
1888, he was entirely burned out by a prairie
fire that began on Las Pasos hill, losing his
house. furnUure. farming machinery, wagons,
six hundred and fifty sacks of barley, one hun-
dred sacks of corn, 'all of his hay, and in fact
nearly all of his property. Nothing daunted,
however, he borrowed mone}-, paying twelve per
cent interest, and began life again, poor, indeed,
and at one time being in debt to the amount of
$10,000. Even with this heavy financial bur-
den to carry, with the able assistance of his son
John, he paid the entire sum, and has now a. clear
title to eightv-seven acres of choice land, in the
managentof which he is meeting with well de-
served success.

In 1868, in Rollshausen. Germany, :Mr. Rei-
mann married Catherine Kreis, who was born
Februarv 13, 1843, ''i Hanover, a daughter of
Tohn and fhe^a (Truemper) Kreis. Her par-
ents were life-long residents of Germany, her
mother dving there in 1866, aged fifty-one years,
and her father in 1891, at the venerable age of
eightv-seven years. Of the union of IMr. and Mrs.
Reimann two children have been born, namely:
Tohn William, whose birth occurred ]\Iarch 20,
1869, in Germany, and Margaret, born r\Iay 4.
1874, and now the wife of G. Gisler, of whom a

brief sketch may be found elsewhere in this vol-
ume.

John \\illiam Reimann was educated in Ger-
many, and, when a young man, learned the bar-
ber's trade, which he followed for some time. On
November 5, i886, he started for the United
States, crossing the ocean to New York, from
there coming by way of New Orleans to Los An-
geles. He subsequently worked at his trade in
San Luis Obispo for a time, after which he
joined his father on the home ranch, and in its
development and improvement has since been a
most capable and active assistant. He is a man
of undoubted integrity and worth, much esteemed
throughout the community as a lo}-al and true
citizen of his adopted country. He is a member
of the German National Society of California, and
also belongs to the Sons of Herman Society.

J. C. SHERER. Active, energetic and enter-
prising, J. C. Sherer holds an assured position
among the foremost citizens of Glendale. and is
widely known as one of its most able business
men. For twenty-five years or more he has been
a resident of this locality and in its affairs has
ever evinced a deep interest, generously devoting
his energies, time and attention in aid of enter-
prises calculated to promote progress and pros-
perity.

Born and reared in the east Mr. Sherer re-
ceived excellent educational advantages, attend-
ing the State Normal school at Alillersville, Pa.,
and afterwards being graduated from Eastman's
Business College in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Subse-
quently acquiring a thorough knowledge of teleg-
raphy, he secured a position as operator in Phil-
adelphia, where he remained for awhile. In 1875
he came to California, and here followed his pro-
fession in different places, first in San Franciso,
then in Yreka, from there going to Kibesillah.
Alendocino county. In 1878 he located in Los
Angeles, where for upwards of ten years he was
telegraph operator for the Western Lnion Tele-
graph Company and also for the Postal Telegraph
Company for three years. Giving up that busi-
ness for a time he was connected with the Los
Angeles Times as a reporter for a number of
months, being afterward engaged in the water
pipe business in Glendale prior to the collapse of
the boom. When that came he returned to the
employ of the Western L'nion Telegraph Com-
pany, and for a time was also assistant agent in
?kIinneapolis. Minn., for the Southern California
Fruit Exchange, which he helped to organize,
later continuing as a telegraph operator for sev-
eral years.

With many of the improvements that have as-
sisted in the upbuilding of Glendale within the
last twenty-five years Mr. Sherer has been a pro-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1931

moter. contributiiio; his full share as a loyal and
public-spirited citizen. He assisted in developing
the water supply of this locality, and filling at dif-
fere4it times the oiTfices of president, secretary
and treasurer of the Paduga Canon Water Com-
pany. In Alay, 1905, when the State Bank of
Glendale was organized, he was made cashier, and
although without previous experience in this ca-
pacity, he has filled this position of responsibility
in a most satisfactory and praiseworthy manner.
This institution is favorably known and well con-
ducted, the directors being J. C. Kays, of Los
Angeles, president ; Dr. D. W. Hunt, vice-presi-
dent; J. F. Mclntire, Capt. C. E. Thom, B. F.
Patterson, Elias Ayers and James H. Wells.

Mr. Sherer was united in marriage in Los An-
geles with Miss E. C. Parker, of Boston, Mass.
Politically Mr. Sherer is a Republican, and relig-
iously he belongs to the Presbyterian Church. He
is connected with one secret organization, being
a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood. He has
accumulated some property, among his real estate
holdings being a valuable deciduous fruit ranch
of fourteen acres at the corner of Verdugo road
and Ninth street. Since the organization of Glen-
dale as a citv he has filled the office of treasurer.

ROBERT EDWARD DANCER. Enterpris-
ing and progressive, Robert E. Dancer has suc-
ceeded in building up for himself a competence,
while at the same time he has won a place among
the representative citizens of Bassett. He is of
southern birth and breeding, his birth having
occurred in Alcorn county. Miss., April 18, 1868;
his father, Elisha Dancer, was born in England
and while still a child was brought to America
by his parents, who located in Georgia, where he
was reared to manhood. He eventually removed
to Mississippi, where he followed his trade of
machinist. He died in 1873. and his wife, for-
merly Jemima W'ardlow, born in North Car-
olina of Scotch-Irish ancestry, in 1875.

The boyhood days of Robert Edward Dancer
were passed in Mississippi, where he attended
the public schools until thirteen years old, when
his parents having died, he came to California
with his Grandmother Bird. They located in
Downey and he there continued his education,
attending the public school at El Monte for a
short time also, having removed hither in 1883.
His first independent venture was as a farm
hand, working by the month, and in 1893, with
his accumulated earnings, he engaged in farm-
ing for himself. The raising of alfalfa and gen-
eral farming occupied his time until 1904. when
he purchased a thirty-four acre tract in Bassett
and at once began its improvement and cultiva-
tion, putting in a pumping plant and installing a

fifty-four horse power gas engine with a capacity
of one hundred and seventy-five inches. He de-
votes his own ranch to walnuts and alfalfa, and
also manages a ranch in El Monte.

In Artesia Mr. Dancer married Mrss Carrie
Law, a native of Illinois, and her death occurred
in Artesia some time later. He was afterward
married to Miss Edith Cuddeback, who was born
in Tehachapi, Cal. They have three children,
\'era, \'ada and Lloyd. Mr. Dancer is a mem-
ber of the Christian Church, while his wife be-
longs to the Baptist denomination. Mr. Dancer
is a Democrat politically and fraternally belongs
to the Alodern Woodmen of America.

S.\:\IUEL N. CCRRV. With an unimpeach-
able record of about twenty years as a business
man in Texas and Louisiana Mr. Curry came to
Pomona in 1900 and began dealing in real estate,
a business for which he seems to have a special
aptitude, judging from the enormous volume of
business which he has transacted during the
last si.x years. This has not been accomplished,
however, at the sacrifice of honor, but is the
result of honest, painstaking efforts, and those
in a position to know are responsible for the
statement that he bears the reputation of being
the most reliable real-estate dealer in Pomona.

A descendant of Scotch-Irish ancestors, Isaac
Curry, the grandfather, was born in Virginia,
where as a farmer he made his home until re-
moving to Tennessee. In Maury county, in that
state, his son Green B. was born, he too follow-
ing farming throughout his active years. From
Tennessee he enlisted as a soldier in the Civil
war, being wounded in the course of his service.
Up to the time of the war he had been a resi-
dent of Tennessee continuously, but afterward
he removed to Texas, and at the advanced age
of eighty-four years he still makes his home
there. At one time in his career he was active
in the Masonic fraternity. The wife and mother,
who was of Scotch descent, was before her mar-
riage ^Margaret Thompson, and was born in
Tennessee. She survived to reach her eighty-
fifth year, dying in Texas in May, 1906. Ten
children were originally comprised in the pa-
rental family, but of the number only six are
now living.

Next to the oldest in the family was Samuel
N. Curry, who was born in Maury county.
Tenn., May 23, 1853. His earliest recollections
take hini back in menior\- to the homestead farm
in that county, where he was reared and edu-
cated, and he also recalls the blighting effect of
the Civil war. He was then a lad of alxnit eight
years, and was attending private school, but
owing t(T the unsettled condition of affairs in

1932

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the south retrenchment was necessary on all
sides and his schooling was therefore very lim-
ited. It was about 1871 that the family removed
to Ellis county, Tex., and on the farm that his
father purchased in the vicinity of Waxahachie
he worked as his father's assistant until twenty-
seven years of age. He then established do-
mestic ties and at the same time located on an
adjoining farm and engaged in general farming
and stock-raising. Subsequently he relinquished
agricultural life entirely, and removing into
Waxahachie in 1880, followed the livery busi-
ness for the succeeding five years. From there
in 1890 he removed into the adjoining state of
Louisiana, settling in the rice-producing section
around Crowley, Acadia county. There he pur-
chased a plantation devoted to rice culture and
for nine years was a planter in that vicinity, be-
sides which he engaged in the agricultural im-
plement business in Criwley. It was with this
business experience that he came to Pomona in
1900 and opened a real-estate office, the nucleus
of the business now conducted under the name
of S. N. Curry & Co. Since 1906 W. O. Rogers
has been associated with Mr. Curry. Among
the numerous transactions that have passed
through their hands may be mentioned the ten-
acre high school tract, which they laid out into
lots, besides the Lothrop tract. While they do
a general real-estate business, yet their specialty
is dealing in orange groves, having handled up-
wards of $500,000 in this class of property alone.
Of this amount $300,000 has come from settlers
from Crowley, La., which is a high testimonial
to Mr. Curry's judgment and shows the con-
fidence in which he is held by his former busi-
ness and social acquaintances. The firm also
make loans on good security and write insur-
ance, their office at No. 321 West Second street
being a busy center of activity. Besides his in-
terest in the business just mentioned Mr. Curry
also owns a thirty-acre orange grove in Pomona
valley and twenty-two acres in walnuts, both of
which are in bearing condition and bring him in
a handsome income. His interest in horticulture
is further shown in his connection with the Cali-
fornia Produce Company, of which he is a
director.

Mr. Curry's marriage, which occurred in Wax-
ahachie, Tex., united him with Miss Frankie
Farrar, who was born in that state, and two chil-
dren, Katie and Earl, have been born to them.
The family find their church home in the Meth-
odist Episcopal Qiurch, of which Mr. and Mrs.
Curry are members, and he is now filling the
office of class-leader. Fraternally he belongs to
the Knights of Pythias, and politically he is a
Democrat and a member of the county central
committee. He is also a member of the Board
of Trade of Pomona.

JOHN W. CRUICKSHANK. It was in
1886 that John W. Cruickshank came to Cali-
fornia and began to ply his trade as carpenter
in San Bernardino, and in the twenty years
which have since elapsed he has steadily pushed
forward in his work and business until now he
has reached a top place as a lumber manufac-
turer and has acquired a large amount of prop-
erty. A native of Aberdeen, Scotland, born No-
vember 21, 1865, he is a descendant of an old
family of Jacobites, his grandfather, James, hav-
ing been an adherent of that faith. The father,
William, was by occupation a farmer, and spent
his entire lifetime in Scotland, he being a stanch
Presbyterian in his religious faith. The mother,
Helen Stephenson, was born in Iverness, Scot-
land, and also lived in that country until the
tune of her death. She was the mother of eight
children, seven of whom survive, and one son,
William, is now engaged in horticultural pur-
suits in Rialto.

The boyhood days of John W. Cruickshank
were spent upon the farm in Scotland, and until
seventeen years of age his time was devoted to
securing a good common-school education. He
was then apprenticed as a carpenter near Aber-
deen, and for four years worked at that trade
and in the planing mill of the firm to whom he
was apprenticed. He was an ambitious young
man and the hard work of the day did not deter
him from acquiring additional education in a
night school, taking up the study of architecture
and drawing, for he realized that to attain the
highest success one must be thoroughly equipped
with a comprehensive knowledge of every line
of the work one adopts. One month after the
expiration of his time of apprenticeship he took
passage to New York City, arriving there in the
spring of 1886. September of the same year
found him in San Bernardino, where he secured
employment as a carpenter and worked at the
trade until he became a foreman. He then took
up independent contracting and built many resi-
dences in that city, among them being those of
W. E. Leonard. F. A. Leonard, Will Curtis and
Dan Dedick, and he also filled a contract for
the erection of the Barton block and the Pres-
byterian Qiurch.

Determining to branch out more extensively,
'Sir. Cruickshank in 1902 came to Long Beach
and started the Alamitos Lumber Company, lo-
cating the plant on Alamitos and Second streets.
Two years later he sold out to the Interstate
Lumber Company, in which he in turn acquired
an interest and was made a director of the com-
pany and superintendent of the plant, and al-
though he resigned from his positions in 1905
he still retains an interest in the business. In
1906 he started and incorporated the Home Mill
and Lumber Company, of which he is now presi-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1933

dent and manager, built the present mill and
yards on Anaheim road and American avenue,
installed modern machinery and a thirty-horse-
power electric power plant in the quarters, which
are 150x340 feet in dimensions. The mill and
yards employ fourteen hands, and here are
manufactured all kinds of finished lumber ma-
terials, including doors and window sash.

Mr. Cruickshank was married in San Ber-
nardino to Miss Melissa Furey, a native of Penn-
sylvania, and they have become the parents of
four children, William F., Bernard A., Helen
E. and Ruth Marian. The family residence is
located on Ocean and Alamitos avenues, and
was erected by Mr. Cruickshank. He is a mem-
ber of the Long Beach Retail Lumber Dealers'
Association, and served one term as city build-
ing inspector, having been the first appointee
to that office after the reorgaization. Fraternally
he is a member of Long Beach Lodge No. 390,
I. O. O. F., and a director and secretary of the
I. O. O. F. Building Association ; of the Wood-
men of the World, and the Foresters. He is an
active member of the United Presbyterian
Church, of which he is treasurer and trustee.
Politically he is an advocate of the principles of
the Republican party, and in all matters of social
or civic interest lends his support to those en-,
terprises which tend to elevate and upbuild the
communitv.

FRANCIS F. CULA'ER. Conspicuous
among the early pioneer settlers of California
was Francis F. Culver, late of Compton, who
was a resident of the state for upwards of half
a century, and in the development and advance-
ment of its mining, agricultural, industrial and
financial activities took a prominent part. He
witnessed many wonderful transformations in
the face of the country, the pathless forests and
dreary waste lands being made habitable by the
hard labor of the first settlers, and the small
hamlets and mining camps of the early days de-
veloping into thriving villages and populous
towns and cities. Of old colonial stock, and
the descendant of a representative New England
family, he was born, January 28, 1821, in Poult-
ney, Rutland county, A^t., and died at his home
in Compton, Cal., September 25, 1905, beloved
and respected by the community in which he
had so long resided. His parents, Isaac and
Alaria (Reed) Culver, were born and reared in
New England, and were there married. After
living in Vermont for several years, they re-
moved to New York, and there spent the re-
mainder of their lives.

Brought up beneath the parental roof-tree,
Francis F. Culver received better educational
advantages than manv of bovs of his times, be-

ing graduated from high school, seminary and
university. While still a young man, early in
1849, he with several companions bought the
Edward Everett, a sailing vessel, which was the
first boat to leave Boston harbor for California.
They came by way of Cape Horn to the Golden
Gate, arriving in San Francisco on July 6. Their
cargo included a small steamboat, the first
steamer ever seen on the Sacramento river,
where it remained in service for many years,
being used for passenger and freight service.
Going subsequently to the mines, Mr. Culver
met with good success in his operations, and
afterwards invested his money in land, finally
turning his attention to agricultural pursuits.
For a number of years he was thus employed
in Compton, but in the latter part of his long
life lived retired from active business, enjoy-
ing in comfort and leisure the golden fruits of
his former years of labor.

May 17, '1852, in Lewiston, N. Y., Mr. Cul-
ver married Henrietta M. Raymond, a daughter
of Caleb and Sophronia (Smith) Raj'mond, both
of whom spent the closing years of their lives
in New York state. Mr. and ]\Irs. Culver
reared five children, namely: Ella R., wife of
T. F. Ross, of Compton; Mae, wife of Benton
Flood, living at No. 947 Georgia street, Los
Angeles; Frank F., a wood and coal dealer, and
with his wife, formerly Lizzie McMullan, is liv-
ing at No. 1331 Hobson street, Los Angeles;
William B., engaged in ranching in Newhall,
this county, and who by his marriage with Eva
Stevens, has nine children : and Frederick M.,
of Orange county, a ranchman, who married
Agnes Fairchilds. Politically ]\Ir. Culver was
identified with the Republican party, and re-
ligiously he was an official member of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Qiurch, of which his widow is
also a member. Both Mr. and Mrs. Culver
united with the Pioneers' Association several
}ears ago, and contributed towards its support
and its prosperity.

WILLIAM CAMERON DAVIS. In the
vicinity of El Monte is located the walnut ranch
of thirty-seven acres which belongs to William
C. Davis, who came to this section in 1893 and
has since accumulated a substantial property,
and at the same time has built up for himself a
place among the respected and esteemed citizens
of the community. He is a native of Milton,
Rock county. Wis., born December 24, 1843.
The family was originally located in New York,
where the grandfather, Jeremiah, lived and
died. Jeremiah R. Davis was born in Allegany
county, N. Y., and there married. With his wife
he settled as a pioneer in Milton, Wis., and there
both passed away at advanced ages. They be-

193-4

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

came the parents of ten children, of whom eight
attained maturity, two sons serving in the Thir-
teenth Regiment Wisconsin Infantry during the
Civil war. Both survived the perils and hard-
ships of active warfare and returned to civic
life, Joseph locating in Iowa, where his death
occurred.

The youngest child in the large family born
to his parents, William Cameron Davis was
reared to young manhood on the paternal farm
and was early instilled with the principles char-
acteristic of his forefathers. Following his pub-
lic-school training he entered Milton College,
which he left in 1861 to become a soldier in Com-
pany K. Thirteenth Regiment Wisconsin \'olun-
teer Infantry. He was mustered in at Janes-
ville and with his regiment was at once sent to
Kansas, engaging in various skirmishes during
the first year; 1862 was passed in Kentucky.
Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi and the bal-
ance of the time in the southern states. He was
mustered out of service in Nashville, Tenn., in
January, 1865, when he returned to Wisconsin.

Casting about for a future, 'Sir. Davis was
attracted to Pennsylvania by the oil excitement,
and in Pitt Hole City was employed in every de-
partment of the oil industry. He purchased a
boat and transported oil down Oil creek to Oil
City, Reno and Pittsburg for some years, fol-
lowing which, from 1865 to 1893, he operated
in various fields throughout Pennsylvania, West
A'irginia and Ohio. Withdrawing his interests
in that connection, J\Ir. Davis came to California
and in the vicinity of El Monte purchased a tract
of seventeen acres, which he has since set out in
walnuts, improving and cultivating the property,
and adding to it by the purchase of two ten-acre
tracts, all in the same district and all being set
to walnuts. All improvements have been made
entirely by his own efiforts and are a credit to
this section of the country, evidencing both the
industry and the ability of the owner. Besides
giving his attention to horticulture he has also
spent one year in the oil business in the Whittier
field and two years in the Fullerton field, with
the Puente Oil Company.

In Cedar Falls, Iowa, I\Ir. Davis was married
to Miss Nancy B. Henry, who was born in
Jamestown, Pa., and died in California in Octo-
ber. 1901. They became the parents of three
children, of whom Lee W. died in youth : Frank
H. died at the age of twenty-seven years : and
Claude W. died at the age of twenty years. De-
cember 19. 1906. Mr. Davis was united in mar-
riage with Miss ]\Iary A. Newman, a native of
Wisconsin. In his fraternal relations he is quite
prominent, having been made a :\Tason in Oil
Creek Lodge No. 303, in Titusville, Pa., raised
to the degree of Royal Arch in the same citv,
and later to the degree of Knight Templar in

Rose Croix Commandery No. 38, also in Titus-
ville. He is now identified with Lexington
Lodge No. 104, F. & A. M., in El Monte. He
is a Republican in politics and a stanch adherent
of part}- principles.

BARTON WALTER DANCER. The
greater part of the life of Barton W. Dancer
lias been passed in El Monte and its vicinity,
where he has improved three different ranches
and has been largely instrumental in the up-
building of this section. He was born in Cor-
inth, Miss., January 17, 1870, a son of Elisha
Dancer, who was born in England and brought
to America by his parents in childhood. He was
reared in Georgia, but in manhood located in
Mississippi, where he engaged as a machinist
until his death, which occurred in 1873. His
wife, formerly Jemima \\ardlow, was born in
North Carolina, the representative of Scotch-
Irish ancestry, and died iii ^Mississippi in 1875.
Of the four children born to his parents. Bar-
ton Walter Dancer was next to the youngest
and was but three years old at the time of his
father's death and five when he lost bis mother.
In 1881 he came to California with his maternal
grandmother, Mrs. Emily (Wardlow) Bird, who
located in Artesia, and in that place he received
his education in the public schools. His first
employment was as a farm hand at the age of
eighteen years, and shortly afterward he pur-
chased ten acres of land three-quarters of a mile
northeast of El Monte. This property he imme-
diately set out to walnuts, put in a pumping
plant, and at the same time raised alfalfa. Later
he sold the property, realizing handsome returns
from his efiforts. His next purchase consisted of
thirty acres in the vicinity of his first home, and
here he also set out walnuts, installing a pump-
ing plant, and proceeded to a cultivation of the
place. After disposing of the property he pur-
chased fifty acres at Bassett. and again installed
a pumping plant, set out walnuts and began the
raising of alfalfa. This property he sold seven
months later at a profit of $7,000. in the three
years thus occupied having cleared $15,000 above
all expenses. These properties have since sold
for additional profit.

In 1903 Mr. Dancer located in FP Monte and
is now engaged in the real-estate business. He
built a residence on Tyler street, where he now
makes his home, and which is presided over by
his wife, formerly ]\Iiss Bessie L. Beck, a native
of El Monte. She is a daughter of John Beck,
Jr.. a native of Texas, and a granddaughter of
John Beck, Sr., who removed from Indiana to
Texas and thence crossed the plains with ox-
teams in 1854 and located in El Monte. He en-
gaged in freigliting to \'irginia City, being the

HISTORIC:\L AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1935

pioneer freighter over the Tehachapi mountains.
He had ten j'oke of oxen to pull one thousand
pounds, he having to break the trail. Later
he removed to San Jose and engaged as a cattle-
man and farmer. After twelve years he re-
turned to El Monte and followed farming for
some years, finally locating permanently in San
Jose, where he is now living retired from the
active cares of life. He married Annie Burke,
who was born in Texas and died in El JMonte.
She had eight children, all of whom are now de-
ceased. John Beck, Jr., was a farmer and died
in San Jose at the age of twenty-eight years.
His wife, formerly Katie Powell, passed away
in Orange, Cal. She was a daughter of John
Powell, a pioneer of Los Angeles, where he
died. They were the parents of three children,
of whom ]\Irs. Dancer is the youngest. Mr. and
Mrs. Dancer have three children, Winnie,
Charles and Zola. Mr. Dancer belongs to the
Christian Church, while his wife is a Baptist.
Politicallv he is a Democrat.

CHARLES CHAPMAN COX. \ery early
in the colonial history of our county- the Cox
family became identified with the settlement of
the Carolinas and aided in the development of
raw tracts of land into valuable plantations.
The genealogical records trace the lineage from
John Cox, a native of South Carolina and a
planter by occupation, to his son, William H..
who was a civil engineer and planter and for
thirty years held office as county surveyor. Next
in line of descent was S. S., who was born in
Chesterfield county, S. C, and followed his
father's occupations of planter, civil engin-
eer and surveyor. During 1857 ^''^ moved
across the line into North Carolina and
settled at Lilesville, Anson county. As a civil
engineer in the engineering department he
served under General Beauregard in the
Civil war. Removing to Arkansas in 1868
he settled in Pike count}-, where he was
engaged as a civil engineer and filled the office
of county surveyor. Eventually he removed to
Texas and settled on a grain and stock ranch
near Jewett, Leon county, where he remained
until his death in 1903, at the age of seventy-
seven years. Fraternally he was a Mason and
in religious connections, with his wife, held
membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
His wife, like himself, was a native of South
Carolina and a descendant of an old southern
family. She was a daughter of John Chapman,
who was of English descent and who followed
the builder's trade in the south. Two- years be-
fore the death of her husband she passed away
in Texas at seventy-eight years of age.

Four sons comprised the family of .^. S. and

Sarah (Chapman 1 Cox, and three are still liv-
ing, Charles C. being the eldest of the family
and the only one to settle in California. Born
at Chesterfield. S. C, January 27, 1856, he was
one year old when the family removed to Liles-
ville, N. C, and there he laid the foundation of
his education in the common schools. Indelibly
impressed upon his mind are the days of the
Civil war, with their anxieties, ]M-iva'tions and
]3erils, and though he was but a small child at
the time he has a keen recollection of what the
war meant to his own people and to the country.
At the age of twelve years, in 1868, he accom-
])anied the family to Arkansas, where for a time
he attended school. After moving to Texas in
1872 he was a student in the academy at Rogers
Prairie, Leon county. At the age of nineteen
\ears he began to teach school and for two years
followed the occupation in Texas, after which
he taught for one year in Clark county-. Ark.,
and then turned his attention to the carpenter's
trade. Considerable success met his efforts as
a carpenter and thus he was led to take up con-
tracting. In May of 1887 he came to San Di-
ego, where he has since engaged in contract-
ing and building. Among his contracts were
those for the Y. M. C. A. Gymnasium and the
residences of L. Brinton, H. E. Mills and James
Connell. Meanwhile he has erected two houses
on his own property, one of these being at No.
3680 Fourth street, where he and his wife now
reside. j\lrs. Cox was formerly Miss Elizabeth
Brinton. of Arkansas, and was born in Pennsyl-
vania. In religious connections they are identi-
fied with the First Presbyterian Church of San
Diego, while fraternally they affiliate with the
Knights and Ladies of Security. Along the
line of his chosen occupation Mr. Cox holds
membership with the Master Builders' Associ-
ation and maintains a deep and constant inter-
est in all measures for the benefit of builders
and the permanent progress of their work.

J. E. ^ylORRELL. The commercial interests
of Redondo have a capable representative in the
person of J. E. Morrell, who since July, of 1902,
lias made his home in this place and has acted
as agent for the wholesale grain firm of New-
mark & Edwards, having charge of their busi-
ness at this point. Since 1904 he has been in
partnership with P. S. \'enable, under the firm
name of P. S. ^^enable & Co., street contractors.
Another enterprise receiving his attention and
financial co-operation is the Redondo ^Milling
Company, in which he maintaii-is an active in-
terest.

In that portion of East Tennessee lying be-
tween \"irgini,i on the north and North Carolina
on the siiuth ^fr. ^lorrell first opened his eyes

1936

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to the light. His parents, J. W. and Anna
(Edwards) Morrell, were natives of Tennessee,
the former descended from a colonial family of
Virginia. By occupation a miner, after he came
to California in 1887, he settled at Gonzales,
Monterey county, and later became interested
in the mines of Sierra county, where he still
conducts a general mining business, but makes
his home in Florida. While living in Monterey
county he was bereaved by the death of his vnie.
Five children were bom of their union, all still
living, the eldest of these being J. E., who was
born in Washington county, Tennessee., near
Bluff City, February 18, 1875, and was four-
teen years of age when the family established
their home in the west. After completing the
studies of the grammar schools he became clerk
in a grocery and subsequently learned the grain
business while employed by a grain company.
In 1896 he entered the Los Angeles Business
College and the following year was graduated,
after which he became bookkeeper with the
Southern Pacific Milling Company of Gonzales.
In the employ of the same company he was
stationed consecutively at Gonzales, Guada-
loupe, Lompac and Oxnard. On his return to
Los Angeles he became a bookkeeper with the
grain firm of Newmark & Edwards, in whose
interests he cam.e to Redondo to assume the
management of their business at this place.

The marriage of Mr. Morrell took place at
Guadaloupe, this state, and united him with
Miss Alice McPhaul, daughter of William and
Alice (Battles) McPiiaul, natives respectively
of North Carolina and Erie county, Pennsyl-
vania. When a young man Mr. McP'haul sought
the opportunities of the then undeveloped coast
regions and for years carried on an extensive
business as a sheep-raiser. Since his death,
which occurred at Guadaloupe, his widow has
remained at the old homestead in that town.
Mrs. ]\Iorrell was born and educated in Guada-
loupe, and was the third in a family comprising
four daughters and one son. Of her marriage
there is one son, Lyman Hadley, who is receiv-
ing his education in the schools of Los Angeles
county. While he has never been an ardent
politician Mr. Morrell keeps thoroughly posted
concerning the issues confronting our govern-
ment and in his views coincides with the Demo-
cratic party.

CYRUS MASON PARSONS. A thorough-
ly successful man and one who occupies a con-
spicuous place in affairs is C. M. Parsons, who
by his business ability and genuine worth as a
man has become a prominent and influential fac-
tor in the well-being of Qaremont. With a
wealth of experience to his credit gained in the

southern and middle-west states he came to
Claremont in 1903 and as in his previous places
of residence he threw his whole soul into the
opportunities which awaited him, thus enrich-
ing and strengthening his own native capabili-
ties and at the same time adding another pillar
of strength to each and every organization to
which he lent his name and influence. He is
president of the Citizens' State Bank of Clare-
mont, is interested in the Savings Bank and
Trust Company of Pomona, is a director in
the Citizens' Light and Water Company of
Claremont, and is secretary and treasurer of the
Claremont Inn. In addition to these numerous
and important business connections he is also in-
terested in the Crossett Lumber Company of
Arkansas and the Jackson Lumber Company in
Florida and Alabama.

Mr. Parsons is a native of the middle west,
born near Davenport, Iowa, January 14, 1856,
the son of C. M. and Eliza (Hazen) Parsons,
both of whom were born in Massachusetts. On
the maternal side he is descended from good old
Revolutionary stock. Great-grandfather Hazen
being a participant in that conflict. During the
'40s C. M. Parsons, Sr., immigrated to what at
that time was considered the frontier, and as a
pioneer farmer in Scott county, Iowa, he cul-
tivated the virgin soil in that vicinity until his
removal to Tabor, that state, in the latter place
becoming interested in the lumber business. He
is now a resident of Claremont, Cal., as is also
his wife, and at the respective ages of eighty-
one and seventy-six years both are in excellent
health, with faculties still acute. Seven children
were born to this worthy couple, but two of the
number are deceased. The eldest, C. .H., is a
resident of Pasadena ; C. M. is the next in or-
der of birth ; A. H. is in the real-estate business
in Salt Lake City; H. E. is a grain merchant in
Philo, Champaign county. 111. ; and Walter M.,
a graduate of Grinnell College, has for many
years been connected with the noble work of
the Y. M. C. A. organization; for years he was
assistant state secretary of Iowa, and is now one
of the international secretaries, his territory cov-
ering southwestern Canada and the northwest-
ern part of the United States, his headquarters
being in Minneapolis.

The early years of C. M. Parsons were as-
sociated with the locality around Davenport,
Iowa, and at the age of twenty years he began
his self-supporting career by teaching school in
Scott county, that state, following this for three
years. From 1880 until 1893 he engaged in
farming in Iowa, in the latter year removing to
Fordyce, Ark., where he became interested in
the lumber business. The Fordyce Lumber
Company, with which he then associated himself
and with which he was locallv connected for four

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1937

years, make a specialty of the manufacture of
yellow pine, having a capacity for turning out
one hundred and twenty thousand feet per day.
Though still retaining his interest in the com-
pany he removed to Tabor, Iowa, in 1887 and
established himself in the retail lumber business,
but sold out six years later to take up his resi-
dence in the west. However, he still retains his
interest in the Fordyce Lumber Company, as he
does also with the Crossett Lumber Company of
Arkansas, and the Jackson Lumber Company,
which latter has offices in Florida and Alabama.
In coming to Claremont Mr. Parsons had defin-
ite plans laid for making his permanent resi-
dence here, in evidence of which he purchased a
fine residence on Alexander and Harrison streets,
where with his family he now makes his home.
The existence of the Citizens' State Bank of
Claremont is a result of the personal efforts of
W. N. Beach, who after working up the proj-
ect enlisted the co-operation of Mr. Graham and
Mr. Parsons. The officers of the institution are
C. i\I. Parsons, president ; George Jencks, vice-
president; Mr. Graham, L. N. Smith, W. N.
Beach, George Jencks and C. M. Parsons, di-
rectors. Mr. Parsons is also secretary and treas-
urer of the Claremont Inn, which was erected
during the same year, is a director in the Citi-
zens' Light and Water Company, and is con-
nected with numerous other enterprises, both here
and in Pomona. ^

In Scott county, lowaj Mr. Parsons was mar-
ried to Miss Mary A. Gates, a native of that
county, and six children have been born to them :
Jessie; Walter H., who graduated from Pomona
College in 1904 and is now connected with the
Crossett Lumber Company, of Crossett, Ark. ;
Nellie, a student of Pomona College, class of
1907; Hazen, who is a student in that institution
and will graduate with the class of 1909; Cor-
nelia, a member of the senior class preparatory ;
and Howard, the youngest of the family. Both
Mr. Parsons and his wife are members of the
Congregational Church, he being chairman of
the board of trustees, and also a member of the
building committee of the new chx-rch. The
work of the latter body bore fruit in the erection
of the beautiful house of worship which was
dedicated and occupied for tlie iirst time in June
of 1906. Politically Mr. Parsons gives his sup-
port to the Prohibitionist cause, and fraternally
he affiliates with the INIodern Woodmen of
America, belonging to tlie camp at Oaremont.

NIELS PETER JOHNSON. Perhaps no
example could be found on Los Angeles county
more significant of the opportunities offered by
this portion of the state than that furnished by
the life of Niels P. Johnson, who settled on his

ranch near Pomona at a time when tliere was
nothing to intercept the view from his ranch to
the heart of the city. His ranch is a part of
what is known as the Kingsley tract, and was
formerly used as a sheep range. At the time
he took possession of it in 1883 it held forth
little inducement as a future garden spot, but Mr.
Johnson had wisely chosen this particular por-
tion on account of the water facilities, which
he observed were excellent, and the wisdom of
his judgment and foresight has been borne out
in the results of later years. The Kingsley
Tract Water Company, Limited, supplies the ad-
jacent country with an abundance of water, and
this too at a much lower rate than prevails in
any other part of Southern California.

As is the case with many of California's
thrifty ranchers, Mr. Johnson is of foreign
birth, born in Aalborg, Jutland, Denmark, Feb-
ruary 3, 1843, the descendant of an old Copen-
hagen family. In that city his step-father, Fer-
dinand Nielson, was born and followed the trade
of butcher. His wife, Petrea Nielson, was a
native of Aalborg, she too coming of an old-es-
tablished family in Denmark. Of the three
children born to his parents Niels P. was the
eldest, and was educated in the public schools of
Aalborg. From the age of fourteen until seven-
teen he applied himself to learning the butcher's
trade, but instead of following it he went to
sea and for about three years was engaged in
the coasting trade, visiting many of the prin-
cipal European ports. Subsequently he returned
to Denmark and worked at his trade until May,
1866, when he set sail from Copenhagen, by way
of Hamburg and Liverpool, for New York. He
arrived at his destination without mishaps to
mar the journey and from New York proceeded
direct to Chicago, 111. Soon afterward, however,
he made his way to Oconto, Oconto county.
Wis., where he was employed by a lumber com-
pany for six years. Later he became interested
in farming in that vicinity, clearing a thirty-
acre farm from the wilderness and making of
it a valuable tract. Disposing of his Wisconsin
interests in 1878 he went to Franklin county,
Iowa, that year, purchasing eighty acres of new
land ten miles west of Hampton. Three years
later, however, he removed still further west,
coming to the Pacific coast in 1881, and after
spending one year in San Francisco and the
same length of time in Bridgeport, Mono coun-
ty, he began his career in Pomona in 1883. His
first purchase in the Kingsley tract consisted of
five acres and was located east of San Antonio
and south of San Bernardino avenue. Two
shacks constituted the only improvement on the
place, but he immediately erected a two-room
house for the accommodation of his family.
From time to time additions were made to this

1938

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

structure and a very commodious and comforta-
ble residence lias been developed therefrom.
San Antonio canon furnishes an ample supply
of water for irrigating purposes, while two ar-
tesian wells supply an abundance of pure and
deliciously cool water for domestic purposes.
During the fall of 1883 Mr. Johnson set out a
small portion of his ranch to oranges, continu-
ing to improve his ranch in this way from year
to year, until in four seasons he had the entire
tract of five acres in A\'ashington navels, and
now he justly claims one of the finest and most
productive orange groves in this part of the
state. Mr. Johnson was one of the most earnest
workers in behalf of the organization of the
Pomona branch of the Southern California Fruit
Growers' Association, of which he has been an
influential member ever since it became a reaUty.
In Oconto, Wis., September 6, 1868, Mr.
Johnson was married to ]\Iiss Anna Marie Las-
son, like himself a native of Aalborg, Denmark,
and a daughter of Peter Lasson, a native of
Jutland and a' brickmason by trade. Both ^Mr.
Lasson and his wife, formerly Giristine J^Iathia-
son, also a native of Aalborg, are deceased, and
of their eight children, Mrs. Johnson was the
only daughter. She was reared in her native
place, Aalborg. Denmark, receiving a good edu-
cation in the public schools there, and has been
a resident of the L^nited States since 1868, hav-
ing settled in Wisconsin during that year. One
child, John Giristian. has been born of the mar-
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. He formed do-
mestic ties by his marriage with ]Miss Alta L.
Snyder, and they and their two children, Otho
S. and and Ardath U., make their home in
Pomona. The family are Lutherans in their re-
ligious belief, and politically ^Ir. Johnson is a
Republican. He was made an Odd Fellow in
Pomona Lodge No. 246, in 1890, and for two
terms served as noble grand of his lodge : he is
also a member of San Antonio Encampment No.
88. I. O. O. F., of which he is past chief patri-
arch, and also belongs to Heliotrope Rebekah
Lodge No. 183. of which Mrs. Johnson is also
a member.

TO\"EY BROWN HHIROD. Standing
high among the capable and systematic horticult-
urists and ranches in Los Angeles county who
have met with undisputed success is Tovey B.
Himrod, of Pomona, who is the owner of an
orange grove and has a thirty^acre alfalfa ranch
within the city limits of Pomona, from which he
reaps a splendid income, his average yield being
between six and seven crops per season. Since
taking possession of th.e property in 1897 he has
worked courageously in its improvement, and by
the exercise of his native industrv and his able

business capacity- he has rendered it one of the
most productive estates in the neighborhood.

Of German descent on the paternal side, Tovey
B. Himrod is a grandson of Moses Lattimore
Himrod, who was born in Pennsylvania. He
was a farmer in Erie county, that state, and on
the homestead near Waterford his son John L.
was born. He. too, followed agricultural pur-
suits for his life calling, first in Pennsylvania and
later in Kingsville, Ohio, but subsequently re-
turned to his native state. It was in 1868 that he
severed his connection with the east by his re-
moval to Kansas, settling upon a farm in Wood-
son county, which he improved until its value
was enhanced many fold over its original cost.
From Kansas he removed to Humboldt county,
Iowa, in 1882. remaining there for six years,
when he removed to the Pacific coast, locating in
Pomona. His active labors ceased with the dis-
posal of his Iowa farm, and from the time of
coming to Pomona in 1888 until his death. Janu-
ary 7, 1906. he lived retired, in the enjoyment of
the accumulations of former years. The wife
and mother, formerlv Mary E. Brown, was also
a native of the Keystone state, born in Warren
county, the daughter of Robert Brown, who fol-
lowed farming in Pennsylvania during earlier
life and finally removed west to Iowa, in which
state his death occurred. Mrs. Himrod died in
Ohio in 1867, having become the mother of eight
children, of whom seven are now living.

Next to the oldest in his parents' family, To-
vey B. Himrod was born in Waterford, Pa.. Au-
gust 19, 1853, and was reared principally in
Pennsylvania and Ohio, attending public school
in the latter state until he was fifteen years of
age. His mother having died in 1867, the fol-
lowing }ear the father took the family to Kan-
sas, and from that year until 1875^ ^^^ worked on
his father's farm in Woodson county. A desire
to strike out in his own behalf became evident in
the latter year, when he went to Red ^^'ing,
Goodhue count}-, ]\Iinn., and carried on a farm
there for two years. In 1878 he removed to
Humboldt county, Iowa, and Ijought a new farm
of eighty acres, improving it from raw prairie
land into one of the fine farming estates in that
])art of the country, having in the meantime
added an adjoining tract of eighty acres. He
sold his one hundred and sixty acre farm in 1897
and came to California, whither his father had
preceded him about nine years. Soon after com-
ing to Pomona he purchased an orange grove in
this vicinity, and later purchased two others,
which he sold. He now makes his home on the
four-acre ranch on Kingsley avenue. He also
owns a thirtv-acre alfalfa ranch two miles south
of the postofiice and within the city limits, which
produces a remarkable yield of from six to seven
crops per season. An excellent pumping plant

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL Ri<:CORD.

1939

furnishes an abiuulanLC of water, which is dis-
tributed to all parts of the ranch by means of a
twenty-five horsepower gas eiigine.

In Red Wing, Alinn., November 13, 1877, -'^^i'-
Himrod married Aliss Dorcas A. WiUiams, who
was born in Mankato, Aiinn., the daughter of
W'iUiam Riley Williams, born in Indiana of
Welsh descent. From Indiana he removed to
^Minnesota during the earl) history of its settle-
ment by the whites and participated in the New
Ulm massacre. During the Civil war he en-
listed as a member of a Alinnesota regiment, but
did not survive the hardships of warfare to re-
turn to his family, dying on the battlefield at
Little Rock, Ark. His wife, formerly Jeston Al-
corn, was also born in Indiana, and she died in
North Dakota. Seven children were born to Air.
and Mrs. Williams, three of whom are living.
The youngest of the family, Airs. Himrod was
educated in Red Wing, Alinn., and for two years
she taught school in that city. Six children w"ere
born to Mr. and Mrs. Himrod, of whom one
died in childhood, and Nellie died in 11)04, at the
age of sixteen years and six months. The others
are: James Lattimore, in New Jersey: William
Brown, attending Pomona College ; Alinnie Al-
myra and Edwin Ray, both at home. The family
are members of the Alethodist Episcopal Church
and politically Air. Plimrod is a Republican. As
one of the most prominent and successful
orange growers in this part of the state. Air.
Hinn-od's membership in the Southern California
Fruit Exchange is a decided acquisition, as it is
also in the Kingsley Tract Water Company, Lim-
ited, of v/hich he was at one time president.

JOHN O. ADAAIS. As Pomona lies in the
heart of one of California's richest fruit belts it
is a natural conseciuence that the greater number
of its residents are horticulturists, among whom
mention belongs to Air. Adams. His residence
in the valley dates from the year 1894, at which
time he purchased his present ranch of seventeen
acres, all of which is devoted to oranges with
the exception of three acres in vineyard. At the
time he bought the property it was devoid of any
improvement, and all that is visible today is the
work of his own hands, for, aside from planting
his orchard and .setting out his vineyard, he
erected the family residence and ranch buildings.

As is true of so many of Pomona's residents.
Air. Adams is not a native of California, but
comes from the Alississippi valley, .\lthough
his parents were natives of the east, almost their
entire lives were associated with the middle west,
where as a minister in the Congregational de-
nomination the greater part .of the father's active
life was spent. Horn in Saratoga Springs. N.
Y., September 14, 181 3. Amos B. Adams was

reared and educated principally in Uhio, and
was one of the first graduates of Uberlin Col-
lege, receiving his diploma from the classical
course in 1840 and from the theological depart-
ment in 1843. His ordination as a minister of
the Gospel followed soon after his graduation,
and about this time also, October 18, 1843, oc-
curred his marriage with Aliss Charlotte Alerrell,
a native of Connecticut, although they met as
students in Oberlin College. Air. Adams was
first sent as a missionary among the Indians in
what is now the state of Iowa, and was later
transferred to the Chippewa Indians of the north.
Traveling in those early days was attended with
considerable difificulty and danger. Before the
present locks were constructed he sailed up the
Great Lakes in a small schooner, landing on the
west end of Lake Superior, where is now located
the present flourishing city of Duluth, Minn.
From that point he went by canoe on the Alissis-
sippi river to his charge as minister and teacher
among the Indians. His work among the Chip-
]3ewas was ruthlcssl\- broken in upon by the hos-
tile Sioux during the Civil war, and he with the
other white settlers in the vicinity w-ere obliged
to seek safety in Fort Ripiey. Subsequently, in
the summer of 1863, he took up life anew amid
the forbidding conditions of northern Alichigan.
From Alilwaukee, \A'is.. he crossed Lake Alichi-
gan on the schooner Stronach and finally took up
his residence at Benzonia. There he became
identified with Grand Traverse College, a Con-
gregational institution, and in addition to his
duties therein he followed farming and fruit rais-
ing. It was while there that he was deprived of
the companionship of his wife, wdio passed away
in 1892, at the age of seventy-six years. Subse-
quently he went to Alanistee, Alicli., and from
then until his death, September 5, 1906. made his
home with his daughter. Airs. J. J. Hubbell. His
life had been an active and useful one, and al-
though he lacked but nine days of reaching his
ninety-first birthday, was in full possession of
his mental faculties. As the last surviving mem-
ber of the Oberlin class of 1840 he was laid to
rest in the family lot in Benzonia Cemetery.
Five of his six children still survive him : W. H.
and John O.. of Pomona, Cal. ; Qiarles F., of
r.enzonia, Alich. : Airs. J. O. Beach, of New
Britain, Conn. : and Mrs. J- J- Hubbell, of Alanis-
tee. Alich. Another .son, Albert P>. .\dams, was
a resident of Manistee from 1887 until 1892, dur-
ing which time he assisted in the survey and loca-
tion of the Alanistee and Northeastern Railway;
his death occurred in Long Beach, Cal.

While his parents were living in Benton coun-
ty, Alinn., John O. Adams was born, July 20,
1856. Wis recollections of his birthplace are
rather vague, for he was only seven years old
when his parents left there and located in Benzie

1940

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

county, Mich. After a course in the common
schools of Benzonia he became a student in Grand
Traverse College, of which institution his father
was one of the trustees. Subsequentlj' he be-
came interested in the fruit enterprise which his
father also carried on, remaining at home until
attaining his majority. Subsequently he engag;ed
in the raising of peaches independently, and it
was with all of these years of experience as assets
that he came to Pomona in 1894 and established
the nucleus of his present successful enterprise.

In 1885 Mr. Adams was married to Jennie E.
Miner, a native of Canada, and five children have
been born to them, Bessie, John, Paul, Wilbur
and Donald. Mr. Adams still owns about forty
acres of land in Michigan, although he has sold
all of his fruit land. While a resident of that
state he advanced the interests of his community
by a whole-hearted interest in its governmental
affairs, and was a valuable acquisition to the
school board of Benzonia. This same interest in
the welfare of his adopted home in the west has
always been apparent, and he is counted among
her most active and respected citizens. Political-
ly he is a Republican, and with his wife is a mem-
ber of the Congregational Church. During the
summer of 1906 Mr. Adams and family returned
to Michigan for a visit, spending about two and
a half months among the scenes of his earlier
vears.

EDWARD ABPLANALP. The Swiss fam-
ily of Abplanalp became transplanted in America
during the early half of the nineteenth century,
when Jacob Abplanalp emigrated from Switzer-
land to the new world and settled among the
pioneer farmers in the southeastern part of Indi-
ana. Accompanying him to the United States
.was his son, Peter, a native of Switzerland, but
from boyhood a resident of Indiana, where he en-
gaged in farming until his death. During the
Civil war he enlisted in the Union army and
served as a private in the Sixty-fourth Indiana
Infantry. From the organization of the Republi-
can party until his death he never swerved in his
allegiance to its platform and principles. In the
old country the family had become identified with
the religious movement inaugurated by Martin
Luther and he was reared in the Lutheran faith,
which he always supported. In young manhood
he married Martha Garrison, who was born in
Franklin county, Ind., and died there in 1905.
The Garrison family was among the pioneer fam-
ilies of Franklin county and her father, James,
was for years and until his death a leading agri-
culturist of that locality.

In a family consisting of seven sons and three
daughters, Edward Abplanalp was the oldest and
he was born November 2-/, 1865, on the farm oc-

cupied by his parents, Peter and Martha Ab-
planalp. The family being large and their means
very limited, it became necessary for him to begin
at an early age to assist in the support of the
younger children. When only fourteen he began
to learn the carpenter's trade in the vicinity of
Sunman, Ripley county, Ind., not far from the
old home farm, and from that time onward he
was self-supporting. During October of 1886 he
arrived in California and secured employment at
Santa Ana in horticultural work. From there
three years later he removed to Chino, San Ber-
nardino county, and took up carpentering in addi-
tion to farm pursuits. While living in that town
he married Miss Mary Bostleman, a native of
Ohio, and a woman possessing many pleasing
traits of character. Two sons, Arthur and Henry,
bless their union.

While following his trade in 1891 Mr. Abpla-
nalp was engaged to assist in the construction of
a beet factory for the American Beet Sugar Com-
pany, and from that beginning he continued for
seven seasons as foreman in charge of the com-
pany's boilers. When it was decided to establish
a plant at Oxnard he was one of the first men to
come to the place and built the first house in the
town, a cottage on the corner of Sixth and A
streets. From the arrival of the first carload of
material for the Oxnard factory he was employed
as a foreman in the work of construction and for
a time he held a position as engineer in charge of
the hoisting engine. On the completion of the
plant he took up general contracting and building
and continues in the same occupation to the pres-
ent time, having since October of 1902 been a
partner of J. H. Myers under the firm title of
Myers & Abplanalp.

The partners not only carry on a large contract-
ing business, but also own and operate a planing
mill, Mr. Myers having charge of the mill, while
Mr. Abplanalp superintends all building opera-
tions. Among the buildings which he has super-
intended may be mentioned the Union Oxnard
high school, Stephens residence, the Cohn and H.
K. Snow residences, and his own residence on
Fifth street ; also the steam laundry, Wineman
block, Schmitz building, Cohn building, water
tanks for the water company, and the Lutheran,
Christian and Episcopal churches, all of which
work has been done in a reliable, efficient and
workmanlike manner. In addition, he has erected
many houses in the country and he also superin-
tended the building of the grammar school before
he began to take contracts. His attention has
been given very closely to business affairs and he
has had little leisure for participation in local
politics, but he is a pronounced Republican and
always votes tlie straight party ticket. Fratern-
ally he affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and
holds office as past chancellor in the local lodge.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

1941

Reared in a home where the doctrines of the
Lutheran denomination were taught to the chil-
dren, he was early confirmed in that church and
ever since has been an active member thereof,
contributing generously of time and means to its
maintenance.

WILLIAM T. NEELY. Early in the nine-
teenth century the Scotch family of Neely be-
came established in the United States, and
John Neely, representative of the first generation
born in America, was a native of Philadelphia,
where he grew to manhood and learned the hat-
ter's trade. During the memorable year of 1849
he started across the plains with a comrade from
St. Joseph, Mo., the two traveling on horseback,
and having only one horse with which to cross
the desert. On his arrival in California he at
once engaged in prospecting and mining and
met with good success in his efforts to discover
gold in pa.ving quantities. During 1853 he re-
turned east via Panama, but the next year found
him returning by the same route to the mines,
where he remained until 1856, and then went
back east to remain. After a brief sojourn in
Philadelphia in 1857 he became a pioneer farm-
er of Iowa, where he bought a tract of land near
Burlington and engaged in farming. Though
never active in politics, he always kept posted
concerning national issues and always voted the
Republican ticket. Fraternally he was a Mas-
ter Mason. After a long and industrious life
he passed away in 1899, having for twenty-
three years survived his wife, who was Maria
Barton, a native of Philadelphia, descended from
Welsh ancestry.

Among the seven children of John Neely (all
of whom are still living) William T. Neely of
San Diego was fourth in order of birth, and was
born on the home farm near Burlington, Iowa,
June 3, i860. As a boy he received fair ad-
vantages, being a student first in the common
schools, then in Denmark Academy and later in
Elliott's Business College at Burlington. After
leaving school he taught for three years and
then, in 1885, began to learn the carpenter's
trade. The following year he visited California
for the first time and while in the state followed
his trade for brief periods at Santa Barbara,
Pasadena and Los Angeles, returning to Iowa
in the spring of 1888. Removing to Salt Lake
City in 1889 he followed his trade, also took
contracts for building Iiouses and stores, further-
more had mining interests in the locality, and for
two years acted as deputy county sheriff.

On coming to California the second time Mr.
Neely settled in San Diego in 1897 ^"d since then
has engaged in contracting and building, being
now a member of the firm of Willard & Neelv.

The present partnership was begun in 1886 and
has continued at intervals since. Interested in
everything pertaining to his chosen occupation,
Mr. Neely holds membership in the Master
Builders' Association and keeps posted concern-
ing every advance made in the building business.
While making his home in Salt Lake City he
married Miss Laura Koontz, who was born in
Ohio, and is a faithful member of the Baptist
Church. They are the parents of five children,
John, Glenn, Harry, Charles and Ruth. Since
coming to San Diego Mr. Neely has been made
a Mason in Silver Gate Lodge No. 296, F. &
A. M., and has also become identified with all
the bodies of the Consistory in this city, besides
being connected with the Woodmen of the
^Vorld. Though like his father in respect to
taking no part in politics, he nevertheless gives
his allegiance stanchly to Republican principles
and his ballot is always to be depended upon as
an aid to the candidates of the party in local and
general elections.

CASPER BORCHARD. The success which
has accompanied the efforts of Casper Borchard,
one of Ventura county's representative citizens,
has been such as to denote his possession of abil-
ity of more than ordinary calibre, for he began
life against heavy odds — without means or
friends, in a new country and with a new lan-
guage to learn, beginning at the foot of the lad-
der and working his way step by step to the top-
most rung — to-day holding rank with men of
wealth and influence, both of which he can al-
v\'ays be counted upon to give of freely toward the
advancement of his adopted land.

Mr. Borchard is a native of Germany, his
birth having occurred in 1842, in Werxhausen,
province of Hanover. The family is one of the
oldest of that locality and many of the name still
reside there. Ambition as well as ability have
always been distinguishing characteristics in
members of the family, and Casper Borchard was
no exception to the general rule. Realizing the
fact that the western world afforded many more
opportunities to the young man of to-day, he
early decided to emigrate and accordingly came
to America in 1867, locating in California
and in Ventura county establishing his home. As
his means accumulated he purchased property,
continually adding to his land, until at the pres-
ent writing he owns over four thousand acres in
the Conejo valley. Here he has a herd of two
thousand goats, while he also raises other stock
on an extensive scale. It is needless to say that
he has been successful ; energy and patience have
gone to make up his years of effort and the large
financial returns are but just equivalents for that
which he has given. Better still to say of his

i;)4:;

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

character, lie has won the esteem of those among
whom his lot has been cast for nearly forty years,
a true appreciation of his ability, his liberality,
his practical citizenship being given him by those
who know him best.

Mr. Borchard was married in the Fatherland
to Aliss Theresa Maring, a native of Germany,
and born of this union are the following chil-
dren : Rosa, wife of Silas Kelly, of Conejo val-
liey; Mary, at home; Leo, who is married and
lives near Santa Ana, Orange county, Cal. ; Cas-
per, Jr., residing near Santa Ana; Antone, an en-
terprising j'Oung ranchman who has charge of
the home ranch m the Conejo valley ; Frank, a
partner in the management of the home ranch;
and Charle.s and Theresa, with their father. The
mother passed avv'ay in i8g8, at the age of forty-
nine years. The home of the family is now lo-
cated near Huntington Beach, where Mr. Bor-
chard owns about eight hundred acres of land,
although they have a comfortable country home
in the Conejo valley. As one of the oldest set-
tlers of the Conejo valley xMr. Borchard has wit-
nessed its development and has indeed been one
of the most potent factors in its advancement to
its present high position among agricultural lo-
calities of this part of the state. He takes a keen
interest to-day in its improvement and seeks in
every possible way to enhance property values,
spending large iunis annually on his own vast
acres which adds in turn to the adjoining lands.
He is loyal to the interests of \"entura county
and can always be counted upon to further an}'
plan for its advancement.

EDWARD D. ROBERTS. Among the lea<l-
ing financiers and business men of Southern Cal-
ifornia the name of Edward D. Roberts of San
Bernardino stands pre-eminent. Of a strong
personality, great force of character and rare
mental attainments, he is justly entitled to the
honorable position which he holds in financial
circles, and this, too, apart from any reflected
honor from his illustrious father, J. W. Roberts,
whose connection with banking interests in San
Bernardino forms a part of the city's history,
and whose biography will be found elsewhere in
this volume.

It is the privilege of Init few men to stand at
the helm of three large banking institutions and
guide them with safety over the financial sea,
weathering storm and threatened shipwreck, in-
cidents which every mariner at some time in his
career has to contend with. As president of the
San Bernardino National Bank, the San Ber-
nardino County Savings Bank and of the First
National Bank of Colton, Mr. Roberts has not
only proven himself a capable captain, but has
established bevond doubt the seaworthiness of

his noble ships. The history of the San Ber-
nardino National Bank dates back to the }ear
1887, at which time it was formed, and Febru-
ary 28, 1888, it opened its doors for business,
with officers as follows: J. G. Burt, president;
A. H. Hart, vice-president; E. H. Morse, cash-
ier, and W. S. Hooper, teller. In 1892, at the
time of the fire in the Stewart building, in which
the bank is located, some of its records were de-
stro}ed, but the disaster caused lio serious in-
convenience to the bank. Among its early stock-
holders were such men as Ambrose Hunt, I. R.
Brunn, Richard Gird, J. G. Burt, S. E. A.
Palmer, J. W. Davis, Jr., Seth Marshall, H. L.
Drew, E. H. Morse, .A.. H. Hart, Henry Good-
cell, Sr., \\\ S. Hooper, Richard Stewart, W. E.
W. Lightfoot, L. A. Grant, Tohn Patterson, W.
W. Stow, J. W. Roberts and" H. E. Harris. The
first change in the presidency of the bank oc-
curred in 1891, in which year J. W. Davis be-
came head of the institution, but his career was
short, owing to his death, which occurred Au-
gust 8, 1893. J. W. Roberts was then elected
to the presidency, a position which he filled with
efficiency until his death about ten years later,
January 9, 1903. The latter's son, E. D. Rob-
erts, had been associated with the bank for a
number of years, first as bookkeeper, later as
assistant cashier and still later as vice-presi-
dent, and his election to the presidency at the
close of his father's career was a most natural
secpience. The other officers at this writing are :
H. E. Harris, vice-president, and W. S. Hooper,
cashier. The San Bernardino National Bank
claims the distinction of being the largest and
strongest financial institution in the county, and
the following figures will substantiate the claim :
Capital stock, $100,000; surplus and profits,
$150,000; deposits, over $1,000,000; and total re-
sources, $1,500,000.

Although a younger institution the San Ber-
nardino County Savings Bank is on an equal
footing with the San Bernardino National Bank
in the matter of reliability, for the officers of
the latter are also in charge of the newer organi-
zation. It was opened for business July 6, 1903,
with officers as follows : E. D. Roberts, presi-
dent ; Seth ^larshall, first vice-president ; A. C.
Denman, Jr., second vice-president ; A. G. Ken-
dall, cashier, and directors, E. D. Roberts, Seth
Marshall, A. C. Denman, Ir., ^^'. S. Hooper, G.
W. Parsons, H. E. Harris, A. M. Ham, T. A.
Blakely, J. B. Gill, H. R. Smith and W. J. Cur-
tis. The capital stock of this institution is $55.-
000; surplus, $15,000, while the deposits liave
exceeded the half million mark. A fact wordi\-
of note in connection with this bank is that from
the start it has paid dividends to the stockhold-
ers, the first year si.x per cent, and ever since
then eight per cent To the depositor it pay.>

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

194.S

four ])cr cent on term deposits, while on ordinary
deposits three per cent is paid.

The foregoing facts in regard to two of San
Bernardino county's monetar\- institutions have
been read with interest and protit, and the read-
er may peruse the life history of their president,
Edward David Roberts, to even greater advan-
tage. He was born in Cambria, Cohmibia coun-
ty, Wis., July i8, 1864. a son of J. W. and
Eliza (Williams) Roberts, both natives of North
Wales. Up to the age of fifteen years he was
reared and educated in Cambria, and in 1879
went to Pittsburg, Pa., to further pursue his
studies in the preparatory department of the
Western L'niversity of Pennsylvania, an institu-
tion which was founded in that city in 18 uj, but
which in 1888 was removed to Allegheny City.
He concluded his sophomore year in the latter
institution, and in the meantime had also com-
pleted a course in Duiifs Commercial College iii
Pittsburg. It was with this preparation for busi-
ness life that he went to Milwaukee, Wis., in
1882 and accepted a position in the claim depart-
ment of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railroad under J. P. Elliott. The following year
found him in Bridgewater, ]\IcCook county, S.
Dak., drawn thither, no doubt, from the fact
that his brother-in-law, J. W. Davis, was inter-
ested in business there. Besides interesting him-
self in the stock and land business there, Mr.
Roberts bought an interest in the McCook Coun-
ty Bank, in which his brother-in-law was also
interested. The removal of Mr. Davis to Cali-
fornia in 1884 made a change in the personnel
of the bank, and at this time Mr. Roberts was
made cashier. Mr. Davis' object in removing to
California was to establish the First National
Bank of Colton, which he did in conjunction
with his father, J. W. Davis, Sr., and in 1885
Mr. Roberts closed up his affairs in South Da-
kota and also removed to Colton, to accept the
position of assistant cashier in the bank just
mentioned. Subsequently he was made cashier,
and while a resident of that town also served on
the board of town trustees.

It was in 1892 that Mr. Roberts and his fath-
er, J. W. Roberts, became interested in the San
Bernardino National Bank, the former rising
gradually from the position of bookkeeper, until
in January. 1903, upon the death of his father,
he was made president of the institution. Since
then, July 6, 1903, he organized the San Ber-
nardino Savings Bank, of wdiich he is president,
and he also holds the same position in the First
National Bank of Colton. Notwithstanding the
demands upon his time and thought which these
]xisitions involve, he is nevertheless active in
business along other lines, and with Seth ^Nlar-
shall assisted in the organization of the Arrow-
head Hot Springs Company, in which he is a

director. The company is incorporated for $1,-
000,000 and is building up one of the most sub-
stantial institutions of its kinds in the state. Mr.
Roberts is also a director in the San Bernardino
X'alley Traction Company, director of the Colton
Fruit Exchange, president of the San Bernar-
dino Hotel Building Association (the latter be-
ing owners of the .Stewart Hotel block), besides
which he acts as manager of his father's large
estate and assists in the management of the J.
W. Davis estate.

In Colton, Cal., in 1891, Edward D. Roberts
was married to Miss Maud -Adams, who was
born in Bloomington, 111., the daughter of Dr.
Henry F. Adams, the latter a ])racticing physi-
cian of Colton at the time of his death. Mrs.
Roberts received the latter part of her education
in Willamette University, at .Salem, Ore. Two
children, Louise Eliza and ;\Iaud Marie, have
added brightness and cheer to the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Roberts. In Colton Mr. Roberts was
made a Mason in Ashlar Lodge No. 306, but
he is now a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 178,
Keystone Giapter No. 56, and St. Bernard Com-
mandery No. 25, all of San Bernardino, and he
also belongs to Al JNlalaikah Temple, A. A. O.
N. M. S., of Los Angeles, and to the Benevo-
lent Protective Order of Elks of San Bernardino.
The Republican pj^rty finds in Mr. Roberts a
most dependable and loyal supporter, and twice
he has served as chairman of the county central
committee. In 1904 he was a delegate to the
Republican national convention that met in Chi-
cago for the purpose of nominating our pres-
ent chief executive, Theodore Roosevelt. Mr.
Roberts is also a member of the Board of Trade,
is a valued member of the State Bankers' As-
sociation, as he is also of the University Club
of Redlands. Alan's best friend, the horse, has
indeed a true friend in Mr. Roberts, and in his
stalls may be seen some of the finest breeds of
trotting and standard-bred horses to be found
in the country. Flis residence in San Bernar-
dino is without exception one of the most pala-
tial in the city, and the grounds are an added
feature of beauty, the whole combining to form
one of the most beautiful and restful spots in
the county. Mrs. Roberts shares in the esteem
in which her husband is held, and is an active
member of the Episcopal Church, to which both
contribute with a generous hand. She is also a
prominent member of the W'oman's Club, and
was chairman of the building committee which
had in charge the building of the new home for
the latter club.

Though comparative!)- young in years, Mr.
Roberts' strong personal attributes have long
since been generally recognized, and these char-
acteristics, taken in conjunction with his mani-
fest public siiiril, his brradth of mind in viewing

1944

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

all public affairs, and his generosity of heart,
have given him a place in the esteem of thought-
ful and discriminating men which few men at-
tain at his time of life. The work which he is
accomplishing in the various avenues of finance
and commerce in which he is engaged is mak-
ing a marked impress upon the trend of events
in California, and the record of his life is en-
titled to a place of distinction in the annals of
the state.

THEODORE E. HASS. The first location
of ^Ir. Hass on coming to California in 1886
was in Pasadena, which at that time did not
boast its present population, but the incoming of
settlers gave an impetus to the building trade,
and, as a carpenter, Mr. Hass found employment
readily. He later went to Downey, and having
in the meantime become interested in agricul-
tural affairs, he there sought to find a ranch
which would suit his needs and requirements.
This he found a few miles from the above-men-
tioned village, and so satisfactor}- were his ef-
forts that he remained there for sixteen years,
or until coming to Palms in 1904. At that time
he purchased thirty-three acres and at once be-
gan its improvement and cultivation. His am-
bition soon outgrew his possessions, however, and
he was obliged to secure adjoining land in order
to carry out his plans. He now has three hun-
dred and tliirty-three acres under his control,
all of which is in oats and lima beans.

Mr. Hass was bom in Vinton county, Ohio,
November 2, 1855, the only child of his father's
first marriage. Samuel' Hass was also a native
of Ohio, born February 16, 1834, and was reared
and educated !n the latter state. He was
obliged early in his career to hoe his ovro row,
making his start in life on a fann of forty acres
in his native state. Going to Kansas in 1871,
he purchased a farm of two hundred and forty
acres, on which he resided the remainder of his
life, his death occurring in 1902. His first wife,
and the mother of our subject, was in maiden-
hood Elizabeth Millirons, a native of Ohio. She
died soon after the birth of her son. In i860
Mr. Hass married Miss Martha Spelman, and
all of the eight children born of this marriage
are living.

Theodore Hass attended the common schools
of Ohio and Kansas in the neighborhood of the
parental homestead in those states, and when he
was twenty years old began to make his own
way in the world. The initial step in this direc-
tion was homesteading a quarter section of land
in Kansas, to which he later added eighty acres
of land by purchase. Favorable reports of un-
limited opportunities in the west resulted in the
sale of his Kansas property and his removal to

California. His location on his present ranch
was not by chance, but followed a long and care-
ful observation as to the merits of various lo-
calities. His selection was a wise and satisfac-
tory one and his ranch is one of the most im-
posing in this part of the county.

A marriage ceremony celebrated in Concor-
dia, Kans., in 1880, united the destinies of
Theodore E. Hass and IMaryetta E. Wright.
Four of the five children born to them are living
and are named in order of birth, as follows :
Ralph, (who married Mabel Barnett) ; Everest
S., (who married Girlie Jenison), Arthur C. and
Gertrude. All of the family are active workers
in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which
they are members, and politically Mr. Hass is a
Republican.

THOMAS WILLIAM COATES. Prominent
among the representative business men of San
Diego is Thomas William Coates, who has, may-
hap, had charge of the erection of more of the
notable business blocks and private residences of
this city than any other one contractor. During
his twenty years' residence in this place he has
been actively identified with its best interests,
and in the development and advancement of its
growth and prosperity has been an important
factor. A son of John Coates, he was born No-
vember 28, 1859, in Chicago, 111., coming from
English ancestry.

Born, reared and educated in England, John
Coates made wise use of his talents, studying
architecture, and having also learned the carpen-
ter's trade, came to America. Settling in Chi-
cago, 111., he was there profitably employed as
an architect and supervising builder for a num-
ber of 3'ears. He became quite noted in his pro-
fession, being frequently called to other places,
among others going to Ottawa, Canada, to su-
perintend the erection of the parliament building
hi that city. On its completion he returned to
Chicago, where he continued as a contractor and
builder until 1886. Locating in San Diego in
that year, he resided here until his death, in
1892, at the age of sixty-two years. He married
Annie Marsh, who was born in Worcester, Eng-
land, a daughter of Thomas Marsh, England's
pioneer railway builder. She died in Oakland,
Cal., leaving three sons and one daughter, all
of whom are living. '

The second child of the household, Thomas
\^'illiam Coates was educated in the Chicago
public schools, after which he began working
with his father at the carpenter's trade. Be-
coming familiar with the details of the trade
he started in business on his own account in
1877, and during the next ten years built many
residences and business houses in Chicago. Com-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1945

ing to California in 1887 he established himself
as a contractor and builder in San Diego, and
in this line of industr}' has since been busily and
profitably employed. Many of the prominent
buildings and residences of the city bear evi-
dence of his skill and ability, not only as a me-
chanic, but as an artist, he having originated and
drawn many of the plans used in their construc-
tion.

In Rockford, 111., Mr. Coates married Amelia
Coates, and they have two children. Silver Cloud
and Senora Frances A. Mr. Coates belongs to
two of the leading business organizations of San
Diego, the Chamber of Commerce and the Mas-
ter Builders' Association, in the latter being a
director. Politically- he is active in the Demo-
cratic party, being an ex-member of the Central
Committee, and fraternally he belongs to the
Foresters of America.

RAYMOND LUDDEN, D. O. Osteopathy
is that science or system of healing which
emphasizes, (a) the diagnosis of diseases by
physical methods with a view to discovering,
not the symptoms but the causes of disease,
in connection Avith misplacements of tissue,
obstruction of the fluids and interference with
the forces of the organism; (b) the treatment
of diseases by scientific manipulations in con-
nection with which the operating physician
mechanically uses and applies the inherent re-
sources of the organism to overcome disease
and establish health, either by removing or
correcting mechanical disorders and thus per-
mitting nature to recuperate the diseased part,
or by producing and establishing anti-toxic
and anti-septic conditions to counteract toxic
and septic conditions of the organism or its
parts ; (c) the application of mechanical and
operative surgery in setting fractured or dis-
located bones, repairing lacerations and re-
moving abnormal tissue growths or tissue ele-
ments when these become dangerous to the
organic life.

Dr. Raymond Ludden, of Colton, has been
practicing osteopathy for a number of years
in dififerent parts of the country, and his flat-
tering success wherever he has been located
is conclusive proof of the value of extensive
preparatory work in a profession. He was
born December 9, 1878, in Kirksville, Mo., a
son of David H. and Sarah (Litchfield) Lud-
den, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and
the latter born in Indiana. Prior to the Civil
war the father was engaged in agricultural
pursuits. He served three years in the .'^ixty-
fourth Regiment of Illinois \^olunteers, which
was the regiment known as Yates' Sharp-
slmnters, and after his return to civil life in

Illinois he established himself as a nurseryman,
continuing in that occupation up to the pres-
ent time, having in the meantime, however,
removed to Kirksville, Mo., where he and his
wife are both still living. He is a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic and in poli-
tics holds stanchly to Republican principles.

There were five daughters and six sons in
the family of which Dr. Ludden was a mem-
ber and he is the only one residing in Cali-
fornia. His earl}' education was received in
the Kirksville public and high schools, and
after completing his studies there he attended
the state normal located in the same city.
Later he fitted himself for professional work
in a line of studies at the Columbian Osteo^-
ath}' College, after which he engaged in
practice for two years at Newton, Kans. Fol-
lowing this he attended the St. Louis Univer-
sity of Medicine for the same length of time,
specializing on the subjects of anatomy, phys-
iologA' and chemistry, at the same time he
was pursuing his studies, also holding the
position of assistant demonstrator of anatomy
in the college. In 1904 he came to California
and located in Redlands, but one year later
removed to Colton, where he is now in com-
mand of an extensive practice.

In 1902 occurred the marriage of Dr. Lud-
den and Miss Gertrude, the only daughter of
Judge Adrian L. and Anna (Baker) Greene,
both natives of Missouri, the former being
supreme judge of the state of Kansas. Mrs.
Greene died when her daughter was but
twelve years of age. Mrs. Ludden was born
in Newton, Ivans., and is an active member of
the Presbyterian Church. While Dr. Ludden's
time and attention are largely given to his
profession, he is yet interested in the progress
of his city and lends his influence to the for-
warding of all matters tending toward its up-
building. He is an advocate of Republican
principles and is highly esteemed both as a
citizen and a professional man.

HARRY J. OHLSEN. A seafaring man
during his entire active career, there is probably
no person in Southern California more familiar
with the coasting trade of this section than Har-
ry J. Ohlsen, of San Pedro, who is secretary of
the San Pedro branch of the Sailors' Union of
the Pacific. Wide-awake, active and enterpris-
ing, taking a genuine interest in everything per-
taining to nautical matters, he is ever ready to
assist any movement tending to promote the wel-
fare of the sailors, and in his present position
is performing his duties in a manner satisfactory
to all concerned. A native of Germany, he was
born. December 24. 1863, in Cuxhaven, the de-

1946

HISTORICAL AXD BIOCiRAPHICAL RECORD.

scendant of an old and well known family. His
father, Master John Uhlsen. was the owner of
two coasting vessels that sailed from Cu.xhaven,
where he spent his entire life. His paternal
s^randfather. a native of Helgoland, Germany,
settled at Cuxhaven when a _\oimg man, and

I during his active life was employed in piloting
vessels from that port to Hamburg.

The second child in a family consisting of sev-
en sons and one daughter, Harr\- J. Ohlsen was
educated in the public schools of Cuxhaven, and
like every one of his six brothers chose the life
of a sailor as the one most desirable, from earli-
est boyhood going out in fishing boats, or on
His father's coasting vessels. At the age of fif-
teen years he made his first long sea voyage, go-
ing by way of the Cape of Good Hope to the
South Sea Islands. Fascinated with the sea,
he subsequently twice crossed the Atlantic to
Xew York, after which, on the stanch vessel
Clara, he sailed around Good Hope to China
and Japan. Returning from Japan to Hong
Kong he there left the Clara, emlDarking on an
American vessel, which brought him to Cali-
fornia. Arriving in San Francisco in 1883, he
was there paid oflf. and has ever since been a
resident of the Pacific coast, since 1886 having
made his home in San Pedro, his residence be-
ing now at the corner of Third and Center

. streets. For a number of years he was agent
of the San Diego branch of the Sailors' Union
of the Pacific, but since that was given up, in
1898, he has been secretary and agent of the
San Pedro branch, the only branch of the union
in Southern California, being re-elected to the
position at the expiration of every term. As
secretar}-, he attends to all the correspondence
of the society, and as agent is shipping master,
boarding every vessel that comes into the har-
bor.

In Los Angeles, Cal., ^Ir. Ohlsen married
Edith Allison, who was born in England, of
Scotch ancestors, and they have two children.
Alma E. and Harry J., Jr. Fraternally Mr.
Ohlsen is a member and past lecturer of the
Foresters of America, a trustee of the Eyrie of
Eagles, and the treasurer of the Fraternal Broth-
erhood. Religiously, true to the faith in wliich
he was reared, he is a Lutheran.

\\TLLL\M S. ELLIS. Among the influen-
tial and prominent citizens of San Diego county
who are indebted for their present prosperous
condition to their own industry and energy, is
William S. Ellis, a leading farmer of Fallbrook,
and one of its foremost business men. He has
seen life in all its phases, has lived in various
parts of the L'nion. and wherever he has resided
has proven liim-;elf a useful member of the com-

munity. He is now extensively engaged in gen-
eral ranching and fruit raising, and as president
of the Fallbrook Hardware Company is identified
with its mercantile interests. He was born
March 6, 1852, in Warren, Mo., the son of Jo-
seph and Xancy (Xetherton) Ellis, w-ho were
born, reared and married in Kentucky. About
1830 they emigrated to the western frontier, set-
tling in Missouri, where they cleared and im-
proved a homestead, on which both spent their
remaining years, the mother dying at the age of
fifty-four years, in 1865, and the father in i8yi,
at the venerable age of eighty-three years.

Obtaining his early education in a private
school in Missouri. William S. Ellis remained
at home until after attaining his majority. In
1874, resolving to try his fortune in a newer
country, he came to California, locating near
\'isalia, where he remained a year. Xot quite
satisfied, however, with his prospects, he went
back to his old home, and was there employed
in tilling the soil for three years. In 1878 he
went to Te.xas, but after a brief stay removed
to the Black Hills, where he first followed min-
ing and afterwards worked as a wage-earner.
Returning to Missouri in 1881, he continued his
residence there a year, and in 1882 came again
to the Pacific coast. For about three years there-
after he resided in the Carpinteria valley, Santa
Barbara county. Locating not far from his
present home in the fall of 1885, he purchased
land that was in its primitive condition, improved
it, and lived there until 1893, wdien he went to
Lower California, where he remained two years.
Coming back to Fallbrook in 1895, he assumed
possession of his present home ranch, and has
since been actively engaged in his chosen voca-
tion. He has a productive vineyard of five
acres and an orchard of the same size, besides
which he owns one hundred and sixt\- acres of
farming land, mostly devoted to the raising of
grain. In addition to caring for this ranch. Mr.
Ellis leases eighteen hundred acres of the Santa
Margarita grant, and has this vast tract in grain
also. He is a man of excellent business ability,
and three years ago took an active part in or-
ganizing the Fallbrook Hardware Company, of
which he is the president and one of the direc-
tors, and is also one of the directorate of the
Fallbrook Mercantile Company. He is a stanch
Democrat in iralitics, and has served on the
school board.

Mr. Ellis was first married October 22, 1876,
in Warren county, ^lo., to Laura Burton, who
was born in Wisconsin, and died February 17.
i88g, in California. Seven children were born
of their union, three of whom are living, name-
ly : Burton W.. of Fallbrook : Thomas" Graves.
at home : and Lee C. at home. Februarv 0.
1890, .Mr. Ellis married .\delle Burdine. a native

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1947

of Illinois, and they are the parents of five chil-
dren, name!}- : William Henry, who was born
December 8, 1890, and who attends the Fall-
brook high school ; Raymond N.. born December
23, 1894; Edna Roberta, born January 3, 1897;
Nellie M., born October 10, 1898; and Stephen,
born January 6, 1905. Mrs. Ellis is a most esti-
mable woman, highly esteemed in social circles,
and is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr.
Ellis has recently erected a fine modern resi-
dence, in which he and his family enjoy life, and
extend a gracious hospitality to their many
friends and acquaintances.

THE COLTON DAILY NEWS. The his-
tory of the Colton Daily Nczi's dates back to the
year 1889, when Albert Thompson founded and
published the first newspaper issued in Colton,
which was called the Colton Weekly Ncivs. Six
years later he disposed of the plant, J. H. Mar-
tin continuing to issue the sheet under the same
name for the following eight years. The next
change in its management dates from January
I, 1903, when the present owner and publisher,
Willard Beebe, assumed control. Under his
management the paper still continued as a week-
ly until September i, 1905, from which time it
has been issued daily as the Colton Daily A'cxvs,
with a circulation of five hundred copies. It is
a clean, straightforward sheet, viewing broadly
the world-wide, national and local happenings,
and is accepted by all, regardless of political
leanings.

DR. J. ALLEN OSMUN. The New Jersey
annals of dentistry contain no name more worthy
of perpetuation than that of Dr. Osmun, who
during a long professional career maintained
the confidence of a large clientele and at the
same time rose to the highest honors within the
gift of the members of the dental fraternity.
When, at the close of his successful professional
career, he retired from practice and removed to
the Pacific coast in order to enjoy the pure and
balmy air of the west, he was followed by the
admiration and esteem of the many whom he
had known in the east and who possessed an
appreciative knowledge of his ability and broad
information. Although professional labors have
been relinquished, he has not retired from life's
activities, but finds an abundant sphere for
commercial enterprise and profitable investment
in Whittier.

The success which has rewarded the eft'orts
of Dr. Osmun proves what it is wdthin the
power of young men to accomplish when blessed
with health, perseverance and determination of
character. A native of Fall River. Mass., he

was a small child when his parents removed to
Illinois and when only twelve years of age he
left home, going to New Jersey, where he re-
ceived a fair education. When eighteen years
of age he came to California the first time and
remained a few years at San Francisco, where
he began to studv dentistrv under the preceptor-
ship of V. McAllister, D. D. S. It was the
opinion of many that he would have better ad-
vantages for acquiring a thorough knowledge
of the profession if he went back east than if
he remained on the Pacific coast. Following this
advice he returned to New Jersev and prosecuted
his studies with an uncle. Dr. S. R, Osmun, of
Morristown, that state.

After having been admitted to practice b\' the
state boards of New York and New Jersey in
1875, Dr. Osmun opened an office at Newark,
where he remained in continuous practice luitil
1903, meanwhile building up such an extensive
practice that, in addition to his own work, he
had his son and two assistants in the office to
aid in the care of patients and the routine of
dental work.

The high success which came to Dr. Osmun
in professional labors in Newark brought him
to the attention of other members of the pro-
fession throughout the state, among whom his
reputation was enhanced by frequent and schol-
arly contributions to the leading journals of the
profession. Papers and articles to the number
of about one hundred appeared in professional
papers over his signature during the years of
liis active work as a dentist, and all of these con-
tributions showed not only literary ability, but
remarkable professional knowledge. Prominent
in the profession, he was chosen to act as secre-
tary of the board of dental examiners of New
Jersey and was also honored with the office of
secretarv of the National Board of Dental Ex-
aminers. In addition he was elected president
of the New Jersey State Dental Society, over
whose deliberations he presided with dignity and
impartial spirit, as he did also while acting in
the capacity of president of the Central Dental
Societv of Northern New Jersey. The various
positions which he was holding in 1903 and the
large practice which he had established he re-
linquished in order to become a citizen of South-
ern California, where, as in his former place of
residence, he has become a jiroperty owner and
a leading factor in many important commercial
undertakings. ■

While living at Newark. N. J., Dr. Osmun
married Aliss Mary Eva Graves, daughter of
Rev. David Graves, an honored preacher in the
Methodist Episcopal denomination in northern
New Jersev many years ago. In religious views
Dr. and Mrs. Osmun sympathize with the doc-
trines of the Methodist Episcopal denomination.

194S

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

but since coming west attend the Presbyterian
Church of Whittier. They are the parents
of seven children, namely: David Allen,
deceased ; Leighton G. ; Mary Anna, deceased ;
George Kent, J. Allen, Jr., Robert A. and
Richard Graves. In political attachments
the doctor is of the Republican faith.
Shortly after his arrival on the coast he
purchased Venturilla rancho, a tract of
eighty acres at Rivera, where he makes his
home; the greater part of the ranch is under
cultivation to walnuts. At the opening of the
year 1905 he acquired by purchase the con-
trolling interest in the Whittier National Bank,
of which he is president, holding the same posi-
tion in the Home Savings Bank, is vice-president
of the Whittier Light and Fuel Company, presi-
dent of the Rivera Land and Water Company,
and a large holder of real estate in this vicinity.

Odd Fellows at San Bernardino. Politically he
is an advocate of Democratic principles. All
progressive enterprises have his cordial sup-
port and he is recognized as a citizen of ster-
ling worth to the community in which he re-
sides.

AARON A. COX. A well-known orange
grower of San Bernardino county is Aaron A.
Cox, who resides on a two-acre plot in San
Bernardino and has a fine home with all mod-
ern improvements. His birth occurred Sep-
tember II, i860, in Vandalia, Fayette county,
III, where he received his education and lived
under the parental roof until twenty-one years
of age. He is the son of John and Nancy
(Farmer) Cox, the former a native of Ohio and
the latter of Illinois, in which state their mar-
riage occurred, and where they lived the rest
of their lives, the mother being forty years of
age, and the father living to the advanced age
of eighty. They were the parents of twelve
children^ two of whom, John H. and Aaron A.,
live in San Bernardino county. The father
was a member of an Illinois regiment during
the last two and one-half years of the Civil war
and took part in many important engagements.
He was a politician of some prominence locally
in the Democratic party and sensed two terms
as sheriff of Fayette county. During his resi-
dence in Illinois A. A. Cox was engaged in
agricultural pursuits, and after his removal to
Colorado took up a government claim. On his
present property m San Bernardino he makes
a specialty of fruit-raising, and is especially
well posted on orange culture. From time to
time he has added to his holdings, until he now
has over one hundred acres.

Mr. Cox was married in Illinois to ]\Iiss Rose
Dunham, a native of that state, and they have
become the parents of seven children, namelv :
Alabel L., Harold D., W^illiam L.. Rov. Clif-
ford C. Donald A. and Geraldine D. :Mr. Cox
is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood and
Royal Mystic Legion at Rialto : and the Wood-
men of the World and Independent Order of

GEORGE B. CASTER. A leading contractor
and member of the board of trustees of Colton,
George B. Caster is one of the most prominent
citizens of this community, in which he has re-
sided about five years. His native state is Iowa,
his birth having occurred in Davis county, No-
vember 25, 1S63. He was the son of Andrew
J. and Lucinda (Hutchinson) Caster, the former
born in Ohio, and the latter in Missouri. His
father was a member of the state militia in Mis-
souri, and when the Civil war broke out enlist-
ed in Company E, Forty- fourth Regiment of
^Missouri Volunteers, and was killed soon after
entering the service, in the battle at Franklin,
Tenn. George B. was the only child of his
parents and his mother now resides with him
in Colton. She is an active member of the
Methodist Episcopal Qiurch.

Although born in Iowa the earliest recollec-
tions of Mr. Caster are of his home in Missouri,
for he was but a year and a half old when his
parents removed to Sullivan county, in that state,
where the son was reared and received his edu-
cation in the public schools. When his school
days were over he remained at home until he
had attained his majority, when he went to
South Dakota and there learned the carpenter's
trade. He continued to reside in Mitchell, Dav-
idson county, for a number of years, during
which time he plied his trade, then returned to
Missouri and in Lexington county engaged in
ranching and stock raising for twelve years. In
February, 1901, he came to Colton and having
sold his ranch in Missouri purchased a fine resi-
dence in this city, and has been identified with
the upbuilding of this section of the state since
that time.

By his marriage in 1883. ]\Ir. Caster was unit-
ed with Miss Sarah Baile\-, a native of Illinois,
and of this union two children have been born :
Ira B.. who married Catherine Corbett, and is
living in Colton, where he is engaged in the
grocery business ; and John A., who resides at
iiome. Airs. Caster was the daughter of John
and Mary (Hall) Bailey, both of whom were
born in Illinois and died in ^Missouri, in which
two states her father was continuously engaged
in agricultural pursuits during his lifetime.
There were eleven children in the family, two
of whom died in infancy, and one son now re-
sides in Colton. Mr. Caster is prominent in
fraternal orders, being a member of Ashlar

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1949

Lodge No. 306, F. & A. M. ; San Bernardino
Chapter R. A. M. ; of Colton Lodge No. 326,
I. O. O. F., and the Encampment at San Ber-
nardino; of the Modern \\'oodmen of America,
Order of the Eastern Star and Rebekah lodges
all of Colton, and of which Mrs. Caster is also
a member. Politically he is affiliated with the
Republican party and has always taken an ac-
tive interest in public affairs. At one time he
served as constable and for eight years was tax
collector for Medicine township, Livingston
county, Mo., and the people of Colton have sig-
nified their confidence in his abilities by electing
him to the board of city trustees. He is a man
of strong principles and liberal views, has a
pleasing personality _ and is held in the highest
respect and esteem by all who know him.

CHARLES ROWE. Every nationality of the
civilized world is represented in the citizenship
of California and the cosmopolitan population thus
given to the state has been productive of the most
gratifying success, for the thrift of the Scotch-
man, the determination of the Englishman, the
cheerfulness of the Irish race, the suavity of the
French, supplemented by the qualities of other
races, combine to produce beside the sunset sea
a concourse of people offering the highest quali-
fications as citizens. Being of the English race,
Mr. Rowe has the characteristics predominating
in his countrymen, added to which is the enter-
prise peculiarly American and resultant from a
residence of more than twenty years in the
United States.

It was during 1882 that the Rowe family be-
came established in the new world, Herbert
Rowe, a farmer of England, at that time remov-
ing to Ontario, Canada, with his family, and
settling near London. Eighteen months later he
came to California and settled near Santa Bat--
bara in 1884, after which he engaged in farm
pursuits until his death. His wife, who bore the
maiden name of Eliza Popplestone and claimed
England as her birthplace, has also passed from
earth. All of their six sons are still living,
Charles being third among these. While the
family were living at Plymouth, England, he was
born ']\Iarch 18, 1871, and in the local schools he
received his primary education. At the time of
coming to America he was eleven years of age,
and for a short time he attended the schools in
Ontario, but after arriving in California in 1884
he was a student in the public schools of Goleta,
Santa Barbara county.

He and his brother became interested in rais-
ing grain and beans in the Santa Clara valley,
and for a time he continued to raise beans and
beets near Oxnard. In 1901 he bought otit
Glenn Brothers and embarked in the livery busi-

ness, having charge of the oldest and most cen-
trally located livery barn in Oxnard. The stable
stands on a lot which he owns and which has a
frontage of seventy-five feet, thus giving ample
accommodations for the needs of the business.
In addition to the conduct of a livery, boarding
and sales stable, he is manager of the Oxnard
Importing Company, owners of the French Per-
cheron stallion Clovis and the French coach Ar-
brite, and importers of animals with high pedi-
grees. Besides all of his other activities he is
interested in the cattle business, and with his
brother owns a ranch at Santa Ynez, Santa Bar-
bara county. An experience in the buying and
selling of cattle which covers many years of prac-
tical work well adapts him for the successful
management of a cattle ranch, and in the best
breeds of cattle, as in horses, his judgment is re-
garded as excellent. As yet he has not given
much attention to politics, but he votes the Dem-
ocratic ticket in national elections and keeps post-
ed concerning matters aff'ecting the prosperity of
the. country. Fraternally he holds membership
with the knights of Columbus, also with the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at
Santa Barbara. While making his headquarters
near Hueneme he married Miss Mary Donlon,
who was born and reared near that village, and
they are the parents of two children, Margaret
and Joseph Donlon.

LEWIS G. BUTLER. The owner of a highly
improved ranch in the San Jacinto valley, Lewis
G. Butler is a man of large acquaintance in this
section of Riverside county, and as one of the
organizers of the Hemet Deciduous Fruit Asso-
ciation and its efficient manager for seven years
(dating from the time of its inception and con-
tinuing until April, 1906, when he resigned the
position) he has conclusively proved his more
than usual business ability, for that enterprise
has been one of the most successful of the kind
yet instituted in this part of the state. He is
still a stockholder in the association, but is now
devoting his time to the prosecution of his pri-
vate business interests. He is a native of Wis-
consin, born in 1851, the son of G. W. and E. E.
Butler, neither of whom are now living.

The boyhood days of Mr. Butler were spent
in De Kalb county. 111., where he was given the
benefit of a good common school education, that
state having been his home until 1870, when he
removed to Nebraska and fanned for a period of
four years. In 1874 he yielded to a desire to
locate in California, and coming to Orange
county secured employment for a couple of years,
after which he purchased twenty acres of land,
a part of which he planted to oranges, the re-
mainder being devoted to nursery purposes.

11)50

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

.After some time, desiring to conduct operations
on a larger scale, he purchased four hundred
and eighty acres of land near Westminster, in
the same county, and engaged in stock-raising
for a short period. Locating .subsequently in
Santa -Ana he lived there a season and finally
purchased one hundred and twenty acres of raw
land in the San Jacinto valley and began its im-
provement. This was in 1884, at the time when
fruit raising was in its infancy. He erected a
comfortable house and the other necessary build-
ings, planted fruit trees, being one of the first
to engage in horticultural pursuits. With the
passing of years he has continued to add im-
provements to his ranch, un.til it is now regarded
as one of the most valualsle and attractive in this
beautiful valley.

In Nebraska in 1872 Mr. Butler was united
in marriage with Aliss M. E. Selby, a native of
Ohio, and thev have one child, Chester G.. at
home. Fraternall}- Mr. Ihitler is a member of
Riverside Lodge Xo. 043, H. 1'. ( ). 1--., and po-
litically he is an advocate oi the principles' of
the Republican party. In e\-ery enterprise in-
stituted for the improvement of his section he
takes a leading interest, and is a public-spirited
citizen who is held in the highest esteem through-
out the communitv.

THOMAS JOB 1! ITT. When the Jobbitt
family became established in America from Eng-
land its members selected Canada as the sphere
of their activities and it was not until the present
generation that they became transplanted in the
United States. Descended from the original
English settler in Canada was James Jobbitt,
who was born and reared in Toronto, followed
the trade of a merchant tailor in that city, con-
ducted a large business for a ver_\- long period,
and eventually passed from earth when lacking
only four years of having rounded out a full
century. At the same age occurred the death of
his wife. Elizabeth (Bright) Jobbitt, a native of
Toronto and a descendant of an English an-
cestry. Of their nine children six are still liv-
ing, Thomas being third in order of birth. From
their parents the sons and daughters have in-
herited rugged constitutions and sturdy health
and as an instance of this it may be stated that
Thomas, though now lacking but a few >ears of
seventy, has never suffered with toothache or
headache, but in his advancing years, as in his
youth, has enjoyed exceptional health.

In the city of Toronto Thomas Jobbitt was
born January 11, 183Q, and there he attended
the city schools, receiving fair advantages for
the acquisition of a broad fund of general in-
formation. From childhood he proved himself
to be a natural mechanic and his abilitv in that

direction led him to take up carpentering, which
he followed in Toronto and vicinity. During
1864 he left home and removed to Chicago,
where he followed his trade, and after the great
Chicago fire he took contracts for replacing
buildings lost m the memorable catastrophe.
For years he followed contracting in Chicago
with fair success, but eventually he chanced to
come to San Diego on a visit, and the desirability
of the place as a location for a home led him
to remove hither in December of 1888. since
which time he has engaged in contracting and
building in the city and vicinity. He has super-
intended the erection of the Granger and Keat-
uig buildings, numerous other public structures,
as w ell as many of the finest residences here, and
is nni\ers:ill\ recognized as one of the most ex-
i;iisi\e lnii!>krs of the cit\'.

W hile ne\er active in politics nor solicitous to
hold office. Mr. Jobbitt has kept himself posted
concerning natiosial jM-nlilems ever since he be-
came a citizen of the United States and he has
Jieen unswerving in his allegiance to the Repub-
lican party. With his wife, who was Miss Cath-
erine Heap, a native of Iowa, he enjoys the es-
teem of associates and the friendship of many
of the most cultured people of the city. Mrs.
Jobbitt has been active in the work of the Bap-
tist Church and he has contributed regularly to
its missionar}' and benevolent enterprises. Along
the line of his chosen occupation he has main-
tained a warm interest in the work of the Master
Builders' Association, with which he has been
connected ever since its organization. After
coming to the coast he became connected witli
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was
initiated in Sunset Lodge No. 328, to which he
now belongs, in addition to being associated,
with his wife, in the work of the Order of Re-
bekahs.

JOHN C. BLAKE. For more than thirty
years John C. Blake has been a resident of
San Bernardino county and been identified
with the development of this part of the state.
He is a native of Canada, and was born May
12, 1850, the son of Irish parents, Patrick and
P)ridget (Burns') Blake, who in 1846 immi-
grated to Canada, and there engaged in farm-
ing. There were three children born to them,
the daughter dying in infancy, one son living
in Canada, and John C, of Colton. The father
was sixty years of age at the time of his death,
while the mother outlived her husband many
>ears and was eighty-six when she died, both
Iseing members of the Catholic Church.

Both public and private schools were at-
tended by Mr. Blake in pursuit of an education
in Canada, and when not quite twenty years

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1951

of age he left his native land for the western
coast of the United States, arriving in Hum-
boldt county, California, in 1870. For several
years he engaged in the lumber business in
that location and in 1874 removed to Los
Angeles, where for one year he worked at the
carpenter's trade, and then came to Colton
in 1875, having charge of a section gang for
the Southern Pacific Railroad, and becoming
the first resident of this now thriving city.
Eleven years later he gave up railroad work.
and in 1887 purchased tlie ranch upon which
he now resides. It comprises fifty acres of
fertile land, six acres being devoted to fruit
and fort3'-four acres to grain and pasture. He
has been very successful in his ranching oper-
ations and is a highly respected citizen of the
community in which he has so long made his
home.

Mr. Blake's marriage to Charity Coburn, a
native daughter of California, occurred in
1877, and they have been blessed with four
children, as follows: Henry, who married
Jennie Brown, has one child and lives in Los
Angeles: Herbert and Norman, both at home:
and Grace, who is the wife of S. J. Stanfield.
Mrs. Blake passed away in 1894, when only
thirty-four years of age. Mr. Blake is a Dem-
ocrat politically and is an active participant in
matters of public interest.

CHESTER W. CL'RTIS. A wide-awake
liusiness man, thoroughly posted on financial mat-
ters, and fully accjuainted with the most up-to-
date banking methods, Qiester W. Curtis, cash-
ier of the First National Bank of Colton, is
highly esteemed for his worth and integrity.
The Curtis family is one which has been identi-
fied with New England history and development
for many generations, and it was in August,
1857, that Chester W. was born in Stratford,
Conn., that state being also the native home of
his father, William T. Curtis. When news of
the discovery of gold in California reached tlie
Atlantic seaboard the elder Curtis became desir-
ous of entering the race for wealth, and accord-
ingly in 1849 came via Cape Horn to the Pacific
coast and engaged in mining operations for a
few years. He was only fairly successful, how-
ever, and upon returning to Connecticut he en-
gaged in the mercantile business until 1891. In
tliat year he returned to the west and perma-
nently located in Riverside, where he has lived
retired from active business ever since.

After acquiring his education in the East-
hampton (Mass.) schools Cliester W. Curtis was
occupied as a merchant until 1889, when he
came to California and entered the employ of
the Southern Pacific Railway Company, filling

positions in various departments until 1902,
when he resigned to become bookkeeper in the
First National Bank of Colton, and remained at
that post until 1905, when he was elected cash-
ier, the position which he now fills with credit
to himself and the officials of the bank. He is a
member of several prominent fraternal orders,
among them being the Benevolent and Protec-
tive Order of Elks; Ashlar Lodge No. 306, F.
and A. M.; and Colton Lodge No. 137, K. of P.

JOSEPH STEPHEN STRAWSER. Own-
ing and conducting one of the largest steam
laundries in Southern California, Joseph Stephen
Strawser, of the Santa Fe Laundry in San Ber-
nardino, is known as one of the most successful
and enterprising business men and progressive
citizens of this municipality. He was born Sep-
tember 13, 1873, i" Danville, III, the son of
Abraham and Martha (Bainbridge) Strawser,
both natives of Illinois, in which state the death
of the mother occurred. The father was a mem-
ber of an old Pennsylvania family, and in for-
mer years he was a farmer. In 1886 he removed
to California, later went to Colorado, but finally
returned to this state, and is now a grocery mer-
chant in Los Angeles. Three of his five children
are now living, as follows : Lewis, associated
with him in the Los Angeles business; Burt,
president of the Troy Laundry in Los Angeles;
and Joseph Stephen, engaged in the laundry
business in San Bernardino. The latter, the
youngest member of the family, attended the
public schools until twelve years of age, when
it became necessary for him to provide for his
own support.

It was in 1886 that i\Ir. Strawser first came
to California, locating in Corona, which was
then just being laid out and the building started.
Later he returned to Illinois and was occupied
for a time as a sign painter and decorator, sub-
secjuently engaging in railroad work as fireman
on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois. From there
he went to Greeley, Colo., remaining one year,
and in 1895 was once more in California. After
spending a short time in mine prospecting he _
entered the employ of the San Bernardino Steam "
Laundry for the purpose of learning the busi-
ness in all its details. He soon worked himself
up to the foremanship of the plant, and in Feb-
ruary, 1903, he and Mr. Miller leased the Santa
Fe Laundry, the company which owned it hav-
ing been organized in 1901. A year later Miller
& Strawser purchased the plant, which thev en-
larged to more than double its old capacity, mak-
ing the building Coxioo feet, erected barns for
oil tanks, installed modern machinery, new boil-
ers and engines, electric irons, etc. The large
business haniUed bv the Santa Fe Laundrv ex-

1952

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tends over Riverside and San Bernardino coun-
ties and even into Arizona. Mr. Strawser is
president and general manager of the firm and
Mr. Miller is treasurer.

The marriage of Mr. Strawser, which oc-
curred in San Bernardino, united him with Miss
A^'innie L. Clems, a native of that city and a
daughter of Joseph Clems, who was of English
birth and a prominent pioneer in this county.
One child, Helen, was born of this union. In
fraternal circles Mr. Strawser holds a prominent
place, being a member and past grand of Token
Lodge No. 290. I. O. O. F.. also belonging to
Morse Encampment, of which he is past chief
patriarch ; a member of the Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order of Elks, and of the ^^'oodmen of
the World. His wife belongs to the Rebekahs.
Mr. Strawser is a member of the Southern Cali-
fornia Laundrymen's Association, and of the
San Bernardino Board of Trade, and poHtically
he is a Republican.

THOMAS H. CARROLL, ^'arious of the
public residences that give a substantial appear-
ance to the architecture of Oxnard are the result
of the skill and efficiency of Thomas H. Carroll,
who for a number of years has devoted his atten-
tion to the building business and has taken con-
tracts for the erection of structures of every
kind. Though not one of the earliest residents of
Oxnard, he has been identified with the develop-
ment of the town since his arrival in June of
1901 and has been engaged in contracting since
August of 1903, meanwhile establishing a reputa-
tion for reliable workmanship. Among the con-
tracts which he has filled may be mentioned those
for the Roman Catholic Church and parsonage,
the Knights of Columbus building, the Living-
ston hospital and various residences that are
models of taste fulness and comfort.

The Carroll family is of English ancestry.
Capt. Richard Carroll, who was born in Liver-
]iOol. England, followed the sea throughout all of
his active life, first sailing out from England, but
later making liis home in Nova Scotia, where he
died. His wife, who bore the maiden name of
Alice Dolhentry, was born in Nova Scotia and
died there. They were the parents of nine chil-
dren, but only four are now living. The only
one to settle in California was Thomas H., who
was fifth among the nine children, and was born
in Antigonish countv. Nova Scotia, November
28, 1852. After having received a fair education
in the common schools he apprenticed himself
to the carpenter's trade at the age of fourteen
years, and by diligent application he gained a
practical knowledge of the occupation in all of
its details. Going to Newfoundland, he secured
employment in the Betscove mines and remained

there as mechanical superintendent for ten years.
Coming to the United States in 1883, Mr. Car-
roll remained for one year in Boston, Mass., and
during 1884 he crossed the continent to the Pa-
cific coast, settling in Los Angeles and working
at his trade by the day. In time he began to take
contracts for building, and later for nine years he
worked as a stair builder in a mill owned by J.
M. Griffiths. Froni Los Angeles he came to Ox-
nard and has since won a place among the enter-
prising business men of this growing city. It is
his practice to study harmony in eftect in plan-
ning a building, while in filling the contracts he
shows skill, efficiency, promptness and reliability,
so that a contract once filled serves as an adver-
tisement for the high character of his work.
While living in Los Angeles he there married
Miss Leonora Horan, who was born in Canada
and grew to womanhood in Wisconsin, coming
from that state to the Pacific coast and residing
with other members of her family in Los An-
geles. Born of their marriage are three children,
namely : Ethel, now a student in a business col-
lege in Los Angeles ; Russell and Evangeline.
The family hold membership with the Santa
Gara Catholic Church and contribute to its main-
tenance, as well as to other measures and organi-
zations for the upbuilding of the race. In fra-
ternal relations Mr. Carroll affiliates with the
Knights of Columbus, in whose activities he is
warmly interested and to whose permanent wel-
fare he is a contributor of time and influence.

JACOB HCFF. Nowhere are the attrac-
tions of California more apparent than in the
thickly-populated region lying from Los Ange-
les to the east as far as the sandy plains. On
this valley nature has bestowed her choicest
charms, and the sun smiles from unclouded skies
upon thousands of acres of orchards and citrus-
fruit groves, giving to the orange its own golden
glow and imparting to ever variety of fruit a
richness and flavor surpassed by no region.
Along the well-kept roads may be seen beauti-
ful homesteads, with their cottages built in the
southern style of architecture, combining com-
fort and .symmetry of proportions. A few acres
sufSce to provide for the maintenance of the
owner, for the returns from each acre are large
imder proper cultivation.

To many of the state's best citizens such
homesteads furnish an ideal means of livelihood,
and Jacob Hufif is one of the large number en-
gaged in the cultivation of a small orange grove
in the midst of surroundings so nearly approach-
ing the ideal as are to be found in his locality.
The eight-acre tract which he owns is situated
in close proximity to Highland and under his
care has been transformed from the original

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1953

wild state to its present improved condition. The
land was purchased in 1884 and seven years
later he erected the cottage he now occupies.
The substantial barn also was built under his
supervision. Six acres are planted to deciduous
fruits, one and one-half acres to navel oranges,
and the balance in lemons, which, however, he
now is cutting out and budding to navel oranges.
The trees have been raised from the seed and
are of the finest varieties, so that the fruit com-
mands good prices in the markets. Water for
irrigation is brought from Little Sand cafion and
carried through every part of the orchard as
needed, thus furnishing satisfactory condition
for promoting the growth of the trees and the
ripening of the fruit.

Wliile he has spent the greater part of his
life in California, Mr. Huff is a native of Iowa
and was born January 12, 1862. When one
year old he was taken to Montana by his par-
ents, Jacob and Elizabeth Hufif. His father died
there in 1865 and two years later the mother
brought the family to San Bernardino county,
Cal., where she died in 1879, at the age of forty-
nine years. Reared in this locality and edu-
cated in the common schools, Jacob Huff select-
ed horticulture for his life work and from an
early age he has devoted himself to this calling,
meeting with an encouraging degree of success
as a result of industry and painstaking applica-
tion. In 1888 he was united in marriage with
Miss Viola Zimmerman, who was born in Mis-
souri and came to the Pacific coast with her
parents, Daniel B. and Elizabeth (Lewis) Zim-
merman. At this writing Mrs. Zimmerman
owns a small homestead near Highland, where
she has four acres in oranges. The family of
Mr. and Mrs. Huft' consists of three children,
namely : Mazie Elizabeth, Jacob C. Loyal and
Nona Viola, all of whom are at home.

BENJAMIN M. ATKINSON. Two miles
south of Palms lies the ranch of five acres
which is the home of Air. Atkinson and which
forms one of the many small estates of Los An-
geles county, the high development of which
has added greatly to the county's prosperity. In
addition to the homestead, which a conservative
valuation places at $600 per acre, Mr. Atkin-
.son is the owner of mining stock that brings
him a fair income each year, and in addition he
owns considerable undeveloped mining property.
Loyal to the county and state of his residence,
he maintains the keenest interest in any move-
ment calculated to promote local progress and
views every advance made, whether from an
educational, religious or moral standpoint, as a
step in the right direction : yet his views are
somewhat different from those of manv citi-

zens, for he is a believer in socialistic doctrines
and years ago left the Democratic party to give
his support to the movement so intellige'ntly pro-
moted by Henry George and others.

In Van Wert county, Ohio, Benjamin M. At-
kinson was born September 18, 1840, being a
son of Jesse and Mary (Done) Atkinson, na-
tives of Pennsylvania. The paternal grand-
father, William Atkinson, was a native of Eng-
land; the maternal grandfather, who it is sup-
posed was a native of Pennsylvania, followed
the trade of a wagon-maker in that state
for many 3'ears. As early as 1830 Jesse
Atkinson becam.e a pioneer farmer of Ohio and
aided in the development of large tracts of land
in that state; for, although he was a tailor by
trade, much of his life was devoted to agri-
culture and he was a practical and enterprising
farmer. At the time of his death he was eighty-
five years of age; his wife, who died in 1859,
was an earnest member of the Baptist Qiurch.

At eighteen years of age Benjamin M. At-
kinson started out in the world to earn his live-
lihood. Chance directed his steps to Kansas,
which then was attracting a large number of
settlers and home-seekers. Although he took up
a claim and devoted one year to its improvement,
he was not satisfied with the environment and
traded his claim for a horse, on which he rode
to Iowa. For two years he worked on a farm
in Fremont county. Next he went to Montana
and took up land near Virginia City, where, in
addition to farming, he became interested in
mines. After seven fairly successful years he
returned to Fremont county, Iowa, where for
four years he engaged in farming. Next he re-
moved to Kansas and took up land in Norton
county, but again his experience of Kansas was
not gratifying. Repeated droughts destroyed
his crops, and in seasons where the amount of
rainfall was sufficient to produce and mature a
crop, the grassI;oppers came like an invading
army and left naught behind but destruction and
distress. After fifteen unprofitable years he
left his Kansas ranch and removed to the San
Luis valley in Colorado, where he worked on a
ranch about ei,ghteen months. From there he
came to California and settled on a farm in
Ventura county. During the spring of 1896
his attention became somewhat diverted from
farming by his connection with the development
of the Sunshine mine, which proved to be an
excellent producer and which he operated, in
connection with other owners of shares, until
1900. Since then his sons have had charge of
the mine under lease. In the meantime he has
had other nn'ning interests and among his unde-
veloped claims he now has the Excelsior, Klon-
dike and Topsy Rustler, all of which are prom-
ising propositions. In July of 1903 he came to

1954

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Los Angeles couiUy ami purcliasetl the property
where now he makes his home.

While living in PVemont county. Iowa, Mr.
Atkinson married JNIiss JMalinda Lerrell, who
was born in Floyd county, Ind., her father be-
ing a native of Kentucky. She died in Ventura
county m 1890. Nine children were born of
their union, namely : Thomas Watson, a part-
ner of his father in the Sunshine mine : ^^'ill-
iam NorrJs, manager of the Sunshine mine : Ed-
ward Cleveland, who operates the three-stamp
mill connected with the same mine : Clemmons
Jesse, who died :d the age of fourteen years and
six months; Elniira C, who is the wife of O.
A. Kreighbaum, of Fullerton, Cal. ; Mary E.,
wife of J. F. Pitt, of Indian Territory; Malinda
J., Mrs. C. G. Ferrell, of Palms; Ina M., who
married Ernest Case and resides in Ventura
county ; and Sylvia Lenore. who has charge of
the house and ministers to her father's comfort.

JOHN HYLAXD AJYERS. The business
interests represented liy the firm of Myers &
Abplanalp are among the most important in the
town of Oxnard, \'entura county. On the or-
ganization of the present firm in 1902 a planing
mill was erected, and, by the purchase and con-
solidation of two other mills, a large trade was
established at the outset. In all of its equip-
ments the mill is modern, power being furnished
b.y an electric motor. The capacity of the plant
is sufficiently large to permit of the manufacture
of all kinds of material in large cjuantities. While
the mill comes under the personal supervision of
I\Ir. Myers, his partner has charge of their con-
tracting and build.ing business and makes a spe-
cialty of contracts for brick and concrete work.

Mr. ^Lers comes of a family of lumber manu-
facturers. His father, Henry, and grandfather
were both interested in the manufacture of lum-
ber, and the former, working his way up in the
business from early boyhood, built and conducted
lumber mills near Alanitowoc, Wis., and owned
the vessels used in carrying his lumber to the city
markets. Though only twenty-seven years of age
when he died at Racine, his energy and wise
judgment had rendered possible, at that early
age, the accumulation of a competency which in
those days was considered a small fortune. At
his death he left two sons, John Hyland, of Ox-
nard, and Foster D.. who died in Nevada City,
Cal. The wife and mother, who bore the maiden
name of Clarinda Raymond, was born in New
York and removed to Wisconsin with her
parents. After her marriage she remained in
Racine and reared her sons there until 1876, when
she came to Santa Barbara. Cal., her present
home. Now, as IMrs. Stafford, she is widowed a
second time, her second husband having died in
California.

Horn in Racine. \Ms., July u. 1862. John
Hyland Myers was fourteen years of age when
he arrived in Santa Barbara, Cal., October 21,
1876, and there he attended a private academy as
well as the city high school. At the age of sev-
enteen he was apprenticed to the carpenter's
trade under Thomas Nixon, with whom he re-
mained in Santa Barbara for five years. At the
expiration of his time he began to work at his
trade in Los Angeles, but a year later, in 1887,
he went to Arizona, where he helped to rebuild
Flagstaff after it had been burned down. Re-
turning to California, he became one of the first
contractors and builders in Saticoy, which had
been laid out very recently. For about three
\ears he remained in that town, meanwhile erect-
ing the large hotel there. In the fall of 1889 he
began to work in San Francisco. One year later,
when the Charles hotel at Saticoy burned down,
he was solicited to return and rebuild the struct-
ure and consented to take the contract, which
brought him back to Satico}-. Many of the most
important contracts were given to him for the
putting up of private houses and business struct-
ures, and he remained in the place, busily en-
gaged at his trade, until the spring of 1899, when
he came to Oxnard as a contractor and builder.
Erecting- a residence in the town, he moved his
family here in 1900, and has since become known
as one of the reliable and capable business men,
of the place. While living at Saticoy he mar-
ried Miss Artemisia L. Either, a native of Maine
and, like himself, an Episcopalian in religious
views.

The Republican party always has had the
earnest support of Mr. Myers, who ranks among
its local leaders. In 1904 he accepted an appoint-
ment to serve as member of the town council of
Oxnard, to fill a vacancy caused by the resigna-
tion of Mr. Parrish. Since becoming a council-
man he has supported all movements for the de-
velopment of the town and the expansion of its
commercial affairs, yet at the same time he has
safeguarded the welfare of taxpayers and has
lieen as solicitous to avoid reckless expenditures
as he has been anxious to promote necessary im-
provements. His fraternal relations are varied
;md important, and include membership in the
Independent Order of Foresters ; Oxnard Lodge
No. 341, F. and A. M. ; Oxnard Lodge. I. O. O.
F. ; also the Encampment and the Order of Re-
bekahs.

GLEX HOLLY DAIRY, ^^^^at push and
enterprise when rightly directed can accomplish
has nowhere been better illustrated than in the
history of the Glen Holly Dairy of Long Beach.
In the spring of 1905 the plant was established
as an oft'-shoot of the parent establishment
known bv the same name in Los Angeles. It

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1955

was carried on for a number of months with in-
different success, when, in September, 1905, the
plant was purchased by H. N. WiUiams and F.
E. Norman, since which time it has been in-
creased in size until it is now one of the largest
dairy industries in the county outside of Los
Angeles. The plant is located at the corner of
Third and Alamitos streets. They handle the
product of five hundred cows, which supplies
both the wholesale and retail trade, and in the
transportation of which they keep five wagons
constantly employed. A number of the smaller
dairies in Long Beach have been added to the
plant from time to time, until the Glen Holly
Dairy handles practically all of the business in
that line throughout Long Beach and surround-
ing country. The office and storeroom arc lo-
cated at No. 223 Pine avenue.

One of the prime movers in the success of the
Glen Holly Dairy is H. N. Williams, who spent
the greater part of his life in Lyons, Kans.,
where he attended the common and high schools,
later taking a course in Washington and Jeft'er-
son College, a Presbyterian institution in Wash-
ington, Pa.

F. E. Norman is a native of Illinois, where
for many years he had been engaged in the life
insurance business. For some time after com-
iing to the west he followed this business in San
F'rancisco, coming to Los Angeles in 1904 as a
general agent for the Germania Life Insurance
Company. He resigned this position in Septem-
ber of the following year to become associated
with yir. Williams in the purchase of the Glen
Holly Dairy, with which his name has since been
associated.

DOCTOR M. BREEDLO\E. In giving a
resume of those who have taken a prominent
part in the upbuilding of San Diego county, and
especially that part in the vicinity of Escondido,
prominent mention belongs to Mr. Breedlove,
whose ranch and chicken farm are among the
model enterprises in this part of the county. He
is one of six children born to his parents, Will-
iam and Susan (Haggard) Breedlove, both of
whom were born and reared in Kentucky. In
later years they removed to Missouri, and on
the large ranch which the father owned in that
state his earth life came to a close in 1892, when
in his seventy-fourth year. His wife also died
on the home place when seventy-three years of
age.

Of the five children, two still reside in the
east and three are in California. D. M. Breed-
love was born in Webster county. Mo., Febru-
ary 26, 1859, and until after attaining his ma-
jority he had never left his native state. His
a])i)lication to the duties which fell .to his lot as

a farmer's son, however, gave him a knowledge
of agricultural affairs which stood him in good
stead when, at the age of twenty-two years, he
launched out on an independent career. Leav-
ing Missouri in 1879 he came direct to Para-
dise Alountain, San Diego county, and took up
a government claim of one hundred and sixty
acres, which became the nucleus of the ranch he
now owns. As his means permitted he pur-
chased eighty acres adjoining and now has two
hundred and forty acres devoted to diversified
farming. A part of the land is in grain and
orchard (the latter comprising seven hundred
almond' trees ) , cattle and horses are raised and
pastured on another portion, but the part of the
ranch that is given over to the raising of chick-
ens is perhaps the most profitable, for this branch
of agriculture claims Mr. Breedlove's particular
attention.

A marriage ceremony performed in Escondido
in 1883 united the destinies of D. M. Breedlove
and Laura Harrison, the latter a native of Illi-
nois, and five children have been born to them :
Edward, Waldo, Inez. Harry and Myrtle. In
his political belief Mr. Breedlove is a Democrat,
on the ticket of which party he was elected to
the office of constable, a position for which he is
well fitted.

DANIEL McND'EiX. Some men are born
great, and some have to achieve greatness. , Evi-
dentl}' Daniel McNiven, an esteemed resident of
North Glendale, Los Angeles county, was des-
tined to be the architect of his own fortune.
Beginning at the foot of the ladder of attain-
ments as a boy of fourteen years, he has made
diligent use of his natural talents and given
opportunities, and by untiring energy, 'sturdy
application, wisdom and sagacity, has won a po-
sition of prominence and influence in social, fra-
ternal and financial circles. A son of Donald
and Mary (McLeod) McNiven, he was born
in New York state, where his parents settled
on coming to the United States from their native
land, Scotland, and where they lived a short time
before taking up their permanent residence in
Prince Edw^ard Island.

Brought up in the Canadian province of Prince
Edward Island, Daniel McNiven received mea-
gre educational advantages as a boy, attending
school until fourteen years old. Starting in life
then on his own account, he worked in Halifax,
Nova Scotia, for two years, and from there mi-
grated to Boston, Mass., where he served an
apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade with a
skilful contractor and builder, in whose employ
he continued a number of years. Leaving Bos-
ton in 1876, he went first to Rhode Island, thence
westward, finally locating in Manitoba, North-

1956

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

western Territory, where he secured a position
as foreman of a gang of laborers, and had charge
of building the station houses on the Canadian
Pacific Railroad. In 1879 he went to Leadville,
Colo., where for twenty-five years he was actively
and successfully engaged in mining. An expert
in mining matters, he was made manager of the
Chrysolite Silver Alining Company, a New York
concern, with mines at Leadville and Fryer Hill,
and this responsible position he still retains, al-
though he now resides in California. In 1905
Ife met the secretary and treasurer of the com-
pany, they representing the board of directors,
and sent by them his resignation as manager.
This the company refused to accept, and as Mr.
McNiven is not a stockholder the refusal was a
great compliment to his ability and trustworthi-
ness. Coming to Los Angeles county in 1901,
he bought thirteen and thirty-seven hundredths
acres of land in North Glendale, and having
made considerable improvement has now a valu-
able ranch, on which he has resided for two
years.

In Leadville, Colo., Mr. JMcNiven married
Alice Cunningham, who was born and educated
in St. Louis, Mo. She died in Leadville, leaving
three children, namely: Alice, wife of William
Howie, who was born in Leadville, but now re-
sides in Los Angeles; Margaret; and Lester.
Mr. McNiven is prominent in Masonic circles,
being a Knight Templar and a Shriner. In the
lodges of which he is a member he has passed
all the chairs, and while in Leadville served as
eminent commander of Mount Holy Cross Com-
mandery No. 5. On leaving the chair of master
of Leadville Lodge No. 51, he was presented
with a beautiful jewel, which he prizes highly.

JOHN JAY NESTELL. Without excep-
tion John Jay Nestell is the most enterprising
and energetic business man in Avalon, where
he is a large property holder and has done and
is doing much to make Catalina Island one of
the finest and most up-to-date resorts in the
country. His own home is the largest and
finest in the city, fitted with every modern
improvement, and artistic in its furnishings
and appointments. He has named his resi-
dence "Tio Juan," the Spanish for Uncle John,
by which title .Mr. Nestell is popularly known
in Avalon. His birth occurred August 14,
1840, in New York City, where _ the early
years of his life were spent. The Nestell
family is of Holland-Dutch extraction, al-
though the last six or seven generations have
been natives and residents of New York City.
The great-grandfather was a patriot in the
Revolutionary war, and the grandfather fought
in the war of 1812. The latter was a tobac-

conist, ha\ing been connected with the Loril-
lards in that business. The father, John
Joachim, was engaged in business as an archi-
tect and builder, and resided in his younger
years on Attorney street, in New York City,
later removing to St. Mark's place and subse-
quently built his home on One Hundred and
Twenty-fourth street, where his death occurred.
His wife was Ann Jane Schultze, in maiden-
hood, a native also of New York City. She
was a member of an old Dutch family, and lived
in her native city until the time of her death,
she and her husband both living to advanced
ages. Of the nine children born to them
seven grew to maturity, but John Jay Nestell
is the only son of the family now living.

The fourth child in order of birth, after fin-
ishing his studies in the grammar schools of
the city John Jay Nestell was sent to a private
acaderny" for a time. As a very young boy he
evinced decided ambitions for a business career
and when only thirteen years old used to read
the "boy wanted" advertisements appearing in
the daily papers. He finally secured a position
as messenger boy at a salary of $15 a year, and
performed his duties so well that the sum was
doubled the second year. The firm soon failed
in business, however, and the lad turned his
attention to other work. Having a taste for
building he decided to learn the carpenter's
trade and became a pupil of his father in that
work. After seven years he became manager of
the business. One day in 1862 he was asked to
call at the old Lorillard real estate office, being
sent from there to the office of the Eagle Fire
Insurance Company, where he was offered a
position as surveyor at a salary of $700 a year.
He accepted the offer and continued' at the
work for two years at an increased salary. He
was then made assistant secretary of the com-
pany, which position he resigned three years
later to organize the Manufacturers and Build-
ers' Fire Insurance Company. Upon the re-
ceipt of his resignation the president of the
Eagle Company sent for Mr. Nestell and asked
him to continue with them at his own salary.
but he had made promises to ]\Ir. Loew that he
did n'ot care to recall. Accordingly the new
company was organized and incorporated with
Mr. Nestell as its secretary and Mr. Loew as
president. They built up a good business, es-
tablished agencies in all the important cities of
the United States, and for twenty-seven years
Mr. Nestell continued as secretary, traveling
over the country from east to west and north
to south, working up business. In 1892 he sold
out to the Palatine Insurance Company of Eng-
land, continuing to hold his position as secre-
tary for three years, when he resigned in order
to devote liimself to other business interests.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1957

While traveling in the south Mr. Nestell be-
came interested in iron manufacturing with
the Sloss Steel and Iron Company of Birming-
ham. Ala., acquiring a large amount of stock,
but declining the presidency of the .company.
The business was a great success from the start
and J. Campbell Maben, who filled the office
of president, was also an officer with General
Early in the Civil war on the Confederate side.
Mr. Nestell served in the Twenty-second New
York militia and met him in an encounter in
Pennsylvania when that officer was detailed
with a field force to keep the enemy in check
until Early had made his escape. Mr. Nestell
had been a member of Company B, of the old
Twenty-second Regiment of New York militia,
which was ordered to the front in 1863, and
took part in early engagements, passed through
the Gettysburg campaign and was later ordered
to New York to quell the riots there.

It was in 1888 that ]\Ir. Nestell made his first
trip to California, coming here on business for
the insurance company, and from that time on
made the state yearly visits. He was in the
Lake Lobish accident on the Southern Pacific
when the trestles five miles north of Salem,
Ore., gave way and the train fell through, kill-
ing or maiming for life every other passenger
in the car, although Mr. Nestell was fortunate
enough to escape without injury. For nearly
twenty years he has been interested in raisin
growing near Fresno, where in 1888 he pur-
chased one hundred and sixty acres of raw
land located seven miles west of the city, near
the Kearney vineyard, and had it planted to
Muscat, Sultanas and Thompson's seedless
varieties of the raisin grape, which are now
producing large crops yearly, Mr. Nestell still
retaining his ownership of the land. He has
also large property interests in Los Angeles.
Five years ago he began operations on Catalina
Island and owns and has improved many prop-
erties there since that time. He owns the Pa-
cific hotel, has built numerous first-class resi-
dences of the apartment class on Sumner ave-
nue, and is the proprietor of Campus Virginia,
an attractive tent village, modern in all of its
appointments and strictly up-to-date. All of
his improvements are of the highest class, for
he believes in making Avalon a place that can
compete with any of the eastern resorts, no
matter how extensiveh^ they may be improved.
He holds an interest in the Meteor Glass Bot-
tom Boat Company also.

Fraternally Mr. Nestell was made a IMason
in Bunting Lodge No. 655, A. F. and .\. M.,
in New York City : is a member of Sylvan
Chapter No. 48. R. A. M., in New York': and
of the Constantine Commandery. K. T.. of New
"^'ork : is an honnrarv memlicr of Nestell Lodge

No. 37, F. and A. M., at Providence, R. I.,
which was named for his uncle. Christian M.
Nestell. Politically he votes the Republican
ticket in national affairs, but exercises con-
siderable independence in local public matters.
Religiously he affiliates with the Congrega-
tional denomination, being a member of Pil-
grim Church in New York City. When living
m New York he was for twelve years manager
of the Fire Patrol Committee of that city, and
also a prominent member of committees of the
Board of Fire Underwriters.

Mr. Nestell's marriage, which united him
with Emma E. Ball, a member of an old New
York family, occurred in New York City, and
they have become the parents of three children,
all of whom live in the country's metropolis:
Isabelle is the wife of Warren A. Leonard ; Ed-
ward Victor is a broker; and Raymond Jay is
a chemist in New York City. Although the
greater part of his time is necessarily devoted
to the management of his widely extended busi-
ness interests Mr. Nestell does not neglect his
duties as a leading citizen and is actively in-
terested in all matters of public import, lend-
ing his time and influence to the furthering of
every upbuilding and progressive enterprise.
He is a man of high principles, broad and lib-
eral views and is held in the highest esteem and
respect by hosts of friends and acquaintances
throughout the United States.

W HORACE AUSTIN. Since September,
1894, W. Horace Austin has been a resident of
Long Beach, where he has acquired a success in
his line of builder and contractor. He is a
native of Kansas, his birth having occurred
March 11, 1871, in Abilene, Dickinson county,
from which place his father. Dr. W. H. Austin,
removed to Long Beach, where he is now living
retired from the active cares of life. He re-
ceived a preliminary education in the public
schools and academy of Abilene, and for two
years attended St. John's Military School at
Salina, Kans. After his location in Long Beach,
where his parents removed on account of their
health, he attended the public schools of this
place. At the age of fourteen years he was
apprenticed to learn the trade of carpenter and
for the ensuing seven years remained in the em-
ploy of one man. He became thoroughly profi-
cient in every department of the work and upon
the departure for England of Mr. Green, he be-
gan the business on his own responsibilitv in
partnership with W. T. Barton. From Decem-
ber, 1902, they continued together for one vear,
when Mr. Austin succeeded to the business in
Long Beach, where he has since carried on the
work. With his work as a journeyman he also

1958

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

took up architectural drawing and later a com-
plete course through the medium of the Inter-
national Correspondence School. He began on
a small scale and as his means permitted en-
larged his operations until he is now employing
on an average twenty men a year. A small part
of his work has been the erection of the resi-
dences of Charles Heartwell, Mrs. Carpenter,
F. E. Shaw, W. B. Julian, L. Jakes, T. A. Stev-
ens, Miss I. A. Kimball, the Bank of Commerce
building, the flat of R. W. Martin, and R. H.
Martin, and many others of equal note. He is
self made in the best sense implied by the term,
and while he is winning his way to the front
among the business men of the place he is also
gaining an enviable position as a man of integ-
rity, energy and business ability.

Mr. Austin's home is in Long Beach, where
he has invested his means in considerable unim-
proved property, a manifestation of his faith in
the future of this section. He maintains an ofifice
at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets and
looks after his business with ability and energy.
He is prominent in fraternal circles, being a
member of Long Beach Lodge No. 327, F. &

A. M. : Long Beach Chapter No. 88, R. A. M. ;
aitd Commandery No. 40. K. T. ; while he is
also identified with Long Beach Lodge No. 888,

B. P. O. E., and with the Knights of Pythias.
In politics he is broad and gives his support
to the men whom he considers best qualified for
])ublic duty.

JOHN AERICK. The genealogy of the Ae-
rick family is traced to Sweden and the first of
the name in America was John, Sr., a native of
the capital city of Stockholm, but from the age
cf nine years a resident of the United States.
After making the long journey from his home
land in company with his sisters he settled in
Illinois and hired out to a farmer, working for
board and clothes. Among strangers in a strange
land, far from his kindred and uncheered by
the sight of any of his relatives, he yet was
buoyed up by the optimism of youth and the
possession of a hopeful spirit. When news came
of the discovery of gold in California he, having
no ties to bind him to the locality of his resi-
dence, at once made plans to cross the plains,
and in the spring of 1849 started with a party
of emigrants traveling with oxen and wagons.
On arriving at his destination he took up min-
ing, hut the work did not prove profitable and
he soon turned his attention to frei^ghting, in
which he was interested for a number of years.

During the '60s John Aerick. Sr.. became a
pioneer of Los Angeles county and secured one
hundred and sixty acres of land lying at the
west end ijf \'ernon avenue, Los Angeles, but

later it developed that the land was a portion of
the Sanchez grant, and he therefore lost it.
Next he purchased one hundred and twenty
acres adjoining the other property, six miles
from the Los Angeles court-house and just out-
side of the present city limits, and this tract is
now owned by his widow, Elizabeth (Hunter)
Aerick, who resides on West Thirty-seventh
street between Normandie and Western avenues.
Ere yet old age had brought its attendant in-
firmities, Mr. Aerick passed away April 5, 1895,
leaving considerable property and a reputation
for honor, integrity and irreproachable charac-
ter. JNIrs. Aerick was born in Los Angeles and
was the daughter of Jesse Hunter, a ]Moneer of
California and a stockman in this locality for a
long period.

In a family of eight children, all but one of
whom still survive, John Aerick, Jr., was the
eldest son and the second child, and was born
-Vpril 6, 1872, at the homestead beyond the lim-
its of Vernon avenue, m the city of Los An-
geles. Primarily educated in the public school.
he was later a student in the Baptist College of
Los Angeles and the Woodbury Business Col-
lege. After leaving school he secured employ-
ment on the Baldwin ranch, where for six years
he had charge of the cattle. On the death of
his father he returned home and for two years
managed the farm in the interests of the heirs.
Coming to Inglevv-ood in 1897, he has since made
his home in this locality and now owns two and
one-half acres in the town, which property he
has improved with a neat residence. Ever since
living here he has rented land from Dan Free-
man and now operates four hundred acres, de-
voted to the raising of barley and corn, and to
the pasturage of stock, his specialty being mules.
Movements for the benefit of his town receive
his stanch support, as shown by his connection
with various important enterprises. He is a
stockholder in the First State Bank and the
Citizens" Home Water Company of Inglewood
and in addition acts as secretary of the latter
concern.

The marriage of Mr. Aerick took place in Los
Angeles December 23, 1897. ^^'^ united him
with Miss Lulu Dosta, a native of that city.
Her parents,' Mitchell and Barbara (Jones)
Dosta, were natives respectively of Germany and
Norway, and came to America in childhood, the
latter in company with her mother. After cross-
ing the plains to California Mr. Dosta engaged
in mining, but soon removed to Los Angeles
county and bought a farm of eighty acres, es-
tablishing his home on what is now South Ver-
mont near \'"ernon avenue. On that place his
death occurred when he was. sixty-seven years
of age, nnd his wife j^assed away in January.
1905, aged sixty years. ( )f tlieir five children

HISTORICAL .\XD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1959

four are living, namely: Mrs. Josephine Rus-
.sell, of Manhattan Beach ; Lillie, of Inglewood ;
Charles, who is engaged in engineering in Mex-
ico; and Mrs. Lulu Aerick, the youngest of the
family. Tlie latter is prominently connected
with the Women of Woodcraft and officiates as
banker of the local lodge, while Mr. Aerick is
an officer in the lodges of the Woodmen of the
World and the Independent Order of Foresters.
Politically he votes with the Republican party
and gives his influence to its candidates. The
Inglewood Commercial Club numbers him
among its members, and his energetic encour-
agement is given to this organization, as well
as to all movements for the u])building of the
town and the development of its business inter-
ests.

was elected a trustee of Elsinore high school in
1904 and is president of the board at the pres-
ent time. He is a man of many fine personal
qualities and a public-spirited citizen and is held
in the highest esteem b> all who know him.

HENRY H. HARRIS. Possessing large
business ability, the recipient of a good educa-
tion and superior training, Henrv H. Harris is
well fitted to take a leading position in the life
of the community in wliich he resides. An ex-
tensive and successful ranchman, he farms five
hundred acres of fertile land near Elsinore,
which he devotes to the raising of grain, hay,
cattle and hogs, shipping about two carloads of
stock each year. On July 29, 1855, he was born
in La Grange, Wis., the son of Henry H. and
Jane M. (Ward) Harris, both natives of Xew
York and who died in Wisconsin, the father in
Madison in 1858, and the mother in Milton in
1874. The senior Harris was one of the first
merchants of Milwaukee, and later removed to
Madison, Wis., where he was engaged in the
buying of grain. After completing a high-
school course in Whitehall, Wis., the son en-
gaged in farming until 1885, after which he
went to Janesville and conducted an implement
business, handling farm machinery, buggies,
etc. In 1897 he disposed of this business and
came to California, locating in Orange county,
near bullerton, where he bought a twenty-acre
orange ranch and lived until June 14, 1902. On
this date he came to Elsinore and bought two
hundred and fifteen acres of land which is em-
braced in the ranch upon which he now resides
with his familv.

In 1884, in Milton, Wis., dccurred the marriage
of Henry H. Harris, uniting him with Miss
Sophia Walker, a daughter of William Walker, a
Presbyterian minister of that city. Two chil-
dren have blessed this union, Harry H. lieing
married and making his liome with his ])arents :
and Walker W., also residing under the parental
roof. Politically Mr. Harris is an advocate of
the principles embraced in the platform of the
Republican partv, and fraternalh' is a member
of Janesville Lodge \o. 14, I. O. O. V. He

ARTHUR ISRIDGE STEEL. Back through
several generations the Steel family has fur-
nished surgeons both to the army and navy of
England, and among these few were more
prominent than R. Steel, M. D., for years an
army surgeon, also a member of the Royal Col-
lege of Surgeons. Among the children of this
army surgeon was a son. Dr. R. J. Steel, a grad-
uate of Oxford I'niversity, who was connected
with the Royal College of Surgeons as an in-
fluential member and practiced his profession
in London until he died. For a wife he chose
Emma Bridge, daughter of a horticulturist in
Kent, where she was born and educated ; her
death occurred in 1898 in London. Of their
marriage two sons were born, the elder of whom,
F. W., continues to reside in London. The
younger, Arthur Bridge, was born in Cam-
bridge, England, in 1869, and received his edu-
cation at Malmesbury College, East Dulwich,
London, graduating in 1883 in belles lettres, and
at the same time taking a course in engineering.
For three years he was employed as clerk in a
wholesale fancy goods importing house, after
which, in 1886, he came to the United States
and settled in California. Horticulture occupied
his attention for the first two years of his so-
journ on the Pacific coast. Later he was em-
ployed in the track department of the Southern
Pacific Railroad at Riverside, Horseshoe Bend,
San Onofre in San Diego county, Redondo and
other places, filling the position of foreman until
he resigned in 1890. During the latter year he
purchased from G. J. Lindsay a planing mill on
Beryl and Dominguez streets. Redondo, and
continued business at that point until October
I, 1905, when he bought a block of ground on
Pacific avenue and erected a new planing mill.

With his brother-in-law, A. A. McGuffie, as
a partner under the name of the Redondo Plan-
ing Mill Company, Mr. Steel carries on an in-
creasing business in his line. The equipment of
his mill is the best and most modern. Power is
furnished by a one hundred horse-power steam
engine, .^.t one time he operated a barley roll-
ing mill in connection with the planing mill, but
these two industries are now separated, the Re-
dondo Milling Company being organized in
1905. They have erected warehouses with a
sixty thousand sack capacity and the barley mill
is run in connection with the same. Besides his
business holdings he owns residence property,
inchuline' his Immcstead on Catalina avenue.

1960

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

While living at Santa Ana he married Florence
B. McGuffie, who was born and reared in Los
Angeles. Four daughters have been born of
their union, Ethel E., Hazel A., Mabel B. and
Viola B. Politically Mr. Steel is a firm Repub-
lican and in every respect loyal to the highest
interests of his adopted country. In the spring
of 1904 he was elected a member of the town
board of trustees, where now he renders capable
service on the auditing and street and lighting
committees. Fraternally he has varied connec-
tions, including membership in the Independent
Order of Foresters, in which he served as chief
ranger for three terms. Some years ago he was
made a Mason in Evergreen Lodge, F. & A. M.,
at Riverside, and is now affiliated with Redondo
Lodge No. 328, F. & A. M., of which he is past
master. In addition lie holds membership with
the Royal Arch Chapter at San Pedro and with
the Order of the Eastern Star, in which latter
body he is past patron, while his wife has held
the office of m.atron.

EDWARD S. ABBOTT. As head of the
firm of Abbott & Anderson, wholesale and retail
meat dealers, Edward S. Abbott is intimately
identified with the mercantile interests of San
Pedro, doing his full share in promoting its
business prosperity. Enterprising, liberal-mind-
ed and of undoubted integrity, he merits and re-
ceives the warmest confidence and esteem of his
fellow-citizens, being well liked and popular
throughout the communit}". A native of Iowa,
he was born November 12. 1875, in Hopkinton,
Delaware county. On another page of this
work, in the sketch of his father, O. C. Abbott,
a brief history of his parents and ancestors may
be found.

His parents removing to Colorado when he
was a boy, Edward S. Abbott was there edu-
cated in the public schools, living in that state
until 1890, when the family settled at San Pedro,
Cal. At once entering the employ of Mr. Piltz,
he learned the trade of a butcher under his in-
struction, after which he worked five years for
J. L. Griffin. In 1901 he bought out his em-
ployer, becoming senior member of the firm of
Abbott & Erickson, and for four years ran the
San Pedro market, carrying on a successful
business. Selling his interests in the company
to his partner in the spring of 1905, Mr. Abbott
spent a few months in traveling, visiting many
of the more important points of interest in the
northwest. Returning to San Pedro, he formed
a partnership with j\ir. Anderson, and on Octo-
ber T, 1005, opened the Bay City meat market,
which is finely equipped, having a new refriger-
ator of large capacity, electric lights, and all of
the appointments and improvements necessary in

an up-to-date market. He is located at No. 114
Sixth street, where he and his partner are rap-
idly building up an extensive business, their
patronage being large and lucrative.

Mr. Abbott is an able and skilful business man
and a member of the San Pedro Qiamber of
Commerce. Politically he is a Republican, and
fraternally he belongs to San Pedro Lodge No.
332, F. & A. M. ; and to the Benevolent, Pro-
tective Order of Elks. He is also an exempt
member of the San Pedro Firemen's Company,
which he formerly served as foreman and secre-
tary.

JA^IES P. HANSEN. Holding an honored
position among the industrious and prosperous
citizens of Inglewood, Los Angeles county, is
James P. Hansen, widely and favorably known
as one of the leading blacksmiths of this vicinity.
He is in all respects a self made man, having
begun life a poor boy entirely without capital,
and having by sturdy toil and able management
accumulated an easy competency. A native of
Germany, he was Ixirn January 9, 1873, in
Sleswick-Holstein, near Scarbeck, which was
also the birthplace of his parents. Andreas and
Maren (Schmidt) Hansen. His father, who was
a sailor, and one of the officers of the ship, was
drowned at sea in 1877, and his modier died
during the very same month, unaware of the
death of her husband. Of their five children,
three survive, James P., the special subject of
this sketch, being the second in order of birth of
those now living.

Left an orphan at the age of four years, James
P. Hansen spent his early life in his native town,
attending the public schools until fourteen years
old. Coming to California in 1887, he arrived
in San Francisco early in the season, and for two
years thereafter worked on a fruit ranch in
Haywards. The next two years he was simi-
larly employed at Mayfield, in Santa Clara
county. Being a natural mechanic, and desirous
of making use of his talent in that line, he served
an apprenticeship of a year at the blacksmith's
trade in IMayfield. In 1892 he located in River-
side county, and six months later came to Ingle-
wood, establishing himself on the ranch of D.
Freeman, for whom he worked at his trade five
years. .Starting in business on his own account
in 1897, he bought a lot in Inglewood and
erected his present blacksmith's shop. His
liusiness increasing with surprising rapidity, he
has since made noteworthy improvements, hav-
ing now one of the most modern, up-to-date
establishments of the kind in this locality, and as
a genera! blacksmith and horseshoer has no rival,
his work being noted for its excellence and dura-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1961

bility. He has a finely equipped machine shop^
including a lever, an emery stand and a band
saw. In his smithy he keeps two fires going,
and has a large trip hammer. His plant is like-
wise furnished with a gasoline engine, with
which he runs his machinery. Thrifty and a
wise manager, he has accumulated considerable
property, and in addition to owning five city lots
he has erected a fine residence in Inglewood.

In Inglewood, January 26, 1898, Mr. Hansen
married Octavia Gallateau, who was born in
Michigan, of French ancestry, and they have
one child, Myrtle Hansen. Politically Mr. Han-
sen is a stanch supporter of the principles of the
Republican party, and fraternally he is a mem-
ber and the treasurer of the Independent Order
of Foresters, and a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows. Religiously he belongs
to the Lutheran Church.

THOMAS M. HILL. "The days of old, the
days of gold, the days of forty-nine," is to the
ordinary mind the beginning of the history of
California, so far as native-born Americans are
concerned : but when one harks back to the
twenties of the nineteenth century, a generation
before the forty-niner's time, it takes us into
the romantic days when those who lived on the
large grants of land, surrounded by servants
without number almost, lived like feudal lords.
The grandfather of the subject of this review,
Daniel Hill, was born in Massachusetts, crossed
the continent in the early twenties, when emi-
grants were obliged to travel through hundreds
of miles of Indian-infested wilderness, across
seemingly endless plains, over trailless mount-
ains, and through burning deserts before reach-
ing the civilized spots marked by the Spanish
missions. Daniel Hill located in Santa Bar-
bara county near Goleta, and became owner of
the La Patera grant and engaged in farming
and stock-raising, as did most of those people
who owned the large ranches. He married Ra-
fella Ortega, a member of one of the old fami-
lies whose name is familiar in the history of
Spanish davs.

The father of Thomas Hill was one of the
youngest of their thirteen children, all of whom
were raised on the ranch at Goleta. John Hill,
the father of Thomas, was born here in 1834,
and was among the first white native sons of
California. He died when Thomas was but two
years of age, from injuries received in an acci-
dent. The mother, too, was a native Cali-
fornian, her father, James Burke, having emi-
grated from Ireland to Santa Barbara, where
Maria Burke, the mother, was born. She is one
of those interesting old settlers who still reside
in Santa Barbara.' There were but two chil-

dren, and Thomas is the only one now living.
He was born in 1864, on the 7th of March, at
the old Hill ranch near Goleta, but was raised in
Santa Barbara, where he received a public-
school education only. When still a boy he
went to work on a farm and when grown to
manhood engaged in ranching at Goleta, which
occupation he followed until the ranch was sold,
when for several years he was in the employ
of Mrs. W. R. Broome of Santa Barbara, super-
intending her ranch of twenty-five thousand
acres, known as the Guadalasca ranch, and lo-
cated in Ventura county east of Hueneme.
When Oxnard was laid out he removed to this
location, being one of the first dozen families to
settle here. He bought a livers' barn and es-
tablished the first livery of the town of Oxnard
and after conducting it for three years, sold
out and engaged in the real estate and insur-
ance business. In this occupation, too, he was
a pioneer, for his firm was the oldest in the
city. He was associated with Mr. Peile, the
company being styled Peile & Hill, with offices
in Los Angeles and Oxnard. This partnership
continued until December 20, 1905, when it was
dissolved, retaining the Oxnard office, having
formed a partnership with Mr. Laubacher. Un-
der the title of Hill & Laubacher, the firm have
conducted an insurance business with flattering
success and now represent forty old-line com-
panies.

Mr. Hill was married in Santa Barbara to
Miss Elizabeth Maginnis, who was born in Ire-
land, but was reared in Santa Barbara. They
have a residence in Oxnard, and own as well
other valuable property in this city. He is a
member of the Santa Clara Roman Catholic
Church, and a charter member of the Knights of
Columbus. Politically he has always been a loyal
Republican and has done his share of active
work in the party. He was a member of the
first board of trustees of Oxnard, and was the
father of the first ordinance passed in Oxnard,
but the press of other business obliged him to
resign before his term expired. Mr. Hill has al-
ways been a prominent and progressive citi-
zen of whatever community he has called home
and a commendable interest in the business, so-
cial and political life of his locality has been an
invariable characteristic of the man.

HENRY F. KAISER. The pioneer builder
and contractor of Colton is Henry F. Kaiser,
who has been engaged in this business here for
nineteen years. His work has always been of a
first-class order, giving perfect satisfaction to
his patrons, and this fact is what has made his
long continued success possible. Mr. Kaiser is
a native of Belgium and was Ixirn laiuiarv 27.

1962

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1857, the son of John and Anna G. (Jacques)
Kaiser, both of whom were born in Belgium and
spent their entire lives there, the father dying at
the age of fifty-eight years, and the mother at
seventy-nine. All of the eight brothers and sis-
ters of Henry F. Kaiser are now living in their
native country, he being the only member of the
family in America.

Mr. Kaiser was fortunate in receiving the ad-
vantages of a fine education in Belgium, where
he completed a general course in college before
learning a trade, without which the education of
no man of that country is considered complete.
Selecting the carpenter's trade as most congenial
to liis tastes he mastered all of its details, and
with this equipment came to America in his
twenty-seventh year. Locating in Topeka, Kans.,
he secured his first employment with the Santa
Fe Railway Company, being occupied at cabinet
work in their sliops for about two years. He
then came to California and spent a short time
in San Bernardino, in 1887 permanently settling
in Colton, which place has since been his home.
He began to ply his trade immediately upon
his arrival and was not- long in making himself
known as a master workman, and secured all
the work he could do.

■Mr. Kaiser was happily married to ]\Iiss
Arnold Lambotte and three children have
blessed this union, namely : Anna, Harry and
Lilian. Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser are members of
the Catholic Church and their children of the
Presbyterian Church. Politically Mr. Kaiser is
an adherent of Republican principles, and fra-
ternally is a member of Colton Lodge No. 326,
I. O. O. F., and the Fraternal Brotherhood Lodge
at the same place.

JAMES C. CLEWETT. As one of the large
number of men who have found business oppor-
tunities in Los Angeles county, and in turn have
endeavored to promote the commercial develop-
ment of this portion of California, mention be-
longs to James C. Clewett. who as a member
of the firm of Clewett Brothers, proprietors of
the Long Beach Steam Laundry, is known as
one of the most successful business men in this
section and as a prime factor in many of the
most important movements leading up to the
general welfare of the community. Like many
of the men who have found success in western
fields he is not a native of the state in which
he now resides, but was born in Adams county.
Neb., November 8, 1877. Prior to the birth
of James C. the family had resided in Wiscon-
sin, but upon locating in Nebraska the father,
C. C. Qewett, settled upon a farm which he
operated until coming to California in 1893, com-
ing to Long Beach that year on account of the

climate. With his wife, who before her mar-
Tiage was Hattie Sanford, he is living retired
from the cares and worries of business, being
pleasantly located in Long Beach. During the
Civil war Mr. Clewett was a participant in the
ranks of the Union army, rendering valiant serv-
ice in his country's cause.

The early life of James C. Clewett was asso-
ciated with his father's farm in Adams county,
Neb., and when he was sixteen years old he re-
moved with the family to the west. While in
Nebraska he had attended school to some ex-
tent, and this training was followed by a course
in the Long Beach grammar school, from which
he received his diploma of graduation. Thus
far his education had been of a general char-
acter, and in order to obtain a specific business
training he entered a business college in Los
Angeles, a course which qualified him in every
way for the life which he was about to enter.
His first venture in business was in the Long
Beach Laundry, wherein he was associated with
L. B. Morgan. In January, 1900, he became in-
terested in the business financially, his associa-
tion with Mr. Morgan in this way lasting about
a year, or until March, 1901, when J. F. Clew-
ett became a partner, the firm name becoming
Clewett Brothers. The equipment of the Long
Beach Steam Laundry leaves nothing to be de-
sired for the proper handling of all fabrics, no
matter how fine in texture they may be. JNIodern
machinery of the most approved design has been
installed throughout the plant, not the least im-
portant of which are the electric irons, which
are vast improvements over the irons heated by
either coal or gas. In all, fifty hands are em-
ployed in the laundry, the majority of whom are
experts in their particular line of work. No
better idea of the popularity of the Long Beach
Steam Laundry could be given than to mention
the territory from which it draws its custom.
Besides handling the local trade in Long Beach
it has the patronage of Terminal and Wilming-
ton, in addition to other surrounding towns,
which keeps four wagons in constant service.
The details of the inside management devolve
upon J. F. Clewett, while the outside matters
aie under the supervision of J. C. Qewett, the
two working together harmoniously and with
results in a business way that might do credit
to men many years their senior.

James C. Clewett and his wife, formerly Lulu
B. Coughran, have become the parents of two
children, Wilev D. and Bvrl, and have a pleas-
ant family residence at No. 1127 East Seventh
street. Politically Mr. Clewett is a Republican,
and in his fraternal relations he is a member
of the Modern Woodmen of America. In view'
of the fact that his father served in the Civil
war he is eligible to the Sons of Veterans, and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1963

is a member of Henry W. Lawton Camp No. lo.
The famih- attend the services of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which j\Ir. Clewett is a
member.

The elder of the firm of Clewett Brothers,
J. F. Qevvett, was born in Dane county, Wis.,
in 1872, and was therefore a small boy when
his parents settled in Adams county, Neb., in
1875. The education which he acquired in the
common schools of his native county was fol-
lowed by a course in the high school in Pipe-
stone, Minn., and after his graduation he lost
no time in putting his knowledge to use in the
business world. Coming to the west with his
parents he soon found employment at Oceanside,
where for eight years he held the position of
superintendent in the water works. Mr. and
Mrs. J. F. Clewett, the latter formerly Ruth
Martin, have a commodious home at No. 426
Lime street, and their marriage has been blessed
with one son, Qiester M. Like his brother he
is a Republican in politics and a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and is identified
with the Fraternal Brotherhood. In both public
and private capacities Messrs. Clewett have won
the respect and good will of their associates, and
though they have been established in business in
Long Beach but a short time comparatively,
their names have become Well known among the
high-minded and successful men of Los Angeles
county.

.SAMUEL P. ROWLAND. The Rowland
family is pre-eminently a part of the pioneer ele-
ment of Southern California, the first of the
name to locate here being John Rowland, who
was born in Maryland, the descendant of an old
eastern family. He became a pioneer in an
early day, locating in New Mexico and follow-
ing mining occupations for some time, thence in
1 84 1, in company with William Workman, his
partner, locating in California, where he re-
mained for but a short time. Returning to Taos,
N. Mex., they remained there only long enough
to settle their afifairs, and then with their fami-
lies they came again to the Pacific state, this
time being accompanied by B. D. Wilson, D. W.
Alexander, John Reed, William Perdue and
Samuel Carpenter, all of whom became residents
of Los Angeles county. In partnership with
Mr. Worknian, ]\Ir. Rowland secured a grant
of the Puente ranch, comprising forty-eight
thousand acres, and there settled and spent the
remainder of their lives. Mr. Rowland was
twice married, his first wife being Dona Incar-
nacion Martinez, by whom he had the following
children: John, Jr.,: Thomas; Robert; Nieves,
wife of John Reed; Lucinda. wife of James R.
Barton, and William R. In 1869 Mr. Rowland

divided his property among his children, giving
to each about three thousand acres and one thou-
sand head of cattle.

Thomas Rowland married Zenobia Yorba, the
daughter of an old Spanish family, and born to
them was a son, Samuel P. Rowland, a native
of Puente, where he was born April 28, 1865.
He received his education in his home and the
common schools of the section, after which he
entered St. Vincent's College, which he attended
for two years. He was later employed in a drug
store and subsequently established a store for
himself, this being the first of its kind on Boyle
Heights, in Los Angeles. He conducted it suc-
cessfully for six years, when he sold out to Dr.
Campbell and returned home to the manage-
ment and improvement of the property given
him by his father, while he also owns an interest
in a fine pumping plant with a capacity of one
hundred and fifty inches. He also owns a cot-
tage at Ivanhoe, which property is well im-
proved. He is now engaged in raising stock and
meeting with success in his efforts. In 1889 Mr.
Rowland was united in marriage with Miss
iMaggie A. Temple, a daughter of F. P. F. Tem-
ple, and they have five children, namely, Rowena
C, Theresa, Samuel, Jr., Margarette and Evan-
geline. Mr. Rowland is a Republican in poli-
tics and has served as deputy sheriff of the
county and justice of the peace of Rowland town-
ship, and school trustee for seventeen years. He
is a member of the Catholic Church at San
Gabriel, and is a charter member of the Native
Sons of the Golden West, and charter member
of the Foresters lodge here. Mr. Rowland is a
man of broad liberality and progressive spirit,
and takes a most active and helpful interest in
the general upbuilding of the community. He
is specially active in educational aiTairs, having
been largely instrumental in securing first class
buildings for school purposes in Puente. He in-
herits the courtesy inherent in his Spanish fore-
fathers, the manly dignity which distinguished
the career of his paternal grandfather, and with
have won him a large circle of friends.

HORACE B. GARRISON. One of the best-
patronized business places in Palms is the
blacksmith establishment owned and managed
by Horace B. Garrison, who is well-known for
his comprehensive knowledge of the trade, which
he applies in the best and most skillful manner,
and it is through his reliable work alone that he
has come to enjoy the confidence of the people
and receive their patronage.

Born in Minnesota in 1874 Horace B. Garri-
son is a son of Herman S. Garrison, who was
born in Pennsylvania in 1852, remaining in his

1964

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

native state until he was eighteen years of age.
Up to this time he alternated attendance at
school with farm work, and when he was
obliged to strike out in the world he felt no
hesitancy as to his future occupation. The newer
states of the west held more attraction for him
than his native state, however, and following
Ills inclinations he located in Minnesota about
1870. For a number of years he was very suc-
cessful with the farming enterprise which he
had established there, but once more he was
seized with the desire to go further west, and in
1889 he carried out his plans, reaching San
Diego county in October of that year. There
he became interested in raising olives, and is to-
day one of the successful orchardists in the
southern part of the state, having two ranches
aggregating seven hundred and fifty acres,
eighty acres being in olives and the balance
devoted to grain and as range for stock. His
marriage united him with Miss Susan Annetta
Marcy, who, like himself, was born in Pennsyl-
vania, and their three children are as follows :
Horace B., whose name heads this article ;
Katherine, who became the wife of George B.
Qiarnock, Jr., and John, who makes his home
in Palms.

Horace B. Garrison was about eighteen
years of age, when, with his parents, he came
to California, all of his school days having been
spent in Minnesota, for as soon as he came west
he began to fit himself to become a professional
blacksmith. His perseverance and determina-
tion were large factors in enabling him in a
short time to open his present shop in Palms,
which is now known as one of the busy and
thriving centers of activity in town. He is a
member of Palm.s Camp, No. 567, W. O. W.
.\s is his father also Mr. Garrison is a Repub-
lican in his political preferences. He was mar-
ried September 14, 1906, to Lulu B. Goldsmith,
who is a native of Massachusetts, but since 1890
a resident of Los Angeles.

JAMES VOLNEY BARTOW. Recognized
as a man of business ability and one whose wide
experience in the commercial life of the country
has given him keenness of judgment and de-
cision of character, James Y. Bartow is an im-
portant factor in the progress and development
of Long Beach, where he was among the first
men to take advantage of the unusual opportuni-
ties presented. Since 1896 he has been a resi-
dent of California, being located principally in
Long Beach, where he began an investment
which has brought him large financial returns,
while he has also given to the city his best efforts
in the promotion of all movements calculated to
advance the general welfare.

Mr. Bartow was born in Cattaraugus county,
N. Y., November 15, 1842, and until he was ten
\ears old received his education in the common
school in the vicinity of his home. In 1852 his
parents located in Wisconsin, where he com-
pleted his education and also assisted his father
on the home farm. He grew to manhood and
in 1864 enlisted in Company G, Thirty-second
Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Second Army
Corps, and served until the close of the war,
participating in several battles, and without in-
jury. Returning home to Wisconsin he engaged
in farming until the spring of 1871, when he dis-
posed of his interests in that section and went
to Nobles county, Minn., there taking up gov-
ernment land and improving a farm from the
undeveloped country. In the course of time he
became a speculator in the lands of th^ north-
west, improving the lands and disposing of them
at a fair profit. Deciding to engage in the com-
mercial life of the country he went to Ells-
worth, Minn., and purchased a warehouse, em-
barking in the implement and general merchan-
dise business. He met with success in his new
enterprise and continued so occupied until 1886,
when, on account of impaired health through
overwork, he was compelled to dispose of his
interests and seek a rest. For ten years he re-
mained retired from active business and about
the end of that time he made a trip to California.
Attracted by the multifold opportunities pre-
sented to the energetic business man, he immedi-
ately located in the west, and later disposed of
his entire property in the ^Mississippi valley and
invested his means in property on the coast.
He has become largely interested in property on
.\merican avenue, on the corner of Ocean Park
and American avenues erecting a forty-five room
house known as the Del ]\Iar hotel, strictly mod-
ern and up-to-date in all its appointments. On
the corner of American avenue and First street
he built a three-storv brick building, the lower
floor to be used for stores, second floor for of-
fices, and the third for the Long Beach Business
College. He also owns considerable other prop-
erty in Long Beach and is interested in keeping
it in fine condition, thus enhancing its value and
adding prestige to the cit}'. He is intensely in-
terested in the promotion of all movements tend-
ing toward the betterment of the city, and is al-
ways among the citizens who give practical as-
sistance in such measures.

Mr. Bartow has been twice married, his first
wife being Adelaide Freeburn, a native of Wis-
consin, by whom he has two children, Wallace,
the manager of the Del Mar hotel, and Mrs.
Mary Reeves, of Fareo. N. Dak. Subsequently
he married Jennie Williams, also of Wisconsin,
and they are the parents of the following chil-
dren : Elvia, wife of C. C. Stanesifer. of Long

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1965

Beach ; Gertrude, wife of H. A. Hosier, of Los
Angeles; Blanche, wife of H. G. Ravenscroft,
of Long Beach ; and Roy O., clerk in the First
National Bank of Long Beach. Mr. Bartow
has been an adherent of Republican prin-
ciples all his life, and although interested in
the movements of his party would never allow
his name to be used in connection witii public
office. He is a member of Long Beach Post,
G. A. R., and is well known socially throughout
this section. He is a man held in high esteem
by all who know him, either socially or in a
business connection, and is justly named among
the representative citizens of Long Beach.

JOSEPH E. COURTNEY came to Califor-
nia in 1873 and during the intervening years
has proven himself a citizen of worth and ability,
lending his aid in the advancement of the best
interests of his community and giving freely of
both time and means in the promotion of up-
building enterprises. His sterling traits of char-
acter are an inheritance from southern lineage,
his birth having occurred near Fredericksburg.
Va., July 19, 1844; his parents were John and
Mary (Butler) Courtney, both natives of Vir-
ginia, where they passed their entire lives, the
father dying at the age of seventy years, and the
mother at eighty-two. They were the parents
of seven sons and three daughters: six of the
sons participating in the Civil war, John serving
in the Union army and the others in the Confed-
erate. One son, Calvin, died in Johnston Island ;
Maywood was in the Black Horse cavalry ; Lem-
uel L. belonged to Stafford's cavalry ; David was
in Company G, of the Rough and Ready Rifle-
men ; and Joseph E. Courtney enlisted in Com-
pany I, Eleventh Virginia Infantry, of the First
Virginia Brigade, in Picket's division of Long-
street's corps. He participated in the battle of
Fredericksburg, Gettysburg. Petersburg and oth-
er important battles, serving three years and
thirteen days, and was wounded in the battles of
Fredericksburg and Gettysburg.

Following the close of the struggle Joseph E.
Courtney went to Missouri in 1866, and there
rented seven hundred acres of land and engaged
in grain and stock-raising. He made that section
his home for six years, then returned to Virginia
for one year, and thence in 1873 came to Califor-
nia, for a time engaging in wheat-raising in
Napa county. In 1874 he brought the first stock
for Van Nuys to start his San Fernando ranch.
In 1875 he located on his present ranch near Ar-
tesia. This comprises ninety-one acres, of which
twelve acres are devoted to a vineyard, the bal-
ance being in corn, alfalfa, barley and general
farm products. He has been very successful in
his work and has accunudatcd a competence. Au-

gust 29, 1877, he married Miss Mary F. Den-
man, a native of California and a daughter of
Zenas Denman and born to them were the fol-
lowing children: Edward E., in 1880; Minnie,
in 1882; Jean, September 23, 1884; and David
Leland, in 1886, the last-named dying at the age
of seven years. Mr. Courtney is prominent fra-
ternally, his membership in Artesia Lodge No.
},-/j, F. & A. \l., dating from 1872: has been a
member of Downey Lodge No. 197, I. O. O. F.,
since 1 87 1 and he joined the Foresters in 1891,
now being associated with Norwalk Court; and
is also identified with the Fraternal Aid, the Re-
bekahs and Order of Eastern Star. Politically
he is a stanch Democrat and has served in the
interests of this party as road overseer, having
received the appointment twice and held the posi-
tion for twelve years. In 1903 he made a visit
to the old home in Virginia, where his boyhood
and young manhood were spent.

JOHN .METCALF. Though a native of
Yorkshire, England. John Metcalf has lived in
the United States since his early childhood, hav-
ing come with his parents to this country in 1849,
when he was six years of age. Upon locating in
America, his parents, Thomas and Mary
(Harker) Metcalf, settled in southwestern Wis-
consin, purchasing a farm not far from the town
of Galena, 111., where the father met with an
accident in the lead mines which resulted in his
death. John IMetcalf was then but twelve years
old and being the oldest of six children the
burden of the support of the family fell largely
upon his young shoulders : but with a brave
heart he set to work to help his mother rear and
educate the other children, continuing faithfully
at his post until they were all grown and mar-
ried. Remaining on the farm with his mother
until after he reached his majority, he then en-
listed in the Union army and served his adopted
county efficiently and well in Company A, Ninety-
sixth Illinois Infantry, during the last year of
the Civil war. After the war closed he returned
home, and soon afterwards went to northwest-
ern Iowa, where he took up some government
land and purchasing other land near it, became
a factor in the development of that portion of
the country. .\s his means accumulated he
bandoned the farm life and going to Paullina,
Iowa, engaged in the grain and real estate busi-
ness, shortly after his location there assuming an
active place in business offices, and assisting
materially in the development of that section.
In 1883 he organized the Bank of Paullina, of
which he became president and is still acting in
that capacity, while he is also president of the
Bank of Merrill, Iowa, and is the principal stock-
holder in both these institutions.

1966

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Twelve years ago Mr. Metcalf came to South-
ern California and demonstrated his faith in the
future of this portion of the state by investing
extensively in real estate near where Venice of
America now stands, the land being known as
the Gateway tract. A portion of his interest in
this property was sold to M. J. Nolan of Los An-
geles, when they established the business firm
known as Nolan, Metcalf & Simpson. This tract
is platted and improved and is very valuable
property, the portion which has been sold by the
firm having brought satisfactory returns. Aside
from his property interests near Venice, Mr.
Metcalf is promoting and developing other im-
portant business enterprises in real estate and
other property in various towns of Southern
California, notably Long Beach and Pasadena,
all of his efforts in this direction proving very
successful.

In Dubuque, Iowa, Mr. Metcalf was united in
marriage with Mary A. Simpson, who at her death
in 1892 left three children. Some time afterward
he married j\Irs. Belle Raw Carpenter, also of
Iowa, and she is the mother of two children. In
his fraternal relations Mr. Metcalf is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and
politically he is a Republican. He has always
taken an active interest in educational matters,
and while in Iowa served on the school board of
his district and as chairman of the finance com-
mittee of Morningside College of Sioux City.
Mr. Metcalf is a broad-minded and progressive
citizen, his work demonstrating his belief that
whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing
well, and he has thus won for himself not only
a competence, but also the lasting regard of his
fellow-citizens.

ALBERT ROUCHLEAU. Far removed
from his old Canadian home and from the birth-
place of his ancestors in France, Mr. Rouchleau
finds in Southern California a climate surpassing
that familiar to his childhood years and he finds
as well an opportunity to earn a comfortable
livelihood for his family in the midst of an at-
tractive environment. The property which he
owns and occupies is situated three miles north-
east of Redondo and comprises eleven acres un-
der cultivation to vegetables, strawberries,
blackberries and a small orchard. The value of
the place is enhanced by the fact that the Re-
dondo & Los Angeles electric car line runs in
close proximity, thus bringing the residents of
the farm into close touch with the city as well as
with their postoffice town of Redondo. At the
time of the building of the road Mr. Rouchleau
sold the company the right of way across one
corner of his place and in addition he sold seven

and one-half acres, so that his original purchase
of twenty acres has been reduced to the present
dimensions. A neat house has been built on the
homestead and forms a comfortable abode for
the family.

As his name indicates, Mr. Rouchleau belongs
to a French family. Indeed, French has been
the favorite language of the home and, although
using English in business intercourse, he still
retains for domestic use the language familiar
to his childhood. Born in Canada, January 15,
1854, he was three years of age when the family
removed to Michigan and settled at Hancock,
where he passed the years of boyhood. When
about sixteen years old he began to work as a
farm hand. For several years he worked on
farms in the summer near Duluth and spent the
winters in the lumber woods. On leaving the
north he spent eight months in Arizona and
from there came to California, securing employ-
ment at Riverside, but left there in 1902 to set-
tle upon the fruit ranch he now owns. With
his wife (a native of France and formerly Miss
Dedie Mull) and their two children, Amelia and
Louis, he has a pleasant home, which represents
the efforts of a busy life. There was no one to
aid him in getting a start in the world, and his
present standing may be attributed to his own
energy, perseverance and wise judgment.

L. C. EATON. Located in San Jacinto, L.
C. Eaton owns a fine twenty-acre ranch, culti-
vates one hundred acres of land, and has three
hundred acres in pasture. He has seventy head
of cattle and milks about twenty cows, delivering
cream to the .San Jacinto creamery, and receiv-
ing a good income from the produce. A first-
class pumping plant has recently been installed
on his ranch, he has planted twelve acres to al-
falfa and is making many other improvements
on his holding, which is now one of the desir-
able properties in this section. Mr. Eaton was
horn Mav 20, 1S56, in Iowa City, Iowa, the son
of Henry and Melissa (Lohr) Eaton, the for-
mer a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of
Ohio. The parents came to California in 1876
and located at Fulton Wells. One of Mr.
Eaton's brothers, Isaac Eaton, had a long mili-
tary career, having fought in the Civil war, and
earlier in the Mexican war, in the last named
conflict being with General Scott at the capture
of the city of Mexico. Isaac Eaton was a resi-
dent of Iowa, and there he died in 1901. Henry
Eaton's death occurred April 17, 1895, in Pasa-
dena, at the age of seventy-two }ears. His wife
is still living in that city.

In his boyhood L. C. Eaton attended the pub-
lic schools of Iowa City, finishing his studies
with one year in the academy at that place. He

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1967

removed to California witli his parents and for
the first nine years of his residence here was a
farmer near Los Nietos. Subsequently he en-
gaged in the livery busmess in Lamanda Park,
later in Pasadena, and in 1895 removed to
Hemet. For three years he was foreman on the
Maple Leaf ranch and finally purchased the
ranch on which he has since resided near San
Jacinto.

The marriage of JNIr. Eaton occurred on June
30, 1890, in Fullerton, Mary L. Hudson, a na-
tive cf tliis state, becoming his wife. Her father,
Thomas W. Hudson, is a ranchman near San
Jacinto, where he owns twenty acres of land de-
voted to the raising of alfalfa, grain, potatoes
and some fruits, the crops being irrigated with
water purchased from the San Jacinto Water
Company. Mr. Hudson was born September
23, 1828. the son of John H. and JMary Page
(Wilsonl Hudson, both 01 whom were natives
of Virginia. The mother's father came from
England on a sailing vessel in 1800 and was
for nine months out of sight of land, the boat
having been driven out of her course in a storm.
The Hudsons w-ere for many generations natives
of A'irginia and the grandfather fought in the
war of 1812. John H. Hudson was originally
a farmer in Mrginia, and later in 1833, removed
to Jackson county, Mc, where he took up a
section of land upon which he engaged in ag-
ricultural pursuits; he died in 1848, at the age
of forty-six years. His wife survived him
many years, she being seventy-eight at the time
of her death. It was the fortune of Thomas
W. Hudson to receive a very good education, his
first schooling being secured at a subscription
school in Jackson county. Mo., later taking a
course at Chape! Hill College. In 1849 he took
a trip to Dallas, Tex., and upon his return to
Missouri formed a partnership with Jacob G.
Heald in the purchase of a horsepower mill, and
together they engaged m the manufacture of
lumber. Mr. Hudson finally bought out has
partner and conducted the business alone for a
time.

In 1852 Mr. Hudson fitted up an outfit and in
the spring of that year started on a trip across
the plains to California, coming via Salt Lake
and Beckwith Pass. Traveling with ox-teams
his progress was necessarily slow and five
months' were consumed in the journey. He lo-
cated first at Healdsburg (which town was
named for a brother of his former partner in
the sawmill), purchased one hundred acres of
land, and engaged in the raising of grain until
j88i. In the meantime, in 1871, Mr. Hudson
had returned to Missouri to visit his mother,
and on the journey passed many of the scenes of
his old camping grounds. During his life in
Healdsburg he was active m pul)lic affairs ami

attained considerable prominence. For many
years he was a member of the school board, and
in 1869 was honored with an election to the leg-
islature on the Democratic ticket. He served
one term, and it was during his tenure of office
that the fifteenth amendment to the constitution
was adopted, he being one of the members who
voted against it.

In the fall of 1881 Mr. Hudson came to
Southern California and located on a grain
ranch of six hundred and forty acres, twenty
miles from the city to Los Angeles. He con-
tinued to operate this place for five years, then
spent two years in Anaheim, in 1890 coming to
the San Jacinto valley and purchasing the ranch
upon which he now resides. It was at that time
an unimproved place, covered with sage brush,
and when one remembers this it is hardly possi-
ble to believe that in so short a time it could
be converted into the finely improved home it
now is. By his marriage, June 5, 185 1, he was
united with Martha E. Shaw, a native of Har-
per's Ferry, Va., and they became the parents
of seven children. They are : David W., now of
New Mexico ; Henry H., engaged in the livery
business on San Pedro street, Los Angeles;
George R., traveling agent for the Diamond
Coal Company of Los Angeles ; Emma, the wife
of J. P. Kirby, of San Jacinto ; William T., op-
crating a threshing machine in Salano county :
Edmund R., traveling agent for Brownstern &
Co.. of Los Angeles; and Mary L., the wife of
L. C. Eaton. Mrs. Hudson is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church South. Fraternally
Mr. Hudson was made a Mason in Healdsburg
in 1871, and is now a member of the San Jacinto
Lodge. He is now- a triistee of the Hemet union
high school, and was at one time president of
the board. He has also been a director of the
San Jacinto and Pleasant Valley irrigation dis-
trict'

Two children have blessed the union of Mr.
and Mrs. Eaton, Madge and Thomas. Mr.
Eaton is a member of San Jacinto Camp, No.
TOO, W. O. W., and his wife belongs to Lodge No.
486, Women of Wocdcraft. Politically Mr.
Eaton is an advocate of the principles embraced
in the platform of the Republican party. He is
a progressive citizen, possesses many admirable
personal qualities, and is held in the highest es-
teem in the San Jacinto valley.

HENRY W. OLD. Generations of association
with the mining districts of Cornwall, England,
caused to be inbred into the Old family the traits
of industry, perseverance and uncomplaining for-
titude characteristic of the people whose lives
were devoted to work in those mines. Eventu-
allv Tames Old. alter years of struggle to main-

1968

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHIGAL RECORD.

uain his family through his labors in the mines,
decided to seek a home in the new world, where
better opportunities were offered to poor men.
When the necessary means had been saved for
the payment of traveling expenses he and his
family left the associations of former years,
crossed the ocean to the United States and set-
tled on a farm near Elizabeth, Jo Daviess county,
111., where in the midst of surroundings widely
different from those of their old home they
earned a livelihood from the tilling of the soil.
Prior to their removal from Cornwall the wife
and mother, Elizabeth (Williams) Old, had died
at the old homestead, and of the family of four
sons and three daughters, only one son and one
daughter now survive.

The eldest of the family was Henry ^^■. Old,
who was born in Cornwall, October 5, 1834, and
died in Ventura county, Cal., June 2, 1889, when
little more than fifty-four years of age. While a
boy he learned the occupation of mining in
Cornwall and after he came to the United States
he worked in Illinois mines for a time, after
which he found employment in the copper mines
of Michigan. During 1863 he came via Panama
to California and engaged in mining at Coppero-
polis, Calaveras county, but the next year he re-
moved to the inines of Grass valley, where he
readily found employment at fair wages. In
company with a brother-in-law, Richard Cox, he
came to Southern California in July of 1869, and
selected the Santa Clara valley, in \'entura coun-
ty, as a desirable location for a home, after which
he returned for his family and settled here per-
manently in September of the same year. The
first purchase which he made comprised one hun-
dred and sixty acres in the Oceanview district
and later he acquired another quarter-section,
thus giving him a ranch of three hundred and
twenty acres, situated four miles southeast of Ox-
nard in the heart of a rich farming territory.

While living in Wisconsin Mr. Old was mar-
ried at Dodgeville, that state, in 1856, his wife
being Miss Keturah, daughter of George and
Al^ary (Thomas) Cox, and a native of Devon-
shire, England. For some years Mr. Cox oper-
ated a smelter in Devonshire, but during middle
life he brought his family to the United States
and settled in Wisconsin, where he had charge
of a smelter at Dodgeville, and remained in that
city until his death. His wife was born, reared
and married in London, and died in Wisconsin.
Four children were born of their union, namely :
Richard, who died in Ventura county in 1900;
Mrs. Arthur, who died at Auburn, Cal. ; J\lary,
who died in Wisconsin ; and Keturah, Mrs. Old,
who was the youngest of the four children and
was born in 1838. In early years she accompa-
nied her parents across the ocean and settled in
Wisconsin, where she grew to womanhood be-

neath the parental roof. For many years she has
been a resident of Ventura county. On leaving
the farm in 1892 she established her home in
Hueneme, but in July of 1902 came to Oxnard
and erected the attractive residence she now
owns and occupies. Besides the home place, she
and her children own the old home farm of three
hundred and twenty acres, which is devoted prin-
cipally to beans and beets, and has been brought
under irrigation by means of an artesian well.
The property is very valuable, not only by reason
of its improvements, but also on account of its
remarkable fertility of soil.

Throughout all of his active life Mr. Old gave
earnest support to the Presbyterian Qiurch and
was a member of that denomination, to which
Mrs. Old also belongs. In fraternal relations he
was connected with the Ancient Order of United
Workmen, while politically he voted the Republi-
can ticket, never, however, taking a prominent or
active part in public affairs or local politics.
Surviving him are his wife and their five chil-
dren, named as follows : James, who has charge
of the home farm ; George, now living in Berke-
ley; Elizabeth, who resides with her mother in
Oxnard ; Eliza, who married Burt Wilson, of
Oxnard ; and Edith, wife of Ira J, Oswell, secre-
tary of the Patterson Ranch Company, owners of
a lare;e ranch in this vicinitv.

HEINRICH MAULHARDT. The thrift
for which the German nationality is noted is no-
where better illustrated than in the life and
achievements of Heinrich Maulhardt. When he
took possession of the ranch on which he now
lives in 1888 there was nothing in its appearance
to commend the serious attention of anyone
looking for a future home, but with keen fore-
sight Mr. Maulhardt realized its possibilities
under proper conditions and forthwith began its
improvement. The ranch comprises three hun-
dred and thirty acres, all of which is in lima
beans with the exception of thirty acres in beets.
The close proximity of the ranch to Oxnard is
also an important feature and greatly facilitates
the disposition of his produce.

A native of Hanover, Germany, Heinrich
Maulhardt was born October 24, 1856, a son of
John and Magdalena (Smalstich) Maulhardt, al-
so natives of the Fatherland, and there also they
passed their entire lives, the father dying in
1881, at the age of seventy years, and the mother
in 1876, when in her sixty-fourth year. When
his school days were over Heinrich ]\[aulhardt
prepared to fulfill the requirements of his native
land in regard to learning a trade, and when he
was fourteen apprenticed himself to a man to
learn slate roofing. As he lived in a country
where this method of roofing was used almost

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1969

entirely there was considerable demand for com-
petent roofers, and he had no difficulty in secur-
ing employment, and followed his trade there
continuously up to the year 1883, which was
the date of his immigration to the United States.
Landing at the Golden Gate, he took passage on
a boat at San Francisco bound for Ventura, for
five years thereafter working by the month on
ranches throughout the county. This experience
gave him an excellent opportunity to learn and
appreciate the value of land and its location, all
of which knowledge was brought to bear in the
selection of his present ranch in Ventura county.
January 10, 1888, was the date of the mar-
riage of Heinrich jMaulhardt and Augusta
Wucherpfennig, the latter being a half-sister
of John Sholle, a sketch of whose life appears
elsewhere in this volume. All of the six chil-
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. ^^laulhardt are living
and are named in order of birth as follows :
Gustave, Anna, Ida, Hugo, Bertha, and Alfred,
ranging in age from nineteen to nine years
(1906). On May 10, 1906, Mr. Maulliardt, his
wife and two youngest children took a trip to
Europe, visiting different parts of Germany, and
returning home August 20 of the sam.e year.
The family are communicants of the Roman
Catholic Church at Oxnard,

JAMES A. COLE. Among those who braved
the dangers and hardships of a trip across the
plains in the latter '50s was James A. Cole,
September 23, 1859, witnessing his settlement
in San Bernardino county, when this section
of the state was little more than a barren wild-
erness. From that time until his death in 1888,
at the age of fifty-seven years, he followed
ranching continuously. His high principles of
honor and probity were exemplified in his daily
living, with the result that he was respected by
all who knew him. Public-spirited and pro-
gressive, he was alwa}'S in favor of measures
which tended toward the advancement of his
community.

Mr. Cole was born March 8, 1831, in Butler
county, Ohio, his education being received in
Butler county, Iowa, whither he removed with
his parents when a boy. In that state also he
was married in 1852 to Miss Mary E. Kelly,
who was born in Ouincy, 111., her father later
removing to Chicago, where he was engaged
in carpentering and contract work. Six chil-
dren were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Cole. John Albert, deceased, married Hen-
rietta Waters, who lives in San Bernardino ;
James C. married Abby Davies, and also re-
sides in that city; Henry married Marj' Curtis ;
Arthur Edgar married Mina Dell; Joseph M.
married May Cram, and lives near his mother;

and Walter D. is an attorney in San Francisco.
Mr. Cole was an advocate of the principles
of the Republican party and was reared in the
Episcopal Church. During his residence in the
state he accumulated extensive property hold-
ings and at one time owned 160 acres adjacent
to what is now Loma Linda, also an eighteen-
acre orange grove at the home place near Red-
lands. Mrs. Cole has resided in San Ber-
nardino county on the same place since i860.
She is a woman of superior talents and intel-
ligence and is noted for her liberality and
benevolence.

JULES CALLENS. A place among the rep-
resentative ranchers of Ventura county has been
won by Jules Callens, whose association with the
agricultural interests of this section has resulted
in a personal success and necessarily has added
to the prestige of this community as a bean and
beet growing locality, in which business he is
engaged. Mr. Callens is not a native of this
country, but being a lad of only ten years at
the time of the immigration of his parents he is
practically a Californian and gives to his adopted
state a stanch loyalty. His father, August Cal-
lens, a native of Mynde, Belgium, was a farmer
throughout his entire life, after locating in Cali-
fornia in 1888 engaging in agricultural pursuits
in the vicinity of Hueneme, \ entura county, for
two years or until his death. He is survived by
his wife, formerly Leona Martens, a native of
Besseham, Belgium. Some time after her hus-
band's death she purchased a farm of one hun-
dred and sixty acres in the Ocean \'iew district,
where she is now located, the large property be-
ing devoted to general farming and the raising
of stock. She is the mother of five sons and one
daughter : Jules, the eldest ; Udoxie, wife of
Remie de Yunge, of this vicinity ; Remie and
Rena, conducting the home ranch ; and Joseph
and Albert, in France.

Born July 8, 1878, in Mynde, Belgium, Jules
Callens received the greater part of his educa-
tion in the public schools of Ocean View, this
being supplemented by a commercial course in
the Ventura Business College, where he grad-
uated in 1896. Until attaining his majority he
remained on the paternal farm, four days later,
on the I2th of July, 1899, marrying Miss Ennna
Trick, a native of St. Paul, Minn. Her father,
Theo Trick, a native of Germany, emigrated to
the United States and located in St. Paul, where
for the ensuing twenty years he engaged in
contracting and building. With his wife, for-
merly Minnie Neubawer, he is still a resident of
that city. Mr. Callens' first home after his mar-
riage was on a farm which he rented from his
mother; industry and application enabled him

1970

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to acquire means to purchase property, and af-
ter one year spent on the Eddings ranch he lo-
cated upon his present place, a ranch of one
hundred and sixty acres six miles southeast of
Oxnard, and has since made this his home. His
entire property is given over to the cultivation
of beans and beets, which bring him large finan-
cial returns each season. He has improved his
ranch and takes pride in keeping it up to a high
standard. He merits the position he holds as
a rancher of this section, because won by his
own efforts and held by the strong purpose of his
life to do well whatever he undertakes.

Mr. and J\lrs. Callens are the parents of three
children, namely : Leonia Mary ; Minnie Mar-
garet (called Florence by her father) ; and Ar-
thur W. A. Politically he adheres to the prin-
ciples advocated in the platform of the Repub-
lican party, and although he is occupied to a
large extent with his private affairs, still finds
time to take an interest in the movements of
this organization. Personally he is a popular
man, carrying within a well-built, sturdy frame
a whole-souled, genuine manhood which wins
for him the friendship of those about him, whose
constant association with him has taught them
to look for the reliable citizenship which he has
always manifested.

ELIJAH HARRISON PIERCE. For more
than half a century Elijah Harrison Pierce, of
Ethanac, has been identified with the history of
California, having served in official capacities at
various points, and in those days of lawlessness
when personal and property rights were placed
in jeopardy by a reckless and criminal element
he became a member of the San Francisco
United Defenders of Public Safety, or the Vigil-
ance Committee, as it was popularly called, and
helped to save the reputation of that section of
the state and make it a safe place in which to
live. He is a native of New York, having been
born in Jefiferson county, in July, 1831. His
father, Jonathan Pierce, removed with his family
to Wisconsin in 1838, in which state both parents
died.

In 1850, after securing a common school edu-
cation, Mr. Pierce left Wisconsin and crossed
the plains to California, starting April 8. and
arriving at his destination in Eldorado county
the first day of September. For about six years
lie engaged in mining on the American and
Feather rivers, then located in Plumas county,
where he filled the office of deputy sheriff for
three years, and later was elected to the office
of sheriff, discharging the duties of the latter
position four years, between i860 and 1864.
Two years later he removed to Santa Barbara
and the following twenty years was occupied as

a farmer and fruit-grower in that localit}'. Dur-
ing this time he was supervisor of Santa Bar-
Ijara county for three years, giving him oppor-
tunity to again demonstrate his efficiency and
good judgment in official capacity. In 1886 he
came to Perris valley, filed on a homestead, and
has since made the place his home. He later
added one hundred and sixty acres of land to
his holding, his ranch now comprising three hun-
dred and twenty acres. He began as farmer and
stock-raiser, gradually working himself into the
dairy business, and now has about twenty-five
full-blood Holstein cows. He has a separator on
the place and ships the cream from his dairy to
San Jacinto, receiving a good price for the
product.

Mr. Pierce was first married in Plumas county
in 1858, Elizabeth Sharp becoming his wife.
Two children were born of this union : William,
now residing in Kansas City, Mo., and Mary
Ann, deceased. The mother's death occurred in
Santa Barbara county. His second marriage
took place in 1885 in Santa Barbara county, unit-
ing him with Mary Colby, and she also became
the mother of two children : Florence, the wife
of Herbert Crooks, of San Fernando ; and ]\Iat-
tie. the wife of Frank T. Hollenbeck. of San
Diego. Mr. Pierce has served on the school
board of Perris valley for many years, and in
other ways has proven his interest in the elevat-
ing and upbuilding enterprises of the commu-
nity, which is fortunate in naming him among
its citizens.

J. E. COUNTS. The association of J. E.
Counts with the real-estate interests of- Long-
Beach dates from March, 1902. the time of his
location in this city, he now being actively iden-
tified with tlie Counts Realty Company and Sec-
retary of the Stearns-Counts Investment Com-
pany, and many other corporations that have
done much toward the upbuilding of this city.
Of southern lineage, he was born in Granbury,
Tex., October 13, 1871, and in childhood was
talcen by his parents to Erath and Eastland
counties, receiving his education in tlie public
schools. Until lie was sixteen years old he re-
mained on the paternal ranch, and then engaged
as clerk in a mercantile business in Ranger,
Tex., later entering the employ of the Texas Paci-
fic Railway, at Ranger and Thurber junction,
where he remained for five years, and during
this time became actively identified with the in-
terests of the Democratic party, whose principles
he espoused. He filled acceptably the position of
deputy county clerk for one term of two years,
in Eastland county, and was also prominent in
other affairs. Following this he located in Ari-
zona and in Globe enga,ged in mining and pros-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1971

pectiiig. but on account of his health finally came
to California. I'his climate proved so benefi-
cial to him that he soon fully recovered, after
which he decided to locate permanently in Long
Beach. For a time he worked in a real-estate
ofiice, after which he became interested with
Frank W. Stearns, with whom he incorporated
the Stearns-Counts Investment Company. Thev
succeeded in establishing an extensive business,
which proved an important factor in the upbuild-
ing of Long Beach and surrounding country.
August I, 1905, this company dissolved partner-
ship, ]\Ir. Counts, however, retaining the sec-
retaryship until the affairs of tlie firm shall have
been closed. In the organization of the Long
Beach Home Land and Water Company he was
also a prominent factor.

The home of Mr. Counts at No. 627 Elm street,
is presided over by his wife, formerly Willie Shel-
ton, with whom he was united in marriage in
Texas, of which state she was a native. They
are the parents of two children, Carroll and
Gerald. Mr. Counts has become prominent in
public affairs in Long Beach and takes a keen
interest in the promotion of all movements cal-
culated to advance the general welfare of the
community, giving time and means freely in his
efforts. He is a member of the Cosmopolitan
Club and Board of Trade, and supports all
churclies and charities. Fraternally he is a mem-
ber of Long Beach Lodge No. 327, F. & A. M.,
Long Beach Oiapter No"^. 84, R. A. M., and Long
Beacli Commandery No. 40, K. T., and with his
wife is identified with the Eastern Star. He also
belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks. Independent Order of Odd Fellows at
Ranger, Texas, and Fraternal Brotherhood of
Eong Beach. Politically he gives his support to
the men whom he considers best qualified for
public ofifice.

JOSEPH SAILER. Upon the establish-
ment of the plant of the American Beet Sugar
Company at Oxnard a number of their most
valued workers at Chino were transferred to the
new factory, among these trusted employes be-
ing Joseph Sailer, who from the first has occu-
pied the responsible position of chief engineer
of the Oxnard factory. Mr. Sailer is of Aus-
trian birth and ancestry and was born in the
village of Prutz, Tyrol, January 10, 1867, being
a son of Carl and Catherine (Traxsailer) Sail-
er, natives of the same locality. For many gen-
erations the family had lived within the shadow
of the Tyrolese Alps in a region famous the
world over for the magnificence of its scenery
and the rugged sublimity of its mountains. From
the male representatives of one generation to
those of the next was handed down the secret of

manufacturing smoking pipes out of German
silver, and some of the name still follow that oc-
cupation in the vicinity of the ancestral home-
stead, among them being Carl Sailer, who is
yet an active business man.

The eldest in a family of eight children and
the only one to settle in California, Joseph Sail-
er was born January 10, 1867, and passed the
years of boyhood uneventfully in the quiet com-
munity where Destiny had cast his lot. When
only fourteen years of age he bade farewell to
relatives and friends and started out on the long
journey which would place the great ocean be-
tween himself and the home of his early days.
Upon arriving in the United States he proceed-
ed to Chicago and at once became an appren-
tice to the machinist's trade with Russbach &
Co., under whom he served for three years,
and later worked as a journeyman in the same
city. From there in 1886 he came to California
and sought employment vainly in Los Angeles.
Discouraged by lack of success he went to San
Francisco, where he at once procured work with
the Fulton Iron works as a machinist. After-
ward he became a machinist in the plant of the
American Sugar Refining Company in San
Francisco, where he belonged to the night corps
of workers in the plant. During 1891 he went
to Chino and assisted in installing the machin-
erv, afterward holding a position as machinist
in' the factory for two years. In recognition of
his efficiency he was promoted to be chief en-
gineer in 1894 and continued as such until he
was transferred to Oxnard three years later.
After having superintended the installation of
the machinery in the Oxnard plant he was ap-
pointed chief engineer and since then has filled
the responsible position with marked ability and
faithfulness.

After manv years of constant labor at his
trade Mr. Sailer finally allowed himself a vaca-
tion in 1903, during which year he enjoyed a
visit to the old Tyrolese home and also toured
the continent. With that exception he has lab-
ored unremittingly and constantly at his trade,
vet the continuous labor has not been a hard-
ship, for to him work is a pleasure and he is
happiest when most deeply engrossed with the
details of his chosen occupation. As a citizen
he has been progressive, interested in beneficial
movements, a contributor to the improvement of
Oxnard by the erection of a flat building and
two houses, and in every respect a man whose
presence is a distinct acquisition to a commun-
itv. Formerly he served as a member of the
county central Republican committee and always
he has been stanch in his allegiance to the Re-
publican partv. While living in San Francisco
he married Miss Katherine E. Schoffel, who
was born in Bavaria, and by this marriage he

]!»7l'

HISTORICAL AND BIOCJRAPHICAL RECORD.

has three children, Katie E., Joseph, Jr., and
Carl R. Besides being a member of the Citi-
zens Qub of Oxnard he affiliates with the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, of Santa
Barbara, and the Knights of Pythias, Uniform
Rank, in which latter fraternity he holds office
as past chancellor of the local lodge.

CAPT. JOHN W. ASPE. Especially worthy
of honorable mention in this volume is Capt.
John W. Aspe, a highly respected resident of
San Pedro, who is in truth a self-made man,
having started in life with no other endow-
ments than good health, a vigorous muscle and
a clear, cool brain. Thus equipped, a man need
have no fears ; filled with a determination to
succeed, success is assured him from the start,
although it may be that years of patient wait-
ing and hard toil are necessary before the goal
of his ambitions is reached. A native of Ger-
many, Captain Aspe was born December 3, 1851,
in Rendsburg, Holstein, which was likewise the
birthplace of his father, John Aspe. In 1848
John Aspe took an active part in the Holstein-
Schleswig war, after which he followed the
trade of a blacksmith in Kiel, Germany, until
his death. He married Dora MuUer, a native
of Schleswig, and they became the parents of
twelve children, of whom John W., the subject
of this sketch, was the first-born. One son,
Christ Aspe. employed as an architect by the
German government, died at Breslau, Germany,
in 1903.

At the age of ten years John W. Aspe began
the battle of life for himself as a sailor, going
as deck boy on a coaster. He subsequently
crossed the Atlantic, sailing to Boston. Mass.,
from there going on the sailing vessel Brewster,
via the Cape of Good Hope, to the East Indies
and back. In 1863, on the same vessel, he came
around the Horn to California, and for awhile
was employed in the coasting trade along the
Pacific coast. Turning his attention then to
land pursuits he was for eight years engaged in
both quartz and placer mining, operating in
northern California, Idaho. Utah and Nevada.
He was quite successful at times, at Silver City,
Idaho, with three companions, taking out $40,-
000 from a quartz mine. Returning from the
mining regions to San Francisco, he again en-
gaged in coasting, sailing as second mate for
awhile, and then as first mate of his vessel. In
1883, as master of the Sarah, he embarked in
the lumber trade, sailing from San Francisco
to diiiferent ports along the coast. He was sub-
sequently master of several other vessels, in-
cluding the John Russ, the Bangor, the Charles
A. Moody and the Wempe Brothers. The lat-
ter was wrecked off the coast of \'ancouver,

British Columbia, but no lives were lost. On
giving up seafaring pursuits, Captain Aspe re-
sided in Oakland for a time, but in 1895 took
up his residence in San Pedro, which he first
visited as early as 1876, sailing into the harboi
when mate of the Elenora. Since 1903 he has
been prosperously employed in sail making, his
home being on Twelfth street, where he has
erected a good residence.

March 14. 1892, in Redondo, Cal., Captain
Aspe married Gencina Petersen, a native of Den-
mark, and into their household five children have
been born, namely: Carl, Frederick, Dora, El-
sie and John. Politically the captain is a Re-
publican, and fraternally he is a member of
Golden Gate Lodge No. 30, F. & A. M., of San
Francisco.

CLARENCE C. ADAMS. A resident of
California since 1889, Qarence C. Adams has
profited by the rapid growth and development
of this Pacific state and a part of the prosperity
he has made his own. He is a native of Minne-
sota, his birth having occurred near Albert Lea,
Freeborn county, April 12, 1875, his parents,
Charles B. and Mary S. (Shauney) Adams,
having settled as farmers in that section. On
account of his father's health the family located
in Long Beach, Cal., where his death occurred
in 1899, his wife surviving him and making her
home in this city at the age of sixty-eight years.

Clarence C. Adams received a substantial edu-
cation in the public schools of IMinnesota and the
high school of Austin, to which city his parents
removed when he was but three years old. L'pon
their removal to California they settled in Ana-
heim, where Mr. Adams followed teaming after
completing a business course in a cornmercial
college of Los Angeles. Following the removal
of his parents to Long Beach he came to this city
and here took up the work of a plumber, be-
coming an apprentice under W. B. Joy. Janu-
ary I, 1903, he purchased the interest of Edward
Kay, of the firm of Kay & Smith, after which
for three and a half years business was con-
ducted under the name of Smith & Adams.
Since Mr. Adams' withdrawal the business has
been continued as the Edwin W. Smith Com-
pan}'. In the meantime Mr. Adams has taken
a keen interest in the growth and development
of the city and has invested his means in real
estate from time to time, building three resi-
dences since his location here. When he first
came here (in 1899) there was a population of
six hundred in the winters and from three to
four thousand during the summers. Since that
time Long Beach has been found to be as de-
sirable a winter residence as one could wish and
the population has grown to numbers that are

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1973

remarkable in that the}' do not mark the itinerant
inhabitants. Mr. Adams has unbounded faith in
the continued prosperity of his adopted city and
has manifested it in the most substantial man-
ner.

The home of Mr. Adams is located at 721
Chestnut avenue, and is presided over by his
wife, formerly Theora Pearl Ailman, whom he
married November i, 1902. , She is a native of
New Mexico, and a daughter of H. D. Ailman.
They have one son, Henry David. Mr. Adams
was reared in the Methodist Episcopal Church,
to which he gives his financial support. In poli-
tics he is a stanch Republican and although ac-
tive in his efforts to advance the principles he
endorses has never cared for official recognition.
Fraternally he is identified with the Woodmen
of the \\'orld, Fraternal" Brotherhood, and F
O. E.

OLIVER CLARENCE SWAN. An ex-
pert in the erection and operation of sugar man-
ufacturing machinery Oliver Clarence Swan is
the efficient general foreman of the factory of
the American Beet Sugar Company at Oxnard,
and is esteemed as a leading citizen of this place.
The birth of Mr. Swan occurred June 29, 1872,
at Troy, Mo., where his father, William H., a
native of Kentucky, carried on a blacksmith
shop. The father served in the Union army with
a Missouri regiment durmg the Civil war, be-
longed to the Grand Army of the Republic and
was a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. He was also a member of the Christian
Church, and his death in 1903 removed a highly
respected citizen of Tro}-. The mother, who was
Eliza C. Shew before her marriage, was born
in Illinois on the farm of her parents, who after-
wards removed to Lincoln county. Mo., where
she was married and still resides. There were
seven children in the family, all of whom are
still living, Oliver Clarence being the third in
point of age. The greater part of his boyhood
was spent in Troy, Mo., where he received his
education in tlie public schools, and when a
young man he commenced his business career
Idv clerking in a St. Louis grocery store. He
moved successively to Louisiana, Mo., and Bowl-
ing Green, that state, and then went with a sur-
veying party to Arizona, where for one year he
assisted in making surveys for the .South Gila
Canal Company.

In i<So2 he came to Giino. Cal, and secured
a position with the .\merican Beet Sugar Com-
pany, beginning at the very bottom of the ladder
and continuing with the firm for five years, at the
end of that time having become a competent
machinist. He then severed his connection with
the firm and went to Crockett. Cal.. where he

was employed by the California and Hawaiian
Refining Company, and after one season in their
factory he was engaged by the Union Iron Works
of .San Francisco to go to Butte, Mont., and
assist in the erection of machinery at that place.
That took him but a few months and from there
he went to Kealalcekua, Hawaii, and for nearly
two years was engaged in the construction of
machinery for the Kilby Manufacturing com-
pany of Cleveland, Ohio. Following this he re-
turned to California in 1897, locating at Oxnard,
assisting in the construction of the sugar factory
at this place. He has been with the American
Beet Sugar Compan\' ever since, and is now the
general foreman or assistant superintendent of
the factory.

Fraternally Mr. Swan affiliates with the
Knights of Pythias lodge at Oxford, and the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows at the same
place. He is an earnest advocate of the principles
represented by the platform of the Republican
party and is an influential participator in all
matters of public interest to the community. He
was married to Miss Ollic H. Hedges, a native
of Missouri, who died at Oxnard December
24, 1003.

ARTHUR J. DRAPER. An unexpected and
unfortunate incident connected with Mr. Draper's
arrival in California might have discouraged
some from making a permanent settlement in the
state, but he possesses an impartial, calm temper-
ament that remains unbiased by circumstances
beyond his control. Twenty years have come
and gone since he landed in the west and during
all of that period he has made his home in Ven-
tura county, where since 1895 he has owned
a ranch of seventeen acres near Sinii and has
improved the property by putting in a pumping
plant for the irrigation of his alfalfa fields and
gardens. The position of justice of the peace
came to him by appointment in 1895 and three
years later he was elected to the office, which he
still fills, having been re-elected at the expiration
of his first elective term of four years. Since
1899 he has also served as a notary public.

The Draper family is of old English stock, and
the subject of this narrative was born in that
country in September, 1861, being a son of Joseph.
S. and Christina Draper. When his father was
only thirtv-two years of age he died in 1865 and
fifteen years later the mother passed away at the
age of forty-two. The three sons of the family,
.\rthur J., John A. and Walter S., left their
friends in England during the early spring of
1886 and came to America upon a tour of in-
spection with a view to possible location. The
first named had been a teacher in English schools
for five years and was a young man of excellent

1974

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

education, intelligence and tine qualities of citi-
zenship. Landing- in Los Angeles they purchased
a team and wagon, as well as the supplies
necessary for a trip up the coast, and soon started
for Ventura county. Unfortunately while they
were yet in Los Angeles they had attracted the
attention of two desperadoes, one of whom was
a ruffian named Louis Clark. These two men
concluded that the young Englishmen probably
carried with them considerable money and would
therefore be excellent subjects for robbery, with
which purpose in view they followed them along
the coast through A'entura, Santa Barbara, San
Luis Obispo and Monterey counties.

About ten o'clock on the night of the i8th of
May, 1886, when the brothers were encamped
near Soledad, Monterey county, while sleeping,
they were attacked by the desperadoes. Walter
was shot in the left foot and thigh ; John es-
caped without injury ; and Arthur received four
bullets, one in the back of the neck (which he
still carries), one in the right arm, and two in
the left shoulder (one of which latter he also
carries). With considerable difficulty they man-
aged to get to Soledad, where the wounds were
dressed and they were given medical care, but
it was not until Julv that they were able to travel.
Aftenvard Clark was caught and sent to prison
for twenty-one years. Two of the brothers re-
turned to England, where Walter now occupies
a responsible position as manager of Lloyd's
Bank of London : the eldest brother, Arthur, re-
mained in California and settled near Simi, where
he has since lived, unmarried, on his neat little
ranch, honored by the many acquaintances he has
made during the long period of his residence
in the same locality and respected as a man of
high principles, impartial spirit and progressive
citizenship.

HUGH HENRY. Occupying a place _ of
prominence among the prosperous agriculturists
and the leading citizens of Ventura county is
Hugh Henry, of Oxnard. Commencing life at
the foot of the ladder, he has steadily climbed
upward, rung by rung, the history of his achieve-
ments being a splendid example of the grand suc-
cess to be attained by sturdy toil, pefseverance
and close application to business. Since assum-
ing possession of his home ranch, in 1896, he
has made all of the important improvements on
the place, in 1904 erecting his handsome, mod-
ernly equipped ten-room house, this, with the
other improvements, rendering his property one
of the best in the Santa Clara valley. In business,
social, political and fraternal circles, Mr. Henry
stands high, and as one of the best known and
most influential Odd Fellows of Southern Cali-
fornia has done ranch to promote the good of the

order. A son of Hugh Henry, Sr., he was born
July 12, 1858, in Glasgow, Scotland, and from a
long line of honored ancestry on the maternal
side has inherited those sterling characteristics
that have won for him the respect and esteem of
his fellow men and a noteworthy position in life.

Born and reared in Ireland, Hugh Henry, Sr.,
later went to .Scotland, where he was married,
md in i860, with his family, came to the United
States, the reputed country of plenty, and located
in St. Lawrence county, N. Y, Turning his at-
tention to farming, he was subsequently engaged
in tilling the soil until his death, at the age of
sixty-eight years, in 1902. His wife, whose
maiden name was Jane Watson, was born in
Scotland and died in St. Lawrence countv, N,
Y., in 1871.

Completing his earlv education in the district
schools, Hugh Henry earned his first money as a
farm laborer. Deciding to settle permanently as
an agriculturist, he bought land in St. Lawrence
coimty and was there a resident until 1883. Com-
ing in that year to the Pacific coast, he worked by
the month until familiar with the ways of farm-
ing as carried on in California, where soil, climate
and conditions are so entirely different from
those in any other part of the Union. In 1896 he
purchased his present ranch, which is advan-
tageously located about two miles northwest of
Oxnard, and contains seventy-four acres of valu-
ble land. He has placed this in a good state of cul-
tivation, and in addition to carrying it on success-
fully also rents one hundred and sixty acres of
near-by land, which he also manages with satis-
factory results. He devotes about two hundred
acres of land to the raising of lima beans, and has
twenty acres planted to beets and each season he
has large and profitable crops of these vegetables,
the income derived from them being large. He
has recently installed a fine electric pumping
plant, which will make irrigation of the farm
easy.

On January 18, 1878, Mr. Henry married
Mary Jane Beatty, who was born in St. Lawrence
county, N. Y., and they are the parents of three
children, namely : George, living just across the
road fromi his parents, and who married ^laria
Sutter, a native of California ; and Anna Jane
and Elizabeth Maria, pupils in the grammar
school, Mr. Henry was initiated into Ventura
Lodge No. 201 some years after its establishment,
and was serving as noble grand in that lodge
when Oxnard Lodge No. 89 \\-as established, he
initiating its first members. He is also a member
of A'entura Encampment No. 79, which he has
served as master three terms ; of \'entura Canton
No. 29 : and of Ventura Lodge, Daughters of Re-
bekah. No. 3T4. He has passed all of the chairs
of the subordinate lodges of Odd Fellows, and is
past district deputy, and is also a member of Ox-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1975

nard Lodge Xo. 44, M. W. A. He takes great
interest in public affairs, and for the past three
years has been school trustee.

HENRY C. FEDER. One of the leading
industries of Redondo is the Redondo Carnation
Company, whose manager, Henry C. Feder, has
given years of time and painstaking effort to
the propagation of choice and new varieties of
carnations, among his original specialties being
the Los Angeles (white), Jim Corbett (salmon
pink) and the Dr. Choate (scarlet). Since em-
barking in business for himself in 1898 he has
made a specialty of raising carnations, propa-
gating sixty thousand each year, and setting out
from forty to fifty thousand plants, besides
which he has raised acres of violets. The ilow-
ers find a ready sale in local markets and ship-
ments are also made to Arizona.

A native of AVestphalia, Germany, Henry C.
Feder was born in Rothenufeln, August 23,
1862, and is a son of Frederick and Louisa
(Veith) Feder, natives of the same kingdom,
and farmers by occupation. The mother died
some years ago, but the father is still living at
the old home. Both were reared in the Lu-
theran faith and always adhered to that religion.
Among their five children, all of whom still sur-
vive, Henry was next to the eldest. As is the
custom in his native land, he was given good
advantages for obtaining an education. At the
age of twelve years he left school and began to
learn the miller's trade, at which he served a
full apprenticeship. Durmg 1879 he crossed the
ocean to the United States and proceeded west
from New York as far as Indiana, where he
secured employment on a farm. Always keenly
interested in gardening, he devoted considerable
attention to plants and flowers while yet in the
east.

For the first few months after coming to Cali-
fornia in 1887 J\Ir. Feder engaged in teaming,
but as soon as another opening presented itself
he turned to dift'erent work. The Redondo
Beach Company, owners of the town site of In-
glewood, gave him employment in their gardens
and orchards, and he continued in their employ
until he came to Redondo in 1891. Two years
later he was appointed manager of the flower
gardens and greenhouse in this place and con-
tinued until 1898, when he resigned in order to
embark in business for himself. A year later he
organized the Redondo Carnation Company
with J. B. Mullen, and in 1905 took into part-
nership George Hessen and A. M. Jones. This
partnership continued until July i, 1906, when
the original owners took charge of the business.
The original gardens embraced ten acres, but
this tract was sold in 1905, and the company

lias now leased other lands with which to con-
tinue the business. Alwa,vs assiduous in his de-
votion to business matters, Mr. Feder has al-
lowed himself only one vacation from his post
of duty, this bemg in 1901, when he returned
to the old homestead in Westphalia and also
visited many points of interest on the continent
and in England. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Rickie Strohm, is like himself a native
of Germany, her childhood home having been in
leaden, but as a girl she came to the United
States and later was married at Inglewood, this
^tate. Two daughters bless the union, Ida and
Lulu. The family are earnest members of the
Lutheran Church and give of their means to the
work of that denomination. Since coming to
Redondo Mr. Feder has been a member of the
Board of Trade and an active worker in all en-
terprises for the upbuilding of the town. Po-
litically he gives stanch support to the Repub-
lican party and in fraternal relations holds mem-
bership in Redondo Lodge No. 328, F. & A. M. ;
Tent No. 7, K. O. T. M., of Redondo, and the
Independent Order of Foresters.

FRANK A. MATSON. Although a resi-
dent of his present location for but a brief period,
Mr. Matson has made his home in Southern Cali-
fornia for a considerable number of years and
with the persevering industry characteristic of
his Swedish forefathers he has worked his way
from the position of laborer for others to that
of land-owner. The property which he ac-
quired by recent purchase consists of fifteen
acres situated three miles northeast of Redondo
at the postoffice of Perry, Los Angelas county,
his residence standing on the corner of Redondo
and Dominguez avenues, while near by are the
buildings utilized for the prosecution of the
poultry business, which he makes his specialty.

About the year 1849 George and Ellen (Pet-
erson) Matson crossed the ocean from their na-
tive land of Sweden and settled in Minnesota,
where their son, Frank A., was born near Clear-
water lake, not far from Minneapolis, Decem-
ber 3, 1862. When the latter was still a very
small child the family removed to Illinois and
settled in Knox county, near the village of AI-
tona. The next removal occurred when he was
about ten years of age and took the family to
Nebraska, where they built up a home in the
then undeveloped regions of Polk county. The
parents continued upon a farm during the bal-
ance of their active years ; the father fived to be
seventy-five and the mother was eighty when she
passed away.

- After having assisted his father in the improv-
ing of a farm from a tract of raw land, Frank A.
Matson was well qualified to take up agricultural

1976

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

pursuits for himself, and he continued near the
old Nebraska home for some years. While liv-
ing in that state he met and December 21,
1886, married Hildora Freeberg, a native of
Sweden, who crossed the ocean to the United
States at twelve years of age and settled with
other members of her family twenty miles east
of St. Paul. While still a young girl she re-
moved to Stromsburg, Polk county. Neb., and
there married Mr. Matson, their union being
blessed with two children, Florence E. and Ray-
mond F. The family came to California in 1888
and settled at Qearwater on a ranch, but after
three years removed to Riverside, where Mr.
Matson was variously employed for three years,
and later he worked for others in the city of
Los Angeles, remaining in the latter city until
July of 1905,' when he purchased and removed
to his small farm near the coast. In the pur-
chase of this property he invested the savings
of previous years, so that the home he now owns
possesses for him an especial interest as repre-
senting his own unwearied labors and tireless
energfv.

PERCY N. ARNOLD. No more public-
spirited Canadian has transferred his allegiance
to the Pacific coast or more enthusiastically en-
tered into the diversified interests here repre-
sented than Percy N. Arnold, a rancher in the
vicinity of La Ballona. although his postoffice
and market town is Palms. Born in New Bruns-
wick, Canada, January 27, 1852. he was the only
child of his father's marriage with a Miss Vail,
who was born in Canada, dying there at the
birth of her only child. Nelson A. Arnold sub-
sequently married Anna Smith, a native of En-
gland, and the seven children born of this mar-
riage all lived to attain vears of maturity. The
father was also born and reared in Canada, and
when he had com.ijletcd his schooling he settled
down on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres,
in that country, and, with the exception of a
few years prior to his death, carried on farming
throughout his entire life. His earth life came
to a close in 1902, when eighty-four years of age.
During his voung manhood Percy N. Arnold
possessed an abundance of the venturesome spirit
which directed the footsteps of so many sturdy
men to this western country, and the first step
toward self-maintenance was his coming to Cali-
fornia in 1874. For six years thereafter he was
occupied in various lines of business, but in 1880
he homesteaded a tract of land from the govern-
ment, upon which he located and settled down
to follow agriculture for his life business. Bv
purchasinsr adjoining land he increased his hold-
ings considerably, now owning two hundred and
twenty acres in that ranch, although he makes

his home on a one-hundred-and-fifteen-acre
tract which he owns near La Ballona. By rent-
ing adjoining property he has now four hun-
dred acres under his control, all of which is
planted to beans, hav, etc., which yields a good
income annually.

June 16, 1881, occurred the marriage of
Percy N. Arnold and Miss Phebe Tibbet, who
was born in California, the daughter of Jona-
than Tibbet. At the time of the gold fever Mr.
Tibbet was one of the throng who came to the
state from Ohio, but he did not remain long, for
the year 1850 found him back in his native
state. When he returned to California in 1852
it was not the attraction of the mines that
brought him hither, for he at once turned his
attention to the cultivation of the ranch of three
hundred and twenty acres, which he purchased
that year near El Monte. Besides this half sec-
tion of land he bought eighty acres near La
Ballona, but it was in Santa Monica that he
passed away in IQ03. Since the death of ?klr.
Tibbet I^.Tr. Arnold has purchased the eighty-
acre ranch and now makes his home on the
property. Four of the five children born to Mr.
and IMrs. Arnold are living and are still at home
with their parents, as follows : Nelson L., Bessie
T., Percv W. and Laurence F. The third child,
Edgar R., was accidentally killed July 4, IQOI,
bv being thrown from a wagon. In his political
preferences '\h. Arnold is a Republican and is
a member of the Ancient Order United Work-
men, Woodmen of the World and Independent
Order of Foresters.

EDWTN W. SMITH. Unbounded faith in
the possibilities of Long Beach and surrounding
country induced Edwin W. Smith, of the Edwin
W. Smith Company, plumbers and tinsmiths, to
invest his means here and also to give his best
efforts toward the development of its resources.
His arrival in the state of California is dated
from October 16. 1887. although not until 1902
did he locate permanently in Long Beach : since
that time, however, the most rapid growth of
this citv has taken place and with it his own
financial success and increased business stand-
ing.

^Ir. Smith is of southern birth and linease.
his parents, \\"illiain B. and Lucy (Kade) Smith,
being residents of Corinth. Miss., where he was
born January 22, 1869. The mother is now de-
ceased, while the father is residing in Downev,
Cal. While still voung in years he was taken
to Texas and in that state attended the public
schools of Wise countv. .\fter ten years in that
state the father brought his familv to California,
wliere he followed his trade of painter and dec-
orator urrtil his final retirement from active du-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1977

ties. Edwin W. Smith learned the tinner's trade
upon leaving school and later the plumber's
trade, and after coming to California engaged in
various parts of Los Angeles county. In Glen-
dale, where he made his home for six years, he
engaged for one year as tinner and plumber,
after which he came to Long Beach, which was
just then evidencing the signs of rapid develop-
ment. Upon his location in this city he purchased
an interest in the plumbing business of Edward
Kay, and later became sole proprietor of same,
finally taking into partnership, C. C. Adams,
who was associated with him in business for
about three and a half years. Since Mr. Adams'
withdrawal the business has been continued as
the Edwin W. Smith Company.

In Glendale Mr. Smith married Miss Har-
riet Iman, and their home is now located at the
corner of Appleton and Gaviota. In his political
affiliations Mr. Smith is a Republican and is a
member of the Presbyterian Church. Frater-
nally he is associated with the Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks, and Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, of Long Beach, in the latter or-
ganization having passed all the chairs, and also
having been sent as a delegate to the Grand
Lodge. In the line of his trade he is a member
of the National Association of Master Plumbers,
and is ex-secretary of the local association. In
1904 he was sent as a delegate to the National
Association at St. Louis. The position accorded
him among the business men of Long Beach
has been won entirely by his own efiforts, his
judgment and ability winning him recognition,
while his interest in the progress of Long Beach
and the promotion of its welfare have given him
a place among the influential citizens.

T. E. RICKARD. Retired from active busi-
ness life, T. E. Rickard lives in a fine new resi-
dence in the San Jacinto valley, on his thirty-
two and a half acre ranch three miles southeast
of Hemet, which is planted to oranges. He has
amassed a comfortable fortune during his life
and is now enjoying the fruits of his labors con-
tent with what he has gained. The Rickard
family is one of the old established ones of cen-
tral Illinois, T. E. having been born in that state
in Sangamon county, July 2, 1850, the son of
Simon P. and Sophia (Earnest) Rickard, natives
respectively of Virginia and Kentucky. The
elder Rickard became a pioneer of Sangamon
county in 1832, when he bought wild land and
engaged in farming, continuing in that occupa-
tion and in the same location until the time of
his death, in Mav, i8gT, having attained the
age of seventy-eight years. His wife is still liv-
ing at the advanced age of eighty-five years and
resides on the original Illinois homestead.

It was the privilege of T. E. Rickard to re-
ceive a very fine education, and after his gradu-
ation from the high school of Spring-field, 111.,
he entered the University of Illinois, becoming a
member of the first class graduated from that
institution. When his education was completed
he returned to his home and engaged in farm-
ing until 1901, in the summer of which year he
removed to California and purchased an apricot
orchard in Hemet valley. After holding this
property one year he resided in Pasadena for a
like period, then returned to Illinois for a time.
This land of sunshine proved too alluringly at-
tractive to be resisted, however, and he soon de-
cided to make his permanent residence here, and
upon his return settled in his present home' near
Hemet.

In 1879, in Illinois, Mr. Rickard was united
in marriage with Kate E. Boardman, the daugh-
ter of Lucius M. Boardman, of Ohio, whose
family came originally from Connecticut. Seven
children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs.
Rickard : Lucius S., at home ; Lawrence E., on
the old home farm in Illinois ; those still under
the parental roof being Frances Beatrice ; Ernest
W., who is ready to enter Stanford University ;
Howard B. ; Raymond W. and Katharine Helen.
The family attend the Presbyterian Church.
Dtu-ing their residence here they have demon-
strated their progressiveness, being willing at
all times to lend a hand to further the advance-
ment and upbuilding of the community.

ALFRED H. OWENS. A' liberal and en-
terprising citizen and one whose faith is un-
bounded in the future of Long Beach, Alfred H.
Owens is engaged with the Inter-State Dock &
Lumber Company, of this place, becoming asso-
ciated with the lumber business in 1894. He
was born January 14, 1861, in Missouri, from
which state he was taken by his parents to Jef-
ferson county, Kans., when only three months
old. He grew to young manhood on the pater-
nal farm in that locality and received his edu-
cation through the medium of the district school
in the vicinity of his home. His father, J. H.
Owens, is now residing in Pomona, Cal., at the
age of sixty-eight years, while his wife, formerly
Margaret J. Varney, died in that place in 1900.

Following the family to California, to which
state they were attracted by the glowing reports
which are constantly finding their way back to
the states of the middle west, whose rigorous
winters detract much from the pleasure of living
there, Alfred H. Owens began as a farmer upon
his arrival. He located on the Bixby ranch near
the present site of Long Beach, and was an eye-
witness to the beginning of the city and its sub-
sequent growth. In 1804 It-' hecanie associated

1978

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

with the hmiber business as teamster, and after
working in the }ards of the Long Beach Lvnn-
ber Compan\- for five years, became foreman,
which position he occupied for two years longer.
Leaving that company he engaged with the In-
ter-State Dock & Lumber Company as checker,
after which he assisted in the laying out of the
present yards, then spent six months in the of-
fice, subsequently becoming foreman of the
yards, which position he still occupies. He is a
man of honor and integrity and enjoys the con-
fidence of those with whom he is associated.

In Long Beach, in 1883, Mr. Owens was
united in marriage with Laura L. ]\Iartin, a na-
tive of Indiana, but a resident of California
from girlhood. They became the parents of
the following children : Clyde Sherman, a
teamster in the yards : \'\llliam H.. a machine
hand in the employ of the Star Lumber Com-
pany ; Agnes May and Ethel. \Mth his family
he is a member of the Baptist Church, and polit-
ically is a strong adherent of the principles ad-
vocated in the platform of the Republican party.
Fraternally he is associated with the Independ-
ent Order of Foresters and the Woodmen of the
World. Mr. Owens has been interested person-
ally in the growth and upbuilding of Long
Beach, he having put up three residences, one
on Sixth and American avenue : one on Locust
between Fourth and Fifth : and in 1904 one at
No. 935 American avenue.

ANDRE^^^ K. RUTTER. There is perhaps
no resident of Southern California whose ex-
perience as a lapidary has been more varied or
whose knowledge of stones is more diversified
than that of Mr. Rutter, who for some years
has been the owner and proprietor of the Re-
dondo shell store. To promote work at his spe-
cialty, which is that of cutting and polishing
beach stones, he has introduced a modern polish-
ing plant operated by electric power furnished
by his own dynamos. \\'ith the keen eye of a
student of stones, he was the first to notice the
beautiful stones on the Redondo beach and at
once began to develop the business, polishing
the first sardonyx, or agate jaspers, and moon-
stones here, and selling the same to tourists. At
the same time he has gathered together a col-
lection of sea shells. At his store may be seen
a rare and valuable collection of Indian relics,
including implements taken from old Indian
graves at Redondo which have found no dupli-
cates at the Smithsonian Institution or elsewhere
in the world.

In Medina county. Oh.io. Andrew K. Rutter
was horn Septen-iber 76, 18.SO, being the eldest
of the six children of Isaac N. and Alary (Kol-
lar) Rutter. natives respectively of Pennsylva-

nia and Tuscarawas count}-, Ohio. His father,
who followed the tailor's trade in Ohio, took up
farm pursuits after removing to Cowley county,
Kans., and at this writing he and his wife are
living in quiet retirement at Pawnee, Okla.
After completing the studies of the public
schools, Andrew K. Rutter took a course in the
Mycrantz Academy at Br}an, Ohio. From the
age of twenty-two until twenty-seven he en-
gaged in teaching school, and with the savings
of that period he embarked in the grocery busi-
nes.s at JMontpelier, \Mlliams county, Ohio.
Next he went to Kansas and from there in 1879
proceeded toward the southwest. For some
years he engaged in exploring in the states of
Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico, and in the ter-
ritories of Arizona and New Mexico, during
which time he located more than forty claims,
but only one of these, the Youngman, proved to
be a paying proposition. The year 1886 found
him in Portland, Ore., where he remained for
two years. Next he explored in the Rocky
mountains for crystals and gems, which he
shipped to the markets. About this time he dis-
covered a topaz crystal forty-six inches long and
six inches thick, which was the largest stone of
the kind ever found in Colorado. The news of
his discovery was noised throughout the coun-
tn," and the Santa Fc Railroad Company bor-
rowed the stone for tlie purpose of exhibiting it
in their collection, but while in their hands the
stone was lost.

After coming to Los Angeles in 1897 ?^Ir.
Rutter engaged in the hotel business and then
resumed lapidary work, but in 1901 left that
city for Redondo, where he has since engaged
in business and has been a member of the Re-
dondo Board of Trade. Though not active in
politics, he is pronounced in his adherence to
the Republican party and always votes the regu-
lar ticket. During the period of his sojourn in
Colorado he met and married Miss Harriet Fical,
who was born in New York state and who
shares with him the esteem of the people of
their home town.

ED\\TN P. DEWEY. In a direct line Ed-
win P. Dewey can trace his ancestry back to
Giarlemagne, the present generation being the
forty-first removed from that illustrious king.
In 1833 Thomas Dewey of Kent County, Eng-
land, came to Boston and later removed to Con-
necticut. One of his descendants moved to New
Hampshire and then reared fourteen sons, one
of whom. David, was the great-grandfather of
Edwin P., and another son was the same rela-
tion to Admiral Dewey of present military fame.
William Dewey was at one time colonel of a
\"ermont company of militia. Edwin P. Dewey

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1979

was born June 9, 1859, "^ Hanover, N. H., the
son of Ira and Isabelle (Knapp) Dewey, the
former a native of Williamstown, A't., and the
latter born in New York, the daughter of Sylves-
ter Knapp, who lived his entire life in that state.
The death of Mrs. Dewey occurred in New
Hampshire. The father was by occupation a
farmer and also served as town clerk for many
years. At the outbreak of the Civil war he en-
listed in Company B, Fifth Regiment of New
Hampshire \"oluntecr Infantry, and served un-
til the close of the war. At the battle of Cold
Harbor he was wounded and captured by the
enemy and confined in Libby prison, from which
he was released by excliange. He was a mem-
ber of the Congregational Church, a man of up-
right character and high principles, and his
death which occurred in New Hampshire, was
universally mourned by all who knew him.
There were two sons in the family and Charles
S. is now a resident of Vermont.,

Edwin P. Dewey spent his boyhood da3S on
a farm within sound of the old Dartmouth Col-
lege bell. He received a preliminary education
in the public schools of Hanover and Lebanon,
afterward entering Dartmouth College, from
which institution of learning he graduated in
1882 with the degree of Bachelor of Science.
Subsequently he took a course in The Thayer
School of Civil Engineering in Dartmouth, after
which for five years he was principal of the
IMarcellus street school in Boston. He next
taught a public evening school in that city, at
the same time occupying a position as civil en-
gineer in the city surveying department. A part
of the time he was connected with the engineer-
nig department of the Boston & Maine Railroad
and was at one time assistant city engineer of
iMalden. In 1894 he came to California and
located in Pasadena, where he was occupied as
a civil engineer for several years, then removed
to Long Beach, where, until February, 1906,
he filled the office of deputy city engineer. At
that date he resigned to become one of the in-
corporators of the Harbor Iron Works, of which
he is secretary and treasurer. The works are
now located at No. 237 Olive avenue, but will
soon remove to the corner of Riverside Drive
and Third street, which site has a harbor front-
age. As a specialty they will manufacture gaso-
line marine engines. Besides sharing in the
ownership of this manufacturing business he
also has real estate interests in the thriving city
of Long Beach.

The first marriage of l\Ir. Dewey united him
with Miss Emma Philbrick, a native of Boston,
and her death occurred in 1899 in Pasadena.
Later he was married in Boston to Miss Louise
Milne, also a native of that city. In 1883 he
was made a Mason in Franklin Lodge No. 6,

A. F. & A. M., at Lebanon, N. H., and is now
master of Long Beach Lodge No. 327, F. &
A. M. ; he also belongs to the Order of Eastern
Star and the Cosmopolitan Club. Politically he
is an advocate of the principles of the Repub-
lican party. Interested in all enterprises tend-
ing toward the higher development and upbuild-
ing of his city, and possessed of many admir-
able personal qualities, j\Ir. Dewey is held in
the highest esteem bv his fellow-citizens.

ABRAHAjM L. king. Prominent among
the representative citizens and prosperous agri-
culturists of Los Angeles county is Abraham L.
King, of Palms, who owns and occupies a highly
improved and well managed farm. He has
achieved success in his vocation by his own un-
aided exertions, and is, in fact, a self-made man,
starting out in life with nothing but youth in
his favor, and his endowments of fine health, a
vigorous muscle, and a clear, cool brain. After
all, a man possessing these is rich, indeed, from
the beginning, and need fear nothing. A son of
Abraham N. King, he was born December 24,
1866, at ^lason City, Iowa.

A native of Wisconsin, Abraham N. King
became a farmer from choice, and the owner
of three Inmdred and twenty acres of land.
Moving to Inwa. he there followed his inde-
pendent occupation in dilferent places, being
engaged in grain and stock raising. Coming to
Los Angeles countv in 1882, he bought one hun-
dred and fifty acres of bottom land, lying one
and one-half miles west of Palms, and there
b}- sturdy industry improved a good ranch, on
which he lived a number of years. He is now
retired from active business cares, making his
liome at Sawtelle. He is highly respected as
a man and a citizen, and is a w'arm supporter
of the principles of the Republican party. In
Wisconsin he married Alice Thompson, and they
are the parents of seven children, namely :
Abraham L.. the subject of this sketch : Frank,
wdio resides near Venice : Fred, foreman of the
Jotham Bixby ranch at Long Beach ; Walter ;
Edith, wife of S. G. Hall, of Inglewood; Mamie,
wife of Edward Wade, of Gardena; and Oscar,
of Fowler, Cal.

Completing his early education in the schools
at Cherokee, Iowa, .Vbraham L. King came with
the family to California in 1882. On coming
of age, in 1887, he started out for himself, work-
ing by the day or month, and saving money.
Accumulating a small sum, he invested it in
land, buying fifteen acres, and in addition to
carrying this on, he rented nine hundred acres
and embarked on his chosen career. Succeed-
ing well in his operations he subsequently pur-
chased his present home ranch of one hundred

1980

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and thirty acres at Palms. Energetic and en-
terprising, he has been exceedingly prosperous
in all of his undertakings, gaining experience
and ability as the years have passed on, and now
in the prime of life, has won an honored posi-
tion among the successful and influential agri-
culturists of the community. Mr. King married
Frankie LeForge and they have four children,
namel>- : Shirley. Harry, Alta and Ruth. Polit-
ically -Mr. King is a straightforward Republican.

JOHN J. PECKHAM, M. D. The oldest
and leading physician of Avalon is John J.
Peckham, M. D., who has been a resident of
California since 1883. He is a man of broad ed-
ucation, has traveled much, encountering many
interesting experiences, and has many friends
all over the country. His family is of English
descent, the early immigrants to this country be-
longing to the Society of Friends, and settling
in Rhode Island, \vhere the grandfather of Dr.
Peckham was born. Later he removed to a
farm in Washington county, N. Y., and there
the son, Joseph W., was born, engaged in farm-
ing during his lifetime, and there his death oc-
curred. His wife, who was Elizabeth Gifford
before her marriage, was born in Easton, Wash-
ington county, N. Y., and died there at the age
of seventy-eight years. Her father, Allan Gif-
ford, lived to the remarkable age of ninety-six
years.

There were seven children in the family of
which Dr. Peckham was a member, three of
whom are now living. He was the youngest
and was born July 8, 1851, in Easton, Wash-
ington county, N. Y., his boyhood days being-
spent on his father's farm. For his preliminary
education he was sent to the public schools, later
entered Marshall Academy, then studied medi-
cine for a time under his older brother, Dr. Al-
lan G. Peckham. He afterwards took a course
at Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia,
from which he graduated in 1874 with the de-
gree of M. D. The succeeding two years he
practiced his profession in Saratoga county, N.
Y., and from there removed to Albany, where
he was connected with the Homes City Hospital
and practiced for seven years. At this time his
health failed and he sought the climate of
the Pacific coast in the hope of bettering it,
spending two year= each in Los Angeles, Sac-
ramento and San Diego. In 1889 he went to
Antelope Valley, Los Angeles county, and tried
the plan, which was original with him. of tak-
ing the outdoor treatment in a tent house. While
rusticating there it gradually became a habit
with the people who were scattered over the sur-
rounding country to call upon him for medical
services and his practice soon covered a coun-

try embracing territory fifty miles in extent. He
was appointed by President Harrison postmaster
of Alpine, the name of which station was changed
to Harold at the suggestion of the doctor, and
held the position for two years. Having recov-
ered his health, in 1891 he went to San Fran-
cisco and engaged in practice for a couple of
years, and for one year subsequent to 1893 act-
ed as surgeon for the English Alountain Gold
Mining Company in Nevada county. The con-
dition of his wife's health demanding a change
at this time they again came to Southern Cali-
fornia and located on Big Rock creek, in the
Antelope valley, remaining there for two years.
The continued ill health of his wife decided him
to locate directly on the coast and he located at
San Pedro, where he was employed as physi-
cian by Helmyer & Neu, the contractors for the
old and new breakwaters at that point. Later
the government changed contractors and in igoo
Dr. Peckham located in Avalon, where he has
ever since continued his medical practice. He
is also engaged in the drug business, being one
of the proprietors of the Island Pharmacy Com-
pany, which carries a full line of drugs and
sundries, having the largest stock of drugs in the
county outside of Los Angeles. He fills the office
of deputy health officer of Catalina township,
and is at the same time deputy county recorder.
He is also medical examiner for several of the
old line life insurance companies, including the
Phoenix Life of Hartford, the Mutual Life of
New York, and the New York Life. Fraternal-
ly he is affiliated with the Avalon Eyrie of
Eagles No. 1385, of which he is examining
physician; he was made a Mason in Temple
Lodge No. 14, A. F. & A. M.. at Albany, N.
Y., and also was raised to the Royal Arch de-
gree in that city. Politically he is an advocate of
the principles embraced in the platform of the
Republican party.

The first marriage of Dr. Peckham occurred
in Albany, N. Y., uniting him with Emma Clay,
who was born in Syracuse', and his present wife
was, before her marriage, Frances Mackey, a
native daughter of Los Angeles. Dr. Peckham
is a successful physician and business man, hon-
est and upright in all his dealings and is held
in the highest esteem bv all who know him.

ELMER HERMAN THOMPSON. M. D.
A resident of Burbank since May, 1905, Elmer
Herman Thompson, i\I. D., has acquired a po-
sition of considerable prominence in professional,
business, and social circles. A young man of
talent and culture, he has an extensive knowl-
edge of the science of his chosen profession and
is fast establishing an enviable reputation for
his skill and ability in the diagnosis and treat-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

3981

meiit of diseases. He was born March 7, 1878,
in Wisconsin, and in the public schools of that
state laid a substantial foundation for his future
education. Deciding to fit himself for a medi-
cal career, Mr. Thompson studied for two years
at the American Medical College in Battle
Creek, Mich., prior to which he had spent a
year at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. In Decem-
ber, 1900, he entered Rush Medical College, at
Chicago, III, from which he was graduated with
the degree of M. D. in the class of 1903. Open-
ing then an office at Superior, Wis., he remained
there two years, when, on account of ill health,
he was obliged to give up the large practice
which he had established and seek a more con-
genial climate. Coming to Los Angeles county,
he located in Burbank in May, 1905, opening
an office, and has now a substantial and rapidly
increasing practice. He is very successful as a
physician, being painstaking in every particular,
carrying his own drugs and filling the prescrip-
tions himself. While in Wisconsin, he was sur-
geon for a railway company, and November 15,
1905, he was appointed emergency surgeon for
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.

June 19, 1904, in Chicago, III, Dr. Thompson
married Louise Kindig, and they have one child,
a daughter named Dorothy. Politically Dr.
Thompson is a strong Republican. He belongs
to the Wisconsin State Medical Society, and to
the Douglas county (Wis.) Medical Society,
and fraternally he is a member of both the Mod-
ern Samaritans and the Mystic Workers.

ABRAHAM RAPHAEL. Situated one and
one-half miles from Moneta lies the Raphael
ranch of forty acres, which for some years has
been under the active management of Abraham
Raphael. The property has been improved with
a neat set of buildings and a pumping plant that
furnishes an abundance of water for the alfalfa
and other products of tlie land. By reason of
these improvements and the excellent quality of
the soil, the land is easily worth $500 per acre,
ranking among the most valuable tracts of its
size in the vicinity of Moneta and Gardena, and
owing much to the energetic supervision of its
present manager, who came to this place from
Los Angeles after an experience of ten years in
that city at the trade of stationary engineer.

The life history of Mr. Raphael's father,
Charles, shows what it is within the power of
a talented and energetic man to accomplish,
though poor and friendless and alone in a strange
country. Born in Germany April 13, 1844. he
received a fair German education and then
learned the glazier's trade, receiving registered
papers from the government of his native land
certifying to his ability as a machinist and gla-

zier. At fifteen years of age he went to Eng-
land, where a year later he had charge of a
large glass factory employing fifty men. In
1865, at twenty-one years of age, he crossed the
ocean to New York, but sought in vain in that
city and Boston for profitable work at his trade.
After two years marked by steady lack of suc-
cess he came to California via the Panama route
and brought with him the first art glass show-
case ever in this state. At San Francisco he
started in the plate-glass business, but soon re-
moved to Los Angeles, where for many years
he conducted a growing business in his spe-
cialty.

When Charles Raphael landed in San Fran-
cisco, his worldly possessions consisted of only
Si, and seventy-five cents of this he paid for his
first meal in the city, giving the remaining quar-
ter to the waiter. Though penniless, he was not
discouraged, for he had youth, health and the
knowledge of an important trade. That he util-
ized the following years to advantage is shown
by the fact that in 1887 he sold his interest in
the glass business to his nephews for $100,000.
Since then the business has continued under the
old name of Raphael & Co., and still ranks
among the leading enterprises of the city. After
he had disposed of all his stock in the company
he frequently assisted his nephews and enjoyed
following the routine of work familiar to him
through so many successful years. While thus
engaged. May 26, 1905, he was killed by a crate
that weighed one thousand pounds falling on
him. The estate is now in the hands of trustees
and has not been divided among the heirs.
Shortly after coming to Los Angeles he built on
Second street and Broadway one of the very
first frame houses erected in the town and later
he took stock in the first street-car line estab-
lished at this point. Other infant industries
owed much to his encouragement and financial
assistance, and at the time of his death he still
owned considerable property in Los Angeles, as
well as stock in various concerns. In religion
he was a member of the B'nai Brith congrega-
tion and did much to assist in the establishment
and maintenance of the church of his faith in
his home town.

After coming to California Charles Raphael
met and married Bertha Coleman, who was born
in Germany and came to the United States in
childhood, settling at Providence, R. I., whence
she came to California by way of Cape Horn.
A devoted wife and mother, liberal to the poor,
generous toward the needy, her death June 7,
1893, ,was mourned as a loss to family and
friends. In addition to rearing seven children
of her own, she gave a home to two nephews
and also took care of a number of poor boys at
other times, her husband assisting her in this

1982

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

charitable work. They were the parents of the
following-named children: Rosa, who married
H. W. Altman, of Los Angeles ; Aaron C, who
is employed in the business founded by his
father; Nellie, Mrs. I. Oppheimer, of San Fran-
cisco ; Rachel, who married J. E. Fulton, of Los
Angeles, employed as a conductor on the South-
ern Pacific Railroad ; Abraham, who was born
in Los Angeles, October 17, 1875, and after com-
pleting a high school education took up the trade
of stationary engineer, but is now manager of a
ranch belonging to himself and his two brothers;
jMeyer, who is employed in the house established
by his father; and Flora, who resides in San
Francisco. All of the family were given excellent
advantages and hold positions of importance in
their several communities, the son whose name
introduces this article bearing a reputation for
energy and capability, and holding membership
in various organizations, including the Fraternal
Brotherhood.

LEWIS E. RANKER. Of an active and en-
terprising disposition, endowed by nature with
a resolute will and an unlimited stock of energy,
Lewis F. Ranker began life for himself when a
mere lad and has met with deserved success in
his undertakings. Well known in the business
circles of Pomona and the surrounding country
for miles, he has the distinction of being the
most up-to-date and practical horse-shoer in
this part of the country and is one of Pomona's
most thriving and esteemed citizens. Of Ger-
man birth and parentage, he was born in Mit-
telbach, Saxony, August 17, 1874, a son of Jo-
seph and ?^Iargaret (Schmidt) Ranger, they too
being natives of that part of the Fatherland.
With their family the parents immigrated to the
United States in 1888, first settling in Cleveland,
Ohio, and later in Tiffin, that state, in both of
which cities Mr. Ranker followed his trade of
blacksmith. He had gained a fairly good start
at his trade when death called him from his
labors in 1906, and his wife also died in Tiffin
in 1892.

Of the nine children born to his parents Lewis
F. Ranker was the fourth in order of birth, but
of the number only seven are now living. Up
to the age of fourteen his life was associated
with his native land, being well trained in the
schools and gymnasium of Mittelbach, and in
the meantime also he had been an apt pupil in
his father's blacksmith shop. By diligent appli-
cation mornings and evenings he learned the
trade, which included the manufacture of nails
and horse shoes by hand. His knowledge of the
trade proved a wise provision, both for himself
and for the family, for they had not been in
Cleveland long before the entire family fell ill

with typhoid fever with the exception of Lewis
F., and upon him depended the family support
for the time being. AA'ithout difficulty he se-
cured a position at his trade, and from the first
received what for a boy of fourteen years was
considered a munificent wage, his employer pay-
ing him $1.50 per day. He contmued to work at
his trade in that city until 1901, when he opened
a shop in Clyde, Ohio. He remained there only
two years, however, for in 1903 he came to
Pomona. Purchasing the shop then owned by
Jacob Ranker, his brother, he continued the
business of his predecessor at the same stand for
three months, and then removed to larger quar-
ters at No. 280 West Third street, the same
which he occupies today. Not only is Mr.
Ranker a practical horse-shoer, but he under-
stands treating weak and diseased feet, and all
cases of interfering and knee-knocking in horses
brought to him receive the most careful and ex-
perienced attention.

Mr. Ranker's marriage occurred in Pomona
and united him with Miss JNIartha J. Thornton,
who was born in Illinois. JNIr. Ranker is affili-
ated with a number of fraternal organizations,
among them the Independent Order of For-
esters, and the Fraternal Brotherhood.

LOUIS S. DART. When Air. Dart came to
San Bernardino county in 1887 and established
his dairy ranch near Redlands it was with the
determination to succeed and make a place and
name for himself as one of the best in his line in
the county, ^^'ith this as his goal he has spared
no efforts to attain the highest point of excel-
lence in the production of his dairy commodities.
Cleanliness is a marked feature of the plant, and
that, with the care displayed in handling the
products, makes an impression upon the cus-
tomer which is lasting, and stimulating to trade.
Fifty milch cows supply the dairy, besides which
he has about seventy-five head of cattle.

Of eastern birth and parentage, Louis S.
Dart is a son of Sidney T. and Theodosia (Ray)
Dart, born in Chenango county, N. Y., Septem-
ber I. 1854. The parents were also natives of
the Empire state, and there the death of the
mother occurred. The father is still living in his
native state and is now in his eighty-fifth year,
lii his earlier years he joined the Masonic order
and is still a member of that body. In his relig-
ious views he is a L^niversalist.

Supplementing the education gleaned in the
common schools of Chenango county by a five-
year course in Sherburne Academy, Mr. Dart
later followed teaching for five years. This,
however, was not the line of work most agree-
able to him and in the meantime he had decided
to master the carpenter's trade. With this at

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1983

his command he readily found all that he could
do, and for three years worked at his trade in
his native state. Removing as far west as Illi-
nois at the end of this time, he taught school in
Lake county during the winter, and with the
opening of spring crossed over into Iowa, where
for fourteen years he worked at his trade in
Marshalltown continuously, in addition to con-
tracting and building. His next removal found
him in Nebraska, working at his trade in Lin-
coln, that state, as well as in Colorado, whither
he went seven months later. From there in 1887
he came to California and in 1895 purchased the
ranch of thirty acres which has been his home
ever since. Besides himself there were three
other children in the parental family, but he is
the only one of the number in the west.

In Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1877, Mr. Dart
was married to Delia N. Sanford, a native of
that state, and six children were born to them,
as follows: Fred (deceased), Bessie, Earl,
George, Guy and Frank. Mr. Dart's political
views are in accord with Republican principles.
Fraternally he is a Mason, having been made a
member in Marshalltown Lodge No. 108, and
now belongs to the chapter and commandery of
that place.

MARSHALL G. STONE. Riverside is one
of the best counties in the state of California
and Valle Vista is one of the most attractive
parts of the county. Located at the foot of the
San Jacinto range, at an elevation of about
eighteen hundred feet, it has a most perfect
climate, cool and free from wind and rain storms.
Valle Vista is located on the road from Hemet
to Idyllwild, and is recognized as one of the
most beautiful spots in this section, and an ideal
situation for a town. Marshall G. Stone, who is
engaged in the real-estate business in Florida,
or Valle Vista, as the place is now known, is
the father of this town and takes great pride in
the natural advantages surrounding the [jlace of
his choice and lends the greater part of his time
and energy to the development of this section.
He is a native of .Canada, his birth having oc-
curred in Toronto in 1848. His parents, Mathew
and Sarah (Greenhill) Stone, removed to Mil-
waukee, Wis., when Marshall G. was but four
years of age, and later resided in Dodge county
of the same state. Both parents are now de-
ceased. The son received his education in the
public schools of Columbus and Milwaukee, and
in 1867 located in Iowa, where for twenty years
he followed stock raising and farming with good
success.

His residence in California dates from 1887,
when he came to his present location, four and
one-half miles east of Hemet, and has consid-

ered it a good enough place to remain ever since.
He was one of the organizers of the Fairview
Land and Water Company, serving first as vice-
president and later as president of the company.
He superintended the development of a part
of the San Jacinto grant, three thousand acres
of which was pui chased by the compan)-, im-
proved it by the laying out of streets, planting
of trees and the laying of nineteen miles of iron
pipe for water mains. The acreage was divided
into twenty-acre plots and sold to fruii growers.
Store buildings were erected and also a fine
hotel was built, the latter being now occupied
as a residence by ]\Ir. Stone. By his marriage
in Iowa in 1873 he was united with Miss Eliza
Champion, who now presides over his home in
Valle Vista.

LAWRENCE L. GARNER. The ranch
which for a considerable period has been the
headquarters of Mr. Garner and which is oper-
ated by him under a lease comprises four hun-
dred and sixty acres situated four and one-half
miles southwest of Ingle wood and commonly
known as the \'ossburg ranch. The raising of
barley is m.ade a special feature of Mr. Garner's
farming operations and in addition he has en-
gaged successfully in the raising of corn, his
ranch being excellently adapted for almost any
variety of general farm product. In striking
contrast with the majority of the farmers of this
region, he has not engaged in extensive agricul-
ture, but has followed the methods used in the
eastern states and has given his attention to
general crops rather than to horticulture or mar-
ket gardening.

Indiana is the native home of Mr. Garner, and
Putnam cormty the place of his birth, which
occurred March 12, 1864. Nothing of especial
importance occurred to mark the years of his
boyhood and youth, vvhich were passed in the
schoolroom during the winter months and in
farm work during the summer seasons. At the
age of twenty-one years he started out to make
his o\A'n way in the world and proceeded to Mis-
souri, where he secured employment on a farm
in Bates county, .\bout the same time he also
worked in the mines at Rich Hill. When he
took up farm pursuits as a renter he secured a
tract of land and began the raising of general
farm products, remaining in the same vicinity
for nine years. At the expiration of that period
lie came to California and for a year worked on
the wharf at Redondo. after which he acted as
manager of a ranch for two years, and then
leased the ranch where now he is busily engaged
in agricultural pursuits.

Wliile living in Bates county. Mo.. iMr. Gar-
ner met and married Miss Marv F. Rilev. who

1984

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was born in Kansas, but accompanied her family
to Missouri at an early age and passed the years
of girlhood in Bales county. Three sons were
born of their union, Buford G., Levi Lester and
Lawrence. Ever since attaining his majority
Mr. Garner has voted the Democratic ticket and
has given his support to its men and measures,
but he has never solicited office at the hands of
his fellow-citizens, having little inclination to-
ward public responsibilities. In fraternal rela-
tions he holds membership with the Woodm.en
of the World and the Knights of the Maccabees,
in both of which organizations he maintains a
warm interest.

^IICHAEL MAYER. As the name indicates
the I\ layer family is of German extraction. Mi-
chael Mayer is a native of Heidelberg and a
member of a family long identified with manu-
facturing industries in that part of Germany.
In the city where he was born, January 28, 1855,
he received an excellent common school educa-
tion, supplemented by a complete course of study
in Heidelberg College, from which he was grad-
uated at the completion of his course.

Subsequent to graduation Mr. ]\Iayer engaged
in the wine business with his father, and after
the latter's death he took charge of the estate,
continuing the store for a time. Coming to the
United States in 1902 he bought the old Casino
in Redondo and rebuilt it on a larger scale with
modern improvem.ents, making of it the largest
casino on the coast. Modem bowling alleys have
been built and the resort has been made one at-
tractive for tourists and the general public. Be-
sides owning the building and business he is
the owner of residence property in Redondo and
is a director in the First National Bank of Re-
dondo. Politically, since becoming a citizen of
the United States, he has voted the Republican
ticket at all elections, and in fraternal relations
he affiliates with the Eagles.

WILMOT GEORGE BROWN. The cashier
of the First State Bank of Inglewood is a mem-
ber of an old eastern family whose identification
with American history dates back to the colonial
period. V'ery early in the settlement of the Mis-
sissippi valley Stephen H. and Margaret ( Co-
lany) Brown, natives of New York state, be-
came pioneers of Toulon, Stark county, 111., and
from there in 1859 they removed to Winona,
Minn., where again thev bore a part in the de-
velopment of a frontier region. Both have
pas.sed from earth's activities, but all of their
four children survive, the only one on the coast
being Charles H., the father of our subject.

While the familv were residents of Blue

Earth, Minn., Wilmot George Brown was born
June 30, 1873. When he was ten years of age
he accompanied his parents to Owatonna, where
he was graduated from the high school, and
later became a clerk in the Farmers' National
Bank of Owatonna. At the age of eighteen
years he was made paying teller, being the
youngest to hold that position in the entire state.
Resigning in 1898 he removed to Dodge Center,
Minn., where he assisted in organizing the
Farmers' National Bank and held the office of
cashier in the concern. Upon resigning that
position in 1903 he came to California, and spent
a year at Ocean Park and Santa Monica, after
which, in 1904, he settled at Inglewood. Since
then he has been interested as treasurer in the
Inglewood Realty Company, promoters of Palm
place of ten acres and East Acres, a tract of
eighty acres. In May, 1905, he assisted in the
organization of the First State Bank of Ingle-
wood, which was opened for business on the
14th of October of that year, with a capital stock
of $25,000. The bank occupies a two-story
structure, 50x60 feet, constructed of solid brick,
and equipped with Debolt safe and steel vault
and other modern appliances.

The marriage of Wilmot G. Brown took place
in Owatonna, Minn., and united him with Miss
Nora I. Montgomery, who was born in that city
and is a graduate of the college at Carlton,
Minn. The only child of their union is a son,
Stanley Henry. ^Vhile living at Dodge Center
INIr. Brown was mitiated into Masonry and ever
since has been a warm believer in the high prin-
ciples for which the order stands. The Repub-
lican party receives his ballot and its candidates
have his stalwart support. In religious views he
is of the Universalist faith.

JULES J. DELPY. A substantial residence
with modern improvements and attractive ap-
pointments forms the home of j\Ir. Delpy and
ranks among the most elegant country houses in
its district. Surrounding the grounds and con-
venient to the commodious winery may be seen
the vineyard of seventy-five- acres planted to
grapes of the most select varieties, while in ad-
dition the ranch also contains a considerable
amount of grain land, its entire extent compris-
ing four hundred and forty acres. Improve-
ments are made each year, so tliat the estate has
an increasing value, while its cultivated appear-
ance bespeaks the thrift of the owner. The suc-
cess with which he is meeting in the wine busi-
ness proves that the industry may be profitably
prosecuted in the locality.

Born in the south of France, September 5.
1867, Jules J. Delpy is a son of Bernard and
Anna IDelpy, natives of France and both now de-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1985

ceased. An uncle, B. T. Delpy, came to San
Diego county in 1875 and took up a homestead
from the government. Later he started a vine-
yard and operated a winery, which he carried on
until his death, in 1891, at the age of fifty-nine
years. Meanwhile he had become widely known
through all this part of the country and the fer-
tile valley where he lived became known by his
name. A genial, companionable man, he pos-
sessed the affable traits for which the French
are noted, and he won many warm friends
among his American associates.

On the completion of his education Jules J.
Delpy left his native land at the age of sixteen
years and came to the United States, landing at
New Orleans. The same year, 1884, found him
in California, where he learned the winery busi-
ness under his uncle, and at the latter's death in-
herited eighty acres of valuable land. In 1893
he was united in marriage with Miss Maria
Hauret, of Los Angeles, and they have three
sons, Louis, Frank and Jacques. The family are
identified with the Roman Catholic Church and
contribute to its charitable organizations and
general maintenance. Not only in Delpy valley,
but also wherever known, they have friends
among the most refined and intelligent people
and are respected for genuine worth of charac-
ter.

DAVID G. WEBSTER. One of the large
ranchmen of the San Jacinto valley is David G.
Webster, who has ninety acres of land on the
Idyllwild road devoted to the raising of crops.
He was born August 3, 1861, in Paris, III, the
son of William B. and Mary (Nevell) Webster.
the former a native of Indiana and the latter of
Athens, Ohio, her father having been an officer
in the war of 1812. The Websters became early
settlers of Illinois, took up government land
there and engaged in farming in that state until
1875, when Mr. Webster removed with his fam-
ily to California, landing first at San Francisco,
from which point he came by water to San
Pedro, remaining through the summer in Los
Angeles and Compton. In September of that
year he settled in the San Jacinto valley, in which
section he filed on government land and pur-
chased a part of the San Jacinto grant, until he
at one time owned twenty-eight hundred and
sixty acres of land, upon which he raised a great
many sheep, cattle and horses. He erected build-
ings and otherwise improved his holding and
lived on the place until his death, in April, 1885.
at the age of sixty-seven years. He was one
of the best known men in Southern California
during his life and made friends with everv'one
with whom he came in contact. Helen Hunt
Jackson chose him as the original of her char-

acter Merrill in her noted novel Ramona. Mrs.
Webster lived to be seventy years of age, her
death occurring in November, 1898.

Until the age of fourteen David G. Webster
spent his life in Illinois, attending the public
schools there. Coming to California with his
parents in 1875 he worked with his father until
1897, then engaged in independent farming op-
erations and has continued as an agriculturist
ever since. His marriage to Miss Nannie B.
Robinson, a native of St. Louis, Mo., took plai:e
March 10, 1897, and they have become die pa-
rents of one child, Mary, aged eight years. Mr.
\Vebster is now a member of the Florida (or
Valle Vista) board of school trustees, and he
takes an active interest in all matters of public
interest to the community in which he resides.
Politically he is an advocate of the principles
embraced in the platform of the Republican
party.

ARTHUR G. WOODMAN. Among the
prominent contractors and builders located in
Avalon, on Catalina Island, is Arthur G.
Woodman, who has been a resident of this
place since 1902. He is a native of Nova
Scotia, having been born in Digby, February
22, 1867, the son of John C. and grandson of
Robert Woodman, both of whom were born
in the same location. The immigrating an-
cestor of the family, came from England in an
early day and settled in New England, the
family belonging to what was known as the
United Empire Loyalists. The grandfather
was a large landowner in Nova Scotia, and the
father was by occupation a builder, his death
occurring in Nova Scotia. The mother of Mr.
Woodman was before her marriage Mary Ann
Rice, born in Digby, Nova Scotia, the daugh-
ter of Samuel Rice, a native of the same place.
Her family was also an old established one, of
French extraction, and her death occurred in
the same province in which she was born.

Three of the four children born in the fam-
ily of which Arthur G. Woodman was a mem-
ber are now living. He was the youngest
child and was reared in Nova Scotia until
twelve years of age, when his parents removed
to Massachusetts, where the son received his
education in the public schools. In his six-
teenth year he returned to Nova Scotia and
clerked in a grocery store for a year, after
which he began to learn the carpenter's trade.
After completing his apprenticeship he went
to East Douglass, JMass., plying his trade
there for a time, later becoming an independ-
ent contractor and builder. Changing his lo-
cation he was occupied for two years in the
woodwork department of the Draper Manu-

1986

HTSTORIC.M. AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

facturing Company in Hopedale, JNIass. In
1901 he came to California, locating first in
Los Angeles and in the spring of 1902 re-
moved to Catalina. After following his trade
for a time, he branched out as a contractor and
builder, and is now the most extensive con-
tractor in Avalon. He has an attractive resi-
dence on Whitley avenue, presided over by
his wife, who was before her marriage Viola
Bridges, a native of East Douglass, Mass.
They have one daughter, Lydia Lolita. Mrs.
Woodman is a finely educated woman and a
graduate nurse from the Worcester (Mass.)
City Hospital. As an enterprising business
man and a public-spirited citizen Mr. Wood-
man is held in the highest esteem by all who
have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

HOWARD MILTON TODD. There have
been but few places even in this enterprising
section of California where greater interest has
been taken in real estate dealings than in Ocean
Park during the past few years, where the sales
and transfers of realty have been numerous and
notably large. One of the most active men en-
gaged in this remunerative business is Howard
!\Iilton Todd, a citizen of prominence. A son of
Joshua Todd, he was born and reared in How-
ard county. Mo. His father was born in Mary-
land, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and after his mar-
riage with Margaret Jeffrey, who was of Ger-
man descent, he immigrated to Missouri, settling
in Howard county, where both he and his wife
spent their remaining years.

Next to the youngest of a family of six chil-
dren. Howard i\Iilton Todd acquired a practical
education in the public schools of New Franklin,
Mo. While yet a young lad he became inter-
ested in the stock business, joining his oldest
brother, Theodore H. Todd. S. B. Tinsley and
B. E. Nance when he was but fifteen years old.
Possessing an almost intuitive knowledge of the
business, and showing such keen, shrewd judg-
ment, he was ve^y soon entrusted with the buy-
ing of cattle and hogs, and before attaining his
majority was a well-known figure in several
counties. Beginning for liimself at the age of
twenty-two years, he was ver>- fortunate as a
stock buvcr and dealer, handling cattle and bogs
by the train loads and building up an extensive
business. Selling out in 1900, he came with his
family to California, locating on a ranch near
Sherman, where he resided for a while. Subse-
quently disposing of his farming interests at an
advantage, he opened a real estate office at Ocean
Park, where he has since been numbered among
the influential residents of the place. He suc-
ceeded well in his new line of occupation, and
since his association with his present partners.

B. T. Allyn and R. B. Yaple. has carried on a
substantial business, with office at No. 180 Pier
avenue. He takes great interest in local affairs,
is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood, and
in his political affiliations is a loyal Democrat.

In 1875 Mr. Todd married, in Franklin. Mo.,
Mary Hanson, and into the household thus es-
tablished nine children have been born, namely :
Cecil (deceased), Rol>erta, Hov.ard M., Grover
Qeveland, Benjamin W., Margaret T., Louise
M., Percy E. and Clifton H.

SAAIUEL R. McCREERY. At the time of
purchase in 1886 the McCreery ranch of eighty
acres, one and a quarter miles south of the city
limits of Los Angeles, at the corner of \'er-
mont and Florence avenues, was a barley field,
for which was paid $50 per acre. This same
property was sold in 1906 for $135,000. Mr.
McCreery has purchased property in Los An-
geles, where he intends to make his home.

Born in Pecatonica, Winnebago county. III.
March 30. 1858, Samuel R. McCreery is a son
of Rufus K. and Mary (Bull) ^McCreery. the
former a native of Alaryland. In his native
state as well as in Illinois, to which state he
subsequently removed, the father carried on ag-
ricultural pursuits, but finally the desire to come
west and try his luck in the mines became too
strong to be withstood any longer, and hither
he came, working in the mines in and around
La Porte, Plumas county, for about ten years.
When he had become fairly established he sent
for his wife, who followed him to the west in
1862, when her son Samuel was a child of
four years. (A more complete account of the
parental family will be found in the sketch of
Rufus K. McCreery, which appears elsewhere
in this volume.)

Until he was old enough to be of use to his
father on the home ranch Samuel R. McCreery
attended the public schools of Los Angeles, later
becoming his father's assistant in improving
the ranch. The combined efforts of father and
son as general ranchers and dairymen netted a
substantial income, and in fact made them finan-
cially independent. When he was thirty-seven
years old the son formed domestic ties and there-
after, until selling the property in 1906, made
his home on a part of the tract he and his father
had cultivated together for so many years.
While to some extent he carried on general
ranching, his specialty was the raising of alfalfa,
of which he cut from six to seven crops per
season.

^Fr. AlcCreery's marriage, September 4, 1895,
imited him with Miss Anna Taggart. who
though a native of Belfast, Ireland, has been a
resident of the Lnited States almost her entire

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1987

life, having- come to this countr)- with her par-
ents when a very small child. Mrs. McCreery's
brother, Fred Taggart, was librarian in the Me-
chanics' Pavilion in San Francisco. Two chil-
dren have been born of the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. McCreery, Maurice Elliott and Walter
King, who are the pride of their parents, and
are being carefully trained for future citizen-
ship. Mrs. McCreery is a member of the Epis-
copal Church, which her husband also attends,
and toward the support of which he contributes.
Politically he is a Republican, and while he
takes a helpful interest in the party's well-being,
this is not to be understood as seeking office, for
at no time has he had any desire for public life.
The only fraternal order with which he is con-
nected is the Independent Order of Foresters,
afifiliating with the lodge at Los Angeles.

ROBERT L. BEARDSLEY. The possibil-
ities of achievement on the part of industrious
application and intelligent energy find exempli-
fication in the life of Robert L. Beardsley and
his twin brother, Richard, young men who by
their own efforts have gained a foothold in ag-
ricultural affairs in Ventura county and are rec-
ognized as enterprising farmers. While they
are yet on the sunny side of life's prime, al-
ready they have gained gratifying success, and
their farm of six hundred acres is one of the
most carefully tilled in the vicinity of Oxnard.
One-half of the entire tract is under cultivation
to lima beans, and the other half is in barley,
the income from the two crops forming a val-
uable addition to the financial standing of the
young men each year. Those who are most
familiar with their work testify as to their en-
ergy, uprightness and intelligent cultivation of
their land, while at the same time they occupy
a distinct position in the best society of the
county.

The Beardsle)' family is of eastern stock. At
an early age George Beardsley, father of the
brothers, removed from his native Ohio to Wis-
consin and settled upon a farm. Prior to his
removal he had served as a soldier in
the Cfnion army during the Civil war,
enlisting in 1862 as a private in Company
E, Seventh Ohio Infantry. With his regiment
he marched to the front and took part in vari-
ous battles of historic importance. While he
was wounded in battle, the injuries were of an
unimportant nature, and at the close of his time
of service he returned to resume agricultural
pursuits at the old homestead. After thirteen
years in Wisconsin he came to California in 1887
and settled at Santa Paula, but for some years
past he has been an inmate of the Soldiers' Home
at Sawtelle, this state, while his wife is living

in Salt Lake City. Their sons, Robert and
Richard, were born in I'epin county, Wis., Octo-
ber 28, 1875, ^nd were about twelve years of
age when the family removed to California,
where they attended the Hueneme schools. Lat-
er Richard also had the advantage of one term
of study in Woodbury College at Los Angeles.
After leaving school they began to work by the
month on ranches and meanwhile acquired a
thorough knowledge of the soil and its needs and
possibilities.

The first independent undertaking entered
upon by the brothers occurred in 1898, when
they began to farm in Pleasant valley, and in
1900 they removed to their present ranch near
Oxnard. The ranch-house is under the capable
supervision of Mrs. Robert Beardsley, who prior
to her marriage in June, 1902, bore the name of
Vesta Richardson, being a member of a well
known family of the coast country. Surround-
ing the dwelling are the other buildings neces-
sary for the proper management of farm af-
fairs, while all of the improvements made by
the brothers are of a substantial character. The
family attend the Methodist Episcopal Qiurch
and contribute to religious, educational and mis-
sionary measures to the extent of their ability.
In fraternal relations Robert holds membership
with the blue lodge and chapter of Masonry at
Oxnard and is a stanch believer in the principles
of the brotherhood and philanthropy for which
the order stands. In 1906 Richard Beardsley
married Miss Clara Durr, of Oxnard.

NILS ANDERSON. The sons of Sweden
are vigorous, energetic and enterprising, and
those whose ambitions lead them to seek the
larger opportunities to be found in the United
States rarely fail to make a success of their
undertakings. Nils Anderson, who has been a
resident of California for twenty years, is now
ranching twelve hundred acres of land in Perris,
all but eighty acres of which is devoted to the
raising of barley for hay, which commodity he
ships to Los Angeles and sells at a good price,
the remaining eighty acres being planted to oats.
He has all modern machinery necessary to the
conduct of this large ranch, among which is a
header. There are also two warehouses on the
place, one being 60x100 feet, the other 50x76,
and in these are stored the hay which he buys
and afterwards markets.

The birth of Mr. Anderson occurred June 14.
1867, in Lund, located in the southern part of
Sweden, of which country both his parents wore
natives. I^ng life is the rule among the people
who live in this northern country, where the
climate demands vigor and hardihood of its in-
habitants, and the father was eighty-five years

1988

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

old at the time of his death, in January, 1905,
his wife also dying in Sweden at the age of
eighty-seven years. Mr. Anderson received a
good common-school education in his native
country, and at the age of seventeen years was
apprenticed to a carpenter and mastered that
trade. In 1884 he came to the United States,
locating first in Wright county, Iowa, where he
followed carpentering for two years, in 1886 re-
moving to California and locating in Riverside,
where he became a contractor and builder and
erected a great many residences. He purchased
his ranch in Ferris valley in 1890, and now owns
one hundred and fifty acres of land. He built
all of the improvements now on this place, in-
cluding the house, barns, store houses, etc., and
for the succeeding ten years carried on a com-
bined business of ranching and contracting. In
1900 he gave up the latter and has since then
given all of his time and energy to the manage-
ment of the large ranch which he now operates.
In August, 1889, Mr. Anderson was united in
marriage with Miss Tillie Dolhberg, who was
born in Sweden, and of this union three children
have been born, Nellie, JNIalinda and Edith. Fra-
ternally Mr. Anderson .is affiliated with the
Woodmen of the World at Riverside and the
F. O. E. at the same place. He is an advocate
of the principles embraced in the Democratic
party, and is especially interested in school mat-
ters, having sen-ed for three years as trustee of
the Snyder district. He is a supporter of the
Congregational Church and lends his influence
to the furthering of all elevating and upbuilding
enterprises, and is held in the greatest esteem by
all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

EARL F. VAN LUVEN. For a decade and
a half the name of Earl F. Van Luven has been
associated with the fruit industry in and around
Colton, whither he came about 1888. At that
time he invested in property which has since in-
creased in value, and he is now the owner of
one of the oldest groves in the celebrated Col-
ton Terrace. During the sixteen years in which
he has engaged in the packing and shipping of
citrus fruits he has handled "thousands of car-
loads of oranges and lemons, chiefly through
his association with the Southern California
Fruit Exchange and the California Fruit Grow-
ers Exchange, of which he is a director, and the
San Bernardino County Fruit Exchange, of the
latter being secretary and manager. He has been
connected with the above enterprises ever since
their organization, and in 1893, upon the organi-
zation of the Colton Fruit Exchange, became one
of its charter members. From the year of or-
ganization until 1902 lie held the position of
secretary, hut was then compelled to resign ow-

ing to the pressure of other obligations. How-
ever, he is still vice-president and a member of
the board of directors, among whom he is con-
sidered an authority on all subjects connected
with the fruit industry.

Mr. \"an Luven is a Canadian by birth, and
was born in the province of Ontario January 13,
1 86 1. After receiving an education in the com-
mon schools and commercial colleges of Canada,
he came to the United States in 1888, having in
the meantime gained an excellent insight into
business methods from his father, Zara Van
Luven, a successful merchant. In Colton, in
1891, Mr. Van Luven was married to Miss
Helen Edith Shepardson, a daughter of J. B.
Shepardson, who is a well-known banker of
Iowa, but who spends his winters in Colton.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Van Luven has been
Ijrightened by the birth of two children, both
sons, Jed S. and Donald Earl.

REV. FR. JOHN PUJOL, rector of Santa
Clara Catholic Qiurch at Oxnard, is one of
the best loved and most venerated men in the
whole community, where he has been ministering
to the spiritual necessities of his parishioners for
more than twenty years. He was born Novem-
ber 2, 1844, at Moya, Catalonia, Spain, being a
member of an old and prominent family there,
and the youngest of nine children. He was edu-
cated in the primary schools of his home town,
and in Latin at the College of Pious School at
Moya. His medical and theological training was
secured in the seminary at Vick, and in Febru-
ary, 1871, he left Spain for Ireland, where for
five months he attended All Hallows College in
Dublin, and then crossed the seas and landed in
Los Angeles, September 8, 1871.

In 1872 he was ordained to the various of-
fices of the church, receiving the minor orders
March 17, 1872; was made subdeacon June 23;
deacon, June 24; and priest, June 29, all in the
same year, and by the Rt. Rev. Fadeus Amat. He
said his first mass July 2. 1872, and was made as-
sistant at the .Santa Barbara parish, where he re-
mained until 1877. From there he was sent to
San Diego, where he performed duties as assist-
ant pastor until 1881, and June i of that year as-
sumed duties as assistant to the rector of Our
Lady of Angels Church in Los Angeles. Febru-
ary I, 1885, he was given full charge of the par-
ish at New Jerusalem, as the village of El Rio
was then called, and thus became rector of Santa
Qara Church, which position he still occupies.
This church was at first conducted as a mission
and its communicants v/ere served by a supply
from San Buena Ventura from the time when the
first mass was celebrated in October, 1877, until
1885, when Rev. Fr. John took charge of it as

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1989

its first resident pastor. During this time he
served the Missions of Santa Paula, Lancaster
and Camulos and built the church at the former
place. With commendable zeal and energy he
went to work to add to his flock and strengthen
every department of the church interests, and in
1895 it became apparent that the little church
building which had been in use so long was quite
inadequate to accommodate the ever-increasing
number of worshippers and more commodious
quarters became a necessity. The original church
was then enlarged and remodeled and was used
until 1903. In 1898 Father John expressed a
need of assistance in his now exceedingly heavy
duties, and Fr. J. S. Laubacher was appointed as
his assistant.

When the town of Oxnard was established so
near to El Rio it was at once apparent that this
would become the center of population, and it
soon became necessary to build a school there.
Before the erection of this school mass had been
celebrated for over a year, twice a month, in
Pioneer hall, but after the completion of the
school building the large hall on the first floor
served as a church. The congregation soon out-
grew these quarters, however, and it was decided
that a new church must be built. The parishion-
ers generously responded to the urgent appeal
for funds, and in a few weeks' time over $30,000
were subscribed. This was in 1903, and in Au-
gust the ground was broken and on September 27
the cornerstone was laid. On the 14th of Au-
gust, 1904, the new edifice was solemnly dedi-
cated to the service of God under the patronage
of St. Clare. The growth of the small parish at
El Rio (which is still served by Rev. Father Pu-
jol) into the magnificent parish at Oxnard is in
large measure the result of the faithful and ener-
getic work of the rector, and upon the occasion
of the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniver-
sary of his pastorate at El Rio a large congrega-
tion attended the high mass to honor their be-
loved priest with their presence.

PETER GANO. The visitor in Avalon will
immediately find his attention attracted to the
beautiful residence of Peter Gano, which is called
Lookout Cot and is situated on one of the most
prominent points on Santa Catalina island, over-
looking the ocean, bay and mainland. It is an
ideal site for a home, and standing out on an
eminence as it does, looks like an old castle.
A large circular lookout built above the third
story of the house is twenty-two feet in diam-
eter and one hundred feet above sea level, and
from this tower the view is unlimited and very
beautiful.

The Gano family is of French Huguenot ex-
traction, the original name having been spelled

Gerneaux. Soon after the revocation of the
edict of Nantes, which deprived the Huguenots
of their liberties, the first member of the family
to come to America settled in Rhode Island and
the names of several of the Ganos may be found
in the roster of the patriot army at the time of
the Revolutionary war. The great-grandparents
of Peter Gano lived to be very old, passing by
several years the century mark, the great-grand-
father dying at the age of one hundred and nine
years, and his wife was but three years younger.
Peter Gano was born December 11, 1839, in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, the son of W. G. W. and Nancy
(Willis) Gano, the first-named a native of New
Jersey and the latter of Virginia. The father was
a business man and banker in Cincinnati and
died in that city at the age of seventy-two years,
the death of the mother also occurring at that
place. There were fourteen children in the fam-
ily, six of whom are now living. One son, J. W.,
served as an adjutant in the Seventy-sixth Regi-
ment of Ohio Volunteers during the Civil war
and new resides in Cincinnati.

The education of Peter Gano was acquired in
the public schools of Cincinnati and when nine-
teen years old he learned the machinist's trade
in the Cincinnati locomotive works of Moore &
Richardson and pursued that occupation for a
time. At twenty-five he entered the office of
the civil engineer of the city of Cincinnati, hav-
ing previously taken a course of instruction in
that profession. Later he followed railroad work,
engaging in bridge building and sewer work,
in 1869 removing to St. Paul, where for five
years he continued the prosecution of civil en-
gineering.

The residence of Mr. Gano in California dates
from 1880, when he came to Pasadena, and pur-
chasing two hundred acres of land at Altadena,
started a ranch. Seeing at once the necessity
of securing water for irrigation purposes he as-
sisted in the organization of the Los Flores
Water Company, and superintended to its suc-
cessful completion the tunneling, fluming and
piping necessary to bring the water from Los
Flores canyon. Twenty-six acres of the land
were devoted to a vineyard and a small orchard
was also planted. In 1886 he disposed of the
ranch and took up his residence in Pasadena.
It was the year previous, in 1885, that he first
became interested in Avalon, there being at that
time no settlement or wharf on the island. The
first work on the foundation of his present resi-
dence there was begun in 1888 and two years
later found the house completed and ready for
occupancy. At first it was used only a part of
the year, but for some time past he has made it
a permanent abiding place. Mr. Gano is a man
of scholarly attainments and high principles and
is greatly respected by all wli" know him. In

1990

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

jxilitics he exercises considerable independence,
preferring to cast his ballot for the man whom
he believes will best fulfill the duties of an office
rather than vote for him because of party affilia-
tions.

AL LARSON. In San Pedro, a thriving
seaport, we find many energetic, thorough-going
business men who have attained success through
their own tact, good judgment and persistency.
Prominent among this number is Al Larson, a
man of artistic and mechanical ability, who is
carrying on a substantial business as a builder of
lx)ats of all kinds. A native of Sweden, he was
born December 9, 1874, in ^lariestad, where his
father, Olof Larson, was engaged in farming
during his active life.

The youngest of a family of nine children. A!
Larson received a practical common school edu-
cation, rem.aining in his native country until
about sixteen years old. Coming to California
in 1890, he attended school for a short time in
San Francisco, where he subsequently served an
apprenticeship at the trade of a boat builder, for
twelve years working the yards of George
Kneass. In January, 1903, he located in San
Pedro, and for two years thereafter was in the
employ of H. E. Carse. being foreman of his
yards. Resigning his position in January, 1905,
he embarked in business for himself as a boat
builder, and in his operations has been very suc-
cessful.

Mr. I^rson is artistic in his tastes, has a very
true eye, and draws all of the designs for the
different kinds of boats which he makes. Since
starting for himself he has built the noted launch
Eagle, two launches for Captain Duffy, and a
number of fishing boa'ts. his work in this line
keeping him busily employed. Politically Mr.
Larson is a Republican, and religiously he is a
Lutheran.

RICHARD WEIR. Since 1887 Richard Weir
has been a prominent architect and builder in
San Bernardino to which place he came from his
native home in London, Ontario, where thus far
his life had been spent. He was born at that
place July 17, 1854, the son of John and Jane
Ann (Taibott) Weir. The father, who was born
in Connaught, Ireland, was brought to Canada
by his father, Samuel \\'eir, a native of Armagh.
Ireland, who settled there in 1810. Later his
wife and five children were sent for and the sail-
ing vessel on which they took passage had a
most unfortunate voyage, being lost in a storm
and so disabled that it drifted for three weeks,
during which time the oldest son died and was
buried at sea. Settling in London township

-Samuel Weir remained there the balance of his
lifetime. One of his sons, Robert, removed to
\\'hitehall, Muskegon county, Mich., became a
large and successful lumber manufacturer, and
continued to reside there until his death : Alex
and John died in Ontario. The mother of Rich-
ard "Weir was a daughter of Col. William Tai-
bott, who was an officer in the British army and
served on the Canadian frontier and in the Lake
country until his retirement from the army, af-
ter which he became a large land owner near
London, in which city there is a Taibott street,
which was named for him. Mr. Weir's father
was seventy-nine years old at the time of his
death in February, 1883, while his mother lived
to be eighty-five years old, and died in London
in 1898. Of their ten children eight are living,
Richard being the only one who resides in Cali-
fornia.

Reared on his father's farm in London, Rich-
ard Weir attended the common schools until
twelve years of age, when he was apprenticed
to a carpenter to learn the trade. The first year
he received $40, the second $60, and the third
year $100 for his services. After the expiration
of the term of his apprenticeship he engaged in
farming on his father's place and at the same
time took contracts to erect buildings in the
neighborhood, meeting with very good success.
On December 28, 1882, he was married to Miss
Sarah Jane Heck, a native of Kingston, Ontario,
and the daughter of John Wesley Heck, who
was born at the same place and engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits. The Heck family is of Ger-
man origin, this branch being descendants of
Rev. Paul and Barbara Heck, the noted Metho-
dist family. Rev. Mr. Heck was one of the first
ministers in this country and estabhshed the
first church, and traveled through Pennsylvania
to Canada. Mr. Heck now resides in San Ber-
nardino, his wife having died in Ontario. J\Ir.
and Mrs. Weir have a very attractive residence
at No. 1560 Birch street, where they reside with
their family of four children. The oldest son,
Herbert H., is a graduate of the high school and
now holds the position of bookkeeper in the San
Bernardino National Bank ; Emma Edna is a
graduate of the high school ; Helen J. belongs to
the class of 1907; and John Wesley completes
the family. Mrs. Weir is a member of the Con-
gregational Church.

It was in 1887 that Mr. Weir located with his
family in San Bernardino and entered the employ
•of the old Southern California Railroad, now
the Santa Fe, being connected with the building
and bridge department. He continued with this
company for eight years, and during that time
suffered several strokes of misfortune. The sec-
ond year of his residence in San Bernardino his
house with its contents was burned and later

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1991

he was the victim of an accident which disabled
him for four months. While engaged as fore-
man of a gang of men occupied in unloading
old railroad ties to be used for fence posts along
the track he fell from a moving car and was
crushed between the bumper and drawhead.
mashing his bones and breaking them at four
places. After his recovery from his injuries he
engaged exclusively in contracting and build-
ing and has ever since been thus employed.
Among other houses which he has erected are
the Smith and Dr. Rowell residences in San
Bernardino. C. B. Morris and C. B. Fuller resi-
dences in Colton, and the C. F. Kelly residence
in Loma Linda. Fraternally ]\Ir. Weir affiliates
with the Independent Order of Foresters, having
passed the chairs of the lodge in San Bernar-
dino. He is an active member of the Mt. Ver-
non Improvement Association and served as its
first secretary upon its organization several years
ago. He is also one of the stockholders in the
Canadian Building and Improvement Associa-
tion, which built the Canadian club house on Mt.
Vernon avenue at a cost of $2,000. He drew the
plans for the house, and was the second presi-
dent of the association, his son Herbert now fill-
ing that office. Although his life is largely tak-
en up with business duties he still finds time to
aid in the upbuilding of the community in which
he resides and is accounted one of its most im-
portant citizens.

THE COLTON FRCIT EXCHANGE.
With a membership of about fifty the Colton
Fruit Exchange was organized in 1892 for the
purpose of packing and shipping their own fruit
at actual cost. It now has a membership of about
one hundred and twenty-five and controls sev-
enty-five per cent of the oranges around Colton.
The corporation is controlled by a board of nine
directors, elected annually, the directors electing
their own officers. At this writing, 1906, the
board consists of the following-named gentle-
men : James Barnhill, Earl A'an Luven, A\'. W.
Wilcox, E. D. Roberts. Wade Purdum, L. C.
Newcomer, T. E. Moon, AA'. S. Bullis and J.
B. Hanna. The president of the organization is
James Barnhill, Earl Van Luven vice-president,
First National Bank of Colton treasurer, E.
B. Wilkerson secretary and W. F. Sharp man-
ager.

The headquarters of the Exchange are in the
old pavilion, which was originally erected for
the State Fair, but is now owned by the Ex-
change, and affords a floor space covering two
hundred square feet, in fact is the largest build-
ing used for a similar purpose anywhere in
Southern California. The most modern and
complete equipment for this special line of busi-

ness has been installed in the plant, which in-
sures the careful handling of fruit, indeed, with
the many modern appliances now in use the
fruit is handled very little. From the orchard
boxes it is dumped into a canvas receiver and
rolled or lifted carefully from one process to an-
other, until it is finally laid in the shipping
boxes. The packing house has a capacity for
shipping from eight to ten cars per day. Three
brands of oranges are packed and shipped by the
Exchange, named in order of their superiority
as follows : Tiger, Floral, and Rancho.

The growers associated with the Colton Fruit
Exchange receive all money over and above the
actual cost of packing and selling their product,
there being no profits paid to anyone. This Ex-
change is affiliated with the San Bernardino
Count\ Fruit Exchange.

PIERRE POURROY. It was in 1898 that
Pierre Pourroy came to Riverside county and
purchased the nucleus of his present ranch of
six hundred and forty acres near Auld, which is
mostly in grain crops, and yields him a fine in-
come. His birth occurred January 3, 1862, in
Hautes-Alpes, France, he being the son of John
and Rosa (Pourroy) Pourroy, both of French
birth. The father came to California in 1886,
remaining until 1888, when he returned to his
native land, where his death occurred in April,
1899, at the age of eighty-two years. The
mother died at the age of forty-two years, when
the son Pierre was but two years of age. While
he ultimately acquired a considerable amount of
learning, the opportunities for securing an edu-
cation in youth were limited, and at nineteen, in
1880, Pierre Pourroy came to Los Angeles
county, Cal.. and spent the first eighteen months
of his residence in this country in Azusa, herd-
ing sheep upon the land now embraced in the
city of Long Beach. From Azusa he went to
Temecula, Riverside county, remaining for a
time, and subsequentl\- located near the state
line between California and Nevada, where for
sixteen years he was employed as a shepherd.
Returning to Riverside county in 1898 he
bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in
the Los Alamos valley, improving it and adding
to his holdings from time to time, until now he
owns a ranch comprising six hundred and forty
acres.

April 14, 1899, in Reno, Nev., Mr. Pourroy
was united in marriage with Mary (Jaussaud)
Nicolas, a native of the same part of France as
is her husband. She is the daughter of Fred-
erick and Mary (Martin) Jaussaud, both of
whom were born in France, the father dying
there in 1898, at the age of seventy-two years ;
the motlicr still makes her home in her native

1992

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

land, being in her seventy-first year. • Mrs. Pour-
loy became the mother of three children by her
hrst marriage, their names being Edmee, John
and Marius Nicolas. JNIr. and Mrs. Pourroy
are also the parents of three children, Bertha,
Frederick and Pierre. They are devout mem-
Ijers of the Catholic Church and their influence
upon the community in which they live is an
elevatmg one. Fraternally Mr. Pourroy became
a member of the Masonic order in Vallee de
France Lodge No. 329, F. & A. M., in Los An-
geles. He is a man who possesses many ad-
mirable qualities and fulfils creditably his duties
as a citizen and is held in the highest esteem by
all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

HARMAN JEFFERSON MAYO. Con-
spicuous among the younger generation of active
and progressive agriculturists of Southern Cali-
fornia is Harman Jefferson Mayo, who is suc-
cessfully engaged in general farming and dairy-
ing near Compton. Industrious and thrifty, he
has made improvements of value on his estate,
and in his chosen occupation is meeting with
satisfactory results, year by year adding to his
wealth, at the same time growing rapidly into
the esteem and respect of his neighbors, and win-
ning an assured position among the valuable
members of the community. He is a native and
to the manner born, his birth having occurred,
June 17, 1880, in Compton, a son of Henry J.
Mayo, a well-known pioneer of this jjart of Los
Angeles county.

A native of Missouri, Henry J. Alayo was born,
in 1848, in Ridgely, Platte county, where he grew
to manhood, receiving exceptionally good ed-
ucational advantages. Coming to California in
1872, he settled in Compton, where he became a
citizen of prominence and influence, serving many
years as deputy assessor, and being deputy road
commissioner a number of terms. He was active
in fraternal organizations, being a member of
Anchor Lodge No. 273, F. & A. M., and of
Campton Lodge, I. O. O. F. He married Augus-
ta Higgins, who was born in Oregon, a daugh-
ter of Harman Higgins, a native of Missouri,
and into their household four sons and one daugh-
ter were born. Politically he belonged to the
Democratic party, and both he and his wife
were members of the Christian Church.

Educated in Compton, Harman J. Mayo com-
pleted the course of the grammar and attended
the high schools for a short time. Choosing
the free and independent occupation to which he
was trained in his youthful days he worked for
four years on the home ranch, obtaining prac-
tical experience in the many branches of agri-
culture. Purchasing then his present ranch he
has since been actively employed in fanning and

dairying, keeping about thirty cows, and rais-
ing alfalfa in large quantities. Prosperity has
smiled upon his every effort, and now, although
yet a young man, he occupies a fine position
among the most thrifty and successful ranchmen
of his community.

January i, 1903, Mr. Alajo married Mary W.
Taylor, daughter of John L. Taylor, a native of
Kentucky, and they have one son Lewis Har-
man. Politically Mr. 'Slayo is an adherent of the
Democratic party, supporting its principles at the
polls. Fraternally he was made a Mason in the
winter of 1901, joining Anchor Lodge No. 273, F.
& A. M., which he has served two terms as mas-
ter ; is a charter member of Long Beach Chapter,
R. A. M., has represented his lodge at the Grand
Lodge ; and Los Angeles Consistory Scottish
Rite ; and belongs also to the Independent Order
of Foresters. Mrs. Mayo is a most estimable
woman, and a valued member of the Christian
Church.

GEORGE HINMAN. A skilful and capable
agriculturist, and a man of enterprise and intel-
ligence, George Hinman is closely associated
with the industrial interests of Los Angeles
county, his well-cultivated and well-appointed
ranch, located near Clearwater, evincing in a
marked degree the thrift, ability and wise man-
agement of the owner. A native of New York
state, he was born February 16, 1845, a son of
Enoch F. and Pamelia (Ingersoll) Hinman, the
former of whom was born in ^lassachusetts, and
the latter in New York state.

Spending the first few years of his life in his
native town, George Hinman there obtained his
rudimentary education. Subsequently remov-
ing with his parents to Illinois, he received ex-
ceptionally good advantages, being graduated
from the State Normal school at Normal, 111.
Well fitted for the position of a teacher, he sub-
sequently followed that profession successfully
for a number of years, being employed in Illinois
five years, in Colorado one year, and in Ohio
one year. Turning his attention then to the pur-
suit of agriculture, he farmed for a time in Ohio,
then moved to Illinois, where he tilled the soil
six years. Going thence to Nebraska, he bought
a farm, which he managed for two years. Up-
on selling his landed possessions he came direct
to Los Angeles county, locating on Pico Heights,
where he remained for awhile, doing odd jobs
of any kind while looking about for a per-
manent place of settlement. Subsequently
buying twenty acres of land near Clearwater, he
has since been actively and profitably employed
in general ranching and chicken-raising. Dur-
ing his residence here he has diligently improved
his property, continually adding to its value, his

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1993

ranch, with its substantial buildings and good
appointments, giving ample evidence of his skill
and good taste as a practical farmer and rural
householder.

Mr. Hinman's first marriage, which occurred
in Ohio in 1871, united him with Electa Wright,
who was born in Ohio, the daughter of Frank
Wright, he being a native of New York. Mrs.
Electa Hinman died in 1874, leaving one son,
Clayton Hinman, M. D., a practicing physician
in Qiicago, 111. Mr. Hinman married for his
second wife, in 1878, Helen Barlow, who was
born and educated in Indiana. Politically Mr.
Hinman is a Prohibitionist, and religiously he is
in sympathy with the teachings of the Methodist
Episcopal Qiurch. He takes great interest in
local affairs, being specially interested in educa-
tional matters, and has served as school director.

WILLIAM USREY. Early in the nineteenth
century Philip Usrey, Jr., the son of a hero of
the two wars with England, removed from Ten-
nessee to Indiana and became a pioneer of Sul-
livan county, where his son, James Kelly Usrey,
was born and reared. After having followed
the carpenter's trade in Indiana for some years,
the latter removed to Kansas and cultivated a
farm in Cherokee county, eventually removing
to California and in the spring of 1887 settling
at Redondo, where he now lives in retirement.
His wife, Mary Ann Griffin, was born in In-
diana, and died at Redondo. Descended from
old Virginian stock, she was a daughter of Col.
Richard Griffin, a farmer in Tennessee and a
pioneer of Indiana, who won his title through
service as an officer in the war of 181 2.

The family of James K. and Mary Ann Usrey
consisted of ten children, nine of whom attained
mature years and still survive, namely : Sarah
Catherine, Mrs. B. F. Arnold, of Columbus,
Cherokee county, Kans. ; William, of Redondo ;
Philip, of Redondo; Hattie, who married Elihu
O. Hathawa}', and lives in Redondo; Nancy,
wife of Owen Gorham, of Moneta ; Lillie, Mrs.
Alfred B. Herring, of Redondo ; Henry, man-
ager of the wharf at Redondo ; Sylvester, living
in Los Angeles ; and OIlie, who married George
Greer and makes Los Angeles her home. The
second among these children, William, was born
In Sullivan county, Ind., September 3, 1857, and
received a fair education in public schools. Ac-
companying the family to Kansas in 1872, he
remained with his parents until twenty-two years
of age and then took up independent farming,
which he followed for a considerable period.
On coming to Redondo in 1887 he was employed
by the companv in a survey of the town, and
later had other business connections in the town
until 1904. At this writing he owns mining in-

96

terests at Searchlight, Nev., where he owns
three-eights of the stock of the San Pedro Min-
ing Company, also owns several claims, as well
as three-eights of the town site of Leastock,
Cal., situated on the Nevada line, at the junction
of the Salt Lake and Santa Fe roads. At this
point he has platted one hundred and sixty acres
and is engaged in selling lots and making im-
provements.

The first marriage of Mr. Usrey took place
in Kansas and united him with Miss Betsey
Moore, who was born at Pleasant Gap, Mo., and
died in Redondo, Cal. Five children were born
of their union, namiely : Effie, who married
Richard Campbell, of Los Angeles ; Jessie, Mrs.
C. B. Horton, of Los Angeles ; Lillie, wife of
Milton Saxton, of San Pedro ; Grace, deceased ;
and Frederick, who resides with his father. May
22, 1895, at Redondo, occurred the marriage of
William Usrey to Miss Josephine Wilkinson,
who was born in Los Angeles, the only child of
Joseph and Jennie (McLarty) Wilkinson, na-
tives respectively of Galena, Floyd county, Ind.,
and Iowa. The paternal grandfather, John Wil-
kinson, was an Indiana farmer, and Joseph Wil-
kinson was reared to agricultural pursuits, but
chose the law for his profession, and in 1872
came to Los Angeles. Eventually he returned
to the east and there died. The only child of
Mr. Usrey's second marriage is a daughter,
Gladys. In politics Mr. Usrey votes with the
Democratic party and fraternally holds member-
ship with the Order of Eagles.

GEORGE EASTON. Located two miles
north of Perris, George Easton operates one of
the best dairies in Riverside county. He has
forty-five head of high-grade dairy cows, which
produce an average of one pound of butter each
per day, the dairy being fitted with separator
and the necessary butter-making machinery to
enable Mr. Easton to turn out a fancy product.
His ranch consists of one hundred and thirteen
acres, seventy acres being devoted to the rais-
ing of alfalfa. A large pumping plant, fitted
with a forty horse power Fairbanks & Morse
gas engine, is used to pump the water from two
wells, which have a capacity of one hundred and
fifty inches, and the machinery has sufficient
power to lift it seventy feet, thus securing ample
force and an adequate supply.

Utah is the native state of Mr. Easton, his
birth having occurred there October 22, 1852.
His parents, Alexander and Mary (McDougal)
Easton, were of Scotch nativity, he being from
Glasgow and she from the Highlands. They im-
migrated to the United States in 1846, landing
at New Orleans, where they remained for five
years. Their next move was to Utah, the father

1994

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

being a believer in the ?iIormon religious faith,
with the exception of the polygamy doctrine,
which was then advocated, in 1854 the Easton
family became pioneer settlers in San Bernardino
county, where Air. Easton engaged in farming
and also invested in some city property. His
wife died in 1863, at the age of forty-five years,
and he at the age of fifty-five, in 1872.

A subscription school in San Bernardino was
tlie medium through which George Easton re-
ceived his education, and his first employment
after school days were over was as teamster
between San Bernardino and the mining camps
on the Mojave desert. He followed this busi-
ness for about ten years, later engaged in farm-
ing, and in 1894 located in San Jacinto and es-
tablished himself in the dairy business. He con-
tinued there for ten years and in 1904 removed
to his present location, where he conducts the
largest dairy in the valley, the enterprise and
energy with which he pursues his business giv-
ing him very great success.

In December, 1873, Mr. Easton was united
in marriage with Princetiea Brooks, a native of
Utah, and the union has been blessed by the birth
of nine children : Mary, now the wife of G.
Thomas, of Perris valley ; Sarah, the wife of
Henry Robertson, of Rialto; Emma, the wife
of John Tedford, of Perris valley ; Margaret ;
Mabel; Pearl; Alexander; Samuel, and Ray-
mond. Mr. Easton is a Democrat in politics and
lends his enthusiastic support to the furthering
of all progressive and elevating enterprises of
social and civic importance. He has always been
an advocate of good schools and served as a
director in the district when he lived near San
Jacinto.

SAMUEL R. HANCOCK. Although a non-
resident of California at the present time, Sam-
uel R. Hancock holds large property interests
in Los Angeles county, where he has owned
investments since 1892. He was born June 26,
1832, in New Hampshire, where he received his
early education through the medium of the com-
mon schools. At the age of sixteen he began
to work on a farm for an aunt, and in 1855
came to California and engaged in mining for
two years, having located on the north fork of
the American river. He then returned to New-
Hampshire and took charge of the four hun-
dred acre farm which has been owned by his
family for one hundred years. He continued
to work this farm until 1898, when he retired
and has since been enjoying the fruits of a suc-
cessful career.

The property which he now owns in California
embraces a large number of developed oil wells
that pay a handsome income. His wife, who

was Gratia Eames in maidenhood, is a native
of New Hampshire, and to them have been born
six children.

The son, John Hancock, was born in New
Hampshire in 1876, receiving his education in
his native state through the medium of the com-
mon and high schools. He now resides in Cole-
grove, Los Angeles county, Cal., and is en-
gaged in managing his father's oil interests. He
is one of the prominent men of Colegrove and
has gained the highest respect and esteem of
both business associates and social friends.

WILLIAM FOOTE SPRINKLE. The an-
cestral record of this well-known business man
of Redondo Beach pomts to an honored family
identified with the colonial settlement of Vir-
ginia. His father, W. H., who was a native of
the Old Dominion, settled in Indiana at an early
day and became a traveling salesman, with
Greencastle as his home. When the Civil war
was casting its blighting influence over the in-
dustries of both north and south, he was a stanch
supporter of the Union and would have enlisted
had his obligation to wife and children permit-
ted. At the time of Ouantrell's raid on Law-
rence, Kans., he was living in the latter city,
engaged in the pump business, and at the same
time serving as a member of the state militia.
When the war came to an end he removed to>
Topeka and built a lime kiln, but later purchased
and removed to a valuable farm near Silver lake.
Removing to California in 1875, he settled on a
ranch near A^acaville. Four years later he trans-
ferred his attention to the mines near Yuma,
Ariz., along tlie Colorado river, and in 1885
became interested in farming at Colton, Cal. At
this writing he occupies a small ranch near Bur-
bank, Los Angeles county. In politics he votes
with the Republican party, in religious views
holds membership with the Methodist Episcopal
Qiurch and fraternally affiliates with the Ma-
sonic Order. During early manhood he married
Isabelle Jump, who was born in Connecticut
and died in Indiana, leaving two children. She
is descended from a patriot of the Revolutionary
war, thereby entitling her descendants to mem-
bership in the Daughters of the Revolution. Of
her children the only survivor is William F.,
who was born at Greencastle, Ind., February 22,
1863, and was an infant when death deprived
him of a mother's loving care. When he came
to California he was about twelve }ears of age,
and afterward attended the grammar and high
schools of Oakland.

Upon entering the world for himself, Mr.
Sprinkle secured a livelihood by doing office
work with the Southern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany at Bowie, Ariz., and after a year he was

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1995

transferred to train service as a brakeman.
From that position in 1883 he was promoted to
be conductor between Tucson and Yuma and
continued until 1887, when he resigned from
that road. Commg to Los Angeles, he became a
conductor on the Santa Fe Railroad out from
this city and continued until 1897, when he re-
signed and took a position on the Redondo
branch, holding this until August of 1905. Dur-
ing his entire service with "both roads he had
no wreck of any consequence and never received
a serious injury. He dates his residence in Re-
dondo from December 12, 1897, and shortly after
his arrival he began the building of the house
on Catalina avenue which he now occupies. He
organized and became manager of the Redondo
Aliiling Company, manufacturers of rolled bar-
ley feed, which is one of the most important
enterprises in the town. By his marriage to
Lola N. Long, who was born in \'alparaiso,
Ind., and reared in Los Angeles, he has one
child, Emma Bessie, who is a student in the
grammar school of Redondo. Mrs. Sprinkle
passed away at her home June 10, 1906, aged
thirty-six years. She was an active member of
the Congregational Church and he contributes
to the maintenance of the same, also to other
worthy movements for the advancement of the
town and the welfare of its residents. After
coming to Redondo he was made a Mason in
Redondo Lodge No. 328. F. & A. M., and also
has been prominent in the Order of the Eastern
Star, of which he is past worthy patron, while
his wife officiated as secretary, also as lady com-
mander of the L. O. T. M., and was also presi-
dent of the P. E. O. Society at the time of her
death. While connected with the road he be-
came affiliated with the Order of Railway Con-
ductors, having his membership in San Ber-
nardino. Though not a partisan in his views
nor an office-seeker, he stanchly favors Repub-
lican principles and may always be depended
upon to support the doctrines of the party.

JOSHUA ANDREWS. One of the leading
contractors and builders of Cdendale, Joshua An-
drews has been an important factor in promoting
the building interests of Los Angeles county for
many years, successfully following the trade
that he learned in the east. Possessing much
mechanical ingenuity, and skilled in the use of
tools, he has proved himself a master workman,
and since coming to the Pacific coast has been
constantly employed. A native of Canada, he
was born December 15, 1867, at Windsor Mills,
Quebec. His father, Joseph Andrews, was born
:n Glasgow. Scotland, and his wife, whose
maiden name was .Silence i\Iaiion, was of Cana-
dian birth. Thcv reared a family consisting of

seven sons and two daughters, and two of their
sons, Llewellyn and Joshua, reside in Glendale.
On his mother's side Joshua Andrews comes of
New England stock, for her father was born
and reared in Vermont, although he afterwards
removed to Canada, where he engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits for many years.

Having obtained a practical education in the
public schools of Windsor Mills, Joshua An-
drews served an apprenticeship at the carpen-
ter's trade, working first in his native town, and
then in Clinton, Mass., where he remained two
and one-half years. Remaining in the east he
followed his trade successfully for three venrs,
and then came to California. Locating in Los
Angeles, he worked there as a contractor and
builder, erecting many buildings in that city and
its suburbs, winning for himself a fine reputa-
tion for his artistic and durable work. Coming
to Glendale in August, 1904, he formed a part-
nership with E. K. Grant, and thev have since
had their full share of the large amount of build-
ing done annually in this thriving city.

In Canada Mr. Andrews married Ethel Var-
ney. daughter of Albert and Phoebe (Scott)
Varney, now residents of Glendale, their pleas-
ant home being located at the corner of Third
street and A'erdugo road. In politics Mr. An-
drews is a loyal supporter of the principles of
the Democratic party, and he belongs to the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is
a member of the Independent Order of Forest-
ers and the Independent Order of ( )dd Fellows.

JOHN GARNER. A man of persistent en-
ergy and good business ability, John Garner is
numbered among the sturdy, 'energetic farmers
of Los Angeles county who thoroughly under-
stand the vocation which they follow, and he is
carrying on his ranch with both profit and pleas-
ure. It is finely located about three miles south
of Inglewood, and is well improved and well
equipped with the necessary machinery for its
cultivation. A native of New York state, he
was born January 6, 1864, of German ancestry,
his father, Henry Garner, having been born in
Hanover, Germany, October 18, 1836. After
obtaining a good common school education in
the Fatiierland, in 1855 he immigrated to the
new world, settling in New York state, where
he worked as a farm hand for about fifteen
years. Going westward with his family in 1870
he bought land in Iowa upon which he carried
on farming for about four years. When his son
John was about eight year's old the family re-
moved to Minnesota by wagon, the son making
the trip on horseback, swimming across the river
on his horse. The marriage of Henry Carner
united him with Catherine Roedcr. who was

1996

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

born April i8, 1833, in Nasan, Germany, and
who immigrated to the United States in 1854.
About three years later, December 10, 1857, in
Albany, N. Y., occurred her marriage with Mr.
Garner. Six children were born of their mar-
riage, named in order of birth as follows ;
Garrie T., born in Rensselaer county, N. Y.,
October 14. 1858; Mary E., born in the same
county January 20, 1862, and dying in the same
year ; John, born January 6, 1864, in Rensselaer
county; Harvey, born October 10, 1865, in Iowa,
and who died the following year; William, born
June 17, 1873, m Minnesota; and Henry, born
May 12, 1876, in Minnesota. After living on
his homestead claim in Mmnesota for several
years the father retired from active pursuits and
came to California to spend his later years, mak-
ing his home on Figueroa street in Los Angeles
for eighteen years, and now lives on Confidence
and Hill streets. The mother is an excellent
woman and a faithful member of the Nazarine
Church.

Brought up on an Iowa farm, thirty miles
from the nearest railway, John Carner acquired
his earlv education in the district schools, re-
maining at home until attaining his majority.
Starting then on his own account, he rented
land, and was successfully employed as a tiller
of the soil in Minnesota about four years. Com-
ing to Los Angeles county in 1888 he continued
his chosen occupation, for thirteen years renting
land. Succeeding well in his labors, he pur-
chased his present ranch, lying three miles south
of Inglewood, in igoi, and in its management
has met with excellent results, reaping a good
annual income from his abundant harvests.

In Los Angeles county. Gal., Mr. Carner mar-
ried, October i, 1890, Carrie M. Anderson, a
daughter of Frank E. Anderson, who was born
October 29. 1852, of English descent. He
served in the Civil war as sergeant in the bar-
racks. In Dodge City, Kans., in i86g, he was
united in marriage with ?^Iary A. Holland, who
was born July 21, 1851, the daughter of Ben-
jamin and Mary Elizabeth (Davis) Holland.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. An-
derson, as follows : Carrie M., born August 7,
1871, in Lawrence, Kans.; Lydia A., March 14,
1874, in ^Mississippi ; Elma, September 24, 1878.
in Kansas ; Alfred Gordon, October 8, 1879, and
who died during the same year ; Oria Bell, born
December 21, 1881, in Kansas: Charlie, Sep-
tember 10, 1884, in Kansas: and Frank, Jr.,
born in the same state September 27, 1887. ^Ir.
and Mrs. Anderson traveled quite extensively
prior to coming to California in 1889, and are
now making their home in Santa Ana, Orange
county.

Benjamin Holland was married in Maryland
April 20, 1840, to Sarah Grace Pitts, who died

in 1848, having become the mother of four chil-
dren, Martha E., Julia ^^L, John B. and Hilry P.
His marriage in 1850 united him with Mary
Elizabeth Davis, of Maryland, and to them were
born the following children : Mary A., born in
]\Iaryland July 21, 1851 ; Moses, born in the
same state January 20, 1854; Maggie, also born
in Maryland, December 15, 1856, and who died
at the age of thirty-seven ; Sophia, born in Iowa
July 18, 1859; Amanda, who was also born in
Iowa, and died when two years of age ; and Eliz-
abeth, born in Iowa February 28, 1864. When
their first child was five years old Mr. and Mrs.
Holland removed to Iowa, making their home
in that state for fourteen years, when they again
took up the westward march, going from there
by wagon to Kansas. Seven years later, in
1877, the family removed to Los Angeles, Gal.
In the following year Garrie M. Anderson came
to California in company with an aunt and made
her home with her grandparents, Benjamin and
Mary E. Holland, remaining with them until her
marriage with John Carner October i, 1890.
February 26, 1902, the grandmother died, leav-
ing the grandfather alone, save for his children,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren, by all of
whom he is beloved and revered. For one of
his age, having been born July 9, 1817, he is
remarkably well preserved, is hale and hearty
and writes a very legible hand. Mr. and Mrs.
Holland were members of the Congregational
Church, and Mr. and Mrs. Anderson belong to
the Methodist Church. Of the marriage of Mr.
and ]\Irs. Carner three children have been born:
Irvin W. was born August 6, 1892, and was
baptized in Los Angeles November 13, 1892, by
W. B. Stradley, the minister of the ]\Iethodist
Episcopal Church. Qarence H. was born Janu-
ary II. 1896, and was baptized April 19, 1896,
in the Harmony school house in Los Angeles by
A. Hardie. Walter E. was born February 9,
1900, and was baptized September 16 of the
same year in Harmony j\Iethodist Episcopal
Church by A. Hardie. Politically Mr. Carner
is a steadfast supporter of the principles of the
Republican party, but has never been an aspirant
for official honors.

JOSIAH D. BRUBAKER. The largest and
most successful poultry raiser in Hemet is J. D.
Brubaker, who has been engaged in the business
since 1903 and finds it very profitable. In April.
1858, he was born in Salem, Va., the son of
John and jNIary (Neff) Brubaker, both natives
of \'irginia. The father, who was a farmer,
located in Girard, 111., in 1864, his death occur-
ring at that place in October, 1905, he having
attained the age of seventy-two years. His wife
is still living in Girard. T. D. Brubaker re-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1997

ceived his early education in the common schools
of Illinois, and when his studies were completed
engaged in agricultural pursuits there until 1888,
when he went to Nebraska and followed the pro-
fession of school teaching near Sidney the ensu-
ing ten years. He then decided to come to Cali-
fornia and take advantage of the opportunities
which this country holds for the energetic man
in all lines, and in 1898 he located at Hemet,
where he soon purchased a residence on Florida
avenue and has been living there ever since.
He improved the ranch and engaged in raising
crops until 1903, when he entered the poultry
business on a large scale and now owns eight
hundred birds, finding two of his largest cus-
tomers for eggs in the Idyllwild and Hemet
hotels. In addition to the management of his
ranch Mr. Brubaker also works at the carpen-
ter's trade and thus adds materially to his yearly
income.

In 1879, in Illinois, J. D. Brubaker was united
in marriage with Miss Susan, daughter of Isaac
M. Gibbel, who was an early pioneer in Cali-
fornia. This union has been blessed by the
birth of six children, namely: Fannie May; Law-
rence G. ; Owen G., in the hardware business
in Hemet ; Viola ; Darus ; and Glenn. Mr. Bru-
baker is an active member and liberal supporter
of the German Baptist Church and is interested
in every enterprise tending to upbuild and ele-
vate the community in which he resides. Polit-
ically he affiliates with the Republican party and
is well informed on all social and civic matters
of interest to the public.

CAPT. FRANK B. CLARK. Though not
classed among the early settlers of the United
States the Clark family has been identified with
our country for the greater portion of a cen-
tury and its members have contributed their
quota toward the development of the resources
of the new world. The first to settle in America
was Francis Clark, who was born in England
July 22, 181 5, and in early youth learned the
trade of leather manufacturer in his native land.
On starting out in the world to earn his liveli-
hood he came to the L^nited States about 1835
and followed his trade in Connecticut for a
brief period, but as early as 1844 he embarked
in business for himself, purchasing a tannery at
Brooklyn, Windham county. Conn., which he op-
erated successfully throughout the remainder of
his life. After becoming a citizen of the United
States he voted the Whig ticket and upon the
disintegration of that party he affiliated with
the Republicans. At the time of his death, No-
vember 22, 1875, he was sixty years of age. On
coming to this country he was single, but shortly
afterward be met and married Sarah M. Heath,

who was born in New London county, Conn.,
July 30, 1822, and died February 3, 1905.
Through her mother she was descended from
the Chapman family, colo;iial settlers of New
England ; her father was a native of that region
and served in the war of 1812, afterward re-
maining in the east until his death.

Among the children of Francis and Sarah M.
Clark there was a son, Frank B., born in New
London county, Conn., February 4, 1843, but
reared in Brooklyn, Windham county, from the
age of one year. In addition to grammar-school
advantages he attended an academy in his home
town. At the opening of the Civil war his sym-
pathies were at once strongly enlisted on the
side of the Union, and August 6, 1862, he en-
listed as a private in Company K, Twenty-first
Connecticut Infantry, and afterward served for
three years mainly in Virginia and North Caro-
lina. Under General Burnside he took part in
the first engagement of Fredericksburg. Later
he was at Suffolk and Portsmouth in 1863, then
on the peninsula, and from Washington, D. C,
in 1864 to Bermuda Hundred, later at Drury's
Bluff, and June 2 to 14, 1864, under Grant at
Cold Harbor. After a long siege at Petersburg
he was present at the taking of the Heights and
about that time was promoted to be first lieuten-
ant of his company. Later he was sent with his
regiment to reinforce Sherman in North Caro-
lina, going with the command that took Fort
Fisher, and was with Sherman at the battle of
Bentonville, N. C, after which he continued
with Sherman until the downfall of the Confed-
eracy. Shortly after his enlistment he was made
acting hospital steward of the brigade and about
a year before the close of the war he was pro-
moted to be captain of his company, with a rec-
ommendation for promotion to brevet-major.
After a service of four years and four months
he was honorably discharged at Washington,
D. C, December 5, 1866. During the long pe-
riod of his service he was never wounded nor
imprisoned, yet the hardships and exposures had
undermined his health and he returned to his
home an invalid. After a vain attempt to carry
on a college course in a Baptist school in Con-
necticut, he was obliged to relinquish his studies
and at once went to the mountains of Wyoming
in the hope of being benefited by the change of
climate.

Driving through from Laramie, Wyo., Captain
Clark landed at Los Angeles February 23, 1869.
Not far from the city he purchased a tract of
eighty acres which he yet owns. The land was
secured from settlers and from two holders of
grants from the government. After a year in
the mines in 1870 he returned to Los Angeles
county and bought one hundred and sixty acres
of unfenced anrl unimprovetl land. The only at-

1998

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tempt made at improving the place had been the
erection of an adobe house and when he came
here only the walls of this primitive structure
remained. As the years passed by he not only
improved this property, but also bought and
rented land to the extent of fifteen hundred
acres, all of which was devoted to farm products.
However, the building of the railroads and the
incoming of settlers rendered the land too valu-
able for general farming and he then turned his
attention to the development of his real estate
interests. He now owns a store building in
Hyde Park, as well as one hundred and sixty-
five lots. Altogether he owns about three hun-
dred acres in this vicinity, as well as an attract-
ive modern residence ; also one hundred acres in
Riverside county, Cal. : three hundred and
twenty acres of Oregon timber lands ; and the
old homestead in Brooklyn, Conn., which he pur-
chased from the other heirs at the settlement of
the estate.

The marriage of Captain Clark took place
July 1 6, 1878, and united him with Miss Lizzie
S. Leach, who was born at Pittsford, Rutland
county, Vt., September 25, 1852, and came from
the east to California about 1872. The only son
of their marriage, Clarence, is a resident of
northern California. Their only daughter, Cora
H., a young girl of unusual promise, died Feb-
ruary 9, 1897. at the age of fifteen years, and
in memory of her beautiful life the parents erect-
ed the Memorial Congregational Church of
Hyde Park. In the work of this church both
are active. Captain Clark officiating as a deacon
and also as the -leader of the Bible class. As
might be expected of a war veteran with a long
and honorable record, he takes a deep interest
in the Grand Army of the Republic, and is now
identified with Stanton Post No. 55. in Los An-
geles. Among other organizations in which he
holds membership are the Society of California
Pioneers and the Loyal Legion. Ever since at-
taining his majority he has given his vote and
influence toward the Republican party in na-
tional affairs, but in local matters believes that
the character and intelligence of the candidate
are of greater importance than his opinions as
to the tariff, etc. While always willing to help
such of his friends as may be candidates, he
never seeks office for himself and at no time in
his life would he consent to lake upon himself
the burden of official responsibilities ; yet he is
public-spirited and progressive, interested in
everything making, toward the upbuilding of
his community, a generous contributor to worthy
movements, a man of temperance principles, and
in every respect a worth}- citizen whose presence
has been most helpful to the permanent progress
of his community.

LOUIS FERDINAND ROUSSEY. The de-
velopment of the resources of Ventura county
thereby bringing enhanced values to the lands
and increased profits from the cultivation of the
same, may be attributed to the energetic efforts
and wise judgment of men intimately associated
with the history of this part of the state. All cit-
izens have benefited by the sagacity of the up-
builders of the county and all are a unit in appre-
ciation of the prosperity of the present era. In
the number of those who have been benefited
financially by the development of the rich lands
of this section, mention belongs to Louis Ferdi-
nand Roussey, who came here in the fall of 1882
and has since engaged in agricultural pursuits
with excellent success.

The Roussey family descends from French an-
cestry and was founded in America by John B.
Roussey, who in young manhood came from
France to Pennsylvania* and there engaged in
farming and lumbering, later following kindred
pursuits in Kansas, where he improved large
tracts of raw land. During 1885 he spent six
months in California and in 1897 he again came
to the coast, settling in Santa Paula, where he
remained until death. His widow, now residing
in Oxnard, bore the maiden name of Henrietta
Petit and was born in France. Their ten chil-
dren are still living, the third of these being
Louis Ferdinand, who was born in Clearfield
county. Pa., in 1862, and about 1866 was taken to
Kansas by his parents. For a short time he lived
in Douglas county, but soon removed with the
family to Franklin county, Kans., settling on raw
land near Wellsville. There he aided in the
arduous task of improving a farm and during the
leisure hours on the farm he was sent to the
neighboring schools.

On coming to California in 1882 Mr. Roussey
found that the leading crops in Ventura county
were wheat and barley. Securing employment
on ranches, he worked for different parties for
some years. During 1885 he visited in Kansas
for a few months. On his return to the west he
resumed agricultural pursuits and later bought
sixty-four acres one-half mile south of the pres-
ent site of Oxnard, for which in 1894 he paid
$125 per acre. A part of this tract is now in-
cluded in the town site. Immediately he began
to make improvements, sinking an artesian well,
erecting a house and barn, and making such other
changes as would facilitate the carrying forward
of the beet and bean industry. During 1900 he
sold the property to Mr. Milligan for $26=; per
acre. During 1895 he had made a second trip
back to Kansas, and in 1900 he went there for the
third time, later going east as far as Chicago,
but he saw no locality that impressed him so fa-
vorably as California. Since his last trip east he
has acquired other property and now owns one

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1999

hundred acres three miles southeast of CXxnard,
which he bought for $90 per acre, and on which
he engages in raising beans and beets. In addi-
tion, he owns a Iract of four hundred and thirty
acres of grain land on the Simi, which he rents
to a tenant, and he also owns two and one-half
acres on the Savier road within the city limits of
Oxnard, as well as a residence lot on the corner
of Second and C streets, all of these various and
valuable possessions representing the results of
his energy and sagacity. In national politics he
votes the Republican ticket, while locally he sup-
ports those men whom he deems best qualified to
preserve the integrity of the body politic \nd pro-
mote the welfare of the citizens. The Citizens'
Club numbers him among its active members
and stanch supporters, while fraternally he holds
membership with the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks at Santa Barbara.

LEWIS A. PERCE, M. D. A place of im-
portance is accorded Dr. Lewis A. Perce among
the physicians of Long Beach, Los Angeles
county, where he has been an esteemed resident
for nine years, having located in this city upon
his arrival in California in 1898. He is a native
son of Illinois, his birth having occurred in
Springfield March 8, 1854. His parents, Will-
iam and Roxanna (Vittum) Perce, were natives
respectively of Pickaway and Huron counties,
Ohio, the father a descendant of French Hugue-
not stock and the mother of Scotch ancestry.
William Perce became a pioneer of Sangamon
county, 111., in 1840, crossing the country from
Ohio to the Prairie state by means of ox-teams.
He engaged in the hardware and grocery busi-
ness in Sangamon county and in the passing
years built up a large custom which brought him
satisfactory financial returns. In addition to his
success in business he became prominent in Re-
publican politics in the county and served ac-
ceptably as sheriff, and was also active in the
convention that nominated Lincoln for the pres-
idency. There is now in the possession of his
son, Lewis A. Perce, a cane which was pre-
sented to him by Mr. Lincoln, who was his life-
long friend. LTpon the breaking out of the Civil
war jNIr. Perce organized Company B, of the
Seventieth Regiment Illinois Infantry, and
served as its captain for twenty months, when
he was discharged on account of disability. Re-
turning to his home in Illinois he remained a
resident of that state until 1875, in which year
he removed to Russell, Kans.. and there fol-
lowed the grocery business until his death. His
wife was born in Huron county, Ohio, and early
in life removed to Columbus, where her father
owned an old water mill on the Scioto river.

Lewis A. Perce \vas reared to young manhood

in his native state and in the public schools of
Springfield received his preliminary education,
also attending commercial college in that place.
Deciding to take up the profession of medicine
for his lifework, he became a student in the
Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio,
in 1873, and after a thorough course of lectures
returned home, which in the meantime was
changed from Springfield to Russell, Kans.,
where he engaged in the practice of his profes-
sion. Continuing his studies he was graduated
in 1882, after which he located in Forest, Ohio,
for a time and later in Bucyrus, same state, and
began the practice of his profession, which con-
tinued until 1898. In the meantime he had mar-
ried in Russelh Kans., Sarah A. B. Miles, whose
father (a second cousin of General Miles), with
his five sons, served in the Union army during
the Civil war.

Although having attained a marked degree of
success in Ohio, wdiere he had been located for
sixteen vears, Dr. Perce became interested in the
future of Southern California, and accordingly,
in 1898, he came to the Pacific coast, and after
one month spent in Pasadena, located permanent-
ly in Long Beach. He began his practice of
medicine with Dr. O. C. \\''elbourn, but after
eight months in the partnership he purchased the
entire interest and has since continued alone. He
engages in a general practice, which has grown
to "lucrative proportions, but makes a specialty of
eye. ear, nose and throat diseases, using the X-
Rav to a large extent in his work. Besides at-
ten'dnig to his personal practice he has taken a
livelv interest in all lines pertaining to his profes-
sion, contributing frequently to medical journals
and becoming prominently known throughout
the state.

In 1901 Dr. Perce was elected a member of
the Board of Medical Examiners of the State of
California and three years later was elected
president, filling the position with efficiency. In
1905 he was made president of the Long Beach
Qiamber of Commerce, which office he fills at
the present time. He is examining physician
for a number of old-line insurance companies,
as well as fraternal societies, and is assistant
surgeon of the Uniformed Rank of the Knights
of Pythias, of which he is a member. He is also
associated with the Masonic Lodge of Long
Beach and the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows, and in social circles is prominent, being
a member of the local Auto Club and others,
in which he takes a lively interest. In business
he is a stockholder in the Long Beach National
Bank and the Citizens Savings Bank of the same
place, and has unbounded confidence in the
future of the city he has made his home, invest-
ing his means liberally in real estate. In politics
he has always been a party wheel horse, taking

2000

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a lively interest in the advancement of Repub-
lican principles, which he heartily endorses.
While a resident of Ohio he stumped the state
with the late Senator Hanna and President
McKinley, giving time and means liberally in
the support of his friends for public office, al-
though personally the manifold duties and in-
terests of his profession have so engrossed his
attention that he has not cared for recognition
along these lines.

MRS. MARTHA J. HOBBS. One of the
oldest residents of San Bernardino county is
Mrs. Martha J. Hobbs, who came here in 1869
on one of the first overland trains. The Cline
family, of which she is a member, was among
the first that settled in New York even before
the United States was an independent nation,
her grandfather, John Qine, having been born
in New York, served in the war of 1812, and
at the time of his death had attained the remark-
able age of one hundred and four years. Her
father was born in Rochester, N. Y., where he
followed the carpenter's trade, later removing to
Lenox, Ohio, from there to Henderson county,
111., and finally in 1850 crossing the plains with
a four-horse outfit, the trip consuming six
months. For two years he was interested in
mining in Placer county, then came to Temecula
and engaged in the cattle business with a Mr.
Moody, continuing the partnership for sixteen
years. They had succeeded in accumulating a
very large number of cattle scattered over a
wide range of country, and when they decided
to divide the herds and continue business inde-
pendently, with a generous disregard of a pos-
sible discrepancy in numbers which might oc-
cur, they rounded up the cattle in one large
bunch and directed two Mexicans to ride through
the herd as near the center as possible and each
man took a half as thus divided. That the meth-
od was an entirely satisfactory one to both par-
ties was proven by the fact that Mr. Cline and
Mr. Moody remained friends ever afterwards.

Taking his share of the cattle Mr. Cline re-
moved them to Ft. Mojave and placed them on
the range, but the Indians molested them so fre-
quently and stole so many that he decided to re-
move to Cucamonga, where he kept them until
1872. Taking them again to Mojave he kept
them there for several years, after which he
sold the entire herd and spent the remainder of
his life on his ranch at Rincon. His death oc-
curred June 8, 1892. at the advanced age of
ninety-two years. He was a justice of the peace
in Illinois and later at Temecula, and his polit-
ical affiliations were with the Republican party.
His wife was Elizabeth Pratt, a native of New
York, and the daughter of Jacob Pratt. Mrs.

Cline's death occurred December 30, 1841, in
Illinois, two of her three children being still alive.

The birth of Martha J. Cline occurred in New
York, and when she was one year old she was
taken by her parents to Ohio, and she was five
years old at the time of the removal to Hender-
son county. 111., where she attended a subscrip-
tion school. In 1853, in Oquawka, that county,
she was united in marriage with Thomas Giles,
a German by birth, who had made his home in
Illinois from an early age. By trade he was an
upholsterer, a business which he followed for
many years. During the Civil war he joined an
Illinois regiment, acting as bodyguard to General
McQellan ; after tlie close of the war he re-
sumed civil life in Illinois and there died. Two
children were born of that union, namely : Sophia
R., who married A. A. Dexter, became the moth-
er of eleven children, and now has seven grand-
children ; and William, a resident of Qiicago.

In 1869 Mrs. Giles came to California with
her father and becafne a resident of Rincon. In
San Bernardino December 30, 1870, she was
married to William A. Hobbs, who was born in
North Carolina April 2, 1838, and came to Cali-
fornia via Panama in 1853. Fo"" many years he
engaged in mining and later teamed between
Prescott, Ariz., and Los Angeles, and it was
while thus employed that he became acquainted
with the Cline family. For eleven years Mr.
Hobbs was engaged in farming at Rincon, and
in January, 1881, removed to San Bernardino,
bought the hotel site, a year later built the Hobbs
house and continued to conduct it until 1901,
when it was turned over to Mrs. Hobbs' grand
daughter. Mrs. W. C. Foster, who in 1906 put it
into the hands of her niece, ]\Irs. Emma Hewes,
who is now the proprietor. Mr. Hobbs' death
occurred November 2, 1904. he being at that
time seventy-six years and seven months of age.
Fraternally he was a Mason, and politically af-
filiated with the Democratic party. Mrs. Hobbs
is an extensive property- owner, and besides the
three residences which she owns (two adjoining
the Hobbs house and one on F street in San
Bernardino), she has a house and lot in Santa
^Monica. She is an active member of the Meth-
odist Church, a woman of many fine personal
qualities and possesses unusual business ability.

EDWARD WASHINGTON PECK. Al-
though filling the position of foreman of Taylor
Brothers' brick yards in San Bernardino, Ed-
ward W^ashington Peck is a resident of Pasadena,
which city has been his home for the past fifteen
years. His grandfather, Hon. Washington Peck,
a native of New York, was a pioneer settler in
the then territory of Washington and was a man
well known all over the northwestern part of the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2001

United States. He made four trips across the
plains with ox teams and was thoroughly fa-
miliar with the mountainous country over which
he did so much traveling and frequently acted as
guide to others less well acquainted with the
roads. For eight years he served as a guide to
the United States troops in Arizona and was
twice sent as a delegate to congress from the ter-
ritory of Washington. He was at one time in-
terested in mining operations near Prescott, Ariz.,
and helped to develop the old Peck mine near
that point. In Washington he was engaged in
extensive agricultural pursuits near Sedalia, and
was living in that state at the time of his death.

David Peck, the father of Edward Washing-
ton, was born in New York state and crossed the
plains to San Francisco in 1849. A.s a cattle
dealer he made several trips east in the course
of his business operations, spending a little over
one year in Canada. In 1861 he became a pioneer
farmer in Page county, Iowa, and lived in that
state forty-six years. He was a man of consid-
erable influence and prominence in that county
and was recognized as the arbiter of all neigh-
borhood disputes, the justice of his decisions
giving general and mutual satisfaction to all in-
terested parties. He was popularly known all
over the country as Uncle David Peck and his
death, at the age of seventy-two years, removed
a man who was universally loved and respected.
Religiously he was a devout member of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church and politically he advo-
cated the principles embraced in the platform of
the Republican partv. His wife was Eliza,
daughter of Francis Carey, her father having es-
tablished himself as a merchant in London. Can-
ada, where his death occurred. Mrs. Peck died
in Iowa.

There were six children in the family of which
Edward Washington Peck was a member, four
of whom are still living. He was born February
23, 1858, in London, Canada, but was reared on
the farm in Iowa. He received a superior edu-
cation, first in the district schools of Page county,
then at the Keokuk high school, and finally took
a course at Shenandoah .College. He remained
under the parental roof until twenty-two years
of age, then went to Ness county, Kans., and
located on a homestead, pre-emption and tree
claim eleven miles north of Ness City, upon
which he proved up in due time, being mean-
while engaged in the stock business. In 1892,
having endorsed paper to a large amount for a
friend, he was obliged to make the endorsement
good and in doing so found it necessary to dis-
pose of all of his stock and farm property with
the exception of the land which at that time was
worth almost nothing. He recently sold this
land, which is now valued at $10 per acre. Af-
ter settling his financial obligations Mr. Peck
came to Pasadena and for a time drove teams for

Simon Brothers, until he secured the position of
foreman of the Pasadena brick yards. He
worked in this capacity for some time, later was
made collector for the firm in Los Angeles and
in 1905 resigned this position to accept his pres-
ent place as foreman in Taylor Brothers' brick
yard at San Bernardino. He is the owner of
several pieces of valuable real estate in Pasadena,
and has a fine residence on South Euclid avenue
in that city. He also lias an interest in the Col-
orado River Gold and Copper Mining Com-
pany, having been president of the company un-
til coming to San Bernardino, and operates
quartz mines near Parker, which are making a
fine showing.

The marriage of Mr. Peck occurred at Ham-
burg, Iowa, and united him with Miss Fannie
Simons, who was born there. They are the par-
ents of four children : Walter, an electrician for
the Pacific Electric Railway ; Lawrence, a plumb-
er ; Carey, who lives at Pasadena ; and Marie.
Mrs. Peck is a member of the Baptist Church,
which is liberally supported by the family. Fra-
ternally Mr. Peck affiliates with the Woodmen
of the World, and politically believes in the
principles advocated in the platform of the Re-
publican party. He is a man of pleasing address,
of no mean business ability and a public-spirited
citizen who is held in the highest esteem by all
who know him.

ROBERT NELSON. The life which this
narrative sketches began in Kent county, Eng-
land, near the city of London and closed in
Sunderland, England. Though born and de-
ceased in Great Britain, Mr. Nelson spent the
active years of his life in the United States and
regarded himself as a true American, being
ever loyal and patriotic to his adopted coun-
try. The son of a sea captain, he did not have
any inclination toward his father's occupation,
but served an apprenticeship of seven years to
the trade of an upholsterer and at the expiration
of his time began in the furniture and upholster-
ing business "for himself at Darlington, Eng-
land. While there he married Miss Margaret
Weatherall, a native of that city. In 1865, ac-
companied by his wife and one son, he crossed
the ocean to" the United States and settled at
Elmira. N. Y. For a period of about twenty
years he carried on an upholstering establish-
ment in that city and also filled orders for cabi-
net-work, meanwhile gaining a reputation for
reliable workmanship and sagacious business
methods. Constant attention to details connect-
ed with the business eventually undermined his
health and, hoping th.at a change of climate
might prove beneficial, he returned to England
to visit among the scenes familiar to his boyhood
and early manhood. However, the change did

2002

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

not bring- the favorable results hoped for, and he
(lied while still in that country.

After having sold out the business which her
husband had conducted for many years, Mrs.
Margaret Nelson removed to Missouri and
bought a tract of eighty acres in Douglas county,
in addition to which she took up a homestead of
one hundred and twenty acres. In the develop-
ment of the land she had the capable assistance
of her sons, Joseph and Arthur, the only surviv-
ors of her eight children. At the death of her
husband these two boys were fifteen and seven
vears of age respectively. Though mere lads,
ihev proved themselves efficient assistants to
their mother, and the three worked together in
liarmony and with success. In 1894 Mrs. Nel-
son came to California in the interest of her
health. The climate and surroundings proved so
attractive that she decided to remove permanent-
ly to the coast, and thereupon in 1896 disposed of
her property in Missouri, came to California, and
settled at Hyde Park, where now she makes her
home, having still with her the younger son,
while the elder, who is married, lives near by in
the same town. The sons own a number of lots
in Hvde Park and operate the Baldwin ranch of
several hundred acres, a portion of which is un-
der cultivation to grain, while the remainder of
the land is under alfalfa. In political faith they
follow the example of their father, who became a
Republican upon taking up the duties of Ameri-
can citizenship. Like "him, too, they are ener-
getic, capable and persevering, and fully merit
abundant success. The Presbyterian denomina-
tion represents the religious faith of the family,
and Mr. Nelson until death remained a faithful
member of that church, with which his widow
continues to be identified.

JESSE H. CASE. The lineage of the Case
family is traced to Germany, whence many }-ears
ago one of the name came to the new world and
settled in Pennsylvania. A son of the first im-
migrant removed to Ohio while that region was
yet in a condition of primeval wildness. Gash-
am C, grandson of the original immigrant, was
born in Hamilton county, Ohio, and learned the
cooper's trade in boyhood. After his removal
to Illinois in 1835 he followed his trade at Quin-
cy, Adams county, and later was similarly em-
ployed in Brown county, that state, but in 1847
he removed to Iowa and the following year set-
tled in Council Bluflfs. When emigration began
to turn toward the unknown west he disposed of
his holdings in Iowa and in the spring of 1849
started across the plains with ox-teams. Ar-
riving without accident at Salt Lake City he se-
cured cmi^loyment there and established a tem-
porary home, but some years later he proceeded

to California and June i, 1854, he arrived ;a
San Bernardino with his wife and seven chil-
dren. In addition to following the occupation of
a freighter he carried on a large business as a
horse doctor. Though he was not a graduate
veterinary he possessed a thorough knowledge of
diseases affecting the horse and was remark-
ably successful in restoring sick animals to health.
As the years passed by he accumulated a com-
petency and became one of the well-to-do men
of his region, where he was known for his re-
markable generosity of disposition and kindness
of heart. At the time of his death he had
reached the age of eighty years, six months and
four days.

The marriage of G. C. Case united him with
Susan C. Fitchett, who was born in AIar\dand
and died in Shasta county, Cal. Nine children
were born of their union, seven of whom yet
survive, the second in order of birth being James
Hillman Case, who was born in Brown county,
III, January 31, 1840, and came to California
with the family at the age of fourteen years.
For two months he was a pupil in a school held
in a log building containing only a crude equip-
ment for educational work. At an early age he
began to drive teams for his father and in the
course of his work frequently camped out at
night with the snow for a blanket. In 1856 he
enlisted under Capt. Robert Clifts in the First
Light Dragoons of First Brigade, First Division
of California Militia, and made a trip to Utah
with the regiment. During December of 1861
he enlisted in Company E, First California Cav-
alry, and served with his regiment in Indian
wars in California, Arizona and New jNIexico and
as far away as Texas, being honorably discharged
at Santa Fe December 20, 1864. During the bat-
tle of Cook's Canon he was one of nine cavalry-
men who successfully resisted sixty-two Indians,
of whom they killed eighteen, with a loss in their
own little company of only one killed and two
wounded. On being discharged he traveled
from Fort Craig down the Rio Grande river to
Las Cruces, thence across the country to Tucson,
and down the Gila river to Fort Yuma, thence
across the desert to Warner's ranch, arriving at
San Bernardino February 7, 1865, more than
three vears after he had left home for service in
the Civil war.

Not long after his return from the army
James H. Case established domestic ties. His
marriage, June 9, 1865, united him with Alary
Elizabeth Folks, who was born in Madrid coun-
ty, ]\Io., January i6, 1845, l^"* from the age of
six years made her home in San Bernardino.
Out of a family of ten children she and one other
alone survive. Her father, Jesse Folks, was bom
in Worcester county, Md., in 1808. and fol-
lowed farming and carpentering. Though de-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

^003

prived of educational advantages he became a
scholarly man, the possessor of a broad fimd of
general information which made him an inter-
esting conversationalist and cultured companion.
During 1848, with his wife and six children, he
traveled in a wagon drawn bj' oxen across the
plains as far as Salt Lake City, and in 185 1 came
on to San Bernardino. Soon after his arrival he
built a small house on what is now First and D
streets. Securing work as a carpenter, he erect-
ed some of the first houses in the town, and also
engaged in farming, teaming and mining. After
a useful and honorable life he passed away at
his home aged eighty-three years. His wife.
Mary Ann, was born in Maryland in 181 5 and
died at San Bernardino when eighty-two years
of age ; she was a daughter of William Liv-
ingston, a Revolutionary soldier and a life-long
resident of Maryland.

After having completed her education in local
schools Miss Folks engaged in teaching and for
a time had a small school at her father's home,
but later taught on E street, each pupil paying a
small sum as tuition. As far as can be ascer-
tained, it is believed that she is the oldest teach-
er now living in San Bernardino county. A
woman of refinement and culture, she has always
numbered among her friends the most intel-
lectual people of the town, and in such circles
her rare charms of mind have won lasting ad-
miration. In her home, wdiere her labors have
chiefly centered, she has been a devoted wife and
self-sacrificing mother, and now in life's afternoon
she has the happiness of seeing her children well-
established in San Bernardino, occupying high
positions in social circles. The eldest child, Jesse
H., whose name introduces this article, is cus-
todian of the San Bernardino jail. The second
child, Lelia, died at nine months of age. The
others reside in San Bernardino, namely: Susan
Stella, Mrs. George Heap ; Florence, Mrs. John
B. Smithson, Jr. ; Mary Serena, Mrs. Thomas A.
Smithson, and Stephen jNI.

By trading a small riding mule with saddle
and bridle for four acres of land in 1866 James
H. Case became a property-owner in San Ber-
nardino. On the land he erected a small house
which was destroyed by fire in 1893. Later he
built his present residence on the same site. Un-
til 1896 he engaged in freighting and the trans-
fer business and ran the 'bus line between this
town and Colton. Meanwhile he accpiired twelve
acres on I and Ninth streets, but some of this he
sold and some he gave to his children, so that
now now he retains only one acre. The San
Bernardino County Pioneer Society of California
numbers him among its leading members and in
addition he holds membership with Cornman
Post Xo. S7. G. A. R.. in his home citv, while

politically he always has been stanch in his al-
legiance to the Republican party.

The oldest member of the family is the gen-
tleman whose name introduces this sketch and
who claims San Bernardino as his native city,
his birth having occurred here December 29,
1866. At the age of fourteen years he began to
haul freight from Colton to San Bernardino and
soon became the trusted assistant of his father,
who was then in ill health. After having con-
tinued in the freighting business for fourteen
\cars, in January of 1895 he received from Sher-
iff Holcomb the appointment of deputy county
sheriff" and jailer. On a change in the adminis-
tration and the election of a Democratic sheriff,
he gave up his position and went to Los Angeles,
where for two years he was in charge of the re-
tail trade of the Globe flouring mills. In Jan-
uary, 1903, Sheriff' Ralphs tendered him the ap-
pointment of deputy sheriff' and jailer, and on
the completion -of the new jail (as fine a build-
ing of the kind as the state can boast) he became
its custodian in 1904, since which time he has de-
voted all of his time to his duties as jailer. Po-
litically he gives stanch support to Republican
principles and is a local worker in the interests
of the party. Socially he is a prominent mem-
ber of San Bernardino Parlor, Native Sons of
the Golden West, and maintains a deep interest
in the welfare of the organization. His mar-
riage was solemnized in San Bernardino June 14,
1906, and united him with Mrs. Dora (Cram)
Barnes, who was born in Kansas and came to
California with her father, Henry V. Cram, of
Los Angeles. By virtue of her qualifications as
a graduate trained nurse and her fine mental en-
dowments, she is admirably adapted to fill the
position of matron of the institution, in which
capacity she now gives efficient service.

WILLIAM E. TROSTLE. Although a re-
cent acquisition to the citizenship of Southern
California, William E. Trostle has already
demonstrated qualities of mind and heart which
have won him a place of distinction among his
fellowmen. He has lived in the state about three
years, having removed from Illinois to take up
]iis life among the pleasant surroundings of the
Pacific coast country, and came at once to the
vicinity of San Gabriel, where he purchased a
ranch of nineteen acres, all of which is devoted
to the cultivation of oranges. Born in State
Center. Iowa, Tune 7, 1868, Mr. Trostle is a son
of J. W. and Sarah (Van Orsdel) Trostle, both
natives of Adams county. Pa. The father was
a minister tliroughout his active life, combin-
ing with this agricultural pursuits. He came
to California in 1804 and purchased an orange
orchard, and has since accepted the position of

2004

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

assistant pastor in Pasadena, where he is now
living at the age of seventy-five years.

William E. Trostle received his preliminary
education in the public schools in Iowa, and
graduated from the high school at Kingsley. He
then became a student in Mt. Morris College, in
Illinois, and after a three years' course in the
theological department graduated therefrom, and
began his duties as a minister in the German
Baptist Brethren, or better known as the Dunk-
ard Church. He filled the pulpit at Pine Creek,
in Polo, 111., and also in Kingsley, Iowa, having
been located in Illinois just prior to his emigra-
tion to the Pacific coast. Upon his arrival in
the state he at once located near San Gabriel
and purchased his present ranch, sixteen acres
being in full bearing and three acres in young
trees. He has built a fine ten-room house, and
put other valuable improvements on the place,
and it is his intention to erect a fine automobile
barn. Mr. Trostle has a charge at Pasadena,
holds the bishopric of South Los Angeles in his
church, and is presiding elder over the First
Brethren Church of Long Beach.

In 1895 Mr. Trostle was united in marriage
with Miss Katie Rowland, a native of Illinois
and a daughter of Benjamin Rowland, who died
in that state, while her mother is still living and
making her home with Mr. and Mrs. Trostle.
In his political views Mr. Trostle prefers to re-
serve the right to cast his ballot for the man he
considers best qualified for official position. He
takes an interest in all progressive movements
and lends his aid heartily to the advancement of
the general welfare.

PIERRE DELPY. Ranking among the most
intelligent, energetic and progressive agricultur-
ists of San Diego county is Pierre Delpy, of
Vista, who is actively employed in general agri-
culture in Delpy valley, which was named in re-
membrance of his uncle, Bernard Delpy, a pio-
neer settler. For upwards of thirty years he has
lived in this vicinity, and during the time has
been associated with the growth and upbuilding
of this part of the county, and by the exercise
of his native industry and frugality has accu-
mulated a fair share of this world's goods. A
son of Bernard and Anna Delpy, lifelong resi-
dents of France, he was born. May 19, 1856, in
that country, and there spent his boyhood days,
receiving limited educational advantages.

In 1874, thinking to improve his chances for
acquiring a fortune, Pierre Delpy came with the
uncle previously mentioned, Bernard Delpy. to
the United States, landing in New York City,
and from there coming directly to California.
The uncle took up a government claim in San
Diego county, near Vista, and in the valley now

bearing his name improved a ranch, on which
he lived and labored until his death, at the age
of fifty-five years, at one time being the owner
of three hundred and twenty acres of finely im-
proved land. Having a natural aptitude for
agricultural pursuits, Pierre Delpy subsequently
purchased a part of the estate which his uncle
had improved, and began farming on his own
account. Toiling vigorously, he met with good
results, and as he accumulated money wisely in-
vested it in adjoining land, having now in his
home ranch four hundred and forty acres of rich
and valuable land, on which he successfully pur-
sues his favorite occupation. He is extensively
and profitably engaged in grain and stock rais-
ing, and also has vineyards and orchards, and as
a fruit grower is meeting with splendid success,
his vines and trees yielding bountiful crops each
season. He also manufactures wine.

In 1888 Mr. Delpy married Marie Ravauter,
a native of sunny France, and they have five
children, namely, Nellie, Emma, Emil, Ernest
and Clara. Politicallv ]Mr. Delpy is a stanch
adherent of the Republican party, but has never
been an aspirant for official favors. In religion
he and his family are Catholics, and attendants
of the San Luis Rey Mission.

MRS. PAULINE MARY SCHOLLER. A
woman of strong personality, active, energetic
and possessing keen perceptive faculties, Mrs.
Scholler is well known in the mercantile life of
Los Angeles county, and now, with her husband,
is conducting a general store in East San Pe-
dro. A daughter of the late Daniel Sorensen,
she was born in Los Nietos. Los Angeles coun-
ty, near Whittier, of Danish ancestry on the
paternal side, and coming of thrifty German
stock on the maternal side of the house.

A native of Copenhagen, Denmark, Daniel
Sorensen began life as a sailor, following the
sea from boyhood. While yet a young man he
came around Cape Horn to America, and for
awhile after his arrival in California was em-
ployed in mining. Subsequently, with his
brothers, Charles and Anton, he came to South-
ern California, locating near Whittier, where he
bought land and for a few years was engaged
in raising grapes, the ranches belonging to him-
self and brothers being just opposite the reform
school grounds. He also set out walnut groves,
and for a time devoted himself to raising nuts,
a profitable industry. He was a man of great
enterprise, practical and capable, and was one
of the first to use the water from the river and
mountain streams as a motor power. He de-
veloped the water power for the South River-
side Light and Water Company and for R. B.
Taylor, of Corona. Before completing his work

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2005

for the latter, Mr. Sorensen, while prospecting
in Death Valley, where he owned land, lost his
way and perished in the desert, his death oc-
curring in August, 1893, at the age of sixty-three
years. Mr. Sorensen married Sebina Roache,
who was born in Boston, Mass., of German par-
ents, and is now a resident of Los Angeles, Cal.,
her home being on South Figueroa street. Of
the five sons and two daughters that she bore
her husband all are living with the exception of
one son, Mrs. Pauline Mary SchoUer being the
oldest child.

Brought up in Anaheim, Orange county,
Pauline Mary Sorensen received a practical edu-
cation in the public schools. In 1887 she mar-
ried Frank Armbruster, who was born in St.
Paul, Minn. Learning the trade of a carpen-
ter and builder in his native city, Mr. Armbrus-
ter came to California when young. He subse-
quently turned his attention to mining pursuits,
before many years becoming an expert amal-
gamator. Removing with his family to Crip-
ple Creek, Colo., in 1896, Mr. Armbruster was
there employed in mining until his death, in
1897. Mrs. Armbruster soon after started in
business for herself, remaining in Cripple Creek
as a horticulturist for about five years after her
husband's death. Returning to California in
1902, she located in East San Pedro and very
soon afterward embarked in the mercantile bus-
iness. Meeting with such encouraging success
in her venture she opened a general store at the
Salt Lake depot, which she conducted until be-
ing burned out. She was married April g, 1906,
to E. T. Scholler, who has been a resident of
San Pedro since 1903. Mrs. Scholler has two
children by her first marriage, namely : Eva
Marie and Robert.

GAIL E. MOON. As a resident representative
of the Bayside Land Company, which has its
headquarters in Los Angeles, Gail E. Moon, of
Long Beach, is one of the most prominent real
estate men in this city. He was born March 18,
1877, in Otisco, Ionia county, Mich., where his
grandfather, James Moon, settled in an early
day, cleared land for civilization and lived upon
it during the remainder of his lifetime. His
parents, A. L. and Anna May (Gardner) Moon,
were both natives of Michigan, the former born
in Otisco, and the latter of Lowell, where her
father, James Gardner (who was born in Lon-
don, England, and later settled in Canada) finally
located permanently. A. L. Moon was principal
of schools for several years, subsequently en-
gaging in mercantile and manufacturing pur-
suits until he came to California in 1886, when he
located in Santa Ana and was for a time a real-
estate dealer. Afterwards he became a farmer

south of that city, then removed to Los Angeles
and took up successively a windmill business,
newspaper work and insurance, and is now en-
gaged in mining in Colorado, his residence be-
ing in Denver at the present time. Of his three
sons, two grew to maturity, and Charles L. is a
broker in Los Angeles.

When brought by his father to California Gail
E. !\Ioon was a lad of nine years and accordingly
his education was obtained in the public and high
schiools of Los Angeles. At the commencement
of his independent business career he secured
employment in the advertising department of
the Times and traveled for them four years. He
then began in the real-estate business and later
combined with this loan and brokerage lines.
It was in 1905 that he became connected with the
Bayside Land Company as clerk and since that
time he has had charge of that firm's Long Beach
ofiice. Politically he is an advocate of the prin-
ciples embraced in the platform of the Republican
party. As a progressive and enterprising young
business man and a public spirited citizen he has
earned the good will and respect of a large circle
of friends and acquaintances.

WILLIAM T. ROWE. In Elsinore, where
he is living as a retired prospector and mine own-
er, William T. Rowe is accounted one of the
prominent citizens of his community. The father,
Asa, and the mother, who was Judith Thomas be-
fore her marriage, were both born in Phillips,
Franklin county. Me., and lived there during
their entire lives, the father being a builder by
trade. They became the parents of six children,
three sons and one daughter surviving them.
William T., who was born at Phillips, Me., Oc-
tober 3, 1848, made for himself a fine record
during the Civil war, tliree of his brothers also
doing valiant service. Winthrop, who resides
in Elsinore, was in the Sixteenth Regiment of
Maine Volunteers ; Eben, now residing in Maine,
was a member of the Twentieth Regiment of
the same state ; while Allen, who was killed in
service in Florida, belonged to the Second Regi-
ment of Maine Cavalry.

The boyhood days of William T. Rowe were
spent at his birthplace and he was attending the
public school at Phillips when the war broke out.
He ran away to enlist in the army, but was ob-
liged to make two attempts before he was ac-
cepted by Company C, Sixteenth Regiment of
Maine Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered
in at Augusta m 1863, and as a member of the
Army of the Potomac took part in engagements
from Rappahannock to Appomattox, marched
through the wilderness and was in the siege of
Petersburg. He took part in the grand review
at Washington, and was nuistered out at Alex-

2006

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

andria, \ a., on June 5, 1865. He then returned
to liis home and re-entered sehool, later attend-
ing the Wesleyan Seminary at Kents Hill foe
two years. In the spring of 1868 he went to
(Hiicago, remaining there during the summer,
and then went to Minneapolis and Anoka, Minn.,
where he engaged in the lumbering business for
six years.

Following this Mr. Rowe returned to Phillips,
l\Ie., remaming there for a time, then spent
one year on the Atlantic coast. Subsequently he
crossed the continent and during the winter of
1875 was in San Francisco. The following spring
he went to Prescott, Ariz., traveling by stage, and
engaged in mining with his brother in Yavapai
county. They located a number of valuable
claims and opened the New Era mine, twelve
miles from Prescott, which sold not long ago for
$175,000. He also located a group of eight
claims on Lynch creek, which he sold for $15,000.
Successful operations in this line were con-
tinued until 1901, when he came to California
and lived at Sawtelle for one year. In 1902
he finally located in Elsinore, purchased prop-
erty and has been a resident of this place
ever since. He still owns valuable mining in-
terests, but is now retired from active business
operations. He is a strong adherent of the prin-
ciples advocated in the platform of the Democra-
tic party, takes an active interest in matters of
public import and was in 1904 elected to a posi-
tion on the Elsinore board of trustees, which he
resigned in igo6.

JOHN C. BRYAN. The family represented
by this enterprising agriculturist of San Diego
county became established in America during an
early era of its colonization and has been identi-
fied honorably v/ith its development. Both in
peace and in war its members have proved loyal
to their country. Col. George W. Bryan of
Ohio won high distinction as an officer in the war
of 1812 and his son, Henry Clay, served in the
ranks of an Ohio regiment of infantry during
the Civil war. The most distinguished member
of the family is Hon. William Jennings Bryan
of Nebraska, who is a second cousin of John C.
Bryan of San Diego county ; but others of the
name, though lacking the eloquence of the "silver-
tongued orator," have not lacked his wide knowl-
edge of public affairs and his earnest convictions
upon national problems.

After having taught school in his native Ohio
and having gained also by experience a thorough
knowledge of farming, in 1865 Henry Qay Bryan
removed to Missouri, accompanied by his wife,
]\Iary (Seeks) Bryan, a native of Ohio, and with
their children, among whom was John C, who
was born in Adams county. Ohio, December 19,

1858, and was a boy of less than seven years at
the time of the removal to Missouri. The family
settled in Atchison county, where the father
taught school during the winter months and in
the summer seasons engaged in farming. When
forty-six years of age he passed away, August 30,,
1871 ; he was long survived by his wife, who died
in Missouri April 22, 1895, aged seventy-one
years. Their son, John C, was not yet thirteen
years of age at the father's death, but he at once
assumed his share of the work, and with his
brother, George Washington, took charge of the
homestead. In 1885 he disposed of his interest
in the estate to William H. Bryan, a younger
brother, and shortly afterward removed to Ne-
braska, where he took up a homestead claim in
Hitchcock county. For a few years he engaged
in making needed improvements on the land and
in bringing the soil under cultivation, but in 1888
he disposed of the property and returned to his
old home neighborhood in Atchison county. Mo.,
where he bought an improved farm and engaged
in farming and stock-raising.

Selling out his Missouri possessions in 1895,
Mr. Bryan loaded his household effects in wagons,
and journeyed overland to Ogden, Utah, from
which point he traveled by railroad to Los
Angeles, and from there drove with teams to
Escondido, San Diego count}-. For a year he
remained at Lacosta and then spent five years in
Gopher Caiion. Later he bought one hundred
and twenty acres which he still owns and which
is known as the old Bonsall ranch. However,
instead of residing on that place, he rents it tO'
a tenant and makes his home on a rented tract
of five hundred acres near Bonsall, where he en-
gages in raising grain and corn, also to some ex-
tent is interested in the dairy business and in
the raising of stock. For a brief period, from
May of 1902 to June of 1903, he made his home
in Santa Ana, where he engaged in the insurance-
business, but with that exception he has devoted
himself exclusively to agricultural pursuits.
Though constantly busy in matters connected with
his farm pursuits he finds leisure to keep posted
upon subjects of governmental importance and
gives his support to socialistic principles, believ-
ing them to possess the qualities making for the
permanent prosperity of the people.

The first marriage of Mr. Bryan took place
May 10, 1881, and united him with ]Miss Cath-
erine S. McNair, who was born in Canada, but
from early girlhood was a resident of Tarkio,
Atchison county, AIo., and there died March 24.
1884. His second marriage was solemnized in
Tarkio August 26, 1889, and united him with
Miss Lena jM Shackelford, a native of Missouri,
and there reared and educated. Two daughter?
bless their union, ]\Iarv Ruth and Mabel Fern.

HISTORICAL x\ND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2007

JACOB BROWN. Among the prosperous
farmers of Los Angeles county, the record of
whose lives fills an nnportant place in this vol-
ume, it gives us pleasure to place the name of
Jacob Brown, of Palms, who is now living re-
tired from active business on the ranch which he
has improved. For nearly a quarter of a century
he has resided in this locality, and during that
time he has witnessed many wonderful changes
in the face of the country, and in the develop-
ment and advancement of its agricultural in-
terests has actively participated. A son of
Charles Brown, he was born, June 25, 1836, in
Cambridgeshire, England, and was tliere ed-
ucated. Born and reared in Cambridgeshire,
Charles Brown learned the trade of brick mason
and a plasterer when joung, and followed it
during his entire life of seventy-three years, in
England. He married Mary Stinton, a woman
of much force of character, and a member of the
Baptist Church. She bore him seven children,
six of whom grew to years of maturity, namely :
Robert, Ellen, Sophia, Amy, Jacob and George.

Having very limited advantages in his native
land, Jacob Brown remained at home until
seventeen years old, when, in 1854, he came
across the sea to the United States, spending
the eighteenth anniversary of his birth on the
Atlantic ocean. From New York City, where
he landed, he went to Illinois, locating first in
Chicago, tlien a small hamlet giving slight
promise of its present greatness, and next at
Rock Island, Not liking his prospects in either
place, he left Illinois, going to Sabula, Jackson
county, Iowa, where he resided for twenty-five
years, being busily employed as a mason and
plasterer, and in farming. Removing thence to
Plymouth county, Iowa, he homesteaded eighty
acres of government land and engaged in farm-
ing, remaining there until 1883. While in Iowa
he had been ordained as a minister in the United
Brethren Church, and upon coming to California
in that year he entered upon the work of an
evangelist and did much to advance the cause
of religion and morality. Subsequently invest-
ing his money in bottom lands, he purchased
one himdred acres near Palms, and by means
of well-directed toil and wise management he
improved a valuable ranch, which he has de-
voted for many years to general farming. Hav-
ing labored hard during his active life, Mr.
Brown is now living retired, spending his clos-
ing years in ease and comfort.

Mr. Brown married Mary Stinton, whose
maiden name was identical with that of his
mother before her marriage, and into their home
sixteen children have been bom, and of these
fifteen grew to years of maturity, Charles, living
in Plymouth county, Iowa, married Edith
Bristow ; George, also a resident of that county.

married Addie Richardson ; Newton, of San Luis
Obispo county, Cal., married Ellen Rose; Mercy
is the wife of Louis Stephens, of Los Angeles
county; Sarah is the wife of Joseph Tabor, of
Humboldt county, Cal. ; Caroline, deceased,
married Gilbert Kidson, of Palms ; Mary is liv-
ing at home; Thomas, deceased, married Lillie
Munger; Martin and Luther were twins, the
former being deceased ; Allen is living in Los
.Angeles county; Jacob, Jr., is at home; Rebecca,
deceased, married George Atrel ; Eric, of San
Bernardino county, is shipping clerk for a min-
ing company; and Clara Amelia is deceased.
Politically Mr. Brown is a strong Prohibitionist,
and religiously he is a valued and conscientious
member of the United Brethren Church.

GEORGE W. LYNN. During the colonial
period of our national history "Teddie" Lynn
came from his native country of Ireland to the
new world and settled in Virginia. Shortly af-
ter he had acquired land in the Old Dominion
the Revolutionary war began and he promptly
offered his services to his adopted country. For
seven years and six months he fought under
General Washington, meanwhile enduring every
hardship and constant exposure such as fell to
the brave men fighting in that long and sanguin-
ary struggle. With the close of the war he was
honorably discharged and shortly afterward he
migrated to the then frontier of Ohio, where he
took up a tract of farm land and turned the first
furrows in the primeval soil. It was his good
fortune to long survive the era of the Revolution
and when at last he passed from earth at ninety
years he had seen the second victory of our
country over England, the sound establishment
of our national government and the extension of
our possessions beyond the great Mississippi
river.

When the family removed to the unsettled
regions of Ohio Andrew F., a son of the Revo-
lutionary soldier, and a native of Virginia, was
a child of five years ; hence as a boy he was fa-
miliar with the development of the frontier, the
incoming of settlers, the cultivation of vast tracts
of raw land, the clearing away of timber, and
all the environments that marked the period of
transition from savagery to civilization. On the
homestead which his father had taken up from
the government he engaged in general farming
and in raising horses, and on that same place he
died at eighty-five years. In early manhood he
had married Nancy J. Bunnell, who was born
in Pennsylvania of German extraction and died
in Ohio at sixty-seven years. Fourteen children
were born of that union, George W. being the
youngest son and the twelfth child. He was
born on the homestead in Guernsev countv, Ohio,

2008

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

near the county-seat, Cambridge, February 24,
1848, and during boyhood attended country
schools held in primitive log buildings illy
equipped with facilities for the instruction and
conitort of the pupils. At the age of sixteen
years he began an apprenticeship m a general
store, where he remained for three years at a
salary of $100 per year.

Removing from Ohio to Illinois Mr. Lynn be-
gan to clerk in a store in Piatt county and there
continued until 1871, when he came to the Pa-
cmc coast on a short visit, and in 1889 came again
to the state, locating in Los Angeles. During
the six years of his residence in Los Angeles he
was connected with A. Hamburger & Son as
floor walker, but resigned his position in 1895
and removed to Palms, Los Angeles county,
where he engaged in ranching. January i, 1905,
he embarked in the livery buisness at Palms,
where he conducted a boarding and sales stable
until selling out the business April i, 1906. He
is now superintendent of the Palms Water Com-
pany. In politics JMr. Lynn votes with the Re-
publican party. His home at Palms is presided
over by Mrs. Lynn, formerly Ella J. Richardson,
of Jacksonville, III, whom he married in 1883,
and" by whom he has one daughter, Bonnie \'.,
now residing with her parents.

BERT PAUL. Among the enterprising citi-
zens of Long Beach, Bert Paul holds a prominent
place in the real estate interests advancing the
values of the city and surrounding country and
adding materially to the development of this
secrion. Mr. Paul is a native of Glasgow, Scot-
land, born April 7, 1880, a son of John Maxwell
Paul, a commercial traveler, who came to San
Diego, Cal., for his health. He died in England,
survived by his wife, who now resides in San
Diego. In Preston, England, Bert Paul received
his education in private schools, where he re-
mained a resident until 1893. In that year he
accompanied his parents to California and in San
Diego attended and graduated from the public
schools. Following his graduation he took up
clerical work and in 1900 came north to Los
Angeles, where he entered the employ of Strong
& Dickinson, a well-known real-estate firm of
that city, and with whom he remained as agent
for two years. Locating in Long Beach in 1902 he
became a member of the real-estate firm of Gary,
Paul & Kenyon, with whom he continued for a
few months, when he sold his interest to the firm
and began independent operations. In August,
1904 he formed a partnership with W. H. But-
ters, and in this connection purchased and opened
the Riverside uact of thirty acres, the Inner
Harbor tract of eleven hundred lots, and the
Nash tract of eighty-seven acres. In 1906 they
organized and incorporated the Strand Invest-

ment Company, capitalized at $50,000, and also
built the Long Beach skating rink, which has
proven a success. They carry on a general real-
estate business and are more or less interested
in the majority of the incorporations in Long
Beach.

Mr. Paul is prominent in public affairs in Long
Beach, now serving as a member of the Board of
Trade and of the Cosmopolitan club. In politics
he supports the Republican party, and fraternally
is associated with Long Beach Lodge No. 888,
B. P. O. E. The success which has come to him
has been the result of his own efforts and ex-
perience, for as a very young man he took up
business life without special training or instruc-
tion, working his way from a subordinate posi-
tion to the independent one which he occupies
to-day. He has seen considerable of western
life, having spent two years as a cowboy in
Mexico before taking up business pursuits, and
has profited by all associations, whether on the
range or his present occupation.

CAPT. CHARLES A. SEABERG. Thor-
oughly acquainted with the sea and all matters of
business connected with it, whether relating to
navigation, commerce or transportation, Capt.
Charles A. Seaberg, of San Diego, is especially
fitted for the responsible position which he holds
with the Spreckles Company as captain on the
Coronado Ferry. Quick-witted, cool-headed and
trustworthy, he performs the duties devolving
upon him in this capacity with ability and fidel-
ity. Large-hearted and generous, by his genial
nature he has won a large circle of friends, and
as a man and a citizen is held in high esteem.
A native of Sweden, he was born May 3, 1861,
in Stockholm, where he received his early edu-
cation. He was the only child of his parents,
August and Brigitta (Sondval) Seaberg, both
of whom spent their entire lives in Sweden, his
father during his lifetime being engaged in the
fishing business and owning a line of boats.

When fourteen years of age Charles A. Sea-
berg shipped as a sailor before the mast, and for
a while was engaged in coasting, both on schoon-
ers and steamers. Going then to England, he
made a voyage to Spain and the West Indies,
after which, sailing from London, he made two
trips to Australia, one trip to China, and one to
\^a!paraiso. South America. Returning to his
native land, he spent the winter at Stockholm,
and then went to Hamburg, where he shipped on
a German vessel for a three years" cruise. Re-
turning to England, he made another trip to
Australia, and from there, in October, 1888,
came to San Francisco to locate. Shipping as
mate on the schooner commanded by his uncle,
Captain .Sondval, ]\Ir. Seaberg was engaged in
sealing for a year. On his return to San Fran-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2009

Cisco he was ill for three months, after which he
made two trips on a coaster. The following
three years he was one of the crew of the
Spreckles yacht, Lurline, on which he came to
San Diego in 1893. Entering then the employ
of the Spreckles Com.pany in this place, he was
for six years purser on the ferry, of which he
has now the sole charge, having served as cap-
tain since 1899.

In 1895, in San Diego, Captain Seaberg mar-
ried Louisa Johnson, who was born and reared in
Sweden. Politically the captain is a stanch Re-
publican, and religiously he is a Lutheran. He
is a member of the Scandinavian Society, and is
identified with several of the leading fraternal
organizations, belonging to Sunset Lodge No.
328, I. O. O. F. ; to San Diego Encampment ; to
San Diego Canton; to the Ancient Order of
United Workmen; and to the Knights of Py-
thias.

FRANCIS PORTER SARGENT. A few
miles out from San Bernardino, on rural route
No. I, Mr. Sargent is successfully engaged in
the bee industry. It is his experience that
this industry may be made one of the most
pleasurable lines of business in which one
can engage, and for nearly twenty years he
has conducted an apiary on the ranch he now
occupies.

Of New England birth and parentage,
Francis P. Sargent was born in Boston, Mass.,
July 14, 1832, a son of Tappan and Sarah
(Bagley) Sargent. Mr. Sargent was a lad in
school when the discovery of gold in Cali-
fornia was heralded throughout the country,
and as soon at it was possible for him to ac-
cumulate the necessary means he started for
the gold fields from New England. After pac-
ing his passage and other expenses via the
Isthmus of Panama he arrived in San Fran-
cisco in 1855 with just $150 in his pocket.
After fourteen years of earnest endeavor on
his part he returned east in 1869 with $40,000
to his credit, all of which he had made in the
mines. Misfortune overtook him, however, in
the form of unwise investments and dishonest
partners, so that his fortune was depleted con-
siderably during the years which he spent
in the east. March of 1887 again found him
a resident of California, for it was at this
time that he came to San Bernardino county
and purchased the property which from that
day to this has been his home. Tliis consists
of twenty-five acres, and bears little resem-
blance to the place which he purchased nearly
two decades ago, for instead of a sand ridge,
which it then was, it is now covered with trees
and shrubs, all fruit bearing, besides which he
has sown considerable alfalfa. Fruit farming.

however, is not Mr. Sargent's principal busi-
ness, the greater part of his attention being
given to the care of his bees, of which he has
one hundred and fifty colonies. Pleasure and
profit are combined in the work in which he
is engaged, and no one in this part of the
county is more thoroughly informed on the
subject of bee culture than Mr. Sargent, for
he has made a scientific study of the subject
and has put his theoretical knowledge into
practical use. In 1888 Mr. Sargent purchased
a tract of one hundred acres one half mile east
of his present place, but this he subsequently
traded for four sections of land in Texas,
which he still owns.

In Greene county, N. Y., Mr. Sargent was
married to Roselyn Hitchcox, a native of New
York. Of the four children born to them we
mention the following: Porter E. is a grad-
uate of Harvard College and is engaged in
touring with classes of boys preparing for
college ; Rose, a musician of note, lives in Red-
lands; Arthur E. is a journalist and publisher
of biographical works, the latter relating more
particularly to Utah and Salt Lake, although
he has also published a work on Los Angeles ;
Alice W. is the wife of William W. Fisher
and lives at the Potter hotel, Santa Barbara.
During young manhood Mr. Sargent joined the
Odd Fellows and for thirty-five years has been
a member of that body. For over thirty years
he has served as an elder in the Presbyterian
Church, with which he also united in earlier
years.

WILLIAM THOMAS BARTON. A man
of fine mental attainments, well educated and well
informed, possessing great artistic talent and abil-
ity, William Thomas Barton is carrying on an
extensive and lucrative business at Long Beach
as a contractor and builder, and is justly entitled
to the honored position which he holds among
the esteemed and influential citizens of this part
of the county. A native of Indiana, he was born
May 22, i860, in Waveland, Montgomery county.
His' father, Robert Barton, a native of Flemings-
burg, Ky.. settled in Indiana when a young man,
and has since been actively employed there in
agricultural pursuits. His wife, whose maiden
name was Mary Groves, was born in Kentucky,
a daughter of Samuel Groves, and died in Indi-
ana. Five children were born of their union, four
of whom are living. William Thomas, the subject
of this sketch, being the oldest child, and the
only one residing on the Pacific coast.

Brought up on the parental homestead, Will-
iam Thomas Barton received his elementary edu-
cation in the district schools, completing it at the
Central Indiana Normal School, in Ladoga. The

2010

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

following eight \ears he was engaged in teaching
in Parke count}-, Ind., being principal of the
schools at Coloma two years, and at Mecca for
the same length of time. Abandoning his profes-
sional career in 1896, he came to Long Beach,
Cal., and for four years worked at the carpenter's
trade, serving as foreman of construction work
for Mr. Green. Embarking in business on his
own account in 1900, he has since been prosper-
ously engaged in contracting and building, and
has acquired a wide and favorable reputation as
a talented and skillful workman. He is a fine
architect, drawing his own designs and making
his own plans, giving much time and thought to
this branch of his business, which is one of the
utmost importance to himself and to his patrons.
In addition to erecting many of the larger and
finer buildings of Long Beach, he has recently
completed the handsome ^larsh & Strong hotel
and pavilion buildings at Alamitos Bay.

In Waveland, Ind., Mr. Barton married Lena
Hunter, who was born and reared in Greencas-
tle, Ind.. and thev are the parents of six children,
namely : Raymond, Mvrtle. Guy, Robert, Leland
and Norma. Politically l\Ir. Barton is actively
identified with the Republican party. Fraternally
he is a member of Long Beach Lodge No. 327,
F. & A. :\I.. and of the Knights of Pythias. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Barton belong to the Christian
Church, being faithful and consistent followers
of its teachings.

JOHN OLHASSO. Amid scenes far re-
moved from the place of his birth and from
the home of his ancestors, Mr. Olhasso is ac-
tively engaged in the raising of sheep in the
Bernardo valley, where he is known as
one of the progressive young ranchers of San
Diego county. Although not a native of the
United States, he has been a resident of this
country almost from the earliest period of his
childhood recollections and is intimately iden-
tified with the agricultural interests of his
home county, where he has lived since early
boyhood. The family of wdiich ,he is an hon-
ored representative came from France. His
parents, Domingo and Fannie (Etchegarry)
Olhasso, were natives of the Pyrenees region
of France and in early life were students in
the schools of the south of France. When
the father was a j-outh of seventeen j^ears he
crossed the ocean to South America and set-
tled in Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic,
where he learned the trade of a butcher and
at a later date became extensively engaged in
the sheep business. On the plains of Argentina
he had a large ranch with two thousand head
of sheep, and for six or more years he carried
on important sheep interests, but finally sold

out in order to remove to California. Both
he and his wife are still living and make their
home in Los Angeles, where two of their four
children 3' et remain with them. The other two
members of the family are engaged in the
sheep business in San Diego county.

While the family were making their home
in Buenos Ayres the gentleman whose name
introduces this article was born November 6,
1877, and he was four years of age when his
parents brought the children to the United
States, settling in California. After a year in
San Francisco the family moved to Santa
Maria and a year later moved to Bernardo.
He received his education in the Escondido
grammar and high schools. On leaving school
he turned his attention to the sheep industry,
in which he received a thorough training under
the experienced supervision of his father, and
for four A-ears the father and son worked in
partnership. At the expiration of that time
the latter bought out his father's interests and
since then has had a brother associated with
him in the work. Starting out for himself in
1902, he has since leased land for a sheep range
and carries two thousand head grazing on the
range. The excellent price of wool has made
the industry profitable for him, in addition to
which he has received fair prices for the mut-
ton when shipped to the large markets. Keen,
capable and resourceful, he has already won
recognition as i rising and progressive young
agriculturist and holds a high position among
the other sheepmen of the country. From
bojdiood he has been identified with the Roman
Catholic Church of Escondido, while his par-
ents are members of the Roman Catholic
Church in Los Angeles. After his father be-
came a citizen of the United States he allied
himself with the Republican party, and the son
was reared in this faith. A careful study of
political problems has deepened his belief in
the wisdom of Republican principles and he
uniformly gives his ballot for the men and
measures pledged to the support of the party
platform.

JAMES A. COBURN. Southern Califor-
nia was little more than a wilderness of wild
mustard and cactus when James A. Cobuni
was born at Elmonte, March 18, 1852. His
father, James M. Coburn, a native of Indiana,
and his mother, formerly Mrs. Lucinda
(Swarthout) Kinyon, born in New York,
crossed the plains to California with the same
train of emigrants, but their marriage did not
take place until after their arrival in 1851.
Immediately after their marriage they settled
in Los Angeles county on a piece of govern-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2011

ment land, upon which they made their home
for two years. Deciding to go further into
the interior of the state, they chose San Ber-
nardino county for their home and purchased
a ranch in this vicinity. Mr. Coburn was a
stanch Democrat, and both he and his wife be-
longed to the Pioneers' Society of Southern
California, and in the early days were active
members of the Church of Latter Day Saints.
The father died in San Bernardino at the age
of seventy-six years, having been preceded by
his wife two years, she being the same age as
he at the time of her demise. They were the
parents of four children, three of whom are
living in San Bernardino county.

James A. Coburn was a young child when
his parents brought him to San Bernardino
count}', in which place he received his edu-
cation and has spent his life thus far. He
worked on the home ranch until twent}'-l\\'o
years old and then, in 1874, was united in
marriage to Miss Euphama Brown, who was
born in Oregon, the daughter of \\'illiam
Brown, an early pioneer of that state. Mr.
Coburn ranched for a time after his marriage,
then took a position as foreman of the rail-
road section for the Southern Pacific, holding
this for eight years. He then decided to re-
turn to the ranch and now has a very nice
property, being the owner of forty-two acres,
forty acres being devoted to the raising of
corn, hay and to pasturage purposes, while
two acres comprise the home lot and is planted
to all kinds of fruits. Mr. Coburn is a Dem-
ocrat in politics and fraternally affiliates with
the lodge of Fraternal Brotherhood at San
Bernardino. Mr. and ^Irs. Coburn have a
family of five children, as follows : Ada, the
wife of George A. Roach, of San Bernardino,
and the mother of one child ; James W., re-
siding at Stockton ; Lovina, Jesse, and Clar-
ence, all of whom still live under the parental
roof. ]\Tr. Coburn has identified himself with
the upbuilding enterprises for this section of
the state and is a man who is held in the Iiigh-
est esteem bv all who know him.

SAMUEL B. McFARLAND. As assistant
postmaster in Avalon Samuel B. McFarland is
one of the best known and most highly respected
citizens of that city. He was born February 8,
1857. in Warrensburg, Mo., the son of Robert
and Elizabeth (Gillam) McFarland, both of
whom were natives of Kentucky. The parents
were married in Lafayette county. Mo., where
Mr. McFarland settled in 1844. becoming a
farmer near Lexington. Making his home there
until iSfio. he then removed to Warrensburg, in
which city he engaged in merchandising. He

died in 1902, at the age of seventy-eight years;
the mother's death occurred in Lafayette county.
The McFarland family is of Scotch descent, the
first member coming from Scotland and settling
in Virginia before the Revolutionary war, in
which the great-grandfather fought. Robert
McFarland, although of southern birth, had
strong Union sympathies at the time of the Civil
war. He and Senator Cockrell were warm
friends from boyhood and were married upon
the same date in the same log house in Mis-
souri. Religiously Mr. McFarland was of Pres-
byterian faith and was one of the founders of
the Cumberland Presbyterian Quirch in War-
rensburg.

The youngest of three children, Samuel B.
McFarland was reared in Warrensburg, re-
ceived a preliminary education in the public
schools of that city, finishing with a course in
the Warrensburg normal-school. After the com-
pletion of his school work he joined his father
in the mercantile business, subsequently becom-
ing sole proprietor and conducting the store
alone for a time. Disposing of his interests
there he removed respectively to Lyons, Kans.,
and Butler, Mo., engaging in the same line of
business. His residence in California dates from
1897, locating originally in Los Angeles, and a
year later accepting a JDoSition as clerk in an
Avalon business house. In 1900 he received the
appointment of deputy postmaster, N. B. Stan-
ton having been the duly appointed postmaster,
and when Edward Stanton was made 'his suc-
cessor Mr. McFarland retained the position of
deputy, having proven himself an efficient and
trustworthy official, a courteous and obliging
public servant.

By his marriage in Qinton, Henry county,
Mo., in 1900, Mr. McFarland was united with
Emma Buck, a native of that place. Her father,
Thomas Buck, was born in London, England,
and came to the United States when twenty-two
years of age, settling in Missouri, where he se-
cured a piece of raw land, improved it and en-
gaged in farming, ultimately acquiring a large
acreage in Butler county. Mrs. McFarland, who
was one of eight children, received a very fine
education, graduating from the Warrensburg
(Mo.) State Normal in 1887 with the degree of
B. S. D. She began her educational work in
Ballard, Mo., serving for several years as head
of the schools of that city, and in 1898 was
elected principal of the Avalon schools, and was
the real organizer of the grammar schools of
Catalina. She began teaching in a small rnom
in the hack of the Congregational Gnirch, there
being about thirty pupils. In T90I the new
school building was erected and she verv mate-
riallv assisted in the plannine of the structure.
After retaining the principalship for si.x years.

2012

HISTORICAI. AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

during which time the attendance had grown to
an enrollment of eighty-five, she resigned her
position in 1904 to become clerk in the Avalon
postoffice. She is universally admired for her
superior qualities of heart and mind and is ac-
tive in social and club circles, being at the pres-
ent time president of the Avalon Women's
Club. She is the mother of one child, Robert
Victor. Fraternally Mr. McFarland was made
a Mason in Lyons, Kans., still retaining his
membership in the lodge there, also belongs to
the Royal Arch Masons in Sterling, Kans., and
is a member of the Knights of Honor. Polit-
ically he is an advocate of the principles em-
braced in the platform of the Democratic party.
He is greatly interested in the development of
the city in which he resides and lends his lib-
eral support to the furthering of all upbuilding
enterprises.

DAVID BUESSER. Until selling his
property in February, 1906, Mr. Buesser was
prosperously engaged as a horticulturist at
North Glendale, where he improved a valuable
ranch. As an orchardist he met with satis-
factory results, year by year adding to his
wealth. Since selling his ranch he has made
his home in Glendale, where he has purchased
property. A native of Germany, he was born
in Wetzlar, Prussia, where his parents, David
and Elizabeth (Rau) Buesser, spent their en-
tire lives.

Having completed the prescribed course of
study in the public schools, David Buesser
learned the trade of a harness-maker, after
which he served four years in the Ninth Hus-
sar Cavalry. When the Franco-Prussian war
was declared; in 1870, he was in Belgium, but
prompted by love of the Kaiser and the Father-
land, like all true sons of Germany, he re-
turned home, and for five months served as a
cavalryman in the corps of Reservists, being
stationed in Cassel. When a young man he
traveled extensively in Europe, being in Paris
from 1863 until 1866, going from there to
Belgium, where he conducted a large busi-
ness, being foreman for a widow, whose hus-
band he had previously worked for. Both as a
patriotic soldier and as an honest, conscien-
tious business man. he made a splendid record
while living in his native country. In the
army, he was promoted to the first grade for
his good conduct and bravery, and has now
his certificates from two nations.

Leaving Belgium May 12, 1872, Mr. Buesser
crossed the Atlantic with his wife, landing in
Boston, Mass., and from there going to New
York City, where he worked for six months.
Subsequently visiting his brother, Rev. F.

Buesser, in St. Peter, Minn., he spent a year in
that place, and then accompanied his brother
to Cleveland, Ohio, where he established
himself, following his trade there for eleven
years. In June, 1884, he came to California
in search of a favorable opening for business.
Selecting Los Angeles as a place of residence,
he purchased a house on Bunker Hill avenue
and lived there two years, being in the mean-
time employed as foreman for George Peachy,
a harness manufacturer, who is now living in
Redondo. Deciding then to try a change of
occupation, he bought a ranch of twenty-one
acres at Hollywood, and after managing it
four months sold out to Mr. Wilcox, taking in
exchange an orange grove and peach orchard
at North Glendale, where he resided until sell-
ing oitt in February, 1906. He improved the
property with a fine residence, which, with
other improvements, cost him $4,000. In 1895
he sold ten acres of his ranch and was en-
gaged in raising oranges and apricots on the
remainder, meeting with signal success in his
undertakings. As has been previously stated
he sold his property in February, 1906, and
has since resided in Glendale, where he has
erected a modern cottage on Central avenue,
in which he has since lived.

Previous to coming to this country, in Ver-
viers, Belgium, Mr. Buesser married Louisa
Hoch, a native of Alsace, France, and she has
proved herself a true helpmeet to him at all
times. Mr. and Mrs. Buesser have never had
children of their own, but they adopted two,
a little girl, who lived only a few years, and a
boy, Frank Gustav Buesser, an especially
bright and attractive child, who was acci-
dentally killed when nine years and six rhonths
old. Mr. Buesser is a man of high moral prin-
ciples, and with his wnie is a consistent mem-
ber of the Evangelical Church.

WILLIAM JESSE CURTIS, is the eldest
son of Hon. I. C. and Lucy M. Curtis ; his
father was a prominent member of the bar of
Marion county, Iowa, for many years, and
represented that county in the state legislature
for several terms. His mother is the daughter
of Jesse L. Holman, one of the early justices
of the supreme court of the state of Indiana,
and a sister of Hon. William S. Holman, who
for more than thirty years was a member of
congress from that state.

Mr. Curtis was born in Aurora, Ind., on
the 2nd day of .August, 1838. In 1844 he moved
with his parents to the then territory of Iowa
and settled in Marion county, near the present
city of Pella. He was educated at the Central
Universitv of Iowa, studied law in his father's

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2313

■office, was admitted to the bar in 1863, and
became a partner of his father. In 1861 he
married Miss Frances S. Cowles, of Delaware,
Ohio. In 1864 he crossed the plains with ox
and mule teams, came to California and set-
tled in the city of San Bernardino, where he
has resided ever since. The first five years
after his arrival in California he devoted to
teaching school. In January, 1872, he opened
a law office in the city of San Bernardino.
In 1873 he was elected district attorney of
San Bernardino countv and was re-elected in

1875-

^Ir. Curtis has been associated at different
times during the practice of his profession
with Judge H. C. Rolfe. Hon. J. W. Satter-
white, Judge George E. Otis and Judge F. F.
Oster, and is now associated with his son,
Jesse W. Curtis. The various firms with which
he has been connected all occupied prominent
positions at the bar of Southern California,
and were retained in many important civil
cases tried in San Bernardino county, and fre-
cjuently in cases tried in adjoining counties,
and the United States circuit and district
courts. He is now and has been one of the
directors of the San Bernardino County Sav-
ings Bank ever since its organization. He
is also engaged in growing and shipping
oranges, and he and his son Holman have one
of the finest and largest orange groves on the
Colton Terrace, about midway between the
city of San Bernardino and the town of Rialto.

^Ir. Curtis has always taken an interest in
matters pertaining to the welfare of the city,
county and state, and especially in the subject
of education, and served for a number of years
as president of the city board of education.
He is president of the bar association of the
county, and one of the trustees of the law
librarv.

FREDRICH JOEHNCK. The Joehnck
family formerly flourished in Schleswig-Hol-
stein, the ancestral home being at Eckernforde,
not far distant from the Kiel canal that brings
the waters of the North sea into navigable con-
nection with those of the Baltic. Claus was
the first of the family to emigrate from the
old world and he became a farmer in Clinton
county, Iowa, where he and his wife both died
at the age of ninety-three years. In religion
both were faithful adherents of the Lutheran
denomination. Their son, Henry, was born at
Eckernforde, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany,
and was a youth of eighteen years when the
family sought the lareer opportunities offered
bv America. Shortly afterward lie became a
pioneer in what is now Grand Island. Neb.,

where he participated in numerous struggles
with hostile Indians and proved himself as
brave as he was enterprising. By wise manage-
ment he has acquired the possession of several
farms near Grand Island and now gives his
attention to their supervision. In politics he
is a Republican.

After -coming to the United States and se-
curing the means necessary for the establish-
ment of a home, Henry Joehnck married Mar-
gareta Goos, who was born in Kappaln, Schles-
wig, Germany, and at the age of eleven years
came to America with her parents and settled
in Scott county, Iowa. She still survives and
is hale and hearty in spite of her sixty-six
years of active life. All of her ten children are
living, there being six sons and four daugh-
ters, all married, of whom Fredrich was sec-
ond in order of birth. On the home farm near
Grand Island, Neb., he was born April 15,
1862, and there he passed the uneventful years
of boyhood. After having completed common-
school studies he began to learn the trade of
a brick-layer in Grand Island, and on the com-
pletion of his apprenticeship he went to Den-
ver, Colo., to work at the trade. From there
he came to Southern California, arriving at
Los Angeles March i, 1891, and immediately
securing employment at his trade. For some
years he worked by the day or by contract in
that city, but in 1898 he came to Oxnard to
work under Carl Leonardt in the construction
of the American Beet Sugar Company's plant.
The following year he embarked in the manu-
facture of brick, having his first yard on the
Savier road, but later removing to Montalvo,
where he has a yard of four acres furnishing
a fine quality of clay for the manufacture of
brick. The plant has a capacity of about one
million brick per year. In addition to manu-
facturing brick he takes contracts for brick
work and has furnished the material used in
practicall}- all of the brick buildings in Ox-
nard.

The residence which Mr. Joehnck erected on
First street, Oxnard, and which he still owns,
is presided over by his wife, formerly Miss
Annie C. Mumm, of Denver, Colo. Mrs.
Joehnck's father, Detlef, is a prominent citizen
of Hohn, Schleswig-Holstein, and for years
has been intimately identified with the Luth-
eran Church there as its secretary and treas-
urer. His daughter was born July 4, 1864, in
Schleswig-Holstein and was reared in the
Lutheran faith, to which she adheres with the
utmost loyalty, and in which she is training
her only child, Henry Detlef Joehnck, who
was born July 4, 1896. During the period of
his residence in Colorado Mr. Joehnck was
initiated into the Independent Order of Odd

2014

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Fellows in Denver Lodge No. 14, but since
then has transferred his membership to Ox-
nard Lodge No. 89, 1. U. O. F., and in addi-
tion, with his wife, he affiliates with the Order
of Rebekahs. For some time he has been ac-
tive in the work of the Sons of Herman and
formerly held the office of president, in which
position he accomplished much for the upbuild-
ing of the order.

GEORGE P. LYMAN. The Lyman family,
represented in Long Beach by George P. Lyman,
a successful real estate dealer of this city, was
established in Massachusetts by Richard Lyman,
an Englishman wiio located at Northampton dur-
ing the colonial period of our history. Succeed-
ing generations flourished in that location,
whence Samuel Lyman, a farm.er by occupation,
removed to Illinois in 1856 and in the vicinity
of Onarga, Iroqtiois county, passed the remain-
der of his life. By marriage he allied his for-
tunes with those of another old and honored
family of New England, his wife being in maid-
enhood Lucetta Burt, who was born in Massa-
chusetts and died in Illinois. They were the
parents of the following children : Samuel Burt,
who served as sergeant in the First Pennsylvania
Rifles (known os the old Bucktail regiment)
during the Civil war, was taken prisoner, but
survived the horrors of incarceration and re-
turned to civic )ife at the close of hostilities, his
death occurring eventually in Minnesota : John
D., who served in the Twenty-fifth Regiment,
Illinois Infantry, and died in 1862 at Benton-
ville. Ark. ; George P., of this review ; and Ed-
ward M., a native of Massachusetts, who en-
gaged in farming in Illinois until 1894, when he
came to California and in Covina engaged in the
cultivation of oranges. In 1901 he located in
Long Beach and has since engaged in the real-
estate business with his brother.

George P. Lyman was also a loyal soldier dur-
ing theCivil war. His birth occurred in South-
ampton, Mass.. January 29, 1843, but he was a
resident of Illinois at the time of the breaking
out of the Civil war, having been taken to that
state by his parents in 1856. His education was
received in the common schools of Illinois and
the Grand Prairie Seminary at Onarga, after
which he farmed until 1864, when he enlisted
in Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth
Regiment, Illinois Infantry. Mustered in at Chi-
cago, he served in Missouri and Kentucky for a
period of six months, when he was honorably
discharged and returned again to civic pursuits.
He again engaged in farming, establishing a
home in 1866, when he married in Massachusetts
Helen M. Searle, of that state. In 1869 he sold
his farm and enaged in the hardware and lum-

ber business in Roberts, Ford county, III, for a
period of fifteen years. Disposing of these in-
terests in 1884 he came to California, and in
Pasadena engaged in the same enterprise, the
firm being known as Lyman & Stevens, one of
the most extensive hardware stores on Colorado
street. This engaged his attention for the ensu-
ing two years, when he sold out and became
connected with the Pasadena Milling Company.
In the meantime, in 1887, he became interested
in the real estate business in Pasadena, and this
interest led liim, in 1901, to locate in Long Beach,
where with his brother he established the firm
of Lyman Brothers & Rowe. Their enterprise
has resulted in much material development for
Long Beach, one of their most extensive move-
ments being the platting of the Wilson & Ly-
man's subdivision of six acres on East Fourth
street. Mr. L)^man has erected a fine residence
on American avenue, while his brother has built
five houses in Long Beach in the last five years.

The death of Mr. Lyman's first wife occurred
in Pasadena, Cal., June 2, 1896. In Long Beach,
^larch 16, 1904, he was united in marriage with
Aliss Isabelle E. Rowe, a native of Illinois. Mr.
Lyman is a member of the John F. Godfrey Post
No. 93, G. A. R., of Pasadena. He is a stanch
Republican in national politics, although locally
he is far too loyal a citizen to give his support
to any man or measure that in his judgment is
not best calculated to advance the general wel-
fare. He is a member of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church in his religious affiliations. Mr.
Lyman takes a lively interest in public affairs,
exerting his influence as a member of the Cham-
ber of Commerce, is liberal and enterprising to
an unusual degree and is looked upon as repre-
sentative of the best type of citizenship by those
who have known him throughout his residence in
Southern California.

JOHN GOELZ. The care exercised in the
discharge of all duties connected with his oc-
cupation proves Mr. Goelz to be the possessor
of qualities admirably adapting him to work
where skill, accuracy and efficiency are the
principal essentials. Doubtless his natural en-
dowments made the development of these
qualities possible, and probably also their pres-
ence in his character is due to the excellent
training he received during the period of his
apprenticeship in the formative period of his
career. German masters have a reputation for
the careful training of their apprentices, and
those who have been under their oversight
usually possess the requisite preparation for
practical success.

Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, is the native
place of Air. Goelz, and Octoljer 6, 1869, the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2015

date of his birth, he being the fifth son among
nine children, all of whom still survive. His
parents. Walter and Eliza Goelz, were born,
reared and married in Hesse-Darmstadt, and
the mother died there in middle age. The father
who still remains in that part of Germany, fol-
lowed farm pursuits and the grain business dur-
ing the active period of his life, but now is
retired from business responsibilities. At the
age of fourteen years John Goelz was taken
from school and apprenticed to the trade of a
cabinet-maker, at which he served the full pe-
riod. When he was seventeen years old he
came to the United States and settled in Los
Angeles, where he followed his trade for two
years. At the expiration of that time he be-
gan to be interested in the cement business,
working in the employ of various contractors.

On coming to Oxnard in 1898 Mr. Goelz en-
tered the employ of Carl Leonardt and assisted
in the construction of the American Beet Sugar
factory. Four 3'ears later in 1902 he became
superintendent of the cement works at Ox-
nard owned by Mr. Leonardt, which position
he has since filled with the utmost skill and en-
ergy'. Since coming to Oxnard he has erected
a residence on the corner of Fifth and D streets,
and here he and his wife, with their three chil-
dren, Emil, Lena and Gusta, have a comforta-
ble and attractive home. Mrs. Goelz was for-
merly Mary Otto and at an early age left Ger-
many, her native land, for the United States,
settling in Los Angeles, where she married and
for some years made her home. Reared in the
Lutheran faith, she adheres to that belief and
contributes to the missionary enterprises and
general support of that denomination. Though
not active in politics, Mr. Goelz has pronounced
opinions upon all questions of national import-
ance and gives his support to the Democratic
party in local and general elections. Fraternal-
ly he holds membership with the Sons of Her-
mann, in which order he holds official position.
To those with whom business dealings have
brought him in contact he has a reputation
for energy, careful judgment and prompt dis-
patch of work, and his presence in Oxnard adds
another to the list of the city's skilled work-
men.

ANDREW YOUNG may be classed as one
of the old settlers of Wilmington, Cal, and has
for many years been in the employ of the Wil-
mington Transportation Company as superin-
tendent of engineers, a most valued and trusted
employe. His father, also named Andrew
Young, was a native of Ayrshire and with his
family came to. Canada, settling near Quebec.
He was a flax-dresser b\- trade and followed that

occupation at La Prairie, Quebec, and later at
Champlain, N. Y., where they resided for a time.
He enlisted and served as a member of a Cana-
dian company during the Rebellion in Canada,
and died at Sherbrooke, Quebec. His mother,
Jane Fenton, was a native of Montrose, Scot-
land. The family came of Presbyterian stock on
both sides of the house and their children were
brought up in that denominational faith. There
were four children in the family, three daughters
and one son, all still living.

Andrew Young is the only son and second
child in his father's family. He was born at
La Prairie, Quebec, Canada, October 24, 1849.
Soon after bis birth the family removed to Cham-
plain, N. Y., where he attended the public
schools, and when the family returned to Canada
he continued school at Sherbrooke. When he
was sixteen years of age he was apprenticed to
learn the machinist trade in a large machine shop
at Sherbrooke. In 1870, when he was twenty
years of age. having served his term of appren-
ticeship and mastered the trade, he went to Bay
Citv. Mich., and procured employment at the
McDowell Iron works. In 1874 he returned to
Sherbrooke and the following year, 1875, inar-
ried Carrie Kent, a native of that place.

The western country seemed to hold out in-
ducements for the voung couple to leave their
old home, and in the year of their marriage they
came to California. Mr. Young obtained em-
ployment with the Fulton Iron works at San
Francisco, but only remained in their employ six
months. With the idea that he would be better
suited he went to Seattle, Wash., and engaged
with the Seattle Transportation Company as ma-
chinist and engineer, continuing with them until
1878, when he returned to San Francisco and
for two years was chief engineer of tow-boats
on the bay. In t88o he came to Wilmington and
went to work for the transportation company as
chief engineer on their steamers in San Pedro
bay. One year later, 1881, the company pro-
moted him by giving him charge of the ma-
chinery and making him superintendent of en-
gineers. For many years the company's shops
were at Wilmington, but in 1903 they moved
tliem to San Pedro. I\Ir. Young retains his po-
sition with the company, though his home is at
Wilmington.

Mr. Young is thorough master of his line of
work and the years he has remained in the em-
ploy of the company with whom he is now en-
gaged attest their appreciation of his services.
He is a man of sterling worth and integrity of
character and has gained the respect of the
people in whatever community he made his home.
In politics he is a Republican; in religion, the
family are Presbyterians, following thecreed of
their fathers and maintaining: the faith thev were

2016

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

brought up in. Their family consists of six chil-
dren. Mabel, George Andrew (apprenticed ma-
chinist in Los Angeles), Phineas Banning, Fen-
ton Kent, Carrie Amelia and Hudson Lawrence.
Mr. Young has been a member of the Masonic
order for many years, having taken his degrees
in Victoria Lodge, Sherbrooke, Canada. Both
Mr. and J\Irs. Young are members of the East-
ern Star at San Pedro. He is a member of Wil-
mington Lodge No. 198, F. & A. M., and has
served as master four terms. He is a member
and past grand of Bowen Lodge 138, I. O. O. F.,
of San Pedro, and is also a member of the Be-
nevolent, Protective Order of Elks. He has been
a member of the Marine Association of San
Francisco since 1882.

CHARLES WILLIAM LONGMIRE. In
1896, when Charles William Longmire estab-
lished his present livery business in Highland,
it was on a very small scale, with three horses
and a little frame building. Gradually but stead-
ily the business grew, however, and now, with
a line brick barn 37x105 feet in dimensions, -twen-
ty first-class driving horses and numerous new
and up-to-date rigs, some of them with rubber
tires, he conducts one of the most extensive liv-
ery enterprises in this section of the state. For
several generations Tennessee has been the an-
cestral home of the Longmire family and it was
in Anderson county, that state, that both
Charles William and his father, Rufus Albert
Longmire, were born. The last named was a
son of Reuben Moss and Elizabeth (Wallace)
Longmire, and was reared on a farm near Clin-
ton, on the Tennessee river, in the vicinity of
which place he obtained an education in the pub-
lic schools. In that place and the adjoining
county he lived until 1883, when he came to
California, arriving in Highland on January 4.
He began ranching immediately upon his arri-
val in the state and in 1887 made his first pur-
chase of land, securing ten acres on the Base
line road at $60 per acre. Upon this land he
raised potatoes until he purchased his present
ranch of ten acres, when he sold the former
place. This latter property was unimproved,
and its present fine condition is entirely the re-
sult of the personal efforts of Mr. Longmire.
The grove of over a thousand naval orange trees
and a few lemons was grown from seeds plant-
ed by him. He also erected the present nine-
room residence and substantial barn, the build-
ings being located on the corner of Bolder and
Highland avenues. In 1905 the ranch yielded a
net income of $100 per acre.

Reuben M. Longmire's marriage, January i,
1868, united him with Mary Elizabeth, daughter
of Charles and Selitha (Moore) Shinliver. Her

father died in 1857, and her mother in 1896, at
the age of seventy-six years. Mr. and Mrs.
Longmire are both of German-Scotch descent.
They became the parents of seven children:
Ida Ann, now the wife of Charles Hadden, of
Highland; Lassie, who died at the age of nine-
teen years and is buried in San Bernardino;
Mattie Elizabeth, who married John Coy, of
Highland; Charles William, a resident of High-
land and the subject of this sketch; Kittie, the
wife of Frank Cram, of East Highland ; Maggie,
who died when nineteen 3'ears old and is buried
in San Bernardino; and James E., who lives
under the parental roof.

Born May 30, 1873, Qiarles William Long-
mire was ten years of age when he was brought
by his parents to Highland, and his education
was obtained in the common schools here. Aft-
er completing his studies he stayed with his
father on the ranch for a time and later en-
gaged in the butchering business in Messina for
two years. Subsequently he returned home, re-
maining with his father for a couple of seasons,
and in May, 1896, he located in Highland and
established his present business, in 1904 build-
ing the new brick barn. Fraternally ^Ir. Long-
mire is a member of the Knights of Pythias
lodge of Highland, and politically, like his fa-
ther, is a stanch Democrat. On February 11,
1902, he was united in marriage with Catherine
(T^Ialoney) Bell, the widow of Albert Bell and
daughter of Michael and Jennie (Shirtey) Ma-
loney, and of this union one child, Vivian Lu-
cile, was born April i, 1904.

JOSEPH H. KELLY. An early pioneer in
San Bernardino county and one of the largest
and most substantial ranchmen in the county
is Joseph H. Kelly, who owns and operates a
ranch of four hundred acres, which is devoted
to grain and stock-raising, he being especially
interested in the breeding of fine horses. He has
been in the horse business for about forty years,
and holds the distinction of having trained the
first race horse ever tracked in San Bernardino
county. Besides twenty high grade brood mares
he now owns three valuable stallions — Bolock,
of the famous stock of Zolock ; a large draft
horse named Mascot ; and a French coach named
Qiarlatan. In 1876 he built a race track on his
ranch, which was the first one in the county,
and from that was organized the present rac-
ing course. The first horse, ^'alentine, he ever
trained for track purposes was entered in twen-
ty-seven races and took money twenty-six times.
This horse was finally sold and taken to Austra-
lia and there defeated Fritz, who had challenged
any trotter or pacer in the world.

The birth of Mr. Kelly occurred in Hancock

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2017

county, 111., July 28, 1842, he being the son of
Joseph and Matilda (Hull) Kelly, the former's
birth having occurred in Ohio, and his death in
Utah ; the latter was a native of Illinois, in which
state her death also occurred. There were five
children in the family, and Joseph H. has now
but one brother living, his home being in Ne-
vada. Mr. Kelly was taken by his father to
Utah in an early day and when a young man of
twenty he pushed his own way still further
west, coming to San Bernardino county, Cal.
He bought land from the larger ranchers and
has ever since been engaged in agricultural pur-
suits and stock-raising. Mr. Kelly's first mar-
riage took place in 1866, uniting him with Sarah
Keller, a native of California, who died ten years
later, leaving five children, namely : Arthur,
Nathan and Hazen, all of whom are married :
Hiram, who is single, and the daughter, Druzel-
la, is the widow of Benjamin Arthur. In 1880
Mr. Kelly married Alfretta Dewitt, born in Cal-
ifornia, and she too has become the mother of
five children, Harold, Ernest, Nettie, Harry and
Pearl. While he is a believer in Republican
principles he exercises considerable independ-
ence in the casting of his ballot, believing that
men are as important as measures in the gov-
ernment of the country. He is a member of the
Elks of Redlands.

JACOB POLHEMUS. A pioneer of Col-
ton, Jacob Polhemus, now deceased, came to this
city in 1875, when the only buildings in the place
were a saloon and eating house, and the Pioneer
lumber yard office. A carpenter and builder by
trade, he was employed in the erection of the
pioneer buildings of Colton, among them be-
ing the Hathaway and Davenport store, which
was the first one established here. In 1877 he
purchased lots on the corner of Eighth and I
streets, on which he built his residence and shop.
As the city grew this location became valuable
and in 1886 he erected the well-known Polhe-
mus block, a fine two-story structure devoted
to business and office purposes, the building be-
ing the first one of brick erected in Colton. He
was a strong and liberal supporter of the vari-
ous development enterprises instituted from time
to time and became a stockholder and one of
the original incorporators of the Colton Build-
ing and Loan Association, which has done so
much to encourage improvement in the city. In
his business enterprises he was successful and
secured a modest, though well-deserved, com-
petency, and his methods in his dealings were
of a manly and straightforward character that
secured him hosts of friends and gained for him
the highest respect of the community.

The birth of Mr. Polhemus occurred in New

Jersey in 1822, both his parents, Theodorus and
Leah (Cooper) Polhemus, being natives of the
same state and descended from old colonial fam-
ilies from Holland. The son was reared and
educated in New Jersey, where he early learned
the carpenter's trade, engaging in it as' an occu-
pation for twenty years in Jersey City. It was in
1871 that the attractions of California irresist-
ibly appealed to Mr. Polhemus and he decided
to settle in that state. His first location was in
San Francisco, where he remained but a few
months, however, soon coming to Southern Cal-
ifornia. He settled successively at San Diego,
Los Angeles and San Bernardino, and in 1875
established himself in Colton, where his death
occurred December 12, 1889. Politically he was
a stanch Republican, having been a supporter of
that party from the time of its organization in
1856. He was strong and liberal in his support
of churches and schools, being a member of the
Baptist Church, and serving as treasurer of the
society in Colton.

By his first marriage Mr. Polhemus was unit-
ed with Miss Jane Tier in 1843. She died in
1870, leaving three children: Lizzie, now the
wife of Frank D. Sweetser, of San Francisco;
George, a resident of Plainfield, N. J. ; and Will-
iam, living in Colton. In 1879 he married Mrs.
Lucretia (Ford) Bent, who was born in Florida,
N. Y., in 1826. Her early ancestors were from
Holland and settled in New Amsterdam on Man-
hattan Island. When seven years of age her
parents removed to Rochester, in which city she
was educated, and at the age of sixteen years
was married to Heman J. Spring. They lived
on a farm in New York for a little over three
years, and in 1846 moved to Fox Lake, Wis.,
later returning to New York. Mr. Spring held
the position of depot agent at Millers Corner for
a number of years. Resigning that position he
again went to Wisconsin, from which state he
enlisted in Company E of the Twenty-ninth
Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, and was killed
on the battlefield. There were three sons born
of this union: DeLos A., born December 31,
1845, was married to Eunice Mallory, a native
of Savannah, Ga. He made his home in Georgia
until his health began to fail, when he came to
California and died in Colton at the age of thirty-
eight years. He left a widow and three children,
who returned to their native state after his death.
DeLos Spring served three years in the Civil
war, having enlisted in the same regiment with
his father when seventeen years of age. Adol-
phus D. Spring, born January 8, 1848, married
Miss Sarah Wright, has three children and re-
sides in Colton, where he is a city electrican. By-
ron L. Spring married Clara M. Washburn, has
one child, and lives in Madison, Wis. About
four years after the death of Mr. Spring his

2018

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

widow was married to Joseph Bent, who was
accidentally drowned in Fox Lake, Wis. In
1876 Mrs. Bent came to Colton, and three years
later was united in marriage with ilr. Polhe-
mus. After ten years of happy married life,
death removed a devoted husband and a man
loved and respected by all who knew him. ]\Irs.
Polhemus died December 7, 1906, at the home
of her son in Colton. She was noted for her
kindness and generosity and had a host of
friends.

GEORGE B. MacGILLIVRAY. The prin-
cipal of the grammar schools of Ramona is a
member of a Canadian family and a descendant
of Scotch ancestry. Both of his parents, John
and Catherine (Groat) AlacGillivray, were born
in the village of Kirkwall, in the north of Scot-
land, and the paternal forefathers had been
identified with that country as far back as the
genealogy can be traced. The maternal an-
cestors, however, originally came from the con-
tinent of Europe, for the maternal grandfather,
Robert Groat, was a descendant of one of three
brothers bearing the name of de Grotia, who
left Denmark in the sixteenth century and
established the family on the shores of Scot-
land. During their early life the parents
crossed the ocean to Canada and settled at
Smith Falls, Ontario, where their marriage
was solemnized and where they settled upon a
farm. The mother never left that province and
died there in 1883, at the age of fifty-seven years.
Seven years after her demise the father departed
from the scenes familiar to him since early youth
and sought the milder climate of California, set-
tling in San Diego county near the village of
Alpine, where he now lives at the age of eighty-
seven, in fairly good health.

While the family were living at Smith Falls,
Ontario, a son was born May 12, i860, and he
it is who forms the subject of this narrative and
who is known as the efficient principal of the
Ramona grammar school. Primarily educated in
country schools near the home farm, he was not
satisfied with the extent of the opportunities
there afforded and sought something more
broadening and thorough. With that object in
view he matriculated in the Collegiate Institute
of Smith. Falls and there carried on the regular
course of study, graduating with the class of
1882. Afterward he taught in Canadian schools
for three years, and with the money earned by
this period of work he paid his expenses in the
Ottawa normal school, from which he was grad-
uated in the fall of 1888 with an excellent stand-
ing for scholarship nnd knowledge of pedagog>'.

Immediatelv after completing the normal
school course of study Mr. MacGillivray left

Canada for the United States and settled in San
Diego county, where at once he secured a posi-
tion as teacher in the Japilna district. The ex-
cellence of his work and the satisfaction afforded
patrons of the school by his services may be
proved by the statement that he remained for
ten years the teacher of the same school, eventu-
ally resigning in order to accept his present posi-
tion, at which time he removed from Descanso
to Ramona. Coincident with his removal he sold
his ranch in the former neighborhood. His cozy
home in Ramona is presided over by his wife,
with whom he was united at Los Angeles Jan-
uary 13, 1896, and who was formerly Miss M.
W. True, descended from New England an-
cestry and a native of Sherbrooke, province of
Quebec. Of their union two children were born
namely: Laura Belle, whose birth occurred in
1899, and F. True, born in 1904.

Ever since becoming a citizen of the United
States Professor MacGillivray has voted with
the Democratic party, but at no time has he dis-
played partisanship of spirit, and his interest in
politics is that of the public-spirited citizen, not
the office-seeker. Both he and his wife were
reared imder wholesome and sincere religious in-
fluences and both are believers in the doctrines
of Christianity, his sympathies being with the
doctrines of the Presbyterian Qiurch, while she
is an attendant at the Congregational Qiurch.
For some years both have been interested in the
work of the Eastern Star and have been active
in the local chapter, while he also maintains rela-
tionship with San Diego Lodge No. 35, F. &
A. M., and is further identified with the Ancient
Order of Foresters No. 8520, at Ramona, and
Sunset Lodge No. 328, I. O. O. F., in San Diego.

F. MORETTI. In no countr\^ in the world
has the art of dairying been brought to the point
of perfection more truly than in Switzerland,
and of those trained in the art under native skies
none is more thorough or painstaking than F.
Moretti, who owns and manages one of the
finest dairies in San Diego county. On his
ranch of two thousand acres in close proximity
to Santa Ysabel he has two hundred and
sixty cows, in the care of which he employs ten
men throughout the year. A market for the
cream is found in San Diego and the butter
sells readily in the home market. With the ex-
ception of the land necessary to grow hay and
grain for the cattle, the entire acreage is given
over to grazing.

As has already been intimated, Mr. Moretti
is a native of Switzerland, born January 18, 1872,
a son of Antona and Martinoia (Domenica)
Moretti. natives also of the same country. The
father died at the age of fifty-two years, but the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGFL\PHICAL RECORD.

2019

mother is still in the enjoyment of good health
and is now in her fifty-fifth year. Of the seven
children comprising the parental family two are
in California, our subject and Philip, who is now
attending the business college in San Diego.

Mr. jMoretti set sail from Switzerland in 1888,
when little more than a lad, and landed in New
York city a stranger, unfamiliar with the lan-
guage and customs of his new home. His idea
was to settle in the west, and he soon made his
way to the Pacific coast. The first employment
which he was able to secure was in the marine
service in San Francisco, three years later be-
coming interested in the dairy business in Santa
Cruz county. Eleven years in that locality was
the means of giving him a well-rounded know-
ledge of the soil and climate, as well as proving to
him his ability to manage successfully a business
of larger magnitude. Coming to San Diego coun-
ty, he selected and purchased his present ranch
of two thousand acres, and the substantial bus-
iness of which he is now the head is his as the
result of principles rightly applied and a care-
ful guard over details.

Fraternally Mr. Moretti belongs to the Odd
Fellows lodge at Santa Cruz and to the lodge
of Foresters at Julian. He has made a study of
the principles laid down in the platforms of the
two great political parties and his decision is in
favor of the Republican party. His religious
training in boyhood was in the Catholic Church.
to whose teachings be has always adhered, and
he worships in the church of that denomination
in Santa Ysabel.

CAPT. ALBERT A. POLHAMUS. Active-
ly identified with the valuable government im-
provements that have been made along the South-
ern California coast line is Capt. A. A. Polha-
mus. A man of great intelligence and with ex-
ceptional mechanical ability, as a government
contractor he has built many large breakwaters
on the Pacific coast. A thorough master of his
business, faithful to the trusts reposed in him,
and strictly honest in all hi^ dealings, the cap-
tain has won well-deserved success in his ca-
reer, and the respect in which he is held gives
evidence of his upright and manly life.

Albert Polhamus was born October i, 1837,
in Albany, N. Y. He is of thrifty Holland an-
cestry, being a direct descendant of the immi-
grant ancestor, Johannes Polhaemus, who came
from Holland in 1660 with his friend, Peter
Stuyvesant, the last of the Dutch governors, and
settled in what is now Brooklyn, Ijeing the first
minister of that city.

Another Johannes Polhamus, a descendant
many generations removed from the first an-
cestor, was the grandfather of Albert Polhamus.

This Johannes Polhamus was born in New York
and for many years had charge of vessels sail-
ing on the Hudson river. His son, Isaac Pol-
hamus, father of Albert Polhamus, succeeded to
the occupation in which he was reared. For
many years he was captain of sailing boats on
the Hudson river and after the steamboat was
invented he sailed on the Paragon, the third
steamer that was ever built. Isaac Polhamus
married Agnes McQueen, a native of Scotland,
a woman of excellent education. To this mar-
riage there were born eight children, the young-
est son being Albert, with whom this sketch is
concerned.

Brought up in Albany, N. Y., Albert A. Pol-
hamus was educated in the public schools, and
at the Albany Academy. From boyhood he was
familiar with boating in all of its phases. In-
terested particularly in mechanical pursuits, he
studied engineering and at the age of seventeen
years was made assistant engineer of an ocean
steamer. He followed the sea in that capacity
for a number of years and in i860 came through
the Straits of Magellan to California as engineer
on the steamer Granada.

The Granada was to have run between San
Francisco and Panama in opposition to the
Pacific mail steamers, and Albert Polhamus was
to have been chief engineer. After performing
her long journey in safety the Granada was
run on the rocks by the pilot in charge while
entering the Golden Gate, and completely
wrecked.

In November, i860, at the urgent request of
General Banning, Mr. Polhamus came from San
Francisco to Wilmington to assist in starting a
traction engine, which the general had purchased
for the purpose of hauling trains of provision
wagons across the desert to Arizona in fulfill-
ing army contracts. Mr. Polhamus did not suc-
ceed with the steam wagon and the project was
abandoned by Banning. The friendship then
formed between the two men was destined to
be of long standing, as Mr. Polhamus stayed
with General Banning for the next twenty-four
years, first as engineer, then as master of his
steamers, and afterwards for many years as one
of the superintendents of Banning's Transporta-
tion Company of Wilmington and San Pedro.
In 1884 Captain Polhamus entered into a
manufacturing business, but this not proving
successful he removed, four years later, to San
Diego, where he accepted the positions of su-
perintendent of the Coronado Beach Ferry Com-
pany and of Spreckles Brothers Ballast Com-
pany.

Of later years Captain Polhamus has devot-
ed most of his time to government contracting.
Among the first contracts executed by him was
the first breakwater built at San Pedro, connect-

2020

HISTORICAL .\XD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing Terminal with Dead Man's Island. He was
the first to bring rock from Catalina Island for
breakwater purposes. Some of the oldest and
strongest built bridges in Los Angeles county
were constructed by his engineering skill and
nearly all of the government breakwater at Port
Harford was built by him. The deepening of
the harbor bar at San Diego and at San Pedro
and the dredging of the Middle Ground, besides
many pieces of like work, stand as monuments
to tills man's engineering ability.

In Wilmington, in November, 1869, Captain
Polhamus married Georgiana V. iNlonteith, who
was born in Jeiiferson City, Mo., a daughter of
Hiram and Lena (Smale) Monteith. The Cap-
tain and Mrs. Polhamus have had four children,
namely : Isaac, in business in Los Angeles ;
Lena, wife of W. M. Crouse, of San Diego; Ag-
nes, a graduate of the New York College of
Dental Surgerv, who is now practicing her pro-
fession in New York City ; and Caroline, a bril-
liant musician, with a strong, sweet, soprano
voice, who is engaged in concert singing in New
York City. Politically Captain Polhamus is a
Republican, and fraternally he is a member and
past master of Wilmington Lodge No. 198, F.
& A. M.

FRANCISCO M. MORENO. When in the
development of Mexico there began to be inter-
ested Spanish families of proud old Castilian
pedigree and the scions of nobility crossed the
ocean to identify themselves with the unknown
possibilities of their American dependency, the
Moreno family became an integral part of the
Mexican colony, and succeeding generations
lived and labored far from the original home of
the race. After long and eventful connection
with Mexican history one of the name, Fran-
cisco ^Moreno, came to the United States in
1872, joining his father-in-law, Sylvester Go-
mez, who ten years before had crossed the bor-
der into the States, settling in the San Luis
Rey valley in California. On his arrival in
San Diego county Mr. Moreno found that his
father-in-law had settled in a fertile valley, but
had made no attempt to improve or secure by
title the land on which he lived. Acting with-
out delay, in 1872 Mr. Moreno took up the
tract of three hundred and twenty acres. As
the 3'ears passed by he made necessary im-
provements on the land and a part was brought
under cultivation to grain, while the balance
was utilized as a vineyard and in walnut and
orange groves. Before leaving his native land
he had gained a knowledge of the manufacture
of wine, and as soon as he found that the
grapes raised in his valley vineyard were well
adapted for wine he at once turned his atten-

tion to the business. Gradually he relinquished
other activities in order to concentrate his at-
tention upon his winery and this he conducted
until 1902, the year of his death. The widow
was left in her old age without children to
continue the business, but there was not lack-
ing a relative with the abilit)' and energy neces-
sary for the work, and this was Francisco M.
Moreno, a nephew of the founder of the winery,
being a son of his brother, Edward.

Through his mother as well as on the pa-
ternal side Francisco M. Moreno is of Spanish
extraction and descended from early Mexican
settlers. When only eleven years of age he
left Sonora, Mexico, where he was born in
July, 1875, and crossed the border into the
United States, joining his uncle in the San
Luis Rey valley, where he was sent to a public
school in Pala. After leaving school he gave
his entire attention to assisting his uncle on
the ranch and in the winer}'. In 1898 he re-
turned to his old home in Mexico, but three
years later he came back to the San Luis Rej'
valley and now has full charge of the ranch
and winery, relieving his aunt of its many
anxieties and responsibilities unsuited for one
of her years. The ranch is said to be one of
the best in this part of San Diego county and
bears improvements of value, made by the for-
mer owner during his long residence at the
place. Following in the footsteps of the origi-
nal owner, the present proprietor exercises a
close and rigid supervision of the entire prop-
erty, maintains first-class improvements, cares
for the vineyard and the fruit trees with un-
ceasing vigilance, and oversees the manufact-
ure of wine of the purest quality. In religion
he was reared in the Roman Catholic Church
and, like all other members of his family, sup-
ports its charities and contributes to its main-
tenance. Since coming to San Diego county
he has been identified with the congregation at
Pala and attends worship at that church.

H. K. DAY. Numbered among the active
agriculturists of San Diego county who have
met with good success in their independent call-
ing and are now enjoying a comfortable com-
petency, acquired chiefly through their own ef-
forts, is H. K. Day, of De Luz. He is the owner
of a productive farm, which he has carried on
for nearly a score of years with excellent pecuni-
ary results. A son of the late E. M. Day. he
was bom October 4, 1852, in Erie county, Pa.,
coming from patriotic stock, his paternal grand-
father having fought in the war of 1812.

A native of New York state, E. M. Dav came
to California with his family in 1858. He first
engaged in mining in Placer county, then in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2021

iarming in Lake county for ten years, and was
afterwards engaged in general farming else-
wnere until his death, at the age of seventy-eight
years. He married Caroline Beardsley, who was
born in the Empire state, and who is now a ven-
•erable woman of fourscore years.

Coming with his parents to this state when
but six years old, H. K. Day received but lim-
ited educational advantages, attending first the
pioneer schools of Placer county, and later of
Lake county. He was subsequently located in
San Jose, where he learned the machinists trade
and for ten years worked in a foundry and
machine shop. Coming to De Luz in 1888, he
took up one hundred and sixty acres of govern-
ment land, from which he has improved his
present valuable ranch.

In 1875 Mr. Day married Ida May Belle Finch,
who died September 22nd 1903, leaving three
children, namely: Frank, who married Lulu
Adams; Jessie, the wife of D. M. Tittle; and
Edith, the wife of Louis Garnsey. In his po-
litical affiliations Mr. Day is independent, voting
with the courage of his convictions. Mrs. Day
was a member of the Episcopal Church, and was
a rapidly ripening christian. Full of good works
she made for herself a place in the community
which will be verv hard to fill.

ELMORE C. SHIPLEY. Among the pio-
neer settlers of Fallbrook no one is more
worthy of notice in a work of this kind than
Elmore C. Shipley, a well-to-do farmer, now
living retired from active pursuits. Coming
here nearly a quarter of a century ago, he has
opened up a good ranch from the uncultivated
soil, and is today enjoying a competence. His
ambition to build up a creditable homestead
has resulted in the improvement of a pro-
ductive ranch, the erection of a substantial resi-
dence, and the gathering together of the many
conveniences and comforts upon which the
health and happiness of a household so largely
depends. He was born October 20, 1841, in
McMinnville, Tenn., a son of Thomas Shipley.

Removing with his family from Tennessee,
his native state, to Missouri in 1850, Thomas
Shipley lived for eight years in Cass county,
employed during the time in tilling the soil.
In "1858 he went to Miami county, Kans.. where
he was employed in agricultural pursuits until
his death, in 1886, at the venerable age of four
score years. His wife, whose maiden name
was Sarah Elizabeth Thomas, was born in
Kentucky, in 1806, and died in 1880 in Kan-
sas, at the age of seventy-four years.

Going with his parents to Alissouri when
about nine years old, Elmore C. Shipley had
few of the educational advantages enjoyed by

the boys of these days, his knowledge of books
being obtained at a subscription school. Go-
ing with his family to Kansas in 1858, he as-
sisted his father in the pioneer labor of im-
proving a farm, remaining at home until
twenty-three years of age, during which time
he had not seen a railroad. In 1862 he made
a trip from Fort Leavenworth, Kans., to Fort
Union, N. Mex., hauling freight for the gov-
ernment with an ox-team, and being five
months going and coming. In 1883, on ac-
coimt of continued ill health, Mr. Shipley came
to San Diego county, locating near Fallbrook,
where he purchased land, on which he lived for
a while. Subsequently selling that, he bought
his present ranch of sixty acres, and in 1887
erected his present pleasant residence.

In Paola, Kans., February 9, 1865, Mr. Ship-
ley married Clarissa Maria Cook, who was born
August I, 1848, in Richfield, Adams county,
111., a daughter of Oliver H. Cook, and a grand-
daughter of Ralph Cook. Born and brought
up in New York state, Ralph Cook migrated to
Illinois in 1830. settling on the present site of
the city of Ouincy, which then contained but
three dwelling houses, those being rude log
cabins built by the original pioneers of the
place. Taking up land, he improved a farm,
on which he lived until his death, at the age
of eighty-eight years. He married Dolly Van
Buren, who was born in New York, a daughter
of Martin Van Buren, a cousin of President
Martin Van Buren. She survived him, dying
in Quincy, 111., at the venerable age of ninety-
three }-ears.

Oliver H. Cook was born November 15. 1818,
in Oswego county, N. Y., and when a boy of
twelve years accompanied his parents to
Quincy, 111., where he had but limited educa-
tional advantages. He was hired out by his
father until twenty-two years old. and when his
time was up went to Jersey county. 111., where
he worked three years. Returning to Adams
county, he remained there until 1859, when he
migrated to Miami county. Kans., where he
traded his five pairs of oxen, his sole capital,
for one hundred and sixty acres of land. Be-
ginning the improvement of a farm, he met
with good success, in 1883 being the owner
of three-fourths of a section of good land.
Selling out his possessions in that year, he
came to California, bought land near Fall-
brook, and was actively engaged in general
ranching until 1900. He has since lived re-
tired from active business, and is now making
his home with Mr. and Mrs. Shipley. In 1843,
in Adams county. 111., Mr. Cook married Cla-
rissa Quincy, by whom he had two children:
Mary, deceased, who married Joseph Chilson ;
rnd Clarissa Maria, wife of Mr. Shiple}-. ?i!rs.

2022

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Cook died December 13. 1903, aged seventy-
six years. Of the union of Air. and Mrs. Ship-
ley, two children have been born. Thomas
Jefferson Shipley married Katie Gird, daugh-
ter of H. H. Gird, of whom a brief sketch may
be found elsewhere, and they have four chil-
dren, Ronald G., Mark G., Verne G. and Delia.
Andrew Bailey Shipley, living in San Diego,
married Alinnie Andrews Bryant. Mrs. Ship-
ley has considerable propert}^ in her own name,
owning a valuable ranch of two hundred and
ten acres, and one of the finest residences in
Fallbrook. Politically Mr. Shipley is identified
with the Democratic party, and religiously
both he and his wife are members of the Bap-
tist Church.

HORACE E\'ERETT HARRIS. Ever since
identifying himself with the city of San Ber-
nardino as a permanent resident ^Ir. Harris has
held a high position in commercial, financial and
horticultural circles, and it is the universal testi-
mony of the people that few men have accom-
plished as much as he in behalf of the town's
material development. Included among the re-
sponsibilities which he has assumed and the posi-
tions he has filled may be mentioned those of
vice-president of the San Bernardino National
Bank, and a director and chairman of the loan
committee of the San Bernardino Savings Bank,
which positions he now holds. During 1905 he
organized the Home Gas Company, of which he
now acts as president and which owns a well-
equipped gas plant with mains extending through
all parts of San Bernardino. Recognizing the
importance of the horticultural interests of the
locality, he has been a factor in the development
of its possibilities, and at this writing officiates as
president of the Globe Farming Company, oper-
ating several thousand acres, also as president
of the Fontana Land and Water Company, own-
ing more than twenty thousand acres of im-
proved land.

The Harris family became established in New
England during the colonial period of our coun-
try's history. Stephen Harris, who was a native
of Northampton, ?ilass., became a farmer in Ver-
mont. In his neighborhood he won a reputation
for indefatigable industry and great energy, and
it was said of him that he could cradle fifteen
acres of rye in one day, while with other work
he was proportionately rapid. A son and name-
sake of this pioneer farmer was born in Brattle-
boro, Vt., and also followed agricultural pur-
suits. On retiring from farm work he went to
Connecticut, where he spent his last days. His
wife, Maria F., was born in Massachusetts and
died in New Hampshire. Descended from Puri-
tan ancestry, she was a daughter of Tnsiah Ab-

bott, who was born in Andover, Mass., and be-
came a farmer in \'ermont. Throughout the
Revolutionary war he served as a commissioneci
officer.

In the family of Stephen Harris, Jr., there
were eight children, all of whom attained years
of maturity, and two are now living. One of the
sons, Warren, was a member of a New York
regiment during the Civil war. Another son,
Horace Everett, whose name introduces this nar-
rative, was born near Lemington, Essex county,
Vt., August 6, 1842, and was fourth in the family
circle. Life to him passed uneventfully through
the years of boyhood and youth, but the opening
of the Civil war broke into the even tenor of his
quiet existence. During November of 1861 he
enlisted in the Fifth Maine Battery of IMounted
Artillery and spent the first winter at Augusta
and Portland, Me. Early in 1862 he accom-
panied his regiment to Washington and from
there to Virginia for service with General Pope,
under whom he participated in the battles of
Cedar Mountain and Rappahannock Station, also
Thoroughfare Gap. He was present at the sec-
ond engagement at Bull Run, and during the
battle the battery lost four out of six pieces and
he was wounded in the side of the neck by a
bullet that he still carries. Soon he recovered
from the effects of the wound and rejoined his
regiment, with which he participated in the
battle of Giancellorsville, the three days' engage-
ment at Gettysburg, and the battles of the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Courthouse, North
Anna, South Anna, Cold Harbor and Peters-
burg. In the fall of 1864 his corps was sent
after General Early, and followed him from
Washington back through ^Maryland and down
the Shenandoah to ^^'^inchester. After\vard he
served under General Sheridan until the close of
the war. September 19, 1864, he took part in
the battle of Opequan ; .September 22, 1864, was
at Fisher's Hill ; and October 19, at Cedar Creek,
was wounded in the left leg above the ankle by
a minie ball, wh.ich confined him to his bed for
one hundred and eighty days, first at Baltimore,
then in Philadelphia, and eventually at home.
When honorably discharged in the fall of 1865
he was still obliged to use crutches in walking.

On regaining his strength, Mr. Harris at-
tended a business college at Augusta, Me., and
later traveled for his health in Cuba, thence go-
ing to New Orleans and on to Galveston. In
the latter city he was employed for six months
as a clerk in the marine quartermaster's depart-
ment and continued in the government employ
until the department was disbanded. Later, with
Captain Palmer, he bought horses in Texas and
drove them overland to Missouri, where he sold
them from .Springfield to St. Louis. Shortly
;;fter disposing of the stock he returned to tlie

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2023

east, and settled at Coaticook, Quebec, after a
brief sojourn in New Hampshire. During his
residence at Coaticook he met and married Miss
Priscilla Parker, who was born and educated in
that town. Though of Canadian birth, Mrs.
Harris is of colonial New England ancestry.
Her parents, Alfred and Zerniah (Whitcomb)
Parker, were of honored Revolutionary lineage,
the latter being a daughter of a major in the
patriot army, while the former was a son of
Aaron Parker, a soldier from Massachusetts in
the defense of the colonies.

During the year of his marriage, 1871, Mr.
Harris brought his wife back to the States and
settled at Newell, Buena Vista county, Iowa,
where he engaged in buying grain and shipping
to Chicago. From that occupation he drifted
into the hanking business, and with N. W. Con-
dron, established the private bank of Condron
& Harris. After two years his brother-in-law,
S. A. Parker, removed from Vermont to Iowa
and purchased Mr. Condron's interest in the
bank, which was conducted in such a conserva-
tive and judicious manner that every financial
panic was safely weathered and every check pre-
sented was paid immediately upon presentation.
The bank gained the confidence of farmers and
business men, and its deposits increased with the
prosperity of the country.

The ill-health of his wife caused Mr. Harris in
1885 to sell his interest in the bank to ]\Ir.
Parker and remove to Arizona, establishing his
home in Prescott, where the climate proved ben-
eficial for the purpose desired. Meanwhile, not
enjoying release from business activities, he took
up mining, the principal occupation of the region.
For some time fortune went against him, but he
continued until he had sunk $53,000 in mines and
quartz mills in Yavapai and Yuma counties.
When the investments had reached their lowest
ebb of depression fortune changed for the better
through his interest in the Harquahala mines in
Yuma county. On the incorporation of the com-
pany owning these mines he was elected secre-
tary, and in the next twenty-six months $936,000
was taken out of the mines and he paid out over
$500,000 in dividends. For the prosecution of
the work a twenty-stamp mill was erected. The
first bar of bullion taken out, $10,200, was the
smallest in twenty-six months, and the largest
was $96,000 in value. After a fortune had been
made from the mines the company sold out to a
syndicate.

Coming to San Bernardino in 1893, Mr. Har-
ris now owns and occupies one of the finest
homes in the city, a residence with modern ap-
pointments set in the midst of five acres of
grounds, on G and Tenth streets. Here he and
his wife entertain their hosts of friends and enjoy
everv comfort which ample means can provide.

Their only child. Pearl, is a graduate of Pomona
College and is now the wife of Ralph E. Swing.
In the midst of his many activities of the past
and present Mr. ' Harris has never found the
leisure necessary for participation in political
affairs, in which he takes no part aside from
voting the Republican ticket at all elections. Old
war days are kept in mind through his associa-
tion with Cornman Post No. 57, G. A. R., of
San Bernardino, and Mrs. Harris also partici-
pates in the activities of the Woman's Relief
Corps. While making his home in Quebec he
was initiated into Masonry in the blue lodge at
Coaticook, but of late years has not been active
in the order, findhig his time fully occupied with
the m.aify financial and business enterprises in
which he has engaged with significant success.

ULYSSES GRANT PRICE. Not far from
San Bernardino lies the ranch of fifty-four
acres which for four years, from 1902 to 1906,
was the property of Mr. Price. Assuming the
responsibilities of ranch life with little or no ex-
perience, the results which have followed his
efforts have been remarkable and compare
favorably with what men twice his years and
with twice his experience need not be ashamed
to lay claim to. Mr. Price made a specialty of
raising blackberries, having eight acres in this
fruit alone, while the rest of the land was given
to the raising of corn, tomatoes and pieplant.

Born in Sangamon county. 111., September
14, i86g, Mr. Price is a son of Josiah and
Jeanette (Hutchinson) Price, both of whom
were born in New Jersey and are now making
their home in Kansas City, Mo., well advanced
in years. At the time the war cloud spread a
heavy gloom over the land Josiah Price was
living in Illinois and it was from the latter
state that he enlisted his services in behalf of
the northern cause. As a volunteer in the One
Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry he
served for three years, participating in the bat-
tle of Gettysburg, under General Meade, while
during the latter part of his service he was
under the command of Gen. U. S. Grant. In
memory of the days spent in camp and field
he is a member of the Grand Army Post at
Kansas City, ]\Io., where events and experi-
ences are recounted which the passing years
have not dimmed. Politically Mr. Price is a
Republican, on the ticket of which party he
was elected to the office of road overseer, a po-
sition which he now holds. Both ^Nlr. and Mrs.
Price are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church at Kansas Citv, Mo.

Ten children originally comprised the pa-
rental faniih-. but four of the number are now
deceased, and of those living Grant is tlie

2024

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

only resident of California. Born in Sanga-
mon county, 111., he was only one month old
when his parents removed to Champaign
county, same state, where they remained for
ten years, in 1879 settling in Kansas. His
school life^was passed principally in the latter
state, and upon leaving the common schools
he turned his attention to learning the trade
of engineer. Following this he ran a stationary
engine in Glenelder, Kans., for ten years, there-
after removing to Missouri, where for two
years he carried on farming and for the same
length of time filled a position as engineer.
After four years spent in Missouri he went
to Arizona, where for two and a half years
he conducted a creamery very successfully.
For a number of years he had been gradually
working his way to the far west and in 1902
he arrived in California. Coming direct to
San Bernardino, he selected the property upon
which he made his his home until recently,
purchasing it and removing upon it the same
year.

In 1895 Mr. Price established a home of
his own by his marriage with Miss Adeline
Carson, who was also a native of Sangamon
county. 111. The five children who have been
born to them are named in order of birth as
follows: Edgar, Lester, Linwood, Gertrude
and Elwood. Following in the footsteps of
his father in the matter of politics Mr. Price is
a Republican. Personal qualities of a high
order have been bequeathed to Mr. Price in
rich measure, the possession of which makes
him a man among men and all who know him
respect and honor him.

HERMAN D. VAIL. Associated as one of
the Droprietors of the Model Laundrv of Long
Beach, located at No. 644 West Fifth street,
Herman D. Vail has been a resident of Southern
California since 1892. He was born in Keokuk
county, in the town of Coak Creek, June 26,
1880, a son of John N. and Lydia M. (Garwood)
Vail, the former of whom is deceased, while the
latter is living in Pasadena, the wife of J. F. Har-
rison. The family came to California in 1892 in
search of health for the father, who was a veter-
inary dentist and who followed his profession in
Pasadena until his death, wdiich occurred in Feb-
ruary, 1904. Herman D. \'ail received his edu-
cation in the public schools of Iowa and Califor-
nia, and after the close of his schooldays he
sought employment in a bakery in Pasadena. He
finally came to Long Beach and found employ-
ment with L. B. Morgan, who was conducting
the Long Beach Steam Laundry, then returned
to Pasadena, and from there went to Redlands,
where he embarked in the laundr\- business. In
the meantime Mr. Morgan, having disposed of

his interest in the Long Beach Steam Laundry,
organized the Model Laundry. September 27
1902, he came to Long Beach and purchased an
interest in the Model Laundry with Mr. Morgan
and carried on the work for a time, when a com-
pany was organized and incorporated and has
since been conducted successfully here.

Mr. Vail was united in marriage with Miss
Anna H. Roos, in Pasadena, and they have one
daughter. Rose E. Their home is located at
No. 1 126 East Fifth street, where he has erected
a comfortable residence. Mrs. Vail is a native
of Buffalo. N. Y. Both are members of the Bap-
tist Church and Mr. Vail is associated with the
Young Men's Christian Association. Politically
he is a stanch advocate of Prohibition principles.

OSCAR BENNETT. A man of ability, en-
terprise and intelligence, Oscar Bennett is a
most able and valued worker in the interests of
the San Pedro Lumber Company, with which he
has been connected for many years, being now
employed as surveyor of lumber. His faithful-
ness in all of his duties, his integrity, and his
excellent good sense in all matters pertaining to
industrial, financial or social matters have caused
him to be highly respected and esteemed by all
with whom he has dealings. He is distinguished
as a native-born son of California, his birth hav-
ing occurred November 11, 1870, in San Fran-
cisco, where his father, Michael Bennett, was a
pioneer settler.

Emigrating from Germany, his native coun-
try, when a young man, Michael Bennett located
in San Francisco in 1849, coming to the Pacific
coast with the gold seekers. A shoemaker by
trade, he subsequently established a large busi-
ness in that city as a shoe manufacturer, making
a specialty of doing fine work for customers.
Removing to Wilmington in 1879, he continued
there as a .shoe manufacturer until his retire-
ment from active pursuits. He subsequently
settled in San Pedro, where he resided until his
death, in 1893. During the Civil war he served
in a California regiment, being sergeant of his
company, and was wounded by the Apache In-
dians in Arizona. In politics he was a stanch
Republican, and was a member of the Grand
Army of the Republic. His wife. Bertha, died
in Los Angeles, Cal., in July, 1904. • She bore
him fifteen children, nine of whom are living,
Oscar, the subject of this sketch, being the sixth
child in order of birth.

Having completed his early education in the
public schools of Los Angeles and Wilmington,
Oscar Bennett, at the age of fifteen years, en-
tered the employ of the San Pedro and Wil-
mington Transportation Company, for whom he
worked until 1890. Since that time, a period

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2025

of fifteen years, he has been associated witli the
San Pedro Lumber Company, for the past six
years being employed as a surveyor of lumber,
a work at which he is an expert, being quick,
skilful and very accurate. A man of good finan-
cial ability, he has invested his means in prop-
erty to some extent.

In Los Angeles, Mr. Bennett married Mary
Gomes, who was born on Madeira Island, Por-
tugal, and they have two sons, Oscar Arthur
and Gerald Winchester. Politically Mr. Bennett
is a Republican, and fraternally he is a promi-
nent member of the Knights of Pythias, being
past chancellor of his lodge and district deputy
of District .No. 69. He was a member of San
Pedro Parlor, N. S. G. W., as long as it was in
existence, and likewise belonged to the Benja-
min Harrison Camp, S. of V., serving as first
lieutenant until the oraranization was disbanded.

L. J. QUINT. The religious persecution
which drove the Huguenots from France caused
the Quinte family to seek refuge in Ireland and
during the same generation the name became
transplated into Maine. At the outbreak of the
Revolutionary war one of the family, Benjamin
Ouinte, who was engaged in the coasting trade
in Maine, enlisted for service in the aid of the
colonies and sailed the seas on the Bon Homme
Richard under that gallant admiral, John Paul
Jones, and served in the famous battle between
the Seraphis and the Bon Homme Richard. A
son, Thomas, enlisted under George Washing-
ton in the Revolutionary army at the beginning
of the war and followed him until its close.
Afterward he received a pension until his death.
When the war closed the family moved from
Portsmouth to Oxford, being among the first
pioneers of the town and received a tract of land
from the original proprietors of the township,
which has ever since been called by their name
as Quinttown.

Josiah Quint, another son of the Revolution-
ary soldier, was born and reared in Maine, and
became an early settler of South Ryegate, Cale-
donia county, Vt., where he followed the mill-
wright's trade until his death. The next gen-
eration was represented by Josiah, Jr., who was
born at South Ryegate on the Connecticut riv-
er, and there engaged in farm pursuits through
all of his life, with the exception of the years
from 1852 to 1859, when he engaged in mining
in California. Stanchly devoted to the Republi-
can party, he was elected on that ticket to
various local offices. In religion he was of the
Presbyterian faith. Either during his lifetime
or that of his father the family name was short-
ened to its present form by the dropping out of
the final "e." In his early manhood he married

Adeline Hancock, who was born at Woodsville,
N. H., and died in Vermont. Her father, Thom-
as, a farmer by occupation, was a member of
the family whose most illustrious representative
was John Hancock, signer of the Declaration
of Independence. One of die brothers, the late
Major Henry Hancock, served as an officer un-
der General Taylor in the Mexican war and al-
so is entitled to the distinction of having laid
out the city of Los Angeles.

In the family of Josiah Quint, Jr., there were
four children, all still living. L. J., who was
third in order of birth, was born at the old
homestead at South Ryegate, Vt., February 11,
1865, and received public-school advantages,
supplemented by attendance at a seminary at
Newbury, Vt. On starting out to earn his live-
lihood he secured employment in granite works
and remained as salesman or office clerk for
seven years. During 1893 he came to Cali-
fornia and began ranching at Sherman, where
he owned twenty acres and rented adjacent
tracts until he had the control of eight hundred
acres of grain and stock land. At the time of
the building of the electric railway he sold his
land. In 1898 he bought the stock of goods
owned by the first merchant in Sherman and
engaged in general merchandising until igo2,
when he sold out, removed to Redondo and em-
barked in the grocery business in the bank
building. After sixteen months he sold his
grocery and bought the Redondo Bazaar, which
he now conducts, carrying in stock a large col-
lection of shells, curios, etc., and occupying a
central location at the entrance of the wharf.

The marriage of Mr. Quint took place at Los
Angeles in 1898 and united him with Laura,
daughter of J. Bilderain, a pioneer of Los An-
geles, where she was born. They are the par-
ents of one child, Consuela. Politically Mr.
Quint gives pronounced allegiance to the Re-
publican party. In 1904 he was elected a mem-
ber of the board of trustees, of Redondo and
at the same time was chosen president of the
board, which position he now fills. In frater-
nal relations he hold membership with Redondo
Lodge No. 328, F. & A. M., and is also as-
sociated with the Order of Eagles.

E. VIEWEGER. San Bernardino was only
a small town when Mr. Vieweger located there
in 1881 and began to work at his trade, later be-
coming a building contractor, a calling which
he has since followed with marked success. A
native of Germany, he was born in Mittweida,
Saxony, October 23, 1838, a son of Ernst Viewe-
ger, a contractor and builder in Germany, where
both parents spent their entire lives. But three
of their ten children are now living and E. Vie-

2026

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

weger is the only member of the family in
America. After the completion of his education,
which was received in Kamnitz, Germany, he
was apprenticed to a stone-mason to learn that
trade, which he plied in that place and Mitt-
weida until 1871, when he immigrated to Ameri-
ca, locating first at Norwich, Conn., and then in
Boston, after the historic fire at that place. Dur-
ing all this time he was employed at his trade.

In i88i ilr. Viewcger came to San Bernar-
dino and secured his first work on the Bear val-
ley dam, which was then in process of construc-
tion. Later he began to take building contracts
and assisted in the buildings of the county hos-
pital, the Katz block, Stewart hotel block, South-
ern hotel block. Farmers' bank building, Ruffin
block and other structures in that city, having a
hand as well in the making of the city reservoir.
Fraternally he affiliates with the Ancient Order
of United Workmen, and politically believes in
the doctrines embraced in the platform of the
Democratic party.

By his marriage in Germany in 1866 Mr. Vie-
weger was united with Miss Flora Koehler, a
native of that country, who was born' in 1846.
and they have become the parents of three chil-
dren: Meleta, who lives at home; Margaret, re-
siding in Pasadena ; and Ernst, engaged in the
laundry business at Ocean Park. Mr. Vieweger
is a man of strong principles and stable charac-
ter and is held in the highest respect and esteem
by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

JOSEPH W. MYZELLE. Although a com-
paratively recent resident of San Bernardino,
Joseph W. Myzelle has proven himself a worthy
citizen and has gained many friends in both so-
cial and business circles. His natives state is
Arkansas, his birth occurring in White county,
January 8, 1862. His father, who was of
French extraction, was a farmer until the open-
ing of the Civil war, when he enlisted for service
and was killed in the performance of his mili-
tary duties. His mother, who was a native of
Illinois, died in that state when her only son,
Joseph W., was but six years of age. His boy-
hood days were spent in Perry and Jackson
counties, and his education was acquired in the
common schools. Deprived of his parents when
a mere child and left with no inheritance save
pluck, energy and ambition, he began when fif-
teen years of age to work for his own support.
Going to Murphysboro, 111., he worked at the
carpenter's trade for one year, then continued
this employment at Memphis, Tenn., for a time,
later engaging as an independent contractor and
builder there, and continuing in this business un-
til 1892. Returning to Murphysboro, 111., he
bought a two hundred and twenty acre farm five

miles north of that city and engaged in agricult-
ural pursuits, eventually bringing the property
to a high state of improvement.

In 1902 Mr. Myzelle rented his farm and lo-
cated in San Bernardino, Cal., where for one
year he worked at the building- trade, then began
to take contracts for the erection of residences.
He has built many fine houses in San Bernar-
dino and his own home is an attractive example
of his work, located at No. 11 80 Bellevue avenue.
His rtiarriage in 1888 to j\laude E. Eakin, a
native of Illinois, occurred at Murphysboro, that
state, and they have four children living, Na-
than, Ray, William and Minnie. Mr. Myzelle
is a member of the Foresters and Eagles, and
belongs to the Baptist Qiurch. Politically he
affiliates with the Democratic party and is inter-
ested in all matters of public import to the com-
munitv in which he lives.

GEORGE E. HEAP. The entire lifetime of
George E. Heap has been spent in Southern Cali-
fornia, his birth having occurred October 27,
1867, "■' San Bernardino, where his father. Par-
ley W. Heap, Sr., a native of Sheffield, England,
settled in 1851. During the first years of the
father's residence in this locality he was occupied
as a general farmer, teamster and freighter, but
later he turned his attention to the business of
well-boring and is still so employed in San Ber-
nardino county. His wife, who was Miss Eliza
Bottoms before her marriage, was born in Cleve-
land, Ohio, the daughter of John Bottoms, a na-
tive of England, who came to this section in 1851
and until the time of his death was engaged as
a farmer here. Mrs. Heap died in San Bernar-
dino in 1885.

After completing his studies in the public
schools of San Bernardino, his boyhood days hav-
ing been spent on the farm, George E. Heap
served for two years on the police force of this
city under Huse Thomas, chief of police, retain-
ing his position for a like period under John
Ralphs when the latter was appointed to the po-
sition of chief of the force. Mr. Heap resigned
this position to become deputy county sheriff
under Frank Holcomb, filling this office four
years, when he was elected township constable
for a term of four years. After the expiration
of this time he declined to again become a candi-
date for the office, desiring to take up other lines
of work. He secured the contract for installing
the machinery for the Edison Electric Company
in their plant No. 2, at Santa Ana caiion and he
also handled all of the material and cement for
the five-mile tunnel, which is 8x10 feet in di-
mensions, the work requiring sixteen months.
Following this he spent a short time in Red-
lands, but returning to San Bernardino he bought

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2027

an interest in his present transfer business, form-
ing a partnership with R. F. Berryman, and
conducting the business under the firm name
of Berrjman & Heap. They have the largest and
most important business of the kind in San
Bernardino and keep four wagons continuously
busy in the prosecution of their work. Besides
this business Mr. Heap owns property in the
city, including two residences on F street.

By his marriage in San Bernardino Mr. Heap
was united with Miss Estella Case, a native of
this city. A sketch of the life of her brother,
Jesse H. Case, appears elsewhere in this work.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Heap has been
blessed in the birth of three children, namely:
Roy, Hazel and Bessie. Mr. Heap is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows here,
and of San Bernardino Parlor No. 290, N. S.
G. W. Politically he is a stanch advocate of the
principles embraced in the platform of the Re-
publican party and is actively interested in all
matters of social and civic interest to the com-
munity at large.

DANIEL M. HATHORN. Numbered among
the skilful and progressive agriculturists of Los
Angeles county is D. M. Hathorn, living near
Compton, who has met with well-merited suc-
cess in his chosen occupation, and is at present
retired from active pursuits, enjoying a com-
fortable competency, acquired chiefly through
his own exertions. Coming from excellent New
England ancestry, he was bom, July 18, 1861, in
Maine, which was likewise the birthplace of his
parents, J. G. and Martha (Durell) Hathorn.
They came to California in 1869, settling in
Los Angeles countv. and are now residing in
Redondo, the father being eighty-two years of
age, and the mother seventy-seven years old.
They have but two children, a daughter living
with them, and D. M., the subject of this sketch.

Coming with his parents to California in 1869,
D. M. Hathorn crossed the Isthmus of Panama
on New Year's day, subsequently landing in
San Francisco. For a time the family lived in
Marysville, coming from there to Compton, where
Daniel M. attended the public schools, and after-
wards he assisted his father in caring for the
home farm. When ready to begin the battle
of life on his own account he selected farming
as his occupation, and having bought forty acres
of land began its improvement. By industry
and persevering application he raised large crops
of hay, alfalfa and fruit, and as he accumulated
money he invested in other land, buying a ranch
of forty acres. In the management of his ranch,
he met with undisputed success, and was actively
and profitably engaged in general farming and
dair\'ing until 1905, when he leased the land for

a term of three years. Although practically re-
tired at present from agricultural labors, he has
plenty to take up his time and attention, being
financially interested in various Compton enter-
prises. He is public-spirited, progressive and
liberal, and has won for himself a good record
as an honest man and a valued citizen.

In 1885, in Compton, Mr. Hathorn married
Margaret Johnson, who was born in Canada, a
daughter of Levi Johnson, and they have one son,
Roy, born in 1886. Mrs. Hathorn is a woman of
refinement, and a member of the Congregational
Church. Politically Mr. Hathorn is independent,
voting with the courage of his convictions, re-
gardless of party affiliations. Socially he is a
member of the Independent Order of Foresters
and of the Fraternal Aid Association.

JAMES FRANKLIN FERGUSON. As
superintendent of the water system of the Hemet
Land and Water Company and an extensive
property owner James Franklin Ferguson is one
of the best known and most highly respected
citizens of Hemet. He was born August 24,
1869, in Qiariton county. Mo., the son of John
W. and Mary Ellen (White) Ferguson, the for-
mer a native of Indiana and of Scotch descent,
and the latter of Bartholomew county of the
same state. The elder Ferguson served in the
Civil war as a member of Company C, Twen-
tieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He
was a contractor and builder who removed from
his native state to Chariton county, Mo., and
later to Meeker county, Minn., where he died in
1875, when the son, James Franklin, was six
years of age. The mother survived her husband
many years, her death occurring in Los Angeles
county, Cal. Of the five children in their "fam-
ily three grew to maturity and two are now liv-
ing.

The oldest child of the family and the only
son living, James F. Ferguson was reared in-
Minnesota from the age of five years, in which
state he received a preliminary education
through the medium of the public schools, and
attended the high school at Litchfield after the
completion of his studies in the lower branches.
He was born with pronounced natural talents
in mechanical lines and when only sixteen years
old became a stationary engineer in a Minnesota
woolen mill. In 1888 he came to Whittier, Cal.,
attended the Friends Academy for a short time
and later engaged in clerking in general stores
at Norwalk and Artesia, at the same time filling
the position of assistant postmaster in each of
these towns. In 1896 he came to Hemet for a
change and rest, but one of his energy could
not long remain quiet. Soon recuperating his
strength he went to work in a grocery store.

2028

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

later engaging in merchandising and the jewelry
business. His strong liking for mechanics led
him to seek an opening in that line, however,
and he accepted a position with the Lake Hemet
Water Company which he has filled since 1898.
For the past four years he has had charge of the
pipe department, with about one hundred and
fifty miles of pipes and flumes in the Hemet
tract, carrying water from Lake Hemet and
branches of the San Jacinto river. Among his
property interests are the Ferguson block, which
he built and owns, and a ten acre orchard.

The marriage of Mr. Ferguson occurred in Los
Angeles, in 1895, when Miss Hattie M. Cassady,
a native of Minnesota, became his wife. They are
the parents of two children, Elmer Franklin and
Lowell Cassady. Fraternally he is a member
and junior warden of San Jacinto Lodge No.
338, F. & A. M. ; is also a member of the San
Jacinto Chapter No. 87, R. A. M.; of Hemet
Lodge No. 90, I. O. O. F. ; Independent order
of Foresters ; and Knights of the Maccabees. In
national politics he votes with the Republican
party, but exercises considerable independence
in the casting of his ballot on local affairs and,
for city and county officers, believing that the
man who has the best qualifications for the office
should be elected to it. He is a charter member
and deacon of the Christian Church, has strong
temperance principles and exerts an elevating in-
fluence upon the community in which he lives.

FREDERICK ALONZO KNIGHT. Many
years have passed since the Knight family left
Holland and established themselves on the bleak
Canadian shores and later generations assisted
in the agricultural development of the province
of Ontario, where Louis Wartman Knight labored
in the tilling of the soil through much of his
earlier life. Eventually, however, he sought a
more favorable climate and came to the Pacific
coast. For a time he made his home at River-
side, then lived in other sections of the state,
but finally returned to Riverside, near which
city he now operates and owns an orange grove.
Dtiring his young manhood he married Maria
Sproule, who was born in Ontario, Canada, de-
scended from a North of Ireland family. They
became the parents of four sons and one daugh-
ter: Margaret, wife of Stan Guess; Harry; O.
Bruce and F. A., twins, and L. Lome. F. A.
Knight was born in Westbrook, Ontario, Febru-
ary 16, 1878. He received fair educational ad-
vantages, and after graduating from the Syden-
ham high school taught school near Odessa for
two years. In his leisure hours while following
the calling of a teacher he took up the study of
law. toward which his tastes inclined and which
lie had selected for his profession.

On coming to California in 1899 Mr. Knight
joined his uncle, A. A. Adair, a well-known at-
torney of Riverside, and engaged in studying
law with the firm of Purington & Adair. In
May of 1901 he was admitted to the bar and in
October of the same year he came to Long
Beach, where he has since conducted a general
professional practice. In addition to his private
practice, for two years he held the office of city
attorney. A number of enterprises calculated to
promote the material development of the city have
received the impetus of his counsel and encour-
agement, among these being the Ocean Heights
Investment Company, Incorporated, of which he
is the president, and the Long Beach Hotel and
Sanitarium Company, upon whose directorate
he now serves.

The marriage of Mr. Knight was solemnized
June 27, 1905, and united him with Miss Jessie
A. Pasmore, who was born in Wisconsin, but
has resided in the west since early childhood,
having been educated in the Pomona schools.
Both are identified with the First Congregational
Church and contribute to its maintenance, as
well as to uplifting movements of an undenomina-
tional nature. On the organization of the Bene-
volent Protective Order of Elks Mr. Knight be-
came a charter member and officiated as the first
Loyal Knight of the lodge. In Masonry he
holds membership with the blue lodge, chapter
and commandery at Long Beach, and maintains
a warm interest in all movements for the up-
building of the order. Other organizations with
which he holds membership are the Cosmopoli-
tan Club, the Long Beach Bar Association and
the Knights of Pythias. Political affairs receive
his close attention and as a member of the Re-
publican party he has been actively associated
with local politics and has ser\'ed as a delegate
to conventions, as well as in other capacities
connected with the political history of his home
city.

HERMON D. WILLIAMS. Through his
labors as a business man, and later as editor of
an important newspaper, Hermon D. Williams
has accomplished much for the upbuilding of
Whittier, his home town, where he is known and
honored as a citizen solicitous for the highest
development of the city, and the greatest pros-
perity of its people. The paper of which he was
editor for many years, and in the management of
which he is still active at this writing, is the
Whittier Register. It is conducted with con-
spicuous ability and vigor, and is widely recog-
nized as one of the leading weekly papers of
Southern California. The Register is indepen-
dent of politics, has decided convictions on all
moral questions, and has been a potent agency in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2029

moulding public opinion in Whittier, especially
on the line of temperance and kindred reforms.

Mr. Williams was born at Richland, Keokuk
county, Iowa, October 17, 1842, being a son of
James and Angelina (Hunt) Williams, who
were married at Annapolis, Ind., and for sev-
eral years lived upon a farm near Terre Haute,
in that state. After moving to Iowa the father
occupied the position of postmaster at Rich-
land and later was engaged in contracting and
building.

Educated in Iowa schools, Hermon D. Will-
iams added to the knowledge acquired from text
books the broader education gained in the school
of experience, and he may rightly be called a
self educated man, the possessor of ripened cult-
ure and fine mental attainments. While his
home was in Jasper county, Iowa, he was mar-
ried to Miss Jennie Hiatt, a native of Indiana,
who has always been in close touch with his
various lines of work, and who by her timely
help and wise counsel has contributed much to
his success.

During the early years of manhood Mr. Will-
iams taught school, but later became interested
in carriage and wagon manufacturing, conduct-
ing the business for a number of year. Upon
relinquishing these interests he removed to Des
Moines, Iowa, and with his brother-in-law, B.
F. Arnold, bought the Weekly loiva Capital,
which they conducted as a daily, and which con-
tinues to be one of the leading papers in the,
state, under the editorship of Hon. Lafe Young.
Upon disposing of his interest in the Capital
Mr. Williams became traveling representative of
the Friends Publishing Association, of Qiicago,
and represented their interests in Iowa and Ne-
braska. Next he was induced to accept the po-
sition of field secretary of the Iowa Prisoners'
Aid Association, an organization designed to as-
sist discharged convicts to employment and pro-
mote prison reform. For several years he trav-
eled throughout the state in this interest, giv-
ing lectures and organizing local associations.
Largely through his'efforts widespread interest
was" enlisted in the cause and the work was
placed on a permanent basis.

On his removal to California during 1887
Mr. Williams resided for a time at Riverside,
but in the following year came to Whittier,
where he established a broom manufacturing
business in partnership with Addison W. Nay-
lor, now president of the First National Bank
of Berkeley, and which he conducted success-
fully for two years. At the expiration of that
time he took a leading part in establishing the
Whittier Register, under the auspices of an in-
corporated company, and soon after he became
the sole owner of the paper and its publishing
and job printing business. He has now been

engaged in the business for fifteen years, dur-
ing which time his son, Harry A. Williams,
who has now succeeded to the editorship, has
been associated with him. Mr. Williams has
constantly pursued high ideals in this varied
public work, and through the medium of his
paper, as well as by an energetic personality, he
has been a helpful factor in the upbuilding of
Whittier, and has efficiently aided in bringing
it to a position of prestige and influence among
surrounding towns.

JOHN L. SCARLETT. Wide and favorably
known throughout the length and breadth of
the Santa Clara valley of Southern California as
a successful farmer and stock-raiser, John L.
Scarlett is engaged extensively in agricuhural
pursuits and is one of the largest land holders
in the vicinity of Oxnard. He is the son of
John and Anna (Lyster) Scarlett, whose mar-
riage occurred at Dougherty, Alameda county,
Cal, September 22, 1864. John Scarlett was a
native of Inneskillen, Ireland, and when only an
infant lost his father by death. The family be-
ing left with limited means their home was desti-
tute of many of the comforts of life, a livelihood
being earned only by the severest toil. When
he had succeeded in saving sufficient money
with which to defray his expenses to America,
Mr. Scarlett crossed the ocean to the United
States, settling in Philadelphia, where he became
a dyer in a woolen manufacturing plant. As
soon as he had accumulated sufficient means to
secure the passage of his mother from Ireland,
he sent for her and she joined him in his Phila-
delphia home, where she remained until her
death, in January, 1865. In the meantime, in
1857, he had become a pioneer of California,
settling in San Francisco, where he was em-
ploved in a sugar refinery for some time, after-
wards making his home in Alameda county for
six years, thereafter returning to San Fran-
cisco! He eventually established a permanent
home in Ventura county near Oxnard, where, in
1875, he brought his family to the ranch on the
Colonia which he purchased from W. I. Rice.
Here he engaged in general farming and stock-
raising, later making a specialty of Lima beans
and sugar beets, and this extensive ranch is
considered one of the most valuable in the valley.
Mr. Scarlett passed away February 14, 1902,
and his wife, who survives him. soon afterward
removed to Oxnard, where she erected a com-
fortable and commodious home in which she still
resides with her younger daughter, Anna, the
elder daughter, now Mrs. Elizabeth Williams,
also residing in Oxnard.

Born on the ranch near Oxnard. December 5,
1877, John L. Scarlett is the only son in a family

2030

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of three children. He was educated in the
common schools, taking a final course in college
at \'entura, and after leaving college returned
home to take charge of the large ranch, well
equipped by education and training to make the
most of the management of seven hundred acres
of line land which composes the estate. A great
portion of the farm is devoted to raising lima
beans and sugar beets and the yield of the former
averages twenty sacks to the acre. Mr. Scar-
lett also devotes much time and attention to rais-
ing horses and cattle and is justly proud of his
success in that line. A loyal son of California,
he naturally looked among the native daughters
of the state for a .life companion, and choosing
Miss Evelyn Kennedy, who was born in San
Francisco, his marriage with her was solemnized
in June of 1902. Two children have been born
of this union, Evelyn and John Richard. Mr.
Scarlett adds his support to the charities of the
Catholic Church at Oxnard, of which he is a
member, and in politics casts his votes for the
Republican platform. The only fraternal or-
ganization with which he is identified at this
writing is Cabrillo Parlor, N. S. G. W., of
Ventura. Personally Mr. Scarlett is of a genial,
sunny disposition, with a cheerj^ word for all,
and considered by his friends a prince of good
fellows. Still a young man, he has met with
unusual success in his undertakings and holds
an enviable position in the social life of his com-
munitv.

ELLIS T. BYRAM. Since coming to Glen-
dale, Los Angeles county, more than twenty
years ago, Ellis T. Byram has been an import-
ant factor in promoting its growth and improve-
ment, and is well entitled to the prominent posi-
tion he now holds among its more enterprising
and able citizens. In the places in which he has
resided, and in the different industries in which
he has been interested, he has ever been re-
garded as a man of strict integrity and honesty,
always ready to give generous aid toward the
establishment of any beneficial project. A son
of William Byram, he was born, January 8,
1839, in Union county, Ind., coming of Revolu-
tionary stock, and being a descendant of John
and Pri^cilla (IMuUen) Alden, who came over
on the Mayflower in 1620.

William Byram followed the trade of a brick-
mason when young, but later in life was success-
fully engaged in agricultural pursuits in Union
countv, Ind. He was prominent in political cir-
cles, being an old-line Whig, and for nine years
served as treasurer of Union county. He was
one of the leading men of his times, and for a
long while was associated with Judge Burnside,
father of Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, who during

a portion of the Civil war was commander of the
Army of the Potomac. He married Abby D.
Miller, who died at the age of sixty-seven years.
She bore him five children, one of whom, Capt.
John C. Byram, died in Los Angeles.

Reared on the home farm, Ellis T. Byram re-
ceived a practical education in the common
schools of his native town, and during his minor-
ity assisted in the care of the parental home-
stead. After his marriage he settled as a farmer
in Union county, Ind., remaining thus employed
until 1881. Going then to Dallas county, Iowa,
he established himself in business as a hardware
merchant in Perry, where he remained two years.
In the fall of 1882, his wife, two sons and one
daughter, came to California, and in the spring
of 1883 he joined them, settling in Glendale in
November of that year. Purchasing land, which
is included in the present site of the city of
Glendale, he improved it, and engaged in agri-
cultural and horticultural pursuits, meeting with
success. To this he added other land, which he
improved by setting out an orchard, and also
continued his former occupation. He has dealt
to some extent in real estate, but has devoted the
most of his attention to horticulture, and is con-
sidered an authority on matters connected with
the tilling of the soil.

In local affairs Mr. Byram has exerted great
influence, to him the city and county being in-
debted for many of its beneficial organizations.
With Capt. C. E. Thom, Judge E. M. Ross, H.
J. Crow, and B. F. Patterson, he formed the
Verdugo Springs Water Company, of which he
is the secretary and treasurer; he helped to or-
ganize the Bank of Glendale; and he was one
of the incorporators of the Glendale Narrow
Gauge Railroad, now owned by the Salt Lake
Railway Company. Since its organization he
has served as president of the Indep'endent Water
Company, which absorbed the Childs Tract and
Reservoir Company, the latter organized in 1885.

In Preble county, Ohio, in 1864, Mr. Byram
married Huldah Miller, daughter of John D.
]\Iiller, who spent the last years of his life in
Southern California, dying at the home of his
daughter. Mrs. Byram, in 1884. Mr. and Mrs.
Bvram are the parents of five children, namelv :
I\irs. Eva B. Banker, William D., George E..
Ruth A. and Rolph M., all of Los Angeles
county. On account of failing eyesight Mr. By-
ram has practically retired from all active busi-
ness. Of those who comprised the first settle-
ment in this locality in 1883 there are only three
now living in the vicinity: J. C. Sherer, B. F.
Patterson and Mr. Byram.

Politically Mr. Byram is a stanch Republican,
and cast his first presidential vote for Abraham
Lincoln. He is a member of the Presbyterian
Church, and in September, 1884, assisted in or-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2031

ganizing the first church of that denomination in
Glendale, which he subsequently served as elder
many years, being the first elected to the position.
Rev. W. S. Young was the first minister to fill
its pulpit, and Rev. S. Lawrence Ward is its
present pastor.

ANTON K. MARUSCH. Along the coast of
California where the fishing industry is of great
importance the Union Fish Company of San
Pedro is known as one of the largest wholesale
dealers in fish in Southern California. The firm
consists of Anton K. Marusch, manager of the
company, and his brother, Baldo Marusch. From
a very small beginning they have built up a large
and prosperous business. They buy, sell and
ship all kinds of fish and lobster, their trade ex-
tending inland as far cast as the Mississippi
river.

The Marusch brothers are sons of Matthew
and Frances (jNIarcvich) Marusch, the former a
native of Austria. The father was for many
years a sea-faring man, holding a position as
mate of a vessel in the East India trade, which
in the early days was of great importance in the
commercial world. In that capacity he visited
nearly every country within reach of navigable
waters, touching at Mediterranean ports and
crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans many
times on his numerous voyages. He was in San
Francisco as early as 1S45, fo"r years before
the discovery of gold made the name of Califor-
nia famous throughout the civilized world, and
started the tide of emigration toward the Pacific
coast. Returning to his native land he settled
at the old home place and there married and
reared a family of five children. Four of the
children are living, Anton K. and Baldo being
the only ones in America. Baldo Marusch was
born September zy, 1868, in Orebich, Dalmatia,
Austria, and remained there until 1891, going in
that year to Australia. In 1900 he came to Cali-
fornia and since then has lived in San Pedro.

Anton K. Marusch was born in the city of
Orebich, Austria, September 27, 1872, and lived
in his native town until he was nine years of age.
The desire to follow in his father's footsteps and
seek his fortune on the ocean must have been
strong in the boy, for at that youthful age he
left home and went on board ship as a cabin boy
and for years followed the eventful life of a
sailor, working his way up from a cabin boy to
able seaman, engaging almost entirely with Eng-
lish sailing vessels and steamers and doing busi-
ness along the Mediterranean coast and in Eng-
lish waters. In 1886 he shipped on the Sampol
of Bath, Me., and came around Cape Horn to
San Francisco, v.'here he remained for a time
and attended night school. Again he sought

employment on the ocean and made fourteen
trips to Honolulu as able seaman on board the
barkentine Planter, under command of Captain
Jorgensen; and later engaged as seaman on
steamers plying along the coast out of San Fran-
cisco. Becoming weary of the sea he engaged
in the restaurant business in San Francisco ; then
as salesman for a fish company in San Fran-
cisco, remaining in that business for seven years
and thoroughly familiarizing himself with the
fish trade.

Mr. Marusch has lived an eventful life and a
narrative of his numerous ventures and adven-
tures would make interesting reading. He has
seen the world as the tourist and mere sight-
seer can never see it. He has followed the lead
to new lands and endured the hardships incident
to life in new countries where the necessities of
life become the luxuries and men stand or fall
according to their strength to endure privation.
He was in Seattle in 1896, when the exciting
news of the discovery of gold in Alaska started
crowds of men to the Klondyke. He was among
the first to go, taking passage on board the City
of Seattle to Skagway, packed across the famous
Chilkoot Pass to White . Horse rapids, shooting
the rapids and arrived safely at Dawson. He
followed the occupation of mining until 1896,
then went to Circle City and remained until 1899,
when he returned to California. In 1901 he
came to San Pedro and purchased the Union
Fish Company business of G. O. Taylor and has
continued in that business ever since, enlarging,
improving and branching out until he has made
of it a success and is reaping the reward of his
energy, foresiglU and perseverance.

Mr. Marusch is identified with several organ-
izations. He is a member of the Eagles, of the
Red Men, and is an ex-president of the Slavon-
ian American Benevolent Association. He is
also a member of the San Pedro Chamber of
Commerce. -In politics he is a Republican.

GERJMAIN GRIMAUD. Known and hon-
ored as one of the pioneers of that portion of Los
Angeles county now occupied by the village of
Hyde Park, the late Germain Grimaud was of
French birth and lineage and was born October
25, 1849. After having completed the studies
of the country schools and gained an excellent
knowledge of the French language, he left home
at seventeen years of age and came to the Unit-
ed States. During the year 1866 he began to
herd sheep near Bakersfield, Cal, and as time
passed he acquired a thorough knowledge of the
industry, so that he was qualified to engage in
it for himself with reasonable hopes of success.
At first he raised grade animals, but soon he be-
came interested in fine blooded stock, and grad-

2032

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ually gained a reputation as an authority on the
subject of sheep. However, being of a kindly,
generous nature, he was more than once imposed
upon, and lost considerable money through kind-
nesses to others who failed to appreciate his gen-
erosity or return his loans. About 1878 he came
to the present site of Hyde Park and bought
three hundred acres, where he engaged in rais-
ing sheep and general farm products. On this
place he died, February 22, 1896, ere yet age
had laid its heavy hand upon him.

The marriage of Mr. Grimaud took place Au-
gust 6, 1878, and united him with Miss Antoin-
ette Aubert, who was born in France August 6,
1855, and came to the United States in 1878
very shortly before her marriage. Five children
were bom of their union, all natives of Los An-
geles county, viz. : Alice H., who married Gus-
tave Escallier and resides at No. 2235 West
Fourteenth street, Los Angeles : Emma, who
holds a responsible position as chief operator of
the Sunset Telephone Company in Los Angeles;
Marie T. and Camilla, who reside with their
mother one mile from Hyde Park ; and Louise,
who died at five years of age. After many
years of unwearied devotion to farm and home
cares, Mr. and Mrs. Grimaud allowed themselves
the pleasure of a visit to France, where they re-
mained about three months and renewed the as-
sociations of earlier years. At his death Mr.
Grimaud left three hundred acres where his
widow yet resides, the land being cultivated by
tenants. In addition she owns three lots in Hyde
Park and since the death of her husband she has
purchased a residence at Pico Heights, Los An-
geles. Ever since childhood she has been a faith-
ful member of the Catholic Giurch and a con-
tributor to its many charities, Mr. Grimaud hav-
ing been also identified with the work of that
church and a believer in its doctrines.

children in the family of his parents, and after
securing his education in the public schools of
Pasadena he went to Riverside county and pur-
chased ten acres of raw land in Corona, set it to
lemon trees and otherwise improved it, still own-
ing the property, which is in fine condition and
bearing good crops. After the death of his father
he had charge of the home ranch for one year,
and then in 1896 removed to Los Angeles and
entered the employ of Anderson & Chanslor,
taking- charge of the shipping department. In
J900 he was among the number of employes of
the firm who bought out their employers and in-
corporated the business under the name of the
Anderson & Chanslor Company. In 1902 the
new firm bought out J. S. Pitman, who was con-
ducting one of the oldest established mercantile
enterprises on Catalina Island. Mr. Ott secured
a quarter interest in the branch and became its
manager, ever since filling that position to the
entire satisfaction of all concerned.

In Santa Barbara Mr. Ott married Ethel Ennis,
a native of Michigan. He is an active member
of the Presbyterian Church and is identified with
the progressive and elevating influences of the
community in which he resides. Politically he
is an advocate of the principles embraced in the
platform of the Democratic party.

FRANK HAROLD OTT. Since 1902 Mr. Ott
has been manager of the Anderson & Chanslor
store in Avalon, a branch of the Los Angeles
establishment and in which he is a stockholder.
He was born January 18, 1873, in the Shenan-
doah valley, Va., the son of D. A. and Susan
(Moore) Ott, both of whom were natives of
the same locality. At eighteen years of age the
father was a member of a Virginia regiment
in the Confederate army during the Civil war,
losing an arm in the conflict. He was teacher
by profession in Virginia and later near Austin,
Tex. In 1887 he removed with his family to
Los Angeles and soon engaged in horticultural
pursuits in Orange county, where he died at the
age of fifty years. The death of Mrs. Ott oc-
curred in Santa Ana.

Frank Harold Ott was the second of the four

JOHN DOUGLAS McLEAN. A successful
contractor and builder and representative citizen
of Avalon, John Douglas McLean has been a
resident on Catalina Island since 1888. The fam-
ily is of Scotch descent and the clan is of the
McLeans of Duarte. The grandfather, Neil Mc-
Lean, was born on the isle of Skye, Inverness,
Scotland, and as a member of the British army for
twelve years fought throughout the Peninsular
war. Upon the receipt of an honorable discharge
he left his native land and settled in Cape Breton
Isle, Nova Scotia, where he engaged in farming
and died after having attained the remarkable
age of ninety-six years. He was a man of strong
principles and belonged to the Presbyterian
Church, the faith of so many of Scotch birth in
the present day. The father, Roderick McLean,
was born in Cape Breton Isle, where he was
engaged as a ship carpenter and later became a
farmer, his death occurring in his sixty-eighth
year. His wife, who survives him, was before her
marriage Margaret McLennan, a native of Nova
.Scotia. Her father, Jolm McLennan, was born
in Loch Aise. Scotland, and settled on Cape
Breton Isle, where he was first a schoolmaster
and later followed agricultural pursuits.

Next to the oldest of a familv of ten children,
eight of whom are now living, John Douglas Mc-
Lean was born April i, i860, on Cape Breton Isle,
Nova .Scotia, and attended the district schools in

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2035

his youth. He also learned the carpenter's trade
as a boy,, in 1882 going to Manitoba, where he
followed the occupation for a time, at the same
time doing stone cutting. After spending a
season in Winnipeg he entered the employ of
the Canadian Pacific Railway and assisted in the
construction of the rockway along Lake Superior.
His residence in California dates from 1887,
when he came to Los Angeles and plied his trade
for a year, in 1888 removing to Avalon to assist
in the erection of the first part of the Metropole
hotel for Shatto. He bought property and built
a residence here and has since made this city
his home. x\s a prominent contractor and builder
he has erected a large number of residences here,
the workmanship on them showing him to be a
master of his trade. His property holdings in
Avalon include six houses and five tents, from
the rent of which he secures a good income. Mr.
McLean's marriage, which occurred in Los
Angeles, united him with Miss Winnie Morris,
born m Tahiti, the daughter of Rev. George
Morris, one of the first missionaries on that
South Sea island. He was also the first settled
minister of the Congregational denomination in
Avalon and nov/ resides in Alameda. Mr. and
Mrs. McLean are the parents of three children,
Margaret, Catherine and Roderick. They' hold
membership in the Congregational Church, in
which Mr. McLean is a deacon and a member of
the board of trustees. Politically he is a stanch
advocate of the principles of the Prohibftion
party. As a successful business man and pro-
gressive citizen whose influence is exerted at all
times in the elevating and upbuilding of the
community he is held in the highest esteem by all.

CAPT. JOHN EVERETT MATHEW-
SON. The business men of Avalon are of a
progressive and energetic class and a leader
among them is found in Capt. John Everett
Mathewson, proprietor of the Mathewson boat
yards. He is a member of an old and promi-
nent New England family, his birth having oc-
curred July 3, 1867, in Brookfield, Mass., the
son of Henry and the grandson of Daniel, both
natives of Rhode Island and of Scotch descent.
The father, who is still living, early removed
to Brookfield, Mass., and engaged in farming,
that state being now his home. His wife was
in maidenhood Susanna Allen, a native of
Brookfield, and a daughter of Zebediah Allen,
who was born in Sturbridge, Alass. Her fam-
ily was one of great prominence in Revolu-
tionary days, Ethan Allen being a great uncle.
Mrs. Mathewson died in Massachusetts.

Of the five children born in the family of
which John Everett Mathewson was a mem-
ber, four are still living, and he was next to

the youngest. He was reared in his native town,
where he received his preliminary education in
the public schools, then entered' the Worces-
ter Academy, after which he studied civil en-
gineering at the Polytechnic Institute. After
graduation he engaged in boat building in
Brookfield for a time, and in 1889 went to-
Seattle, where he continued to ply his trade for
two years, when he was burned out and lost all
of his possessions, having but $10 in money
after the catastrophe. Thereafter he worked
until he had earned sufficient money to buy a
ticket to his Massachusetts home, but the spirit
of the west had become too firmly implanted
within him to be long resisted, and 1891 found
Mr. Mathewson in Los Angeles, it being his-
intention to spend the winter here and return
to Seattle in the spring. He grew to like the
place so well, however, that he decided to re-
main, and while on a short trip to Catalina he
accepted a contract to build a small row boat,-
and thus started the business which has grown
to such large proportions. The plant is thor-
oughly modern and up-to-date, fitted with
steam boiler and gasoline engines, and there
have been turned out from the yards many
row boats and sixty power launches. Mr.
Mathewson built the yawl, Avalon, which has
a large capacity and is used to carry excur-
sionists, cruising among the surrounding islands
and along the coast. He also owns a string of
row and glass boats and owns considerable
property on the island and in Los Angeles. He
is a member and ex-treasurer of the Sophia
Yacht Club at Avalon.

Mr. Mathewson was united in marriage with
Ada Hayes Pratt, a native of Pennsylvania,
the ceremony taking place in Los Angeles, and
they have an attractive residence on Wliitley
street, which he built. Politically he is an ad-
vocate of the principles embraced in the plat-
form of the Republican party and takes an en-
thusiastic part in the furthering of every enter-
prise tending to upbuild the community on which
he resides.

THOMAS LE FEVRE. Among the well-
to-do and thriving ranchers of San Diego
county, who have accumulated a competency
through their own exertions and economy, and
who are carrying on general farming in a
praiseworthy manner, is Thomas Le Fevre, of
Fallbrook. A pioneer settler of this locality,
he has seen the wild and uncultivated land of
this region transformed into rich and produc-
tive farms, the straggling villages developed
into towns of respectable proportions, and has
watched these wonderful changes with the in-
terest wdiich every man of intelligence feels in

2034

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the growth and advancement of a new section
of our great land. He was born, January 29,
1838, in England, where he lived for nine years,
being reared by his grandparents after the
death of his parents.

Born, reared and educated in England, John
Le Fevre, the grandfather, spent the earlier
years of his life in his native shire. In 1847,
thinking in the United States, which is the
poor nian's paradise, to better his condition,
he started with his family on a voyage across
the ocean. Making his way to Liverpool, he
was taken ill, and died in that city, while wait-
ing for the ship on which he was to take pas-
sage. His widow, who was a woman of much
force of character, came to this country bring-
ing her son and grandson, Thomas. After liv-
ing for five years in St. Louis, Mo., she moved
to Parowan, Utah, in 1852, and there spent the
remainder of her life.

But nine years old when he came with his
grandmother to the United States, Thomas
Le Fevre completed his studies in the public
schools of St. Louis, after which he migrated
with his grandmother to Utah. Leaving Salt
Lake City in 1859, he came overland to Cali-
fornia, arriving in San Bernardino in the fall
of that year. Engaging in teaming, he made
frequent trips across the desert, going to both
Salt Lake and the Missouri river, and during
the White Pine excitement going to the mines
in search of gold. Locating at Fallbrook, San
Diego county, in 1879, he entered a govern-
ment claim, but this he subsequently sold, and
took up the land which he now owns and
occupies, later buying an adjoining tract of
twenty acres. At once beginning its improve-
ment, he has brought it to a good state of cul-
tivation, and has erected a neat and substantial
set of farm buildings, which greatly add to the
value and attractiveness of the ranch.

Mr. Le Fevre has been twice married. He
married first, in Parowan, Utah, about i860,
Susanna Davenport, who died in January, 1871,
leaving five children, of whom we mention the
following: Thomas A., born August 22, 1863,
is assisting in the management of the home
ranch, he married Mrs. Elmer Richardson, and
they have two children, Clarence and Helen
M.; Ann Elizabeth, born February 17, 1865,
lives at home ; Robert D., born January 19,
1867, is also at home ; Susanna R., born Feb-
ruary II, 1869, is a teacher in the public schools
of Mendocino county; and Sarah Jane, born
Januarv 10, 1871, is the wife of Hiram Hilton,
of Utah.

June 8, 1873, Air. Le Fevre married Amelia
R. Gavin, who was born in London, England,
a daughter of Michael and Amelia (Robinson)
Gavin. Her parents immigrated with their

family to this country in 1853, and for eleven
years resided in St. Louis, Mo. Going back
to visit their old home and friends in 1864, they
remained in England a year, and in 1865 re-
turned to St. Louis. In August, 1869, they
removed to Utah, where both Mr. and Mrs.
Gavin spent their remaining days, both pass-
ing away at the advanced age of eighty-three
years, his death occurring June 2, 1902, and
hers October 20, 1902. Five children were
born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Le Fevre,
namely : Herbert Andrew, who was born June
13, 1874, and died in September of the same
year ; Maud Amelia, who was born in Novem-
ber, 1875, and died the next month; Francis
Edgar, who was born in October, 1877, and
died in July, 1878; Jessie, born in June, 1879,
and died in July, 1890; and Oscar, living on
the home place. Politically Mr. Le Fevre is
a steadfast Democrat, and has served as a
member of the local school board.

EUGENE MATHEWSON, M. D. A man
of culture, talent and scholarly attainments, Eu-
gene Mathewson, M. D., stands deservedly high
in professional circles and is one of the leading
physicians and surgeons of the El Cajon valley,
his home and his office being at Bostonia. Fa-
miliar with the most modern views upon medical
surgical science, and careful in his study and
diagnosis of the various diseases that have come
under his observation, he has met with marked
success in his chosen career, gaining a fine repu-
tation for skill and ability. A son of Smith
Mathewson, he was born at Pascoag, R. I., Oc-
tober 18, i860, coming from a long line, of New
England ancestors, one of whom was a May-
flower passenger, while another was Roger
Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. His
father, who died in 1896, at the venerable age
of ninety years, married Zerviah Potter Miller,
who is still living, making her home in the state
founded by her ancestor, Roger Williams, and
in which she was born seventy-two years ago.

Laying a substantial foundation for his edu-
cation in the public schools of his native city,
Eugene Mathewson afterwards took a course
of study at the University of Colorado. En-
tering then the Gross Medical College, now
known as the Gross & Denver Medical College,
he was there graduated with the degree of M.
D., April 12, 1894. After practicing his pro-
fession in Denver for a few months, his health
began to fail, and he was forced to leave the
city. Going, therefore, to Ordway, Otero coun-
ty, Colo., he remained there a year and a half,
in the meantime practicing medicine, and serv-
ing as health officer for the county. His health be-
coming more and more impaired, when almost

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2035

a physical wreck, he came in 1896 to California
to recuperate if possible. Being very favorably
impressed with the location of Bostonia and
with its bright, exhilarating climate, he deter-
mined to make this place his home. Buying lots
in one of the most attractive portions of the vil-
lage he erected a conveniently arranged, mod-
ern house, in which he has, in addition to his
home and his office, an operating room and a
drug room, all of which are finely equipped and
well furnished with all of the conveniences and
appliances demanded by those most familiar with
medical and surgical science. Regaining his health
in this invigorating climate, he has here been
successfully engaged in his chosen profession for
a number of years, his patronage throughout the
valley being extensive and remunerative.

In Denver, Colo., Dr. Mathewson married
Alice Colburn, daughter of Rev. Alfred Colburn,'
a native of New England. Her father died in
Worcester, Mass., in 1891, and her mother,
whose maiden name was Isabella Waterman,
still makes that city her home. Mrs. Colburn
is an accomplished woman, and as an artist has
acquired more than local fame. Mrs. Mathew-
son is a musician of rare ability and skill, and
after her graduation from the Boston Conserva-
tory of Music was for a number of years affili-
ated with the Worcester Musical Festival, a
noted New England organization. For several
years she was successfully employed as a music
teacher, giving lessons on both the piano and the
pipe organ, and while living in the east played
the accompaniments for many of the leading
musical celebrities of our own country and of
Europe. The doctor and his wife are both mem-
bers of the Baptist Qiurch. He is a medical ex-
aminer of the Ancient Order of United Work-
men; a member and medical examiner of the
Order of Pendo; of the Modern Woodmen of
America ; of the Woodmen of the World ; and
is likewise m.edical examiner for several of the
old-line insurance companies.

MRS. P. E. KITCHING. Since 1886 Mrs.
P. E. Kitching has been a resident of San Diego
county and has during the past twenty years
reared a family of fine children and demon-
strated as well her superior business ability in
the management of her ranch. This consists
of one hundred and seventeen acres and is
devoted entirely to stock and grain raising.
Mrs. Kitching was born in southern Arkansas,
the daughter of James M. and Sarah (Black)
Griffin, who removed to Texas when she was a
small child and remained there for seventeen
years, during which time she was educated and
married to A. C. Kitching, a native of Texas.
In 1886 she came to California with her pa-

rents, who first settled at Campo, San Diego
county, a year later the father removing to
San Luis Rey, where he conducted a farm
until his death, in October, 1901, at the age
of seventy-seven years. In the early years he
had much trouble in securing title to his land,
which was claimed by the Pico family as a
part of the large land grant given them, and it
took five years of litigation in the courts to
secure his rights. During this time they were
much annoyed, their houses being pulled down
and removed from the land, and the Indians
frequently raiding the premises and carrying
off provisions. Mrs. Griffin is now living at the
age of seventy-six years.

Mrs. Kitching's family consists of four chil-
dren, two sons, Jeremiah and Charles, resid-
ing at home ; one son, Roy, who is married to
Ethel James, and living in Los Angeles ; and
a daughter, Sadie, who is now the wife of
B. B. Higgins and lives at Mt. Serat. Mrs.
Kitching is a devoted member of the Christian
Church at San Luis Rey, and is deeply inter-
ested in the promotion of all influences which
tend to develop and elevate the community in
which she makes her home.

RALPH EMERSON SWING. Only a few
of the men now prominent in the commercial
and professional life of San Bernardino can
claim this city as their birthplace. The majority
have come from the east and have selected this
region because of its manifest attractions. An
exception is found in the case of Mr. Swing,
who was born in San Bernardino November 4,
1875, and has known no other home than this.
Upon entering the practice of law he decided
that his home town offered advantages sur-
passed by none, and therefore resolved to re-
main here, a decision which he has no reason to
regret. Since admitted to the bar in 1897 he
has built up a large practice in the courts and
has risen to a high position in the profession.
Besides taking charge of his private practice he
acts as attorney for the Home Gas and Lighting
Company, the Del Rosa Water Company, and
other corporations.

The family represented by this popular attor-
ney has been identified with San Bernardino
since 1866, when his father. Rev. James W.
Swing, a native of Ohio and a life-long min-
ister in the Methodist Episcopal denomination,
came to this place, where he had charge of the
building of the first Holiness Church. From
that time he officiated as pastor of the church
until he died in 1896. His was a life of self-
sacrifice and patient devotion to the cause of
Giristianity, and he counted no day lost whose
labors bore fruit in the uplifting of a liuman

2036

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

soul. His wife, who bore tlie maiden name of
Mary F. Garner, was born in Illinois and now
makes her home in Riverside county. Their son,
Ralph E., received his education in the grammar
and high schools of San Bernardino, and after
leaving school took up the study of law under
the preceptorship of George B. Cole, then a lead-
ing resident of San Bernardino, but now of Seat-
tle, Wash. After having gained a thorough
knowledge of the principles of the law he was
admitted to the bar in 1897, being then twenty-
two years of age. and immediatelv embarked in
professional work, having John P. Hight, Sr.,
as his partner for a time, under the firm title
of Hight & Swing. A few years later, however,
the partnership was dissolved, and since then he
has practiced alone. To aid in his labors he has
a large and carefully-selected library of law
books, including the highest authorities in their
various specialties.

State and county political affairs have received
careful consideration on the part of Mr. Swing,
who possesses pronounced Democratic opinions
and has given the party the benefit of his serv-
ices in its local upbuilding. For four years he
was attorney for the public administrator of
San Bernardino county, and since 1903 he has
been attorney for the city of San Bernardino, to
which office he was elected for a term of four
years, and is conceded to be one of the most ef-
ficient attorneys who have ever served the city.
His success is due to his hard work and to
his absolute honesty and integrity. In fraternal re-
lations he holds membership with Arrowhead
Parlor No. no, N. S. G. W., of which he is
past president, and in addition he is identified
with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks,
Lodge No. 836, at San Bernardino.

LEONIDAS W. COLEMAN. In San Ber-
nardino county are found some of the best
lemon groves in California, and one of the
finest of these is owned by Leonidas W. Cole-
man of Rialto, who himself, in May, 1894,
planted the ten hundred and ninety trees now
growing on his eleven-acre ranch. When he
first purchased the place it contained twenty-
one acres of land, one-third of which was
planted to grapes, but he soon sold one-half
of the acreage and on the remaining half re-
placed the vineyard with lemon trees. From
this grove he takes very large crops, seven
thousand* boxes having been gathered in 1904
and 1905 and six thousand in 1905 and 1906.
Mr. Coleman was born July 26. 1842, in Ala-
bama, the son of James A. and Sarah A. (Ken-
nedy) Coleman, his mother being a native of
South Carolina. The Coleman family is one
of the oldest and most prominent of Virginia,

where the father and grandfather, Thomas,
were born, the grandmother having been Miss
Randolph, of the noted pioneer Randolph fam-
ily of that state. After his removal to Ala-
bama, James A. Coleman became the owner
of a large cotton plantation, and in that state
he married Sarah A. Kennedy. He served as
a private in the Seminole Indian war in Flor-
ida, was a member of the Baptist church, and
died in Kansas at the age of seventy-two years.
His widow came to California with her son,
with whom she lived until her death in 1899.
There were seven children in the parental fam-
ily, four of whom lived to maturity. One son
is a prominent attorney in Chicago, and has
become noted as the author of the treatise,
"Mechanics' Liens on Real Estate."

The early education of Leonidas W. Cole-
man was received in Alabama and he finished
his studies wnth a general college course at
Centenary College in Dallas county, that state.
At the outbreak of the Civil war he was in
business in Marion, ]\Iiss., and from there he
enlisted in Company A. Fourteenth Mississippi
Volunteers, becoming captain of his company,
but unfortunately he met with an accident
which incapacitated him for active service. He
came north to Kentucky wdth Sherman's army
and after his discharge engaged in merchan-
dising, respectively, at Paxton, Ind., and Hen-
derson, Ky., becoming at the latter place editor
and publisher of the Henderson Reporter, and
during that time was also president of the
Western Kentucky Press Association. From
Henderson he removed to Kansas and engaged
in ranching in Chase county, near Emporia, re-
maining in that state for tw^enty years; during
which time he owned three different farms.
After disposing of his first farm, which com-
prised one hundred and sixty acres, he pur-
chased another twice as large; upon selling the
latter acreage he purchased another contain-
ing six hundred and forty acres.

Mr. Coleman's first marriage, which took
place in 1868, united him wnth Miss Isophoena
Martin, a native of Kentucky, and whose death
occurred in Henderson, that state. She be-
came the mother of five children, one of whom
died in infancy, ^^^illiam J., who graduated
as a civil engineer at Lawrence, Kans., is gen-
eral secretary of the Lawrence (Kans.) Young
Men's Christian Association; he married May
Rush, of that city,' and they have one child:
Fannie, who took a medical course at St. Louis
and Denver, became the wife of Dr. F. M.
Cooper, who conducts the Ruxton house at
Manitou, Colo. ; John A. is engaged in railroad
w-ork for the Santa Fe at Needles, Ariz. ; and
Leonidas M., who for two years taught school
in San Bernardino, died at Berkelej' at the age

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2037

of twenty-three years. In 1888, at Cotton-
wood Fails, Kans., Mr. Coleman was married
to Alice Rockwood, who was born in Wiscon-
sin and was brought by her father, William
W. Rockwood, to Kansas when she was but
three years old. She is the mother of one son,
Herbert R., who resides with his parents at
Rialto. The Rockwood family is prominent in
Masonic circles and by virtue of their member-
ship, ]\Irs. Coleman belongs to the Order of
Eastern Star.

Politically, I\lr. Coleman is an independent
voter, casting his ballot for those whom he con-
siders the best men. He was a member of the
Presbyterian Church at San Bernardino for
nine years, but after his removal to Rialto
both he and his wife joined the Congregational
Church. For five years Mr. Coleman was a
member of the Rialto Fruit Association, hav-
ing been one of its charter members, but he
finally withdrew from that organization and
joined the Rialto Citrus Fruit Union at Rialto,
and is now an independent shipper. He is a
stockholder in the Lytle Creek Water and Im-
provement Company, has the best interests of
the business and social life of his community
at heart, and is held in high esteem by all who
know him.

HENRY H. EVANS. One of the most
enterprising and progressive ranchmen in the
Menifee valley is Henry H. Evans, a native
son of California, who was born November 27,
1863, in San Jose, the son of Thomas Jefferson
and Cynthia (Fowler) Evans, the former a
native of Indiana and the latter of Maine. In
1849 the father crossed the plains with the
government train and located in Santa Fe,
N. Mex., where he bought land and was en-
gaged as a government police for two years.
Returning to Indiana in 1851 he remained but
a short time before starting on his second over-
land trip west, this time reaching California.
He located first in San Francisco and mined
on the Feather river for a number of years,
later removing to San Jose, where his marriage
occurred. He conducted a wood, coal and
grain business at this point until 1868, when
he changed his residence to Castroville, living
in that city for six years. Coming to San Ber-
nardino in 1874 he engaged in the raising of
hay and grain and finally retired from active
business. He died October 21, 1903, when
seventy-five years old, his wife having preceded
him on June 12, 1894, at the age of fiftv-four
years. They were the parents of eight chil-
dren : G. W., of San Bernardino, who is ex-
street supervisor and lives on a ranch near
town ; Cora E., the wife of R. T- \'^arley, of

San Bernardino ; Henry H., of this sketch ;
Thomas A., residing in Menifee valley ; New-
ton, an engineer in the Fulton Iron Works
of Los Angeles ; Florence G., residing in Los
Angeles; Edna E., wife of J. E. Ferrell, of the
Menifee valley; and Minnie A., wife of W. R.
Ferrell, of the same place.

The first schooling of Henry H. Evans was
received in the Castroville public schools and
after the removal of the family to San Ber-
nardino he finished his education there, attend-
ing business college for one year. His studies
completed, he engaged in the livery business
in San Bernardino until 1890, when he began
farming in the Menifee valley, in 1891 purchas-
ing one hundred acres of land. After clearing
away the brush he began to improve the land,
and gradually added to his holdings until he
now owns four hundred and twenty acres. He
rents a large tract, also, having fifteen hundred
acres of grain and four thousand acres of pas-
ture land. He has his own combined harvester
and sells all of the wheat he raises to the Globe
^ lining Company of Colton. He also raises
quite a number of cattle, horses and mules.

The marriage of Mr. Evans occurred Feb-
ruary 5, 1884. in San Bernardino, uniting him
with Miss Ella May Ferrell, daughter of J. B.
Ferrell, of Iowa, who came to San Bernardino
in 1874. Seven children have been born to
. them : Emma May (who died when sixteen
months old), Fredrick H., Grover C, Richard
v., Frances E., George Dewey, Pattie M. Fra-
ternally Mr. Evans is a member of Perris
Lodge No. 190, K. of P. He has been for the
past six years a member of the Menifee board
of school trustees, and in all matters of import
to the social and civic welfare of the com-,
munitv takes an active interest.

ARTHUR G. KELLY. As the owner and
manager of a ninety-five acre ranch devoted to
the raising of alfalfa and grain Arthur G. Kelly
is known as one of the successful young men in
San Bernardino county. He is the son of one
of the earliest pioneers of this section of the
state, his father, Joseph H. Kelly, who is a
native of Illinois, having come to San Ber-
nardino in 1861. He is still living in the county
on a ranch of four hundred acres, devoted to
the raising of grain and to stock-raising. By
his marriage in 1866 Joseph H. Kelly was
united with Sarah Keller, whose death oc-
curred in 1876, when only thirty-three vears
of age. Of the five children born to these
parents Arthur G. was the eldest.

July 20. 1867, Arthur G. Kelly was born in
San Bernardino county, where he received his
education through the medium of the public

2038

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

schools, and after his studies were completed
he worked on the home ranch until 1900, in
which year occurred his marriage to Miss Re-
becca Lawrence, a native of Nebraska. He
then went to Redlands and engaged in the
livery business for a time, subsequently locat-
ing on the ranch which has since been his
home. He is a member of Arrowhead Parlor
Xo. no, N. S. G. W., and politically advocates
the principles embraced in the platform of the
Democratic party. He has many friends in this
section of the country, where he has spent his
entire life, and is a public-spirited citizen, in-
terested in the upbuilding of his section of the
state.

JOSEPH JONES. If in a degree worthy
of praise success has crowned the efforts of
Mr. Jones, this gratifying result may be at-
tributed to his own unaided and ceaseless appli-
cation from early childhood through all the
years of manhood's prime. In his boyhood
"he had little to encourage and none to aid him.
His parents, Edward and Jane (Williams)
Jones, were poor and there were thirteen chil-
dren in the family. Hardships were their com-
mon lot and grim want often hovered near their
humble door. In the mining district of Wales
where they lived the wages were meager and
each child was obliged to work as soon as old •
enough to earn a few pennies. Of the thirteen
children three died in infancy ; five of the sons
came to the United States and met in this coun-
try a success impossible in their native land.
Joseph, who was born in Wales October 27,
1838, was only eight years old when he was
sent to work in a woolen mill near home, and
there he toiled day after day, receiving only the
most meager wages, and deprived of what now
would be considered the necessities of exist-
ence, yet cheered by family affection to bear
trials difficult for one of tender years to en-
dure.

While still quite young Joseph Jones deter-
mined to come to the United States in the
hope of securing an environment more favor-
able for success. In 1856 he landed in New
York City and from there proceeded to Illinois,
where he worked on a farm in Marshall county
about two years. Afterward he worked for
a similar period in mines near St. Louis, and
then returned to Illinois, where he worked in
the mines of Randolph county, continuing in
the same position from 1859 until 1878 with
the exception of three years spent in California.
From Illinois he moved to iMinnesota and took
up farm pursuits, in time becoming the owner
of an improved farm of three hundred and
fifty-five acres. After ten busy and somewhat

profitable years on the Minnesota farm, he sold
the land and in 1888 came to California, set-
tling at Oceanside in order to give his chil-
dren the advantages of the excellent schools
of that town. Meanwhile he purchased one
hundred and sixty-two acres in San Luis Rev
valley, where in 1893 he erected a residence
and established his home. Instead of devoting
his attention to a specialty he has engaged in
mixed farming, and has raised cattle and hogs,
has conducted a small dairy business, has raised
grain, and to some extent has been interested
in market gardening and in the raising of
fruit.

The marriage of Mr. Jones took place in Illi-
nois in 1869 and united him with Ann Talitha
McKenzie, who was born and reared in Ran-
dolph county, that state. They are the parents
of three children, Nancy, J. E. and D. E. The
daughter married Walter Myers, a stock-raiser
near Santa Ana, and the sons are living in
San Diego county. In his political views Mr.
Jones is a believer in socialism and holds that
the many evils threatening our body politic
today might be alleviated by a practical ex-
periment with the doctrines he espouses. While
living in Illinois he was made a ]\Iason in 1870
and now affiliates with Silver Gate Lodge, F.
& A. M., at San Diego. Though not identified
with any denomination he is in sympathy with
religious work and was reared by his parents
in the Presbyterian faith.

JOHN SULLIVAN. In his work as rancher
and dairyman John Sullivan has acquired both
a financial success and a high position among
the esteemed and respected residents' of San
Bernardino county, his well-known integrity
and demonstrated benevolence winning him a
wide friendship. He owns a ranch of fifty acres
devoted to general farming and dairy purposes,
twenty Jersey cows forming his dairy herd.
the butter produced being disposed of in local
markets.

A native of Ireland, John Sullivan was born
June 12, 1847, aid in public and private institu-
tions in his native country he received his edu-
cation. While still a vouth he decided to im-
migrate to the new world and landed in New
York City in due time. Going at once to the
farming districts of that state, he followed the
occupation to which he had been trained from
early childhood. After four years spent in
New York state he went to IMontreal, Canada,
from which point he came to California via the
Isthmus of Panama in 1868. Disembarking at
San Francisco, he soon afterward came to
Southern California, becoming one of the pio-
neers in Little Bear valley, San Bernardino

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2039

county, and in the mountains he engaged in
the lumber business. After three years in that
locality he settled in the city of San Bernar-
dino, but continued to conduct his sawmill for
a time, finally, however, purchasing the land
upon which he has since carried on his farming
and dairymg interests. In addition to geneial
agricultural pursuits he also raises horses to
some extent.

JMr. Sullivan and his sister, the latter a resi-
dent of Alameda county, are the only survivors
of a family of six children born to their parents,
James and Mary (Castello) Sullivan, both of
whom are now deceased. In New York City,
in 1868, John Sullivan was united in marriage
with j\liss Elizabeth Enright, a native of Ire-
land, and born of this union are the following
children: ]\lary, who married A. L. Casey, of
Colton, and has five children ; Lizzie, who mar-
ried John jNIcInarny, of Los Angeles, and has
one child : Nora, who married R. T. Burr, of
Los Angeles, and has one child; Kate, who
married A. F. Giroux, of Santa Monica, and
has one son ; John James ; and Ellen and Eve-
lyn. :\lrs. Elizabeth Sullivan died in 1888, and
for his second wife Mr. Sullivan married Rose
E. Flannigan, a native of Ohio, but a resident
of California since 1890, the year of her mar-
riage to Mr. Sullivan. They have two children,
Genevieve and Charles Edward. The family
are members of the Catholic Church, of San
Bernardino. Politically Mr. Sullivan is an ad-
herent of the principles advocated in the plat-
form of the Democratic party, although he is
very broad-minded in the matter of local af-
fairs and reserves the right to cast his ballot
for the man whom he considers best qualified
for the discharge of public duties. For the
past twenty-five years he has served as a mem-
ber of the school board, for ten years acting as
clerk of that body. He is distinctly public
spirited and alive to the advancement of the
communit3''s best interests, and is named
among the best citizens of this section.

ALFRED H. TILTON, of San Bernardino,
has a fine ranch of one hundred and fifty acres
on South Waterman avenue, of which one hun-
dred acres are devoted to the cultivation of
barley and oats, and fifty acres at present are
used as pasture, but it is his intention to de-
vote it all to alfalfa raising in the near future.
In addition to the interests just mentioned he
also raises horses. Mr. Tilton is a native of
New Hampshire, and was born in Bridgewater
May 22, 1870, one of five children born to his
parents, Hiram S. and Lydia P. (Worthen)
Tilton. both also natives of Bridgewater, N.
H. The eldest child in the parental family, a

son, died at the age of thirteen months. The
next child, Delia, born May 2, 1864, became
the wife of Daniel Whittemore in January,
1896, and still resides in Bridgewater. Alfred
H. and Alice M. were born May 22, 1870, the
former being the subject of this sketch; the
latter was married in July, 1893, and has one
son, Harold Tilton Breck, who was born April

2, 1895. Frank H. was born April 4, 1877, ^"d
in September, 1898, was married to Cora G.
Marston. Until October of 1904 the father
continued to live on the farm which he pur-
chased in his early married life, at that time
selling the property to his son Frank. Follow-
ing this, Mr. and Mrs. Tilton, accompanied by
their daughter, Mrs. Breck, and her son, Har-
old, came to California, residing at Perris until
August, 1906, when they came to San Ber-
nardino and are now making their home on
Waterman avenue.

Alfred H. Tilton received a preliminary edu-
cation in the public schools of Bridgewater,
supplementing this by a course in the New
Hampton literary institution and graduating
from the business college. His first independ-
ent employment was in Boston, as clerk in the
veneer store of Johnson Brothers, but as he
did not care particularly for the work he re-
turned home after a couple of years, and the
following three years were spent on the paren-
tal farm. February 10, 1897, he formed do-
mestic ties by his marriage with Miss Eva S.
Cummings, who was born in Ashland, N. H.,
May 26, 1876, the daughter of S. B. and Lucina
E. (Draper) Cummings, who were born re-
spectively in New Hampton, N. H., February

3, 1851, and Plymouth, N. H., May 14, 1852.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Cummings oc-
curred November 11, 1874, and thereafter they
lived on a farm in Ashland, Mr. Cummings
also dealing in agricultural implements and
dairy goods. In 1905 he disposed of his hold-
ings in the east and came to California, locating
first at Perris, and later in San Bernardino,
and with his wife now makes his home on D
street. During her girlhood Mrs. Tilton was
educated in the public schools of Ashland,
graduating from the high school in 1891. She
also received instruction in painting in oil from
local artists, as well as in Worcester, Alass.,
besides which she learned the milliner's trade.
Mr. and Mrs. Tilton have one daughter, Grace
Cummings. who was born at Ashland, N. H.,
October 2, 1899. After their marriage Mr.
Tilton purchased a farm in the vicinity of Ash-
land, but five years later, in 1901, he sold out
and came to California, locating at once in
the vicinity of Perris, Riverside county. There
he made a specialty of raising grain and hav,
farming between three hundred and seven hun-

2040

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

drcd and fifty acres in the different years. In
1903 he purchased a twenty-acre ranch near
Ferris, but lie now rents this property. In 1905
he purchased his present ranch, near San Ber-
nardino. Fraternally ;\Ir. Tilton belongs to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a
member of Cardigan Lodge in Bristol, N. H.,
in which he has served as warden and con-
ductor. He also belongs to the Grange in New
Hampshire, and in his political sympathies is
a stanch Republican.

MARVIN BEMISS FIIATT. Among the in-
dustrious, persevering and thrifty men who have
taken an active part in the industrial develop-
ment of San Diego is Marvin B. Hiatt, a well
known builder and contractor. Beginning life
at the foot of the ladder, without means or in-
fluence, he has step by step ascended the rungs
of prosperity, until now he is an honored and
esteemed member of society, and one of the most
respected citizens of his community. A son of
Caleb Hiatt, he was born, March 17, 1837, in
Rainsboro, Highland county, Ohio. His pater-
nal grandfather, who was of German descent,
and belonged to the Society of Friends, spent
the larger part of his life in North Carolina,
settling there when a young man.

Born and brought up in North Carolina, Caleb
Hiatt, who was public-spirited and patriotic,
served as a soldier in the war of 1812, enlisting
before he attained his majority. Subsequently
settling in Highland county, Ohio, he followed
his trade of a cabinet-maker, and for many years
was engaged in the manufacture of furniture.
Investing then his money in land, he carried on
general farming in Highland county until his
death, February 28. 1849, ^^ the age of fifty-six
years. He married Elizabeth Knight, who was
born near Lynchburg, Va., and died in Ohio.
Her lather, Joshua Knight, was a pioneer build-
er of Virginia, being in partnership with his
brother, who was a stone mason. Removing to
Cincinnati, Ohio, he built the Broadway hotel,
the first hotel erected in that city.

Until after the death of his father, in 1849,
Marvin B. Hiatt lived on the home farm, attend-
ing the common school during its brief terms.
He subsequently entered the employ of his un-
cle, Tames Knight, a newspaper agent, and for
two years sold and delivered the daily papers.
As soon as old enough he began learning the
carpenter's trade, serving a full apprenticeship,
and the ensuing five years was engaged as a
contractor in Troy, Ohio. Coming from there
to San Diego in January, 1888, he continued that
occupation, the first year that he was here doing
$40,000 worth of carpenter work. In his work
he has met with success, having his full share of

the building and contracting of this vicinity.
The family home is at No. 335 Webster avenue.
In Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Hiatt married Mar-
garet Clough, who was born in Troy, Ohio, a
daughter of William Clough, and granddaugh-
ter of Jeremiah Clough, a Revolutionary soldier.
William Clough was born in Virginia, learned
the trade of a stone and brick mason, after which
he removed to Troy, Ohio, where he lived a
few years. He subsequently settled in Ken-
tucky, and there spent his last days, dying in
Covington. He was a soldier of the war of
1812. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah
McCarthy, was born in Kentucky, coming from
a Maryland family of prominence, and died in
Troy, Ohio. She bore her husband ten children,
of whom two are living, Mrs. Hiatt being the
youngest child. Mr. and Mrs. Hiatt are the
parents of four children, namely : Willis, a mill-
er in Indiana ; Ellsworth, of San Diego, a car-
penter; Grant, working with his father; and
Harry, a blacksmith, living in Lowell, Ariz.
Mr. Hiatt belongs to the Master Carpenters' As-
sociation, of which he is a charter member. Po-
litically he is a Socialist. Like his ancestors he
has served his country in time of need. On
September 22, 1S64, while living in Ohio, he en-
listed in Company C, One Hundred and Eighty-
first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served, under
General Schofield, in the Twenty-third Army
Corps, with which he remained until mustered
out, and was honorablv discharged, July 14,
1865, at Salemburg, N.' C.

JAMES :MILLER. As superintendent of
the Santa Fe steam laundry in San Bernardino
James Miller holds a prominent position in
business circles in this city. The plant is one
of the largest in this part of the state outside
of the city of Los Angeles and draws a liberal
support from San Bernardino and the sur-
rounding country, as well as securing work
from various points in Arizona. Mr. Miller
is a native Canadian, his birth having occurred
in Gait, Ontario, and he being the third from
the youngest in a family of ten children. His
father, who was born in Scotland, removed in
an earl)' day to Ontario, where he followed the
occupation of farmer, and in which province
he still resides. The mother, who was before
her marriage Esther Aitken, and is now de-
ceased, was of Scotch parentage, her father,
Robert Aitken, having also become a pioneer
farmer in Canada. The elder ^lillers were ad-
herents of the faith of the Presbyterian Church,
exerting a beneficial and elevating influence
upon all with whom they came in contact. Two
sons beside James and one daughter have
homes in California ; George is vice-president

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2041

of the Tro}' Laundry Company in Los Angeles ;
Robert is a farmer near San Bernardino; and
Mary resides in the latter named place.

Reared on a farm and educated in the public
schools, when sixteen years of age, James Mil-
ler began to occup}' himself as an independent
farmer in Ontario and continued to pursue that
work until i8g6, when he came to California
and engaged in agriculture. The following
year he entered the employ of his brother in
the San Bernardino laundry, devoting the suc-
ceeding five years to that work and acquiring
a detailed and comprehensive knowledge of
the business. In 1903, in company with Mr.
Strawser, he leased the Santa Fe steam laun-
dry, a year later purchasing the plant and in
various ways adding to its equipment to meet
the needs of an ever-increasing business.
Among other improvements was the sinking
of a three hundred and twenty-five foot artesian
well, the making of a large storage reservoir,
and the installation of modern pumping ma-
chinery. Mr. Miller is treasurer of the firm.

Air. Miller belongs to the Southern
California Laundrymen's Association and the
San Bernardino Board of Trade, and is
actively interested in the development of
this section of the state. Religiously he
holds membership in the First Presby-
terian Church, and politically advocates
Republican principles when applied to national
affairs. He was made a member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows in Token Lodge
No. 290, in San Bernardino, and also belongs
to the Encampment here ; is a member of the
Rebekah lodge, and belongs to the Independent
Order of Foresters in Glenmorris, Ontario. As
a man of high principles, honesty and integrity,
he is greatly esteemed throughout the com-
munity.

AMOS H. BEMIS. The advantages of San
Bernardino county early attracted many settlers
within her borders, and among those whose fore-
sight and sagacity led them to locate in this sec-
tion of Southern California was the family of
which Amos H. Beniis is a member. He is one
of the substantial and well-to-do ranchers in this
section and creditably sustains the reputation for
honor and integrity and square dealing in all
matters which his father handed down to him.
Amos W. Bemis, the father of Amos H., was
born June 3, 1828. in Jefiferson county, N. Y.,
and when eight years old began the westward
march with his parents, who remained in Coun-
cil Bluffs, Iowa, about two years, the death of
the grandfather occurring during this time. His
widow accompanied tlie family to San Bernar-
dino, where she died many years later. From
99

Council Bluffs the family moved on to Salt Lake
City, where thev remamed for several years.
Here the son was married to Miss Julia Mc-
Cullough, who was born near Buft'afo, N. Y.,
b.er father having been a member of the Mormon
battalion which came to California and New
Mexico, helped drive out the Mexican governor
of the former state and build the old fort at Los
Angeles in 1847. ^Ir. McCullough left Los An-
geles in company with another man, starting out
with three horses, but they encountered the In-
dians at an early stage of the trip, lost two of
their horses in the skirmish and were obliged to
make the rest of the trip to his home in Council
Bluffs, Iowa, on foot. He later removed to
Utah and freighted from Los Angeles to South-
ern Utah. J\lr. and Mrs. Bemis came to Cali-
fornia in 1854, later returned to Utah for a visit,
and in 1856 .joined the train of emigrants which
followed the one massacred at iMountain Mead-,
ows and reached San Bernardino in the fall,
after undergoing many hardships. During the
first trip the family consisted of the grandmother
of A. H., her seven sons and three daughters.
In the course of the journey they ran out of
water and almost perished from thirst, at one
time being obliged to drink from the pools at
the roadside filled by a sudden shower.

Arriving at their destination the father pur-
chased a two hundred and twenty-five acre ranch
from the Mormon elders and made his home on
the place until his death May i, 1905. when he
was nearly seventy-seven years old. The mother
died in 1893, at the age of sixty-six years, her
burial occurring on the forty-eighth anniversary
of the settlement of the family in this county.
They were th.e parents of ten children, six of
whom are living and have homes in this county.
Frances 1 ., the wife of Milo Brooks ; Amos H. ;
Levi; Ervin A., who married Adelaide Osborne;
Clarissa and Clarina, twins who died young;
Wilson J. ; George, who died at the age of twen-
ty-one years ; Loren M., and Esther, who died in
infancy.

The birth of Amos H. Bemis occurred Sep-
tember 27, 1858, in San Bernardino county,
where he received the advantages of a common
school education, and after his studies were
completed assisted his father on the ranch un-
til twenty-one years old. At that age he started
on an independent business career, buying a
claim of one hundred and sixty acres from the
man who had originally homesteaded it. Mr.
Bemis brought it to a high state of improvement
and now has twenty acres in sweet and navel
oranges, ten acres in lemons, ten acres in apri-
cots, and a five-acre vineyard, the rest of the
land being cultivated and planted to grain crops.
It is his intention, however, to ultimately have
the entire ranch planted to fruit. He owns ten

2042

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

shares in the Rialto W'atcr Company, from which
he has sufficient water to irrigate sixty-five acres.
By his marriage. May 28, 1884, Mr. Bemis
was united with Miss Jennie Leedom, a native
of Iowa, and the daughter of Andrew Leedom,
an early pioneer in California. Of this union
six children were born : Frank, Katie, Fred (who
died when five years old), Isabelle, Nellie and
Clarence. Mr. Bemis is a member of Arrow-
head Parlor No. no, N. S. G. W., and belongs
to Token Lodge No. 290, I. O. O. F., at San Ber-
nardino, of which he is past grand. He is a
strong advocate of the principles of the Repub-
lican party. Being considered an expert on roads
he was appointed road overseer by the super-
visors. He is actively interested in the promo-
tion of enterprises tending to upbuild his section
of the .state, and as one of the public-spirited
citizens of San Bernardino county is held in the
highest esteem by all who know him.

MARCUS L. FRINK. One of the extensive
ranchmen of San Blernardino county, located
near Bryn Mawr, is Marcus L. Frink, who is
a member of one of the oldest pioneer families in
California and in his own right holds the highest
respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens. He is
a native son of California, having been born
March 14, i860, in San Bernardino countv, the
son of Horace M. and Polly A. (DeWitt) Frink.
His mother was a native of Indiana and came
with her grandfather, Martin Potter, to San Ber-
nardino, where, in 1857, she was married to Mr.
Frink. The father, who was born May 31, 1831,
in New York, was the son of Jefiferson Frink,
an accomplished drummer, and after securing his
education and learning the mason trade, started
west, stopping fiist in Illinois, later going to the
mining sections of Missouri. In his travels he
met Brigham Young, with whom he later had
business relations, and as driver of one of the
wagons in the train was one of the first persons
to reach Salt Lake City in 1847. He did not re-
main in Utah, however, but returned to Mis-
souri for a time, and then pushed his way to
the western coast, reaching Hangtown (now
Placerville) in 1852. He remained in that sec-
tion of the state for two years, and in 1854 came
to San Bernardino, where he and his brother
secured three hundred and twenty acres of land
in the San Timoteo valley, at what is now El-
casco. There they raised stock until 1866, when
Horace M. sold out, having by that time accumu-
lated about sixteen hundred head of cattle. In
1862 he acted as guide to the United States
troops under Captain Prentice, on the march
from San Bernardino to Fort Yuma, he being
thoroughly familiar with the lay of the country
in that direction. He also discovered the springs

now known as Frir.k Springs, which became a
favorite watering place for travelers. In 1867
he purchased the Wallace place, comprising one
hundred acres of land in old San Bernardino,
where he lived until his death, July 28, 1874.
Three of the seven children in the parental fam-
ily are now living, Alonzo M., Marcus L. and
Polly A., the latter the wife of H. F. Gansner.
The mother is still living on the home place at
the age of seventy years.

After completing his studies in the common
schools of San Bernardino county, Marcus L.
Frink worked on the home ranch until his fath-
er's death, and since that time he and his brother,
Alonzo M., have been jointly interested in the
ownership of their real estate. They have a
ranch of one hundred and thirteen acres in San
Bernardino county, forty acres of which is de-
voted to seedling, navel and Valencia oranges,
and the remainder to grain and alfalfa crops. A
second ranch, located in Riverside county, com-
prises one hundred and ninety-three acres, which
with the exception of a five acre peach orchard
is given over entirely to grain and hay raising.
Mr. Frink came to the place on which he now
resides in 1867, and he was born on that part
of the land which was formerly used as a race
track. He is a member of Token Lodge No.
290, I. O. O. F., at San Bernardino, and be-
longs to Redlands Parlor, N. S. G. W. Politic-
ally he is a believer in the principles of the
Republican party, and has served as a member
of the board of school trustees of his district.

By his marriage in t88o at San Bernardino
Mr. Frink was united with Samantha C. Wilson,
a native of that city, and the daughter of Joseph
Wilson, who was originally from Ohio, and set-
tled in California in 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Frink
have becom.e the parents of seven children, three
of whom died in infancy, those now living being,
Lena A., Amy (the wife of G. A. Murphy, of
San Bernardino). ]\Iillon J. and Howard L.

HIRAM SMITH DAVIDSON. On the cor-
ner of Highland avenue and G streets, in San
Bernardino, Mr. Davidson has made his home
for more than two decades, having seventy
acres of land orginally in this location. Of re-
cent years he has sold off portions of the tract,
however, until he now has only twenty-nine
acres. The residence is a fine modern structure,
which he himself erected, in fact all of the im-
provements are his handiwork.

Hiram S. Davidson is a native of Illinois and
was born in Hancock county May 22, 1840, the
son of George and Nancy (Lytle) Davidson,
the parents being natives of Pennsylvania. When
Hiram was a lad of ten years his parents re-
moved to Utah, and as he was then of school

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2043

age he at once became a student in the schools
in that then territory. From the time after
leaving school until he was eighteen years old
he followed teaming, a business which brought
him in contact with many who were making
their way across the country to the far west.
This was a suggestion to the lad and the year
1858 found him carrying out his cherished plan.
From that time until coming to San Bernardino
county in 1875 he had visited various parts of
the state, his choice for a permanent location
falling on this favored spot after a thorough
canvass to find a combination of advantages,
such as climate and soil. He at once erected a
commodious home for the family, and the barn
and other building, which he also erected, are
in keeping, all combining to make one of the
substantial and well-ordered ranches in this vi-
cinity.

Mr. Davidson's marriage in 1877 united him
with Mrs. Elizabeth (Bain) Swarthout, the
widow of George Swarthout, and three children
have been born to them, as follows : Walter Mel-
vin, who is in Arizona, an employe of the Santa
Fe Railroad Company ; John An'drew, who op-
erates a cigar store in San Bernardino ; and Net-
tie, at home. By her former marriage Mrs.
Davidson became the mother of five children,
named in order of birth as follows : Qiarity, Mrs.
Stephen Kelley, of San Bernardino; Susan, who
died at the age of nineteen years ; Qiarles, who
lives in the state of Washington ; George, who
is a conductor on the Santa Fe road and resides
at Needles; and Albert Riley.

J. J. HAN FORD. The largest manufactur-
ing establishment in San Bernardino, with the
sole exception of the Santa Fe shops, is the
Hanford iron works, occupying three acres,
with a brick building erected in 1904, on the
corner of C and First streets. The structure
is 100x283 feet in dimensions and is thorough-
ly modern in equipment, furnishing a plant
complete in every detail. The products of the
foundry find a ready sale not only where iron
work is needed in San Bernardino, but also in
Redlands, Highland, Ontario, Pomona, and to
some extent also in Los Angeles. The foundry
has a capacity of seven tons per day and fur-
nishes employment to about twenty-four work-
men, each of whom is skilled in his special de-
partment.

Born in New York City June 12, 1845, J. J.
Hanford is a son of Peter Hanford, a moulder
in the Novelty iron works in that metropolis.
It is natural that he should be an expert foun-
dryman, for he has been familiar with iron
works from boyhood. After having completed
the grammar school stutHes in New York City

and Brooklyn, in Alay of 1859 '^^ became an
apprentice to the moulder's trade in the Novel-
ty iron works in New York City. From Aug-
ust until December of 1863 he was employed
in the Algers works of South Boston, extensive
manufacturers of government engines, shot,
shell, etc. On his return to Brooklyn from
Boston he took up work at his trade and con-
tinued at the same until 1873, when lie was
chosen a clerk in the comptroller's office, and
later engaged in business in Brooklyn.

Coming to California in 1882 Mr. Hanford
found Los Angeles a sleepy Mexican town of
ten thousand inhabitants. However, he was
charmed by its climate and location and be-
lieved it oft'ered a favorable point for real-estate
speculation. Accordingly he bought and sold,
handling large tracts of city property. When
the boom collapsed in 1889 he was interested
with four others in the subdividing of the Gen-
eral Sanford ranch, which they had purchased.
The decadence of the boom stopped their enter-
prise and Mr. Hanford returned home with
only a dollar. In 1889 he went to San Diego
and entered the employ of the Coronado Foun-
dry and Machine Compan}', of whose foundry
he soon was made foreman. While filling this
position he was ever on the alert for a desir-
able point in which to embark in business for
himself, and in 1892 he selected San Bernar-
dino as the center of his future activities.
With Mr. Wade, then the general manager of
the Santa Fe Railroad, he made a contract to
manufacture and furnish the castings for this
division of the road. The foundry was built
and the plant started on C near Second street,
but at the expiration of three years he pur-
chased his present property of three acres,
erected necessary buildings, and has since de-
veloped a large business in structural iron
work, taking orders from all parts of the
county.

The marriage of Mr. Hanford was solem-
nized in New York City and united him with
Miss Joan Gregg, who was born and educated
there. One son blesses the union. William J.,
who assists his father in the supervision of the
works. Mrs. Hanford is a woman possessing
broad culture and refined tastes. One of her
specialties has been the collection of Japanese
curios and art treasures, of which it is said by
excellent judges that she has the finest ex-
hibit in this country.

Although formerly a Democrat, since 1904
Mr. Hanford has voted the Republican ticket.
During his residence in the east he was a lead-
er in local politics and wielded a large influ-
ence throughout his district. Since coming
west he has been interested in movements per-
taining to the political life of his county and

2044

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

state. For six years he was a member of the
cit}- council and during four years of that time
he officiated as president of the board. The
San Bernardino Board of Trade has numbered
him among its leading members ever since its
organization and at this writing he acts as
chairman of the manufacturers' committee.
During 1904-05 he officiated as president of the
board and at the expiration of his term de-
clined renomination, thus establishing a prece-
dent for a one-year term in the president's
chair. While living in New York City he Avas
made a Mason in ]\Iunn Lodge No. 190, A. F.
& A. M., and later became connected with the
Sanctorum in Brooklyn. Other organizations
in which he has wielded an important influence
are the Eagles, Improved Order of Red Men,
Fraternal Brotherhood and Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks.

MOSES B. GARNER. During the early
portion of the nineteenth century there came to
the United States a young German bearing the
name of Moses Baumgarner and possessing the
qualities of thrift and perseverance for which his
countrymen are noted. After a brief sojourn
in Kentucky he removed to Illinois and took up
a farm in Hamilton county near McLeansboro,
where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. Ere
he had reached the success toward which his
ambition pointed sudden death overtook him and
removed from the communit}- a capable farmer
and progressive citizen. It was at the time of
the cholera plague in 185 1 that he and his wife
on the same day fell victims to the dread dis-
ease. The family name bad been shortened to its
present form by the original immigrant, shortly
after his arrival in the new world.

Reared on an Illinois farm and educated in
country schools, M. B. Garner had no special
advantages in youth, but was obliged to earn
his own way from an early age. For a long pe-
riod he resided in his native county of Hamilton,
where he followed farm pursuits and for a time
served as deputy sheriff". Later he cultivated
land in White county and from there removed
to Fairfield, ^^'^avne county, where he engaged
in conducting a hotel and carrying on a livery
business. On removing to Xenia, Clay county,
111., he carried on a hotel as well as a general
store. Meanwhile in early manhood he had
established domestic ties. His marriage was sol-
emnized August 23, 1852. and united him with
Miss Hannah Heard, a native of McLeansboro,
111., and a daughter of John H. and Mahilda
(Crouch) Heard, also natives of Illinois. The
family was founded in America by her grand-
father, Charles Heard, who was born in England
and died in Illinois. The maternal grandparents,

Adam and Hannah (Buck) Crouch, made their
home upon a large farm near Shawneetown, 111.,
remaining there until they passed from the
scenes of earth. When twenty years of age John
H. Heard enlisted as a volunteer in the strug-
gles with the Indians and rendered faithful serv-
ice in the Black Hawk war. Throughout active
life he followed agricultural pursuits and made
a specialty of raising and selling thoroughbred
horses. His death occurred in Illinois when he
had reached an advanced age.

The family of John H. Heard consisted of
two children, but Hannah was the only one of
these to attain maturity, and she was orphaned
at three years of age by her mother's death.
In childhood she was sent to neighlxjring schools
which were conducted in log buildings destitute
of conveniences and scantily equipped for the
purposes desired. Public schools had not yet
become popular and teachers were engaged by
patrons to be paid on the subscription plan. In
spite of disadvantages incident to the day and
locality she acquired a fair education, besides
which she was carefully trained in housewifely
arts. About eleven years after her marriage she
accompanied her husband and their five children
to the west, traveling w-ith horses and oxen dur-
ing the summer of 1863 and settling near Vir-
ginia City, Mont., at Alder Gulch. For a brief
period Mr. Garner carried on a mine which he
had purchased at Pine Grove.

During the spring of 1864 the family started
for Los Angeles, but on their arrival at San
Bernardino the illness of a child caused them to
stop. A house was bought, the family estab-
lished themselves comfortably, and for years Mr.
Garner engaged in the butcher business.- With
the profits of his work he invested in a company
that built the motor railroad to Redlands and
also to Harlem Springs, and he further became
a stockholder in the First National Bank of San
Bernardino, of which he was elected vice-presi-
dent. The decadence of the boom caused the
failure of the bank and, to meet its obligations *to
depositors, Mr. Garner willingly donated all of
his property, leaving nothing whatever for all
of his work. Though disheartened by the finan-
cial catastrophe, he bravely began once more,
and in time retrieved his losses and by buying
and selling lands again accumulated a compe-
tency. His death occurred in September, 1900,
when he w-as seventy-two years of age, and since
that time his widow has remained at the old
liom.e in .San Bernardino. Both were from early
life identified with the Methodist Episcopal
Cliurch South and contributed generously to re-
ligious movements.

The ten children comprising the family of Mr.
and Mrs. Garner were named as follows : Mary,
Mrs. James Swing, of Riverside ; Lucv, Mrs.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2045

Harry Bryant, of San Bernardino; Maggie, Mrs.
John Barton, who died in San Bernardino, leav-
ing three children ; Will C, who is engaged in
the real estate business in this city; Robert F.,
who is one of the leading cattle-buyers in this
part of the country; Mrs. Jennie Lemaster, of
El Paso, Tex. ; Emma, who died at eighteen
years of age; John T., who is engaged in the
wholesale meat business at Riverside ; Florence,
Mrs. Fred W. Park, of San Bernardino; and
Joseph, who died at the age of thirteen years.
Identified with the early American occupancy
of San Bernardino, Mr. Garner held a promi-
nent place among its early business men and
progressive citizens, and contributed largely to
the development of its material resources. Its
prosperity and reverses he shared, rejoicing in
the one, deploring the other; yet retaining, even
when the reaction from the Ixjom brought un-
wonted financial depression, a stanch faith in the
ultimate prosperity of his home city and county.
While he never sought political prominence, he
kept posted concerning party issues and gave his
support to the Democratic party. The high prin-
ciples of Masonry received his stanch support and
for years he was an active local worker in the
order. Another organization in which he main-
tained an interest was the Illinois Society of
California. It was not his privilege to live to
witness the prosperity of the twentieth century,
yet it may well afford pleasure to his family to
realize that his energy, enterprise, wise judg-
ment and keen foresight contributed materially
to the consummation enjoyed by the present gen-
eration.

WILLIAM SPEED. A successful ranch-
man of San Bernardino is William Speed, who
has been a resident of this section since 1876.
He is a native of England, and was born Feb-
ruary 27, 1841, a son of William and Mary
(Turner) Speed. At ihe age of thirty years
he immigrated to this country, settling first in
Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and remaining
there five years. Attracted by the opportunities
offered on the Pacific coast he decided to move
further west and in 1876 arrived in San Ber-
nardino, Cal., which place has since been his
home. In 1881 he purchased the ranch upon
which he now lives, the land at that time being
uncultivated and unimproved. He built an at-
tractive five-room cottage on the place and erect-
ed the necessary outbuildings, and has about five
acres now planted to alfalfa. Before the water
became scarce he raised six crops of hay in a
season, cutting about nine tons to the acre, but
since the water has been less plentiful the yield
has fallen to about one ton to the acre.

The marriage of Mr. Speed, which occurred

in England, united him with Ann, a daughter
of Richard and Elizabeth ( Pledges ) Mollard,
her birth occurring there December 6, 1842.
Seven children were born of this union : Henry
Richard, who died in 1881, at the age of sixteen;
Elizabeth, the wife of O. J. Sessions, residing
in Los Angeles ; Mary, whose death occurred in
1871, in her second year; Mary, now Mrs. D.
Wilson, her home being at Long Beach; Anna,
the wife of W. C. Garner, of San Bernardino;
Margaret, who lives at home; and Mabel, who
died at the age of seven years, in 1886. Mr.
Speed is a man possessing many fine qualities
of heart and mind and is highly respected by his
friends and neighbors in San Bernardino.

JOHN HEBER LYTLE. Tlie war between
the United States and Mexico which grew out
of the annexation of Texas to the Union in 1845
was indirectly the cause of bringing the Lytle
family to the west, for in 1846 Andrew Lytle,
the father of our subject, left his Iowa home
and came to the scene of hostilities, in which he
participated until the signing of the treaty of
peace in 1848. Instead of returning to Iowa,
in 1 85 1 he came to California and settled in San
Bernardino county near a little creek which
later became known as Lytle creek, so named
in honor of the family. By trade he was a
blacksmith, and after coming to San Bernardino
he erected a shop in which he carried on a good
business the remainder of his life. He died in
1874, when only forty-eight years of age, while
his wife, who before her marriage was Hannah
Hull. lived to reached her seventy-seventh year,
passing away in 1893.

John Heber Lytle was an infant when his
parents left Iowa, where he was born April 16,
1846, so that his only knowledge of his birth-
place is what has been handed down to him by
ins parents. His primary education was re-
ceived in the schools of San Bernardino and of
Salt Lake City. As manhood years approached
and it became necessary for him to select a busi-
ness which would enable him to provide for his
own support, he tried various lines of work, in-
cluding farming, and it was the latter that he
finally decided he was best adapted for. After
working for others for some time in 1884 he
purchased twenty acres one quarter of a mile
from the city limits of San Bernardino, at the
corner of I street and Highland avenue, the
same property upon which he has made his home
for over twenty-two years. Besides erecting a
house and barn he set out about one and a half
acres to various kinds of fruits, all of which have
grown to the luxuriant proportions known only
to this land of never-ending sunshine.

In San Bernardino, January 20. 1884, John

2046

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

H. Lytle and Sarah Louisa McCrary were
united in marriage. Mrs. Lytle was born in
.San Bernardino April 24, 1865, and is a daugh-
ter of William and Emma (Mapstead) Mc-
Crary. Of the five children born to the marriage
of i\[r. and Mrs. Lytle all are living and at home
with their parents with the exception of John
Milton, who died in 1886, when five months old.
In order of birth the others are named as fol-
lows : Emma, Ena, Stewart and Serena. Mr.
Lytle"s early religious training was in the Mor-
mon Church.

WALTER FRExMONT GROW. No citi-
zen of Highland is more closely identified with
the development and upbuilding of this com-
munity than is Walter Fremont Grow, who has
been a resident here since 1882, has acquired
large property interests and has assisted in the
promoting of an irrigation system that has been
of untold benefit to this section. He was born
July 19, 1856, in Maine, the son of Samuel
Lorenzo and Harriet Fulker (Currier) Grow,
and was taken by his parents to Monona coun-
ty, Iowa, when nine years of age. After ob-
taining a high-school education he adopted the
occupation in which he had been trained from
boyhood and engaged in farming in that state
until 1881, when he came to California. The
first year here was spent on a large grain ranch
near Fresno, and later he came to Highland and
worked as a horticulturist for a year, thereafter
purchasing his present ranch of eighty-six acres.
He has put all of the improvements on the place,
including thirty acres of navel oranges and grape
fruit, commodious barns, and a fine residence of
eleven rooms.

It was in 1898 that Mr. Grow with others es-
tablished a domestic irrigating water system,
sinking wells and installing large pumps, and al-
together making it one of the most perfect water
systems in use. All of the developing was done
under the supervision of Mr. Grow, who was
the first superintendent. The company is in-
corporated for $50,000, and its officers are L.
C. Waite, of Riverside, president; Herbert W.
Johnstone, of Highland, vice-president; John
Browning, of Highland, secretary, the latter be-
ing also at the present time the managing super-
intendent. Mr. Grow, who owns eleven-twenty-
fourths of the stock, is one of the directors and
the head of the collection committee. He is a
stockholder in the Northfork Water Company,
and has a number of houses in Highland which
he is renting. As director of the Chamber of
Commerce, and chairman of the transportation
and street and highways committees he is one
of the leading members of that body. In 1894
he was nominated and elected to the office of

.supervisor of San Bernardino county, running
against George M. Cooley.

Fraternally Mr. Grow' is a member of the
Knights of Pythias at Highland, has taken all
of the degrees, and in 1904 represented his
lodge in the Grand Lodge at Bakersfield. A
member of the Congregational Church, he is a
liberal supporter of the various charities and
benevolences of that denomination, and his in-
fluence is found on the side of all enterprises
tending to elevate the community in which he
lives. On July 11, 1880, he was married to
Carrie Ella Burroughs, a native of Iowa, whose
birth occurred May 21, 1861, and her death Au-
gust 7, 1890. Three children were born of this
union : Edna May, now Mrs. William E. Brome-
low, who resides in Highland ; Ernest Prentiss,
who died at the age of three months; and Laura
Myrtle, at home. i\[r. Grow was again mar-
ried, December 15, 1900, Caroline Lowrie Wil-
son becoming his wife. She was born in Pitts-
burg, Pa., August 27, 1852, the daughter of
William Work and Caroline (Lowrie) Wilson.
Of this union two children have been born, one
who died in infancy and Walter Lowrie, bom
June 4, 1904.

CLARENCE C. McCOLLUM. Conspicuous
among the younger members of the farming
community of Compton is Clarence C. j\Ic-
Collum, who settled here about two years ago,
and in the pursuit of his chosen vocation is
meeting with good success. A son of I. ]\IcCol-
lum, he was born December 23, 1880, in Iowa,
where the first three years of his life were
passed.

Born in 1832, in North Carolina, I. JMcCol-
lum learned the carpenter's trade when young,
and for a few years followed it in the south.
From there he removed to Iowa, but soon
thereafter he went to Indiana, remaining there
one year, when he once more located in low^a.
In tiie latter state he followed farming until
1883, when he located with his family in Pasa-
dena, Cal., and is now living in Long Beach,
Los Angeles county. He is a man of sterling
integrit)' and worth, much esteemed in the
community. Politically he is a Republican,
and both himself and wife are members of the
Friends Church. His first wife, Eunice (Had-
ley) McCollum. died in early life, having be-
come the mother of two children, one of whom
died in infancy, and the other, Elmina, now
lives in Pasadena. Cal., and is single. 'Mr.
McCollum's second wife w^as Luzena Ballinger,
a native of North Carolina, and they became
the parents of eight children, of whom two
died in infancy. Those living are : Emma,
the wife of John Byers, of Pasadena; Tillie,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2047

the wife of Charles Mathews, of Olympia,
Wash. ; Luella, Mrs. Conrad McDaniel, of Pas-
adena; Rhoda, wife of W. Z. Taber, of Pasa-
dena; John, who married Mettie King and is
hving in Los Angeles ; and Clarence C, the
subject of this sketch.

Scarce three years old when he came with
his parents to California, Clarence C. McCoI-
lum was reared and educated in Pasadena,
where he began life for himself as a teamster.
Industrious, prudent and thrifty, he accumulat-
ed some property, and now owns a house and
lot in Pasadena. In December, 1904, wish-
ing a change of occupation, he came to Comp-
ton, and having rented fifteen acres of land
has since been prosperously employed in gen-
eral ranching and dairying, selling his milk at
the Compton cheese factory. Since locating
here he has purchased a ranch of twenty-five
acres. Wide-awake, active and ambitious, he
is carrying on a substantial business, and has
already obtained an assured position among the
enterprising young business men of his com-
munity.

January 9, 1902, Mr. McCollum married Lot-
tie Edna Lee, who was born in Illinois Novem-
ber 22, 1880, a daughter of Mr. ancf Mrs. A. C.
Lee, who came from the Prairie state to Cal-
ifornia in 1886, locating in Pasadena, where
they still reside. j\Ir. and Mrs. McCollum have
two children, Clarence Milton and Margery
Lucille. Politically Mr. McCollum is a Repub-
lican, and both he and his wife are attendants
of the Christian Church, Mrs. McCollum hav-
ing been a member of the Eirst Christian
Church of Pasadena since her fourteenth year.

JAMES L. GRIFFIN. Experience gained
through a long sojourn in Southern California
has given to Mr. Griffin a thorough knowledge
of real estate values and makes his judgment
in transactions of buying, selling or exchang-
ing especially sound and important. In the
upbuilding of San Pedro and Gardena he has
been particularly active, and his name is as-
sociated with the transfer of many lots in his
subdivisions, the platting of additions and the
sale of lots having been among his specialties
for a long duration of years. Although he has
recently established his home in Los Angeles,
he has not relinquished his interests in the
towns named, but continues active in negotiat-
ing sales or exchange of properties, and is re-
garded as an authority concerning values.

Descended from an old southern family, Mr.
Griffin was born in Greene county, Ind.. July
30, i860, and is the eldest among four chil-
dren, all of whom still survive. His parents,
Richard F. and Sarah E. (Inman) Griffin, were

natives respectively of Tennessee and Indiana,
and both died in Missouri, where for years the
father followed the trade of a carpenter and
cabinet-maker. At the time the family re-
moved to Missouri James L. Griffin was a lad
of fourteen years, and, with the exception of
a brief period spent at Little Rock, Ark., he
remained in Missouri until 1889, the year of
his removal to California. Immediately after
his arrival he secured employment in Los An-
geles, and in 1891 learned the butcher's bus-
iness with the Redondo Beach Company. Aft-
er six months with that company he started a.
shop of his own at Redondo, where he carried
on a growing business.

Immediately after removing to San Pedro,
December 5, 1895, Mr. Griffin opened a butcher
shop on Sixth near Beacon street, and later
bought the shop owned by George Hinds on
Fifth and Front streets. The latter market he
conducted until May of 1902, meanwhile build-
ing up the largest business of its kind in the
town and establishing a reputation for reliabil-
ity and keen business methods. In the mean- •
time he had become interested in the handling
of towm property both in San Pedro and Gar-
dena. Among his enterprises was the purchase
of the James L. Griffin subdivision to Gardena,
a tract of forty acres, which he sold off in lots
from one to ten acres in size. In addition he
became owner of the Griffin and Kitzman tract
of twenty-six acres, which has been sold off in
town lots. At this writing, with Messrs. Mc-
Dermott and Ouinn. he is interested in the
San Pedro Villa tract of twenty-five acres on
the Weston road, which he has divided into
lots of two and one-half acres. Besides buy-
ing and selling he has improved considerable
property. Some years ago he erected the Grif-
fin block, 25x100 feet in dimensions, on the
corner of Fifth and Front streets, San Pedro,
and in it he conducted his meat market for a
time, but the block eventually was sold. The
home building was another of the structures
erected under his supervision. Since moving
to Los Angeles he has made his home at No.
2927 Halldale avenue, and continues to be in-
terested in real-estate transactions in this city
and elsewhere.

When he was a lad making his home at
Bonneterre, Mo.. Mr. Griffin formed the ac-
quaintance of Miss Abby Smith, who was born
and reared in that old French town. In estab-
lishing domestic ties he chose her as his wife,
and they have worked their way together in
Southern California, until now they enjoy a
deserved prosperity and a large circle of warm
friends. To their onlv child, Ural, they have
given excellent educational advantages in the
schools of Southern California. The family

2048

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

attend the Aletliodist Episcopal Church and
are contributors to religious and philanthropic
movements. The only fraternal organization
to which Mr. Griffin has given allegiance is the
Independent Order of Foresters, in which he
has been an active member for some \-ears.

URBAN AMASA TYLER. From the com-
mencement of his independent business career
Urban Amasa Tyler has preferred the occupa-
tion of farmer and has been engaged in the cul-
tivation of various crops since completing his
education. He is a native son of California, hav-
ing been born March 6. 1872, in San Bernardino,
the son of Uriah Urban and Rachael (liloore)
Tyler. The father was one of Southern Cali-
fornia's earliest pioneers, and as such became
an important factor in the progress and upbuild-
ing of his locality. In his .sketch, given else-
where in this locality, more details concerning
his useful life will be found. After complet-
ing his studies in the public schools LTrban A.
Tyler took a course at San Bernardino Academy,
conducted by D. B. Sturgess, and when his
studies were finished immediately began his oc-
cupation as a ranchman. In 1902 he purchased
ten acres upon which he built a house and placed
other improvements, setting out five acres to va-
rious kinds of small fruits and devoting the re-
mainder to the growing of barley for his own
.use.

The marriage of ^Ir. Tyler, February i, 1899,
united him with Miss Rose A. Alvarado, a
daughter of Ignatius and Sarah A. (White)
Alvarado, and thev have become the parents of
three children : Qarice, Elmira and Eunice. Mr.
Tyler is a member of Arrowhead Parlor, No.
no, N, S. G. W., in which society he has held
several offices. WHiile he had no taste for poli-
tics he intelligently and faithfully fulfills his
duties as a citizen and takes an active interest in
all elevating and upbuilding enterprises insti-
tuted for the benefit of his communitv.

WILLIAM P. WILLIAMSON. The fact that
Mr. Williamson came to California eight seasons
before finally taking up his residence here marks
him as a careful, thoughtful man, and the fact
that after all of these investigations he finally
selected Pomona as the one place of all others
where conditions and climate are most harmoni-
ously combined is at once a compliment to the
town. After a life of many busy and useful
years as a tiller of the soil in Iowa he came to
Pomona in 1900, and has since lived retired, en-
joying a well-earned respite after many years
of labor and responsibility.

A native of the Emerald Isle, William P.

Williamson was born in County Derry, Septem-
ber 8, 1837, one of si.x sons born to his parents,
James and ^Margaret (Peyton) Williamson, they,
too, being natives of Ireland. The father was
a stanch Presbyterian and in defending his faith
was often involved in the religious disturbances
which were frequent occurrences in Ireland dur-
ing his day. During one of the Catholic massa-
cres he was taken prisoner and placed in Lon-
donderry jail, and during his incarceration there
suffered untold hardships, being compelled to
live on rats in preference to death by starvation. .
He died at the age of sixty years, and his wife
when seventy. Three of their sons are still
living, and of those who came to the United
States one is in Pomona, Cal., one in Iowa, and
the other returned to Ireland on a visit and died
there. William P. received a common-school
education in his native country, and at the age
of fourteen came to the United States and settled
in Cincinnati, Ohio, where without difficulty he
secured employment in the rolling mills, receiv-
ing a man's wages from the beginning. At the
end of two vears he left Ohio and located in
Illinois not far from Chicago, where for about
four years he worked as a farm hand. There-
after he spent about five months in Minnesota,
then in the throes of an Indian uprising, and
among others he assisted in driving the foe from
the white settlements.

Subsequently returning to Illinois, Mr. Wil-
liamson about this time (in 1857. when he was
twenty years old) formed domestic ties by his
marriage with Miss Margaret Williamson, who
was born in County Antrim, Ireland, April 20,
1838, a daughter of John and Martha (McQen-
nen) Williamson. John W^illiamson was a prac-
ticing physician in the old country, a profession
which he relinquished in 1847 to come to the
United States. In Will county, Illinois, where
the family settled, the mother died at the age
of fifty-eight years, and thereafter the father re-
moved to Tama county, Iowa, tliere living to at-
tain the remarkable age of ninety-four years.
His family comprised one son and six daughters,
and of these three daughters are now living, one
in California (?*Irs. W. P. Williamson), one in
Illinois, and one in Indiana. As Mrs. William-
son was only nine years of age at the time of her
removal to the United States, she has little
knowledge of her native country, and in fact the
greater part of her life has been spent in the
middle west. Reared and educated in Will
county, Illinois, after their marriage she remained
in the same county for about six years, Mr. Wil-
liamson then removing to Tama county, Iowa.
Purchasing a farm of four hundred and forty-
two acres, he settled down to life in that locality,
and for thirty-five years raised successful crops,
not one failure marring the record. In addition

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2049

to raising grain he was equally successful as a
hog and cattle raiser, and was rightfully classed
among the most successful and thrifty farmers of
that state. He erected two residences on the
farm and a complement of outbuildings adequate
for the needs of his business. He still owns his
Iowa property, although for the past six years,
or since locating in California, it has been under
the care of a tenant.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Williamson, but only one is now living. James
Hugh, the first born, died at the age of two years
and seven months ; Lillie B. is the wife of Dr.
G. W. Forester, a physician of Pomona, and
they have three children living; Maggie May
became the wife of Augustus Schroder, and at
her death, which occurred in Pomona, Septem-
ber 25, 1905, at the age of thirty-nine years, she
left one child. The family are communicants of
the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pomona, of
which Mr. Williamson and his wife are members,
and in their daily living exemplify the teachings
of their religious belief. In his political leanings
Mr. Williamson is a Republican, casting his first
vote for Abraham Lincoln, and it was on the
ticket of his chosen party that he was elected
town councilman of Elberon, Iowa. The key-
note of Mr. Williamson's success is without
doubt due to the high principles of honor which
have entered into every transaction, to the end
that his life has been upright and honorable, and
in the evening of his days he can look over the
past without remorse and forward to the future
without fear.

EMMO C. BICHOWSKY. Since coming to
Pomona in 1899 Mr. Bichowsky has demon-
strated the possession of qualities which make
for good citizenship, and as an enterprising,
wide-awake business man he has won a name and
place for himself in the commercial world which
is worthy of his efforts. Among the various en-
terprises with which his name is associated are
the Pomona Implement Company, of which he
is president, and the Pomona Valley Hospital.

ilr. Bichowsky was born February 29, 1856,
in Terre Haute, Ind., where his father, Francis,
a native of Berlin, Germany, had settled upon his
emigration to the new world in 1849. Fo'"
thirty-five years he was associated with the busi-
ness life of that city as a merchant, and his
death in 1906 was deplored as a public loss.
His wife, Mathilde Gust, was also a native of
Germany, born in Frankfort-on-the-Oder, Prus-
sia. Emmo C. Bichowsky was their only son
who grew to manhood, and he was given a good
education in the common and high schools of his
native city, graduating from the latter with
honors wlien seventeen years of age. His ambi-

tious spirit would not permit him to be content
in idleness, and although the circumstances of
his parents were such as to admit of . a short
respite after his arduous school life, he neverthe-
less sought occupation at once. His first posi-
tion was as cashier for the firm of Hulman &
Co., of Terre Haute, later accepting the position
of teller in the bank of McKeen & Co., of the
same city. During the nine 3 ears he remained
with the latter employers he was advanced stead-
ily until at the time of his resignation, in 1885,
he had been filling the office of assistant cashier
for some time.

The year which witnessed the close of his
business connections in Indiana was the begin-
ning of a new career in the Golden State, and one
with which he has every reason to feel proud.
He first located in San Gabriel, Los Angeles
county, and for a time he was employed as deputy
in the county tax collector's office at Los An-
geles. In the fall of 1886 he became associated
with L. J. Rose &: Co., owners of the largest
winery on the coast, the products of Sunny Slope,
at the vineyard was called being sent to all
parts of the country. For about eleven years
Air. Bichowsky' was manager of this large for-
eign corporation, and upon resigning his position
in August of 1897 he went to Santa iNIonica, re-
maining there two years, in the meantime asso-
ciating himself with the California Green and
Dried Fruit Company at Lds Angeles as man-
ager. Believing that a larger opening awaited
him in Pomona, he gave up the latter position in
1899 and the same )'ear came here, in August
buying out the implement business of Philip
Stein & Co. With this as a nucleus he organized
a new company which was incorporated as the
Pomona Implement Company, with himself as
president. From the first the business has had
a steady growth which has been gratifying in the
extreme, and he now occupies the whole of the
Brady building as well as the annex, which in-
cludes two stores and a floor space 105x97^
feet. In addition to implements of all kinds and
makes he also carries a complete stock of the
goods manufactured by the Studebaker Brothers
Manufacturing Company. Another enterprise
with which Mr. Bichowsky is associated is the
Pomona Valley Hospital, of which he is presi-
dent. It has been in active operation since De-
cember of 1904, and is conceded to be one of the
finest small hospitals in this part of the state.
He is also vice-president and a director of the
San Gabriel Cemetery Association. During the
time he had charge of the Sunny Slope ranch in
the San Gabriel valley he purchased an orange
ranch of twenty-four acres and he still owns this
property.

In Boston, Mass., Mr. Bichowsky was married
to Miss Ella Mason, a native of that state, and

2050

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

four children have been born of their marriage:
Carl (deceased), Foord, Francis and James. In
their religious affiliations the family are Uni-
tarians and in the church of that denomination
at Pomona Mr. Bichowsky is a trustee and is
chairman of tlie finance committee. Politically
he is a Republican, and fraternally he is a char-
ter member of Pomona Lodge No. 789, B. P.
O. E. Enterprising and successful, he has not
been content with gaining prosperity for him-
self, but has taken an active part in plans for the
upbuilding of his community, and in igoo was
one of the organizers of the Board of Trade, of
which for three successive years he has been
president.

WILLIAM HALE MUNROE. As one of
the leading contracting painters and decorators
of .San Pedro, William Hale Munroe is conduct-
ing a successful and well-established business,
which occupies an important place among the
various industries of this thriving city. A man
of strictly honest principles, with a fine record
as a soldier in the Civil war, he stands high in
the estimation of the community in which he re-
sides, and is looked upon as a useful and hon-
orable citizen. A native of New England, he
was born April 19, 1840, in Bristol, R. I., where
his parents, Caleb and Lemira (Luther) Mun-
roe, spent their entire lives. The father, a
farmer by occupation, was of Scotch-Irish an-
cestry, while his mother was of English descent.
Grandfather Munroe served as a soldier in the
Revolutionary war.

The youngest of a family of eleven children,
William H. Munroe was brought up on the
home farm and educated in the common schools
of Bristol. At the age of seventeen years he
began learning the trade of painter in Fall River,
Mass.. where he was employed until after the
breaking out of the Civil war. Enlisting, in
June, 1862, in Company D, Third Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry, he was in camp at Read-
ville, Mass., for a year, and then, with Burn-
side's expedition, was sent to North Carolina,
where he took part in the battles at Roanoke
Island and Newbern. Returning home at the
expiration of his term of enlistment, he at once
re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company D,
Sixtieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and
was for a short time stationed in Maryland. He
was subsequently promoted to the rank of sec-
ond lieutenant, and with his regiment was sent
to Indianapolis to guard prisoners. At the close
of the war, after serving five months with his
company, he was honorably discharged, and then
returned home.

Settling in New England, Mr. Munroe fol-
lowed his trade either in Massachusetts or

Rhode Island for a number of years. Desiring
a change, he went to Yankton, S. Dak., in 1876,
and was there engaged in painting and contract-
ing for a while. Removing from there to Hutch-
inson county, S. Dak., he bought a large tract
of land, and for a number of years was pros-
perously employed in agricultural pursuits. Sell-
ing out in 1894, he went to Salt Lake City,
where he followed his trade of painter and con-
tractor for seven years. Coming to California
in 1901, he located in San Pedro, purchasing a
residence at No. 1325 Center street, and has
since built up a substantial business as a con-
tractor in painting and decorating, his artistic
and durable work being appreciated by his pa-
trons.

Mr. Munroe has been twice married, his first
marriage, in Somerset. Mass., uniting him with
Augusta Brooks, a native of Vermont. She died
in Yankton, S. Dak., leaving one child. William
F., now engaged in business at Trinidad, Colo.
In Yanklon, S. Dak., Mr. Munroe married Mrs.
Calista (Kelly) Bartlett, who was born of
Scotch-Irish and English ancestry and reared in
Ohio. By her first marriage she has five chil-
dren, one son. Van Velsor Bartlett, being a resi-
dent of Santa Rosa. Politically Mr. Munroe is
a loyal adherent of the Republican party, and
while a resident of Yankton served as auditor
of Yankton county. While there he organized
Phil Kearney Post No. 7, G. A. R., which he
served as commander, and he is now a member
of Harbor City Post No. 108, G. A. R. He is
likewise a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the
Benevolent, Protective Order of Elks.

Since writing the above ]\Ir. Munroe has dis-
posed of his holdings in San Pedro and intends
to locate in Santa Rosa, Sonoma county.

MARSHALL POSEY SULLENGER. A
pioneer ranchman of San Bernardino county is
Marshall Posey Sullenger, a native of McLeans-
boro, Hamilton county. 111., born October 7,
1845. His father, Alexander T. Sullenger, a
native of Kentucky, in addition to following
farming, also dealt in marble for many years.
He lived to reach the ripe old age of ninety-one
years and passed away in 1893. The wife and
mother, who was born in Fairfax county, Va.,
died at the early age of thirty years. The edu-
cation of M. P. Sullenger was gleaned in the
district schools of Illinois, and even that priv-
ilege was not secured without great efifort, for
schools were few and far between at that time,
the lad being obliged to walk four miles to the
schoolhouse. Until the breaking out of the Civil
war in 1861 his life was spent on the farm, but
on August 12 of that year he enlisted in Com-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2051

pan)- A, Fortieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
under command of Col. S. G. Hicks. He served
faithfully until the end of his term of enlist-
ment in 1864, when his company and regiment
re-enlisted as a body, retaining their old organ-
ization, and JMr. Sullenger continued in the serv-
ice until the close of the war, receiving an hon-
orable discharge in June, 1865. He participated
in a number of important battles, including Shi-
loh, Corinth, Holly Springs, Vicksburg, Jack-
sonville, as well as in many minor engagements.
He was with Sherman on his famous march to
the sea, at that time being under marching or-
ders and in the firing line for one hundred and
twelve days in succession.

At the close of the war Mr. Sullenger returned
to his home in Hamilton county. 111., and en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits for a number of
years. Removing to California in 1883, he pur-
chased a ranch of two hundred and twenty acres,
which he has brought to a high state of devel-
opment, and is now growing thereon hay and
grain crops. He is also the owner of a fine res-
idence in the city of San Bernardino. In 1892
occurred his marriage to Miss Eliza M. Snider
of San Bernardino, who was born in Ohio and
for twenty years was an educator in the schools
of Illinois, Pennsylvania and in San Bernardino.
Mr. Sullenger is a member of Cornman Post No.
57, G. A. R., and politically is a stanch believ-
er in the principles advocated in the platform
of the Republican party. He is a man who is
deeply concerned in all matters of social and
civic interest and is highly respected by all who
know him.

JOHN BLODGETT. The proprietor of the
City Stables, John Blodgett is one of the old set-
tlers of Redlands and one of the important fac-
tors in the upbuilding of the business interests
of the place. He is a native of Fulton county,
Ind., his birth having occurred in that location
September 16, 1856; his paternal grandfather,
Morris, was a native of New England who be-
came a farmer in Ohio, later in Indiana, and fin-
ally came to California and after some years
spent in San Jacinto located in Tehama county
where his death eventually occurred, at the age
of eighty-eight years, his wife having died at the
age of eighty-four. His father, George W.
Blodgett, was born in Ohio and in young man-
hood became a farmer in Indiana. The pioneer
spirit was strong upon him and the further at-
tractions of the discovery of gold in the west im-
pelled him to come as far west as Pike's Peak
in 1859. Later he went to Montana and from
that point he was drawn to Virginia City at the
time of the gold discovery at that place. He sent
his familv east during the time spent in Vir-

ginia City, and the following year he returned to
Indiana by mule-teams, but immediately after-
ward brought his family to Montana traveling in
a train of one hundred and fifty wagons. This
was at the time of the Sioux, Cheyenne and Ar-
apahoe outbreak, but the journey was made in
safety because of the large train, in which were
three hundred armed men. The)- made the trip
by way of the Bozeman cut-off, the Big Horn and
Yellowstone Park, at Bozeman, crossing the Yel-
lowstone river, where a son, Bruce, was drowned.
They located in the vicinity of Virginia City
where the father had taken up a large hay ranch,
and there he built a hotel and conducted a stage
through Madison valley to Virginia City, a dis-
tance of about twelve miles. After one year he
discontinued these efforts and moved to Raders-
burg, Mont., thence came overland to Utah, where
he engaged as a large contractor for the Union
Pacific Railroad Company. He was living at
Corinne at the time of the completion of the
railroad, shortly after which he removed to Col-
orado and on the Divide engaged in the cattle
business. While thus occupied he located at
Colorado Springs and built one of the first dwell-
ings in that city, which property he sold in 1871,
and in July of that year came to California and
in the San Jacinto valley engaged in general
farming, the raising of alfalfa and the manage-
ment of a large dairy. Their trading point was
first at San Bernardino and later at Glendale.
It was here that his wife, formerly Letitia Mc-
clure, a native of Indiana, passed away. Mr.
Blodgett passed his last days with his son in Red-
lands, where his death occurred in 1903 at the age
of eighty-four years. They were the parents of
four sons and two daughters, of whom one son
is deceased.

Frontier life has always been the part of John
Blodgett, for from Indiana the family removed
to various places in the west, and it was because
of this that he early learned the management of
horses and also his judgment regarding their
possibilities. His actual knowledge of booklore
is scant, because of an injur)' received in child-
hood which compelled him to seek an outdoor life.
But in this he acquired what has been of more
service to him than the best school training, for
with added years has come the knowledge he
could not then learn and in the meantime experi-
ence had fitted him for a proper understanding
and use of it. When a mere lad he received $150
a month for herding stage horses, and also rode
race horses for Hank Brown. He was present
at the ceremony of the driving of the golden spike
in 1869, and witnessed much of the growth and
development of the west before and after that
important event. He engaged with his father in
the cattle business in Colorado, Utah and Mon-
tana, and followed his parents to California in

2052

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1 8/ I. From the San Jacinto valley he was accus-
tomed to drive stock to Utah and the Panhandle
in Texas. He took up a homestead near San
Jacinto at the head of the vallej' and there im-
proved a ranch, and in the meantime took a trip
back to Colorado and bought cattle at Durango,
and while there was married to jNIinnie Jacobs, a
native of Ohio. He engaged in the cattle busi-
ness in that section of Colorado, where he still
owns cattle. Later he started a horse ranch in
Arizona on the \'erde and still has animals there.
Returning to San Jacinto he again engaged in
the stock business until 1900, when he located
in Redlands and here engaged in dealing in
horses, his reputation as a correct judge of equine
flesh extending throughout the country. In June,
1906, he purchased the business of the City Liv-
ery and has since continued the business at No.
123 State street, where he has fine vehicles of
every description. Mr. Blodgett had the honor
of driving Helen Hunt Jackson through the
Hemet valley to the ranch owned by Charles
Thomas, at the time she was gathering material
for her famous novel "Ramona."

Mr. and Mrs. Blodgett are the parents of four
living children, three, Stella, Vivian and May,
having died in Fresno ; those living are Arthur,
Frank, Gladys and Grace, the two sons being en-
gaged with their father in business. Mrs. Blod-
gett is a member of the Baptist Church, whose
charities are liberally supported by the family.
Mr. Blodgett is a Democrat politically and was
elected through these interests to the position of
road overseer of the San Jacinto district, which
duties he discharged with efficiencv for six vears.

MATHEAS BLUMEARE. One of the most
extensive ranchmen in the Moreno valley is
Matheas Blumeare who is farming three thou-
sand acres of land to barley and wheat and in
harvesting his crops uses a thirty-two horsepower
combined harvester. He was bom in Alsace Lor-
raine, France, June 16, 1847, being the son of
John and Susan Blumeare, both natives of the
same country. The father was occupied as a
farmer during his lifetime, his death occurring
in Algeria, Africa, in 1863, at the age of forty-
seven years, his wife also dying there at the same
age and in the same year. Madieas Blumeare re-
ceived a good education in the French and Ger-
man languages and after the completion of his
studies took up the occupation of farming in his
native country. In 1889 he emigrated to Amer-
ica and locating in Los Angeles county engaged
in farming and dairying. Continuing in business
at that point for one year he next when to Fuller-
ton for two years and in 1893 came to the Moreno
valley which has since been his home.

In 1897 Mr. Blumeare was married to Angela

(Becker) Blumeare, a native of France, and who
was in that country in 1878 wedded to Peter
Blumeare. a brother of her present husband, the
three coming to this country at the same time
and the death of the brother occurring in this
place in 1897 at the age of forty-two years. Mr
and Mrs. Blumeare are devout members of the
Catholic Church in San Jacinto. They are enter-
prising and progressive people, anxious to keep
pace with present day methods and are held in
the hiehest esteem bv all who know them.

ALPHECS B. WISE, V. S. One of the old-
est residents and most favorably known profes-
sional men of San Bernardino is Dr. A. B. Wise,
who is actively engaged in a large and lucrative
veterinary practice. He is located on D street,
near the old postoffice building, his office being
fitted up with all modern appliances for surgical
work, having an automatic operating table and
all instruments necessary to his profession. He
gives special attention to horses, cattle, hogs,
sheep and other domestic animals, and his repu-
tation as a practitioner has spread over the en-
tir^^ southwestern part of this state and into
Arizona. He has served for many years as
county veterinarian.

Born in Wetzel count}', W. \"a., December 7,
1839, Dr. Wise is the son of Jackson and Nancy
(Ingram) Wise, the mother being a native of
Pennsylvania and the father born in Virginia,
following the occupation of farmer and black-
smith throughout his entire life. The son re-
ceived only a limited education in the common
schools in his early youth, having been obliged to
make his own way in the world from the age of
fourteen. He was of an ambitious aftd enter-
prising nature, however, and resolved to over-
come the lack of early advantages, and while
filling a position as clerk in a general store, at
the same time attended a private school. In 1859
he joined a party of emigrants on a trip across
the plains, engagmg to drive one of the ox teams.
Starting from .St. Joseph, ]\Io., after a seven
months' trip they landed at Placerville, then
known as Hangtown, and Dr. Wise engaged in
placer mining for two years. He was fairly suc-
cessful in the undertaking and later continued
mining in Virginia City. In 1863 he located in
San Bernardino and with the exception of two
years spent in Arizona, this has been his home
ever since. When he first settled here he estab-
lished himself as a blacksmith and also conduct-
ed a repair shop, continuing it successfully for
seventeen years. Having taken up the study of
veterinary surgery during his spare time, he soon
became proficient and entered upon its practice,
having in the meantime given up his blacksmith
shop.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2053

In 1865 Dr. Wise was united in marriage with
Miss Harriet L. Roberts, who was born in Miss-
issippi, and their one daughter is now the wife of
Ernest E. Hott, of San Bernardino. Dr. Wise
owns much valuable business and residence
property here and is considered one of the most
firmly established men in the city. In social,
business and professional circles he is held in
'the highest esteem and as a public-spirited cit-
izen is a supporter of every enterprise tending
to upbuild his section of the state.

JOHN HELANDER. Properly ranked
among the self-made men of Los Angeles
county is John Helander, who began his career
at the foot of the ladder of attainments, with-
out other resources than his own indomit-
able will and resolute spirit. From the humble
position of his youthful days he has risen to that
of one of the representative men of a thriving
and prosperous community, at the present time
being prominently associated with the mercan-
tile interests of San Pedro as a successful gro-
cer. For a number of years he was engaged
in seafaring pursuits, as a sailor visiting many
of the important seaports of the world, and hav-
ing many thrilling experiences and escapes from
danger and death. In October, 1882, while on
board the barque James B. Bell, from San Fran-
cisco, he was wrecked during a hurricane in the
harbor of Acapulco, INIexico, but all of the crew,
with the exception of the second mate, was
saved. Eight days afterwards, when about one
hundred miles from the Mexican shore, the
barque Antioch, on which he was a seaman,
sprung aleak, having been damaged by the hur-
ricane just mentioned, but fortunately was taken
into a small harbor and all on board were res-
cued from their perilous position. Five months
later, in the early part of 1883, the schooner on
which he was employed was wrecked between
the Mild Rocks, in the Golden Gate harbor, but
the vessel, and pll of the crew excepting three
men, were saved. With this record of dangers
braved, it is needless to speak of Mr. Helander's
courage and fearlessness, to which are also
added industry, honesty and integrity.

A native of Finland, Mr. Helander was Tjorn
October 12, 1856, in the city of Abo, which was
also the birthplace of his father, Henry He-
lander. Wlien a boy he began working in a
printing office in Abo, and was afterwards for
three years employed in a match factory. At
the age of sixteen years he began his seafaring
life, going first as cook on a vessel engaged in
foreign trade. .Subsequently, on the Elliott, an
English vessel, he went before the mast to Cal-
cutta, India, going and returning by way of
the Cape of Good Hope, after which he sailed

from France for New York and Baltimore.
Subsequent!)-, as one of the crew of the Amer-
ican ship Oriental, he sailed from Baltimore,
i\Id., around the Horn to Callao, Peru, and re-
turn, and later, on the same vessel, came around
the Horn with a cargo of coal, one-half of which
h.e delivered in Mexico, bringing the remainder
to San Francisco, arriving in port in 1879. Lo-
cating in that city, he continued as a sailor for a
lew years, becoming first mate. He visited va-
rious ports, including those of Mexico and the
Sandwich Islands, and, as above mentioned, met
with numerous disasters. As early as 1887 he
landed in San Pedro, at that time experiencing
two or three earthquake shocks. From 1883
until 1885 he lived in Portland, Ore., where he
settled after his marriage, being there employed
in fishing. Locating in San Pedro in January,
1887, he built a residence on Second street, and
for three years was in the employ of Banning
& Co., the ensuing two years being engaged in
the lumber business, during which time, in 1892,
he began the erection of his present store build-
ing, on Fourth street, near Beacon street. Since
its completion, in July, 1893, he has been suc-
cessfully engaged in mercantile business, having
a large and well stocked grocery, which is well
patronized.

In 1883, in San Francisco, Mr. Helander mar-
ried Mary Fabler, a. native of Finland, and their
only child, Victor Helander, a graduate of
Woodbury's Business College, is a plumber in
San Pedro. Politically Mr. Helander is a Re-
publican, and fraternally he is a member of the
Foresters of America.

GUY MONROE FLORY. One of the most
popular and successful contractors and builders
in San Bernardino is Guy Monroe Flory, who
has lived the greater part of his life since four
years of age in this community. His parents,
M. M. and Mary (Armstrong) Flory, were both
members of old' Virginia families, and became
early settlers in Independence, Mo., where the
son, Guy Monroe, was born May 12, 1872. The
father served in the Federal army during the
Civil war and made a fine military record. A
sketch of his life appears in another part of this
volume.

It was in 1876 that Guy Monroe Flory was
brought by his parents to San Bernardino. The
public schools of this city he attended until four-
teen years of age, from which time until eight-
een he was employed in various capacities. He
then apprenticed himself to a blacksmith and
worked at that trade for three years there and
in Stockton, and after attaining his majority
commenced to work at the carpenter's trade,
which he had learned from his father when a

2054

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

young boy. The years of his young manhood
were restless ones, however, and a short time
later he went to the State of Chihuahua, JNIexico,
and was superintendent of the Santa Margareta
mines there for two years. Returning to San
Bernardino he continued to work at tlie carpen-
ter's trade until 1903, when he began business as
a contractor and builder and has since that time
been erecting residences in this city. His own
home, at No. 152 Seventh street, is an example
of his work.

The marriage of Mr. Flory in San Bernardino
in 1894 united him with Miss Ellen Warden,
who was born in Phoenix, Ariz., a daughter of
Thomas C. Warden, who was an early settler in
that territory and was sheriff of Maricopa county
at one time. He came to San Bernardino at the
time of the Indian troubles and served as deputy
sherilif and police officer, and was killed in an
accident while serving as a special officer on
the Santa Fe Railroad at Seligman, Ariz., in
March, 1906. He discovered and named the
Calico mine, and also found the King mine, in
which he sold his interest. Mr. and Mrs. Flory
are the parents of three children. Alberta, Gladys
and Frank. Fraternally Mr. Flory is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at
San Bernardino and the Woodmen of the World.
He has been a member of the San Bernardino
fire department at different times during the
greater part of the. past fifteen years, has served
as treasurer of the company and was also at one
time the foreman. Politically he is an active
Republican and is a leading influence in the
councils of his part>- in that section of the state.

CHARLES HUDSON TYLER. During the
half century and more that Mr. Tyler has been
a resident of California he has been an inter-
ested witness to the marvelous changes that
have transformed a country in its infancy from
every standpoint, through the adolescent to the
mature age, until to-day it stands full-fledged
and upon equal footing with the older common-
wealths of the Union. Far from being an idle
witness, he has done his share in bringing about
present conditions, and as a reward for industry
and frugality in years gone by he is now enabled
to live practically retired, making his home on
a small ranch near San Bernardino.

A son of John S. and Eliza (Hudson) Tyler,
Qiarles H. Tyler was born on Long Island, N.
Y., October 21, 1831, and was educated both in
the schools of his native town and in the more
advanced schools of New York City. After his
graduation, when he was about seventeen years
of age, he went to sea, being under the imme-
diate instruction and guidance of his father, who
was a sea captain and the master of the ship on

which he sailed. Three years on the water,
however, satisfied him that seafaring was not
the life for which he was adapted, and at the
age of twenty he struck out in the world for
himself, going direct to New York City, where
for a number of years he clerked in a store.
Although the records do not so state, it is safe
to presume that his removal to California came
about as a result of the wonderful stories of the
finding of gold in the state, stories which reached
the most remote corners of our own and other
countries. This prediction is strengthened by
the fact that after landing at San Francisco from
the old sliip Golden Gate he made his way im-
mediately to Georgetown, where he tried his
luck at placer mining. Fortune smiled rather
than frowned upon his efforts, for he continued
mining for fifteen years, from 1854 until 1869.
It was in the latter year that he came to San
Bernardino and purchased a ranch, intending to
follow an agricultural life, but his knowledge
along that line was so meagre that he decided to
give it up. Selling his property he bought an
interest in a lunjber mill m Little Grass Valley,
and subsequently with his brother, under the
name of Tyler Brothers, bought out the entire
interest in the mill. Under this name business
was conducted until 1891, when the plant was
sold to the Arrowhead Company.

It was in the year just mentioned, 1891, that
Mr. Tyler purchased the four-acre plot of Mr.
Stoddard upon which he now makes his home.
There had been very little expenditure made for
improvements when the property fell into Mr.
Tyler's hands, so that in reality he has made it
what it is, erecting his house and barn and plant-
ing all of the trees upon the place. He also
owns property in the vicinity of Highland, which
he purchased of ]\Ir, Seely, the original pur-
chase comprising four hundred acres, although
he now owns only twenty acres, having disposed
of portions of it from time to time. ]\Iuch of
this land he had purchased as low as $4 per acre.
The orange trees on the Highland ranch he
planted in 1892 and he now has one of the finest
orchards in the county, both in point of product-
iveness and quality of fruit. For almost fifteen
years he has devoted his attention exclusively to
the cultivation of oranges on the Highland
ranch, although his home has always been in
San Bernardino, where he is now living retired
from the active duties connected with the man-
agement of his ranch. At the time of the Civil
war he offered his services, but was never called
into action.

In .San Bernardino, July 4, 1880, Mr. Tyler
was united in marriage with Jerusha Hancock,
the daughter of Joseph and Ts'ancy (Guernsey)
Hancock, and two children have been born to
them, Mary Hudson, at home with her parents,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2055

and Don Charles, a student in the high school
at San Bernardino. Fraternally Mr. Tyler was
at one time a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United
Workmen. In his religious views he is a Qiris-
tian Scientist.

WILLIAM CHARLES GREELY. Among
the well known men of San Pedro is William
Charles Greely, formerly president of the Lum-
ber Surveyors' Association of Southern Cal-
ifornia, and an important factor in the develop-
ment of the industrial prosperity of this sec-
tion of the state. Distinguished as a native
son of California, he was born, April 23, 1859,
on Rattlesnake bar, north fork of the American
river, in Placer county, a son of William
Greely. His Grandfather Greely was born in
Ireland, but when a young man immigrated to
the United States, locating in Boston, Mass.

William Greely was born in Boston, Mass.,
and there followed mechanical pursuits for
many years. In 1851, lured to the Pacific coast
by the wonderful stories told concerning the
discovery of gold, he came by way of the Isth-
mus of Panama to this state, and for about
nine years was engaged in mining. Settling
permanently in Placer county in 1860, he
bought a ranch about four miles from Auburn
and engaged in horticultural pursuits, becom-
ing one of the earliest fruit growers of that re-
gion. In this occupation he met with some suc-
cess, continuing it until his death, at the age of
sixt3'-six years. He married Mary Haley, who
was born in Boston, and died in California. Of
the four children born of their union, three are
living, William Charles, the special subject of
this sketch, being the third child in order of
birth.

Completing his studies in the district schools,
William Charles Greely remained on the home
farm for some years, being principally em-
ployed in buying and shipping fruits. He was
subsequently engaged as a wholesale dealer
in fruits in Montana for a time, but in June,
1885. changed his residence and occupation,
going to The Dalles, Ore., where he was for
three months employed in a sawmill, after-
wards working for two months with the Ore-
gon Railroad and Navigation Company. On
December 24. 1885, with but $5 to his name,
he came to Los Angeles, Cal., expecting to
take a position as clerk in a railway office. He
was disappointed, however, in getting the
position, and so took the next best thing ofif-
ered, for five months driving a team for Charles
Elian. Securing a situation then with the
Kirchkofif Lumber Company, he began at the
foot of the ladder, and gradually worked his

way upward, remaining with that firm two
years. Going then to San Francisco, he was as-
sociated with the California Bridge Company
for a short time, after which he entered the
employ of the Pacific Pine Company, for
which he was lumber inspector nine years,
from 1888 until 1897.

Becoming an expert in his line of industry,
Mr. Greeh' went to Mendocino county, where
he first had charge of the shipping department
of the Kasper Lumber Company, and later of
that of the Empire Redwood Lumber Com-
pany, at Bowens Landing. November 13,
1902, Mr. Greely came to San Pedro on the ship
Samoa, and has since been busily and prof-
itably engaged as tallyman and inspector of
lumber. He subsequently became identified
with the Lumber Surveyors' Association of
Southern California, which is composed of
twenty-three members, and on the resignation
of its president, Mr. Coleman, in July, 1904,
Mr. Greely was appointed his successor, and
to this position he was elected in January, 1905.

Politically Mr. Greely is a stanch Republican.
Fraternall)' he is a member of Alder Glenn Par-
lor, No. 2'oo, N. S. G. W. of Fort Bragg; a
member and past chancellor of Newcastle
Lodge, K. P. a member and past sachem of
Newcastle Tribe, I. O. R. M., and is also iden-
tified with San Pedro Lodge No. 332 F. &
A. M.

ROYAL MILTON ARMSTRONG. One of
the most popular men in San Bernardino county
is Royal M. Armstrong, deputy county clerk,
who has been filling that position since 1902. He
was born December 7, 1877, at Topeka, Kans.,
the son of James and Mary Frances (Ragland)
Armstrong. His father was a native of Napier-
ville, Canada, and when a yoimg man learned
the blacksmith's trade, which he followed after
his removal from his native country to Topeka,
where his death occurred. His wife survives
him and now lives at Ocean Park, Cal. Until
he had attained the age of fifteen years ]\Ir.
Armstrong attended the public schools of To-
peka, and as it then became necessary for him to
assume the responsibility of his own support, he
secured a position with the Santa Fe Railroad
Company, working in different positions and at
various points in the state for several years.

In 1899 he was transferred by the company to
San Bernardino, Cal., where he filled a position
in the mechanical and transportation department
until December, 1902, when he severed his con-
nection with the .Santa Fe to accept the appoint-
ment of deputy county clerk at the hands of
Louis A. Pfeiffer, the county clerk. He is an
earnest advocate of the principles embraced in

2056

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the platform of the Republican party, takes a
prominent part in all matters of a political na-
ture and is active in the Republican councils of
the county and state.

Mr. Armstrong's marriage to Miss Nellie V.
Shipp, a daughter of Joseph Shipp, of Ottawa,
Kans., took place in December, 1898, and they
with their two sons, Harry Alaxwell and Jack
Milton, reside in their beautiful residence at No.
698 Sixth street, San Bernardino. Fraternally,
Mr. Armstrong affiliates with a number of or-
ders, holding membership in the Ancient Order
of United Workmen, Modern Woodmen of
America ; San Bernardino Lodge No. 348, F. and
A. M., and is very prominent in the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks, serving at the
present time as secretary of that organization.
He is a man of genial disposition and liberal
views and has a host of friends who hold him in
the highest esteem.

JOHN ALLISON PRIVETT. An industri-
ous, energetic young man, possessing excellent
ability and good judgment, John Allison Privett
is identified with the leading interests of San
Pedro as agent for the Lumber Surveyors' As-
sociation. Being an earnest worker, upright and
of good principles, he is almost sure to make
for himself an enviable reputation before many
more years have passed over his head, both in
the business and social afTairs of his adopted
city. A native of Arkansas, he was born April
4, 1880, in Fayetteville, the city in which his
father, the late James H. Privett, first saw the
light of this world. His grandfather, Willis
Privett, was born in Nashville, Tenn., but when
a young man settled as a farmer in Arkansas.

Born and reared in Arkansas, James H. Pri-
vett followed the independent occupation to
which he was reared, becoming a prosperous
farmer. He was a strong anti-slavery man, and
during the Civil war fought under the stars and
stripes, serving in the Union army. He mar-
ried Sarah A. Peerson, who was born in Ar-
kansas, the daughter of Jones Peerson, a farmer,
and she is still living. Of their union thirteen
children were born, eleven of whom survive,
John Allison, the subject of this sketch, being
the ninth child in order of birth.

Brought up on a farm, and educated in the
public schools, John Allison Privett remained
at home until nearly seventeen years old. Be-
ginning the struggle of life then for himself, in
March, 1897, he went to Cripple Creek, Colo.,
where he remained several months. Not satis-
fied with the outlook in that region, he came to
California, arriving in Los Angeles on Novem-
ber 7, 1897. The following January he came to

San Pedro, and for two years and a half was
in the emplo}' of the San Pedro Lumber Com-
]3any. Later becoming associated with the E.
K. Wood Lumber Company, he worked for
them for seven months, and then for about nine
months had charge of the company's yards at
Los Angeles. Returning then to San Pedro,
he was tallyman for the same firm until Decem-
ber ID, 1903, when he resigned the position.
Entering then the employ of the Lumber Sur-
veyors' Association, he has since been the busi-
ness agent of this organization, and has served
with great credit to himself and to the accepta-
tion of all concerned.

January 25, 1905, in Montecito, Santa Bar-
bara county, Cal., Mr. Privett married Ellis
Shook, who was born in Springfield, Mo., a
daughter of Rev. Philip T. Shook, a well-known
Methodist minister, and a granddaughter of
Rev. Rufus Shook, who went to Missouri as a
pioneer minister of the Methodist denomination,
and there spent the remainder of his life en-
gaged in ministerial labors. Rev. Philip T.
Shook married Lizzie Baker, who was born in
Alissouri, where her father. Rev. R. M. Baker,
located as a pioneer minister of the Methodist
Qiurch. She survived her husband, and now
resides in Houston, Tex. Mrs. Privett is the
youngest of a family of five children, four of
whom are living, and she has one daughter,
Kathryn Lenora. Fraternally IMr. Privett be-
longs to the Order of Eagles.

WILLIAM J. ULRICK. A well known,
enterprising agriculturist of San Diego county,
William J. Ulrick is successfully engaged as
a general farmer on a part of the old El Cajon
ranch, which originalh' consisted of forty-three
thousand acres of land situated in the El Cajon
valley. On Mr. Ulrick's estate, which is known
as Canado de Loscochis, stands the original
dwelling house, which was built more than a
hundred years ago, and is now one of the an-
cient landmarks of this vicinity. It is built of
adobe, contains five rooms, and in the time of
its Spanish occupants was the scene of many
revels and festivities. This house Mr. Ulrick
will rebuild, and preserve as far as possible the
style in which it was first built. A son of
John Ulrick, he was born in Clark county-,
Ohio, where he spent his earlier life.

A native of Pennsylvania, John L'lrick set-
tled in Ohio when young, and having learned
the trade of a machinist followed it during his
active years, being also engaged in improving
and managing a farm. He lived to a good old
age, passing away in liis Ohio home, in 1899.
His wife. Catherine Ulrick. survived him, dv-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2057

ing in 1903, at the age of eighty-five years,
being then one year older than her husband
was when he died. One of their sons, John
Uh-ick, Jr., enlisted in an Ohio regiment during
the Civil war, and gave to his country valiant
service, taking part in many of the noted en-
gagements of that conflict.

Educated in the public schools of Ohio,
William J. Ulrick began life for himself as a
farmer, and for many years carried on a good
business as a stock buyer and dealer, ship-
ping cattle to various markets. Coming to San
Diego county in 1890, he lived for four years
in San Diego, and then located near Lakeside,
purchasing that part of the El Cajon rancho on
which he now resides. On his ninety acres of
land he raises grain and alfalfa, besides which
he has considerable fruit growing on his ranch,
his orchard being quite large and valuable.
Mr. Ulrick has made many excellent improve-
ments since taking possession of his property,
his fine residence, with its environments, being-
very attractive, while the buildings are sub-
stantial. His land is rich and fertile, and is
well supplied with running water, so that he
has no need of artificial irrigation.

JEREMIAH LEWIS HATTERY. The Hat-
tery family dates its ancestral history in this
country from the early colonial settlement of
\'irginia, and is of English extraction. Ephraim
Hattery, the grandfather of Jeremiah Lewis, was
born in Virginia, and it was his father who was
the early colonist. On September 11, 1845. oc-
curred the birth of Jeremiah Lewis Hattery. he
being a native of the section near Massillon,
Stark county, Ohio, where his parents, John and
Mary (Baumgarden) Hatterv, were then resid-
ing. The father, who was born in Tuscarawas
county, Ohio, was a carpenter, builder and mill-
wright, and after his removal to Stark county he
made a specialty of contracting, erecting many
residences, stores and public buildings. The
large flour mills in Orrville. Wayne county, Ohio,
stand as an excellent example of his ability as a
millwright.

The boyhood davs of J. L. Hattery were spent
in Wa\ne county, Ohio, where he attended the
district schools and when it became time for him
to learn a trade he chose his father's calling, be-
coming a carpenter and machinist, in Canton,
Ohio. In the sprmg of 1864. although less than
twenty years of age. he demonstrated his patri-
otism by enlisting in Company E, One Hundred
and Sixty-ninth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer
Infantr}-, commanded by Col. William Haines,
and served his country faithfully in the Army of
the Potomac under General Grant until the ex-
piration of his term of enlistment, when he was

honorably discharged. Returning to Stark coun-
ty, Ohio, he entered the employ of C. Altman &
Co., manufacturers of agricultural implements,
working as a machinist in their factorv in Can-
ton for five years.

It was in 1887 that Mr. Hattery came to San
Bernardino, Cal., and engaged in carpentering
and building, meeting with flattering success in
this work until discontinuing it in 1894. In tliat
year he located on his ranch of forty acres in
East Highlands, which is improved with good
buildings and ten acres of orange trees in full
bearing, the balance of the ranch being devoted
to hay and grain crops. In his horticultural
methods he is decidedly progressive and his
manner of fertilizing the soil gives the trees a
wonderful growth and insures large crops of
fruit. His fruit is of the finest quality and com-
mands the highest prices in eastern markets.

In 1 866 Mr. Hattery was united in marriage
with Aliss Mary E. Barnhardt, a native of Ohio,
who engaged in school teaching before her mar-
riage. She is a wom.an of superior intelligence
and social qualities and is much interested in the
work of the Veteran Association, having at one
time been president of the ladies' auxUiary of
that body. Mr. and Mrs. Hattery are the parents
of five children : Lewis O., living on his father's
ranch: Henrietta, now a widow; Lillian M., de-
ceased : Bessie E.. principal of one of the San
Bernardino schools, and living at home ; and
Rollin E., an apiarist of East Highlands. Mr.
Hattery is a member of Vallev Lodge No. 27, K.
of P., and W. R. Cornman Po'st No^ 57, G. A. R.
of which he is past commander ; and is also con-
nected with the Southern California Veteran or-
ganization of the Grand Army of the Republic.
He is a man well informed on all matters of gen-
eral interest, is a public-spirited citizen active in
all upbuilding enterprises, and is held in the
highest esteem by his hosts of friends.

JOSEPH BENTON TYLER. The year
1859 is a memorable one to Mr. Tyler, for it
was then, when a young man of twenty-two,
that he left the parental home in the east and
sailed by way of Cape Horn with California as
his objective point. The years which have in-
tervened have found him engaged in various
lines of endeavor, first as a miner, later em-
ployed in a sawmill, and finally as the owner
of one of the finest orange orchards in San
Bernardino county.

Joseph B. Tyler is a native of the Empire
state, born in Sufi'olk county, September 14,
1837, into the home of John S. and Eliza (Hud-
son) Tyler. His boyhood and youth were
spent in New York, where he was also educat-
ed, and during young manhood he engaged in

2058

HISTORICVL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

business with his elder brother, Charles H.,
the two carrying on a successful wholesale
wooden and willow ware business on Maiden
Lane, New York City. Subsequently he
learned the trade of ship carpenter, but instead
of putting it to practice he came to California
with his father, landing at San Francisco July
2, 1859. after a perilous voyage around the
Horn' of one hundred and eighty-eight days.
July 3 he set out for Sacramento, where he
celebrated his first Fourth in the west. There
he met his brother, Charles H., who had come
to the state in 1854. and for some time had been
engaged in mining near Dutch Flats, whither
they at once proceeded. For about twelve
years Joseph B. Tyler carried on placer mining
there with a fair degree of success, in the mean-
time also erecting a quartz mill for a neighbor-
ing miner. Giving up mining altogether in
1871 he came to San Bernardino county and
bought a sawmill in Grass valley, which he ran
in connection with a lumber yard for twenty
years, the latter being located in San Bernar-
dino. The mill was" sold to the Arrowhead
Company in 1891, the latter intending to use
it for water and power purposes.

Since the year 1875 Air. Tyler has made his
home on his' present property in San Bernar-
dino, purchasing at that time four acres, for
which he paid S300 per acre. He has since
sold one acre, but the three remaining leave
ample space to properly set off his fine resi-
dence and other buildings, all of which he
erected himself, and, in fact, all of the improve-
ments which embellish the property are the
result of his own ideas. Besides the home place
he has an orange orchard of ten acres at High-
land.

At Gold Run, Placer county, Cal, Air. Tyler
was united in marriage with Louise A. Thorne.
the ceremony being celebrated October 21,
1868. Mrs. Tyler is a native of Canada and
the daughter of Edwin and Amelia (Richmond)
Thome. All of the five children born to Air.
and Airs. Tyler lived to attain mature years,
and all are still living with one exception. Liz-
zie Josephine is the wife of William T. Russell,
the "latter a grocer of San Bernardino: Lydia
Evalvn. Mrs. Casper Rensch, lives on the cor-
ner of Ninth and C streets, San Bernardino;
Charles Reach, the only son, resides in High-
land ; Bertha Amelia, who became the wife of
.\rthur P.. Jones, passed away February i. 1905.
at the age of twenty-five years, leaving one
daughter, Dorathalewe ; the youngest child
in the parental home is Carrie Louise, now the
wife of John C. Hansen, the latter a tailor in
this city. Since 1887 Mr. Tyler has been a
member of the Odd Fellows, of which body he
is an active and interested member, having

passed all of the chairs, and at one time repre-
sented his lodge in the Grand Lodge at San
Francisco. In retrospect Air. Tyler can look
back upon a life well spent and with no re-
grets over accumulating at the expense of his
fellowman. With the wife of his youth he is
spending his declining years in the old family
home at the corner of Tenth and C streets,
their second daughter. Airs. Rensch, living in
the immediate vicinitv.

G. H. BUBLITZ. As indicated by the name,
the Bublitz family is of Teutonic origin. The
founder of the race in the United States was
Qiarles Bublitz, who came from Germany to
the new world at the age of sixteen years, set-
tled in Wisconsin and became a farmer. Some
.vears after his arrival in the United States he
was united in marriage with Louisa Foltz, also
of German lineage. Settling on a farm near
Alilwaukee, they engaged in agricultural pur-
suits and reared their children, of whom there
were eight (six now living). The mother died
in 1904. at the age of eighty years, and the
father, who is now eighty-two years of age
{1906), makes his home in the city of Milwau-
kee. Their son, G. H., was born near Alilwau-
kee September 9, 1858, and received his edu-
cation in grammar schools, the Alilwaukee high
school, and Concordia College at Fort Wayne,
Ind., which latter institution he attended until
the junior year.

After having graduated from the Spencerian
Business College in Alilwaukee, Air. Bublitz
went to St. Paul, Minn., where he was em-
ployed by Noyes Bros. & Cutler, wholesale drug-
gists. Later he returned to Alilwaukee, where
he engaged as a bookkeeper with the wholesale
drug firm of Dohmen & Schmidt. June 30,
1881, he married Aliss Caroline Alaurer, of Fort
Wayne, Ind. Soon afterward he entered the
employ of the Chicago, Alilwaukee & St. Paul
Railroad under Sir Thomas G. Shaughnessy,
now president of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
His special task was the organization of the
store department of the entire system, in which
department he had the aid of six clerks. Owing
to the ill-health of Airs. Bublitz he was com-
pelled to resign his position and seek another
climate. Removing to California in 1886. he
entered the employ of J. F. Holbrook. of Los
Angeles, with whom he remained as bookkeeper
and for eighteen months as foreman of the Hol-
brook pipe shops. After three and one-half
years with the same employer he became book-
keeper for the Fulton engine works, in Los An-
geles, where he remained for six years, until
the incorporation of the business, when his po-
sition was taken bv a member of the new firm.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGR.VPHICAL RECORD.

2059

Next he was employed as traveling salesman in
the interests of Schlitz beer for the firm of
Adloff & Hanerwaas, bottlers.

In 1897 Mr. Bublitz was sent to take charge
of Adloff & Hauerwaas' sub-agency, which he
continued in the interests of others until 1901,
and then purchased the business. In 1906 he
erected a new plant, the building being of ce-
ment blocks or artificial stones, thoroughly
equipped with tlie most modern machinery : also
a refrigerator with a capacity of four cars, and
an ice machine with a capacity of three tons.
The structure stands on the corner of E and
First streets, is 86x110 feet in dimensions, and
was erected at a cost of $10,000, forming alto-
gether one of the most modern plants of its kind
in the west. .Shipments are made to different
points in San Bernardino and Riverside coun-
ties. In addition to maintaining a keen and in-
telligent supervision of every detail connected
with the business, Mr. Bublitz is interested in
the work of the San Bernardino Board of Trade
and takes a warm interest in local Republican
affairs. In religion he is of the Lutheran faith.
Since coming to this city he has erected the
residence which he now occupies at No. 670 D
street, and in addition he has acquired other
property interests in his home town.

LOUIS KAHN. As janitor of the San Ber-
nardino county court house and as constable,
Louis Kahn is a well known and highly respected
citizen of the citv of San Bernardino. He is a
native son of Californiji, having been born in
Calaveras county. July 3. 1870, the son of Her-
man and Jennette (VVeild) Kahn, both natives
of Germany, the birth' of the father occurring
in Baden. He came to America in 1863 and two
years later located in Calaveras county, Cal,
finally, however, removing to San Francisco.
For some time he was successfully engaged in
business in that city, but finally retired from
active life.

After completing his education with a course
in high school, Louis Kahn secured employment
in a wholesale dry goods and furnishing house
and filled the position of traveling salesman for
sixteen vears. Upon resigning this position he
went to Sacramento and engaged in an inde-
pendent mercantile enterprise and when he sold
his interests there came to Los Angeles and was
employed as watchman on Terminal Island for
the Salt Lake Railroad for some time. He re-
linquished this position to locate in San Ber-
nardino, and this city has been his home ever
since. He has filled his present office as consta-
ble and janitor of the court house since 1904
with entire satisfaction to all concerned. He pos-
sesses a courteous and cheery disposition that

easily makes friends, and wins him the esteem
of all with whom he comes in contact. Mr.
Kahn has six brothers, one of whom is Hon.
Julius Kahn, member of Congress from the
I'ourth Congressional district of this state. He
is a member of Arrowhead Parlor, N. S. G. W.,
and in both social and business circles enjoys
much popularity.

SILAS L. GOWELL. Although but a brief
time has elapsed since Silas L. Gowell entered
upon the work of contracting and building in
San Bernardino he has ably demonstrated his
aliilit}- in this line and has built up an extensive
and lucrative business. He has been a resident
of this section only since November, 1903, hav-
ing sought a change of climate at that time in
order to benefit his health. He is a native of
Maine, his birth having occurred in Bowdoin-
ham, Sagadahoc county, October 29, 1857, his
paternal great-grandfather having emigrated
from England in the colonial days of our coun-
try and established the family "fortunes in the
Pine Tree state. A son, Samuel, born there,
became a farmer in young manhood and reared
a famil\- to useful pursuits, his son, Daniel, be-
coming in turn a carpenter and builder. The
marriage of Daniel Gowell united him with
Miss Alartha Cooper, a native of Chelsea, and
a daughter of George Cooper, and born of this
union were three daughters and one son. Both
Mr. Gowell and his wife passed away in Maine.

Silas L. Gowell was reared in his native
town and educated in its public schools, after
which, at the age of fourteen years, he began
to learn the carpenter's trade under the instruc-
tion of his father. Until he was twenty- years
old he remained at home and then engaged in
building for himself, being located one year in
Bowdoinham and later in Richmond for a like
period. The five years following were spent
in Gardiner, Kennebec county, and in Orlando,
Fla., three of the five winters Ijeing passed in
the tropical climate of the "sunny south."
About this time he located in Norfolk, Va., and
engaged in the hotel business, and also for
eighteen months was proprietor of the bottling
works of that place. Later he became inter-
ested in the breeding of standard horses and
was thus occupied for over three years, during
which time he owned many valuable animals,
among them Baron Wood, by Baron Posey,
whose record was 2.\6\-^ at four years, and
valued at $2,500. Disjjosing of this interest
he engaged in a mercantile enterprise in Hamp-
ton, "S'a.. but met with an entire loss by fire,
after which, in .Vcwport News, same state, he
followed the li\-cry Inisiness for six months.
Fjilcring tlic omplny of the Huntington sliip-

2060

HISTORICAL AND BIOGR.VPHICAL RECORD.

yard as ship-fitter, he remained in this con-
nection for a time, when he returned to his old
occupation of contracting and building, en-
gaging as foreman for a contractor. Until
November, 1903, he was variously located in
Porto Rico ; Pensacola,.FIa, ; Selma, Ala, ; New-
port News, Va. ; and Lawton, Okla., engaged in
the prosecution of his trade. Coming to South-
ern California at that time he located in San
PJernardino and by the use of the waters of the
Consoles JNIineral Springs entirely recovered
his health. In April, 1905, he again entered
upon the work of contracting and building and
in the twelve months following conducted bus-
iness on a more extensive scale than any other
contractor in the city. Besides contracting and
building, he does brick and cement work, in
all of his efforts bringing to bear an energy^
and ability which could not fail to insure his
financial success.

The home of Mr. Gowell, located at No. 626
G street, San Bernardino, is presided over by
his wife, with whom he was united in marriage
in Maine. She was formerly Miss Flora A.
Wyman, a native of Litchfield, that state. Born
of this union is one son. Joseph, a resident of
Lcs Angeles. Mrs. Gowell is a member of
the Congregational Church, whose charities
are liberally supported bv Mr. Gowell. In his
fraternal afifiliations he is identified with the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

WILLIAM W. WHITE. As far back as the
record of the White family can be traced, its
members have been associated with agricultural
and horticultural affairs, and have been identified
with the material development of the various
localities of their residence. In this respect
William W. White has proved himself an hon-
ored member of an old family. Possessing the
tastes that led him into agricultural enterprises
in early life, he further possessed the energy and
intelligence calculated to bring him a gratifying
degree of success. For years he gave his atten-
tion to the raising of stock and grain, but after
his removal to California, he specialized in horti-
culture, and now ranks among the progressive
fruit-raisers of San Bernardino, where he owns
a tract of twenty acres, partly situated within the
city limits. Since establishing his home on this
place, in 1893, he has made many improvements
and has greatly increased the value of the prop-
erty. The commodious two-story frame resi-
dence has been improved, substantial outbuild-
ings have been added as the need for them arose,
and trees of fine varieties of fruit have been
])lanted. The problem of irrigation has been
solved satisfactorily by means of two flowing
wells two hundred and fifty feet deep. The water

from these is conveyed by pipes to a large con-
crete reservoir, where it is stored and turned on
the land as needed, furnishing an abundance of
water for the entire tract. While a part of the
land is rented, the greater portion he superin-
tends himself.

A native of Kentucky, Mr. \\'hite was born in
Hart county in 1838, being a son of Harmon B.
and ]\Iargaret ( V>'right) W'hite. His father was
a Virginian by birth and ancestry, but at an
early age lie migrated across the mountains into
the forests of Kentuck}-, becoming an early settler
of Hart count}'. As he was a planter, he oper-
ated his land with the aid of slaves. His wife
was born in Green, Ky., of ancestry that early
settled in Maryland. Both parents passed away
in Missouri, where they were making their home.
Among their six children there was a son, Wil-
liam W., who was sent to public schools and
later studied in a private school, thus receiving
what was for his day an excellent education.
After starting out for himself he remained in
Kentucky for som.e time, and among other things
he made a specialty of raising mules, which he
sold to the planters. Leaving his native state in
1870, he removed to Missouri and settled in the
northern part of that state in what was known
as the Platte purchase. Taking up a claim he
engaged in general farming and stock-raising,
and by degrees his farm of one hundred and
sixty acres was transformed into one of the best-
improved in a region boasting some of the finest
farms in JMissouri. The soil was rich and the
district one of the finest for agricultural pur-
poses to be found in all of that state. When the
cares of the estate became too weighty for his
advancing years and he sought an occupation
less taxing upon his physical strength, he sold
his farm in 1893, removed to Southern Cali-
fornia, and purchased land in the south edge of
.San Bernardino, where smce he has improved a
valuable ranch. Neither in this city nor in his
former home in Zvlissouri was he actively identi-
fied with politics or solicitous of official honors,
yet always he has kept posted concerning na-
tional issues and always has his ballot been cast
in the interests of tlie Democratic party. He is
a member of the Odd Fellows in Missouri.

ROBERT R. SIMPSON. For many years
Robert R. Simpson has been identified with the
business interests of San Bernardino county and
has also engaged in prospecting and mining,
meeting with very good success in all of his
undertakings, and by his integrity of character
and straightforward mediods making friends of
all with whom he comes in contact. His birth
occurred in June. 184S, in I'nionville, S. C, he
lieing the son of \\'illiam and Caroline (Crad-

HISTORICAL- AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2061

ockj Simpson. The father, who was of Scotch-
Irish descent, and by occupation a farmer, re-
moved with his family to Penetanguishene, Can-
ada, the death of both parents occurring in
the province of Ontario.

A member of a family of seven children, three
of whom are now living, Robert R. Simpson re-
ceived a preliminary education in the common
schools of Ontario, then took a course in Lexing-
ton College, and after his graduation from that
institution went to Ontario, and later to ^lont-
real, where he engaged in the dry goods busi-
ness. From there he removed to Chicago, 111.,
and secured a clerkship with Marshall Field &
Co. Coming to California about 1890 he spent
some time in San Bernardino and several coast
towns, clerked in Los Angeles and mined and
prospected in the eastern part of San Bernardino
county. Finally he settled in San Bernardino,
where he successively clerked, engaged in the
real estate business, mined and worked as sales-
man for the Southern California Music Com-
pany. In 1906 he was appointed superintendent
of the city cemetery, which position he now fills.
In San Bernardino he married Miss Delia Car-
ter, and they own a nice residence at No. 428
Church street. Mrs. Simpson's father, Barney
Carter, was one of the earliest pioneers and most
widely known men in this part of the state. He
had engaged in mining in various sections and
was considered one of the best posted men on
that subject in tiie country. He discovered and
developed several properties, among them being
the Gold Mountain mine, and was largely in-
strumental in the building of the mountain roads
for the county. His death occurred here in his
sixty-eighth year, being survived by his wife,
formerly Olive Nichols, who is now residing in
San Bernardino. In national politics Mr. Simp-
son supports the Republican party. He is a
man of strone and independent principles and
takes an active interest in all matters of social
and civic interest to the con.imunity in which he
resides.

ALBERT GLATZ. Probably no man in San
Bernardino is better known than Albert Glatz,
the oldest fireman in the city and a man who
has held one position almost continuously for
seventeen years. He was born October 4, 1859,
in Wheelersburg, Scioto county, Ohio, of Ger-
man parentage. His grandfather, Cornelius, was
born in Frankfort. Germany, and was a viti-
culturist on the Rhine. He served in the army
under Napoleon and was with him on the famous
march to Moscow and return. Theodore Glatz,
ihe father of Al'iert. was also born in Frankfort,
Germany, where he was engaged as a jeweler
and watchmaker until 1848, when he emigrated

to America, settled in Ohio, and secured his first
employment under O. B. Gould at Franklin Fur-
nace. He later removed to Wheelersburg and
engaged in farming and stock raising until 1896,
when his death occurred at the age of seventy
years. He was a member of the Masonic order,
in which he had attained the master's degree.
His wife, Mary E. Huger, was also of German
birth, and the daughter .of Moses Huger, a
farmer at Frankfort, Germany, which was his
lifetime home. !Mrs. Glatz lived to be sevent)-
two years of age, her death occurring in Ports-
mouth, Ohio, in 1898. Of her eight children six
are still living, one son, E. B., being a sheet-
metal worker at Seattle : another, Frank, a grocer
at Portsmouth, Ohio, and Albert, who is the
oldest living son, is located in San Bernardino.

Until he had reached his twenty-third }ear
Mr. Glatz remained on the home farm, having
attended the public schools during his boyhood
and later assisted his father in the farming
operations. In 1882 he went to Colorado and
engaged in ranching, being employed by Major
Downing. Later he accepted a position with
John McKane, a brick manufacturer of Denver,
and while there made the brick used in the con-
struction of the exposition building. In Jan-
uary, 1884, he came to San Bernardino and
worked successively for James H. Petitt in his
Urbita nursery, and two years for Valentine &
Frederick in the milling business, following
which he was em.ployed in the grocery store of
Mr. Valentine for one year. He next helped in
the erection of the new county hospital building,
after which he was engaged as foreman of the
farm for one year. He next joined a party of
eight surveyors and assisted in the survey of the
toll road from Redlands through to Little Bear
valley. They started on July 18, and when the
party returned on October 6 Mr. Glatz was the
only member left of the original corps who had
started, the other members having dropped out
')ne by one. He continued in this work under
^V. C. Clark, who was foreman of the compan)-,
until t888. when he decided to spend a year at
his old home in Ohio.

Upon his return to San Bernardino in i88g
]Mr. Glatz was, on IMay i. appointed driver of
the only fire engine then in the city, and has
continued with the department ever since. He
was on dutv twenty-four hours a day the year
around. When the reservoir was built he was
appointed driver of hose cart No. i, is still fill-
ing that position, and to him belongs the credit
of having broken in all new horses taken into
the service since that time. He is also secre-
tary of the fire department, an office he has held
fifteen years out of seventeen. No other man
at present in tjie fire department has seen more
than half the vears of service that Air. Glatz has.

2062

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Politically he is a strong believer in the prin-
ciples advocated by the Democratic party, and
fraternally he affiliates with San Bernardino
Lodge Xo. 348, F. & A. M., and Token Lodge
i\o. 290, I. O. (). F. He is interested in horti-
cultural pursuits, and among his property in-
terests is a fine twenty-acre orange grove. In
numerous ways Mr. Glatz has proven that he
has tlie best interest of his city at heart and no
citizen is held m greater respect and esteem
than he.

DAVID C. STRONG, M. D. It is unusual
that a professional man meets with so much suc-
cess in so short a time as has attended the career
of Dr. David C. Strong, who although young in
years, is creditaljly filling the position of super-
intendent of the San Bernardino county hospital,
and at the same time attends to a large private
practice as physician and surgeon in the city of
San Bernardino. Dr. Strong was born August
26, 1879, in Paxton. 111., the son of Robert and
jMartha (JNIiller) Strong. His early years were
passed on the farm of his father, who was a
prosperous farmer and stock-raiser, and in the
winter time attended the district school in his
neighborhood, acquiring a good knowledge of
the common branches, after which he attended
Rice Collegiate Institute for four years. The
first two years of his medical course were spent
in Rush I\Iedical College. Chicago, and the last
two years at the College of Physicians and Sur-
geons in the same city.

LTpon acquiring his medical degree Dr. Strong-
located at Wichita, Kans., and for eighteen
months conducted a successful practice. He then
came to California and built up a large and lucra-
tive business at Redlands. In 1905 he received
the appointment to his present office of super-
intendent of the county hospital at San Ber-
nardino, in which institution the number of pa-
tients ranges from seventy-five to as high as one
hundred and thirty-five on some occasions. Dr.
Strong has identified himself with the various
medical societies of the state, holding member-
ship in the San Bernardino County Medical So-
ciety, the State Medical Society and the South-
ern California R-Icdical Society. His marriage to
Miss Mary Glenn of Chicago took place in 1901,
and thev have one son, Robert Glenn.

]\IAJOR ORIN PECK SLO.\T. One of the
most highly respected citizens of San Bernardino
is Maj. Grin Peck Sloat. who for the past ten
years or more has been division storekeeper for
the Santa Fe Railroad Company, having charge
of the Santa Fe and Los Angeles divisions. A
native of New York, he was born in 1859. '"

Hobart, Delaware county, the son of William
Henry and Permelia (Peckj Sloat, the father
having late in life moved to San Bernardino,
where he died in 1905. Until his sixteenth year
Major Sloat attended the common schools of his
native state, and for several succeeding years was
employed on farms. In 1881 he came to Los
Angeles, Cal., where he became an employe of
the W. C. Furrey Hardware Company as clerk,
remaining in that position five years. The fol-
lowing four years he spent in the employ of the
C. W. Mettler Hardware Company in the same
city, and subsequently he served as deputy
county clerk under C. D. Hamilton for two years.
In 1895 J^Iajor Sloat became connected with
the Santa Fe Railway Company, and was sent
to San Bernardino to take charge of the stores
here, a position which he has retained from that
time until the present. He is a stanch believer
in the principles advocated by the Republican
party, and he has always taken an especial in-
terest in military affairs. In July, 1889, he was
elected a member of Company K, Seventh Regi-
ment of California National Guard, of which
company he was soon made captain, and was
afterwards commissioned major, which office he
still holds. At one time he served as secretary
of the regiment for eight months. In 1898 he
was appointed captain of a company of United
States volunteers. Fraternally he is a member
of San Bernardino Lodge No. 348, F. & A. M.,
and he is recognized in his city as a man who
is always willing to lend his efforts toward the
furtherance of any enterprise tending to build up
the communitv in which he lives.

EARL L. x\MES. A well-to-do mining man
of San Bernardino and one who has made the
whole of his $35,000 fortune within the past
five years in this city is Earl L. Ames, whose
life, with the exception of about two years, has
been spent in San, Bernardino county, where he
was born February 9, 1857. The life of the
Ames family is linked prominently with the pi-
oneer history of that section of Southern Cali-
fornia. The parents, Ellis and Olive J. (Gibbs)
Ames, the former a native of Ohio, and the lat-
ter of Rutland, Vt., were married in Jackson
county. Mo., where the elder Ames was engaged
as a farmer for several years. He later removed
to Salt Lake City and finally pushed on across
the desert and mountains to California. The
trip across the plains was a very long one and
full of hardship, for at one time they ran out
of water and were obliged to kill a heifer and
drink the blood from it in order to keep from
dying of thirst. The\- at last reached Bitter
Springs, and there the teams gave out. neces-
sitating a stop at that point. The family land-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2063

ed in San Bernardino in 1854. Mr. Ames soon
established a grocery and dr\-goods business,
becoming the first merchant in San Bernardino,
and continued in business here for several years.
He at one time owned Slover mountain near
Colton, which today produces fine marble and
cement stone, and was also an early official in
the county, held the office of district attorney
and was the first public administrator for the
county. Politically he affiliated with the Repub-
lican party. At the time of his death, at the age
of seventy-four years, he was living retired from
active business. His wife, who lived to the ad-
vanced age of eighty-five, was a member of the
Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints.
They were the parents of fifteen children, nine
of whom are still living. C. E. Ames is a res-
ident of Santa Ana; Edson, Ellis, Don A. and
Carlos are living in San Bernardino; Mrs. Net-
tie Garner lives in Los Angeles ; and Mrs. Syd-
ney Mee has her home in San Bernardino.

After attending the common schools of San
Bernardino county Earl L. Ames learned the
trade of brick mason and followed it for three
years in that city, after which he went to Ar-
izona on a prospecting trip, crossing the Colo-
rado river sixteen times on this occasion. Lat-
er he was engaged in running a fruit wagon
into the mining camps of Arizona, where he sold
apples at the high price of ten cents apiece. Aft-
er two years at this employment he returned to
San Bernardino and took up his old trade of
stone mason, and prospected on the nearby
mountains during his spare time, continuing this
for about twenty years. In July, 1901, he dis-
covered the Native Son mine, which he dis-
posed of in 1905, and now owns other claims
that he considers just as good as the Native
Son. He also holds in his possession several
mining claims on the west slope of Old Baldy
mountain, at an elevation of about seven thou-
sand feet, which hold an untold wealth of quartz,
and is still conducting prospecting operations in
the same locality. Some of his other claims in
the desert district of the county also show good
quartz. He has a number of valuable property
interests in San Bernardino city, where he owns
a house and lot on F street, and is a stockholder
in the Home Gas company. He bought an
eleven acre tract of land containing a good house
and other improvements, located in the city lim-
its, and recently sold three acres of the ground
at a handsome profit. In 1901 Mr. Ames was a
poor man and the fortune which he has accumu-
lated in the intervening years has been made in
mining and judicious investments, in real estate
and other lines.

Mr. Ames' marriage united him with Mi<^s
Sadie, a daughter of J. JM. Sanders, of River-
side, and they have become the parents of six

children : Myrtle, Mabel, Lena, Robert E., Dale
and Thelma. Politically Mr. Ames is an ad-
herent of the Republican party. He is an ex-
pert workman at his trade, a good business man,
possesses sound judgment and is held in the
highest esteem bv all who know him.

BENJAMIN F. McLEOD. The proprietor
of the leading nursery establishment in San Ber-
nardino is Benjamin F. McLeod, who started
this business in 1904 and has in this short time
built it up to its present large proportions, do-
ing both a wholesale and retail business. Mr.
A-IcLeod was born of Scotch-American parentage
in August, 1869, in Laingsburg, Shiawassee
county, Mich., the son of Rev. James and Eme-
line (Whitmore) McLeod, the father being a
native of Scotland and the mother of New York
City. Rev. Mr. IMcLeod was educated for the
ministry in his native country, graduating from
the Glasgow University, in which he received
special training in the study of modern and an-
cient classics. He was a man of strong person-
ality, a ready and forceful speaker and became
prominent in his profession in several different
states of the Union. After a most successful
career, in which he came in contact with a host
of people who learned to love and respect him,
he passed away in 1889. His wife is yet living
and resides in Bakersfield, Cal.

Benjamin F. McLeod was reared in a refined
and intellectual atmosphere and was surrounded
by elevating home influences. His education
was received in the public schools of Laingsburg
and when his school days were over was vari-
ously employed in his native state until 1894,
when he came to California and settled at Bak-
ersfield, engaging in business there for many
years. In 1903 he disposed of his interests
there and removed to San Bernardino and estab-
lished a nursery and florist's business, in which
he is now engaged. He is located at No. 655-
659 G street on a lot 150x300 feet, which con-
tains his family residence as well as the green-
houses, and the well with a modern pumping
plant, which forces the water into the large re-
servoir to be used for irrigating purposes. He
carries a very select stock of the finest foreign
and American flowers and plants, many of them
being of his own propagation. He has a very
large local trade and also ships to neighboring
towns in the state, besides which he receives
orders from other states, even as far away as
Missouri. Mr. McLeod has given plants and
entomology considerable scientific study and has
discovered a valuable destroyer of the various
enemies to flowers and plants.

The wife of Mr. McLeod was Miss Grace E.,
daughter of Timothy T. and Sarah E. (Stiles)

2064

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Gates, of Bangor, Ale., and they are the parents
of one child, NelHe F. Mr. McLeod is frater-
nally a member of San Bernardino Camp No.
79, W. O. W., of which he is now (1906) serv-
ing as council commander. He has a fine resi-
dence and takes a prominent part in the social,
business and public life of his city, in which he
is held in the highest esteem by all who have
the pleasure of his acquaintance.

HENRY F. GANSNER. The popular and
successful well contractor of San Bernardino,
Henry F. Gansner, was born in St. Louis, Mo.,
July 13, 1863, but his earliest recollections are
of life in California. His father, Florian Gans-
ner, was a native of Switzerland, and his moth-
er, who was Christina Pohle, was born in Ger-
many. Both parents came to America when
quite young and settled in St. Louis, from which
city in 1850 the father removed to California and
settled in Plumas county, there engaging in
gold mining. Later on he located on the east
bank of Feather river and there continued op-
erations for seven years. From there he re-
turned to his old home in Rlissouri and engaged
in building operations, he having learned the
carpenter's trade when a young man. Life in
the east never seems the same to one who has
lived for a long period in California, and thus it
was that the year 1865 found the Gansner fam-
ily back in San Francisco. After a short time
spent in that metropolis, they settled in Plumas
county, where Mr. Gansner operated a sawmill
for the manufacture of lumber, his mills being
located near Ouincy, which is now the county
seat of Plumas county. In these mills he sawed
principally white and sugar pine, and he re-
mained in that vicinity until his retirement from
business. He is now living there at the age of
fourscore 3'ears.

The education of Henry F. Gansner was ac-
quired through the medium of the common
school in Ouincy. and at Lauden's Business Col-
lege in Oakland, where he took a commercial
course. After his graduation he returned to
Ouincy for a short time and in 1887 came to
San Bernardino, where for four years he was
associated with William Manson in artesian well
contracting. After the expiration of this period
he formed a partnership with George Renwick
and under the firm name of Renwick & Gansner
continued in the well business for six years,
when Mr. Gansner began independent opera-
tions. The latest and most improved machin-
ery composes his equipment, including gas en-
gines for power, and in the prosecution of his
work he gives employment to a large force of
men. His services are not confined to this part
of the state onh-, but imiude contracts in Arizo-

na and southern Nevada. The wells range in
depth all the way from fifty to twelve hundred
feet and are from six to ten, and some even
twenty-four inches in diameter. One especial-
ly fine well, located two and one-half miles north-
west of the city of San Bernardino, is fifteen
inches in diameter, eleven hundred feet deep,
self-flowing, and furnishes three hundred and
twenty-four thousand gallons of water in twen-
t_\-four hours. The average depth of the wells
at Phoenix is two hundred feet.

On December 6, 1892, Mr. Gansner was mar-
ried to Miss Polly Ann Frink, a native of San
Bernardino, and the daughter of Horace M.
Frink, one of the earliest settlers in this county.
The two children born of this union are Freda
and William George. The home residence is a
neat and substantial one, located at No. 596 D
street, and Mr. Gansner also has an orange grove
to which he gives considerable attention. He is
a member of San Bernardino Lodge No. 348,
F. & A. M. ; of Token Lodge No. 290. I. O. O.
F. ; and of the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks No. 836. He is a man of progressive ideas
and in keeping pace with the newest methods
of the day has provided himself with a fine auto-
mobile, so that he may readily reach the dif-
ferent places where his men are at work.

PETER J. FILANC. Among the younger
generation of ranchers in San Bernardino
county who are making a name and place in
the world Peter J. Filanc deserves special
mention. His entire life has been spent on
the homestead ranch which he now occupies,
and which he has had entire charge of since
the death of his father in 1896. Independent of
any reflected honor from his worthy father he
is respected and esteemed by all who are
brought into business relations with him. for
principles of a high order have dominated his
life, the result being that he has established a
reputation for square dealing which is as well
known as his name. Besides having charge of
the home ranch he is also interested in the
buying and selling of real-estate in Los An-
geles.

Of the three children born to Peter J. Filanc.
Sr.. and his wife, who before her marriage
was Elizabeth Lughan. Peter J. Filanc was the
youngest and was born on the old homestead
in San Bernardino county January 5. 1866. His
course in the common schools of that county
was supplemented by a year's study in the
Universitv of Southern California at Los An-
geles, still later taking up a business course in
the Pacific Business College in San Francisco.
The death of his father in i8q6 made it neces-
sarv for him to return home and assume con-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2065

trol of the homestead, his onl}- brother having
died also. The entire tract of two hundred
and thirty acres is tillable land, devoted to
raising hay and alfalfa, besides which cattle
are raised extensively. The facilities for mar-
keting his produce are especially favorable, as
the ranch has a splendid location, lying close to
Cclton, and good roads add a further ad-
vantage.

In 1903 Mr. Filanc established a home of his
own by his marriage with Miss Stella J. Heb-
bard, a native of Kansas City, Mo., and a
daughter of W. C. Hebbard, the latter a well-
known wholesale grocer in Colton. The home
of Mr. and Mrs. Filanc is brightened by the
presence of one son, to whom they have given
the name of Pierre Hebbard. The family are
communicants of the Catholic Church in San
Bernardino. In his political affiliations Mr. Fi-
lanc is a Democrat, and the only fraternal
order to which he belongs is the Independent
Order of Foresters, his membership being in
the lodge at Colton.

CHARLES E. HOLLAND. Santa Monica
has in Charles E. Holland one of its success-
ful real-estate operators, who since 1902 has
engaged actively in the promotion of enter-
prises calculated to be of permanent benefit to
the community and its citizens. Establishing
his home in the city in July of the year above
mentioned, he immediately became identified
with others in important movements in the
matter of real-estate development, receiving
both substantial and sympathetic aid from
moneyed institutions here and elsewhere, and
putting on the market lots offered for $75 and
$125 each, which afterward sold for $3,000 —
an advancement due to the upbuilding for-
warded by the enterprising and progressive
men of the section.

Mr. Holland did not come to California to
make his first success in life, for he had been
identified with business enterprises ever since
1887 — two years before attaining his majority.
He was born in Saginaw. Mich., May 28, 1868.
the oldest in a family of four children (Charles
E., Andrew J., Harry F. and Edward J-)- who
blessed the union of his parents, .\lbert Leslie
and Mary A. (Merrill) Holland: they were
natives respectively of Albion, ?\^. Y.. and
Niagara county, N. Y., her father, Andrew
Jackson ^ilerrill, removing with his family to
Tuscola county, ]\Iich.. where he and his wife
are still living on property which they have
Dccupied for forty years. Albert L. Holland
followed -his trade of carpenter and joiner in
Saginaw for many years, and in 1894 located
in Southern California, where in the citv of

Los Angeles he is now passing his declining
years amid the prosperity which industry and
good management have brought him.

In early life Charles E. Holland became de-
pendent upon his own resources, developing the
trait of self reliance so noticeable in the sons
of the middle west, and on the Fourth of July.
1887, he landed in Leadville, Colo., with a
small amount of capital, an unlimited supplv
of courage and energy, and the determination
to succeed. Although it was the middle of
summer the air was full of snow and the ground
white, but the vigor of the atmosphere served
to strengthen the young man's purpose. Be-
cause of his capital he was enabled to enter
into partnership with an old mining engineer,
R. W. Miller, with whom he began the devel-
opment of the Forest Queen mine, which
turned out to be such a profitable venture that
before Mr. Holland attained his majority thev
were offered S6o,ooo for it. 'Sir. Holland made
a thorough study of all branches of the mining
business and rapidly rose to a position of note
and prominence among the mining engineers
of Colorado. He became associated with a
few of the prominent mining men of the state,
associations which proved profitable. Because
of failing health, however, he was forced to
withdraw entirely from his former employ-
ment, and accordingly in 1902 he came to Cali-
fornia, in search of a more congenial climate.
This he found in Santa Monica, wdiere he has
ever since resided. Among his most important
enterprises have been his association with the
building of the Club House and the A^'enice
View, while later he was associated with T. W.
Aisbitt, who supported the Equitable Trust &
Improvement Co. as the first sole agent for
the m.agnificent A-'enice property, and many of
their ideas have been carried out by a later
inanagement of the enterprise. Property has
risen steadily in value until to-day it is worth
many times its original price, an increase due to
the judicious investments and management of
the men at the head of real-estate operations in
this section of the coast. In November. 1905.
Mr. Holland established an office at No. 304
Third street, in Santa Monica, where under
satisfactory conditions capital may be secured
by honest workingmen desirous of acquiring a
home independent of debt and obligations.

In Colorado i\Tr. Holland was united in mar-
riage with Miss Laura L. Knouse. a native
of Holland, but educated in Ohio, w^here she
grew to womanhood. They have a pleasant
and comfortable home in Santa Monica, where
yhs. Holland is prominent in local society.
Mr. Holland has taken time to identify himself
with fraternal organizations, being a m'emher
of the Knights of Pvthias and Fraternal Bnith-

2066

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

crhood, while politically he is a Republican.
Success has acconiisanied the efforts of Mr.
Holland, and deservedly, for he has combined
irreproachable traits of manhood with unusual
business ability, making every public effort
for success consistent with his inherent ideas
of right and equality. He is still a young man
and gives promise of much future success.

SAMUEL C. SLANKER. Pomona is in-
deed fortunate in claiming the citizenship of
Ivlr. Slanker, who since the spring of 1901 has
filled most acceptabl}' the position of superin-
tendent of streets. During his incumbency thus
far vast changes have taken place in the condi-
tion of the roads and drives, and as long as he is
retained in the position his fellow-citizens may
continue to look for innovations tending toward
the beautifying and improving of the road
service.

A native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, born
January 4, 1853, Samuel C. Slanker is a son of
Daniel Slanker, also a native of the same county
and state. After his marriage and the birth of
some of his children the father disposed of his
farm in the east and settled down to agricultural
pursuits in Edgar county, Illinois, near Paris.
His service in the Civil war as a member of the
Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company A,
broke in upon the routine of his peaceful life,
but when his term of service was over he re-
turned once more to his former pursuits, at this
time, however, taking up farming in Henry
county. Missouri, where he had purchased a
large farm. That was his home throughout his
remaining years, and his death occurred there
in 1882. liis wife also passed away on the Mis-
souri homestead. Prior to her marriage she was
Lydia Lenhart, a native of Pennsylvania and the
descendant of a long line of ancestors on both
sides of the family who had flourished in that
commonwealth. Of the twelve children born to
these parents seven are living, and of these three
sons are in California.

The boyhood years of Samuel C. Slanker were
passed successively in Pennsylvania, Illinois and
Missouri, following his parents in their migra-
tions from the cast to the middle west. When
he became old enough he attended the public
schools near his home and became fairly well
educated, considering his advantages. As he was
the oldest of a large family, his help on the home
farm was greatly appreciated and he gave his
services to his father until attaining his maturity.
In company with one of his brothers, he started
for California in 1875, and for a year he worked
as a farm hand in Los Angeles county. The next
year he' secured a position witli a freighting com-
paii\- in charge of R. X. Xadcau, in whose em-

ploy he remained for ten years, carrying supplies
between Cerro Gordo, Inyo county, Cal., and
Mojave, Ariz., the latter cit)- being the head-
quarters of the company. Many and thrilling
were his experiences with the Indians in that
frontier country, and more than once he was re-
ported dead. He met the enemy frequently in
making the trip from Mojave to Tombstone,
Ariz., and subsequently, at Lordsburg, they met
in altercation, the Indians having stolen three
of the mules belonging to the company and in
his charge. Tiring of the hazardous life which
he had followed for so many years, he came to
Pomona and settled down to quiet pursuits. He
first opened a livery stable at the corner of First
and Main streets, and later removed to larger
and more commodious quarters at the inter-
section of Second and Gordon streets, remaining
in the latter location until May 1901, when he
sold out his business to accept his present posi-
tion of superintendent of streets of Pomona to
which he had been appointed by the council, and
every two yeafs thereafter he has been re-
appointed his own successor. This fact in itself
IS sufficient evidence that his services are appre-
ciated, and much praise is due him for what he
has accomplished. To bring about these results
he was instrumental in securing, through the
trustees, the necessar}' outfit for grading,
sprinkling and oiling the streets. The latter
method of settling the dust in the roads is used
almost entirely throughout the city.

Mr. Slanker has a pleasant and modern resi-
dence at the corner of Main and Tenth streets,
embodying in its construction and architecture
his own ideas as to beauty and utility. He and
his wife, formerly Miss Sarah Kelty, have be-
come the parents of six children, as follows :
Bessie. Frank. Margaret, Catherine, Jenerose
and Raymond. }ilr. Slanker is well known in
fraternal circles, belonging to Pomona Lodge
No. 430. T. O. F.. in which he has passed all the
chairs, and also to the Fraternal Brotherhood, in
which at one time he served as president of his
lodge.

EMILE \'ACHE. The success achieved by
Emile \'ache, one of the old and honored resi-
dents of Redlands, has been entirely the result
of his own efforts, for with nothing hut ability
and industry to presage a success he started out
in the world for himself in young manhood,
round by round worked his way up the ladder,
and to-day holds without question a high place
among the business men of this city. He was
born in France, in the department Oiavente
Tnfereuire. February 24, 1834, a son of Jean
\'ache. a manufacturer of cognac and cream
of tartar, until his death, which occurred in tliat

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2067

location. His mother was in maidenhood Jean-
nette ATaHeta, France being also her lifelong
home. They were the parents of six children,
of whom three are now surviving.'

The eldest in the family of his parents, Emile
\'ache was reared in the paternal home and
after leaving the common schools was instructed
in his father's business. He had not much more
than attained his majority when he decided to
try his fortunes in the western world where re-
latives of the family had already located, and
accordingly in August, 1855, he took passage on
a sailing vessel, the Washington, bound for San
Francisco via Cape Horn. In January of the
following year they anchored in the harbor of
the Golden Gate, and Mr. Vache at once went
to Monterey, where an uncle was located and
engaged in a mercantile enterprise, and there
he found employment in his store as a clerk for
the ensuing year. He then returned to San Fran-
cisco and thence journeyed to the mines in Sis-
kiyou county, and because of illness a year later
returned to Monterey county. With $10 in his
pocket he came to Los Angeles in 1859 and for
a year worked at his trade, in i860 establishing
a business for himself on Alameda street as a
manufacturer of cream of tartar and in the
conduct of a distillery. Later he purchased a
place on Alameda street and there built up a
distillery, winery and w-arehouse. In 1879 he
came to San Bernardino countv and leased the
vineyard owned by Dr. Barton and there con-
ducted a winery for the period of six years. In
the meantime he purchased his present ranch,
consisting of one hundred and fifty acres in
the San Timoteo canon, adjoining Redlands, then
wild land with cacti growing over it, and no
promise of its present luxuriant cultivation.
Water for irrigation is secured from the Bear
Valley Company, he having a reservior on the
hill, with a capacity of seven hundred thousand
gallons and a pressure of one hundred and sixty-
two feet to his place, and he is also connected with
the San Timoteo Canon Water Company. He
has developed a beautiful ranch, setting out
thirty-five acres in grapes, ten acres in oranges,
and otherwise improving the property, and has
built a winery with a capacity of two hundred
thousand gallons, and is engaged in the manu-
facture of brandy and sweet wines. In 1902 he
incorporated the E. Vache Compau)', which own
the Brookside Winery only, the ranch of that
name being an individual interest. In 1891 he
was instrumental in the building of the Brook-
side Wholesale Liquor House in San Bernar-
dino, Init later disposed of his interest to his
partners, Ingersol & Esler.

In San Francisco Mr. ^'ache was united in
marriage with Miss Corinne Lukon, a native of
Montreal, Canada, and their home is now on

the beautiful ranch in Southern California. Mr.
Vache is a member of the French Benevolent
Association of Los Angeles. He is independent
in politics, reserving the right to cast his ballot
for the man he considers best qualified for the
discharge of official duties.

ROBERT LINDSAY TRITTON. As a suc-
cessful veterinarian Robert Lindsay Tritton has
firmly established himself in his line of work
and in the friendship and esteem of the people
in Redlands although but a brief time has
elapsed since his residence here. He is a native
of England, his birth having occurred in Ox-
ford Seven Oaks, in Kent, December 9, 1850 :
his father, Robert Tritton, was also born in
England, a son of Robert , a banker of London.
He graduated from Oxford in young manhood
and became a clergyman in the Episcopal Church
and was so occupied until his death. He married
Charlotte Lindsay, a native of Surrey, England,
and a daughter of Sir Alexander Lindsay, a
member of Parliament. ^Ir, and Mrs. Tritton
became the parents of three daughters and two
sons, of whom one daughter is deceased, the
other son, Arthur, being a banker in London
at the present writing.

Robert Lindsay Tritton was the eldest in the
family of his parents and was reared in his native
place. He received his education at Harrow
School and King's College, London, from which
institution he was graduated in 1871. In 1873
he came to America and purchasing a farm in
Virginia engaged in the raising of tobacco and
stock, making a specialty of thoroughbred saddle
horses. Through this connection he became in-
terested in veterinary surgery and accordingly
entered the New York College and graduated
therefrom in March, 1891, with the degree of
v. S. He still owned his farm in \^irginia but
disposed of it at this time, and locating in Rich-
mond, Va., began the practice "of his profession.
He remained in that city for about ten years,
when he removed to Boonton, Morris county, N,
J., and there engaged in the practice of his pro-
fession. He was attacked by rheumatism, how-
ever, and in search of a milder climate came to
California in the following year, spending the
first three months in Los Angeles, when he came
to Redlands and has since made this city his
home. He established a practice here in his
jjrofession and later founded a veterinary hospi-
tal, the only one in the county, located at the
corner of Fourth and Central streets, where he
is now conducting an extensive business. He is
active in the Southern California \^eterinar}-
Medical Association, of which he is a valued
member.

In \'irginia Dr. Tritton was united in marriage

2068

HISTORICAL AND EIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

with Aliss Lillian Ogden, a native of that state,
and a woman of rare culture and refinement and
an addition to the societ_v of Redlands. Dr.
Tritton is identified fraternally with the ]\Iasonic
organization, having been made a member in
Amelia Lodge in Virginia ; he is also associated
with the Eagles of Redlands. He is a member
of the Episcopal Qiurch in religion, and politi-
cally adheres to the principles embraced in the
platform of the Democratic party. He is a mem-
ber of the Board of Trade of Redlands and
active in his efforts to further all movements
tending toward the advancement of the general
welfare of the communitv.

■GEORGE CLLNTON THAXTF.R. The up-
building interests of Redlands liaAc m Mv. Thax-
ter one of its most important factur.-^. Uk' greater
part of his time and attention being given to the
advancement of the city through his connection
with the Board of Trade as its secretary. He is
the representative of an old New England family
of English and Irish descent, his birth having
occurred in Bangor, Me., October 14, 1842; his
father, Joshua, was born in Limington, Me., and
in manhood became a marble manufacturer in
Bangor, where his death eventually occurred.
His mother was before marriage Joanna Hayes,
a native of Maine, and daughter of Captain
Hayes, who participated in the Aroostook war in
that state ; she is now surviving and makes her
home in Redlands at the advanced age of eighty-
five years. They were the parents of four chil-
dren, of whom two attained maturit}-.

George Clinton Thaxtcr, Uk r,ti]\ son of his
parents now surviving, was reared in Bangor
and educated in its public and high schools, at
the age of fourteen years beginning to work in
his father's marble yard. In June, 1858, he en-
tered a drug store to take up the work of a
pharmacist, remaining so occupied until August,
1862. Resigning from this position he enlisted
in Company E, Eleventh Regiment Maine In-
fantry, and was made the company's hospital
steward on arriving at the front and joining the
Army of the Potomac. They participated in the
second battle of Bull Run and the Peninsula
campaign, where they met with such awful dis-
aster that no regiment was left of the name.
Later Mr. Thaxter was stationed at Yorktown,
Va., where the regiment was' recruited. It was
there that his health broke down and because of
physical disability he was honorably discharged
in November, 1862. Upon returning to New-
port, iMe., he engaged in the drug business for
himself, and succeeded in building up a large
custom, to which he catered until February, t868.
In the last named year he disposed of his busi-
ness interests and removed to Iowa, locating in

Moingona and engaging in a similar occupation.
When the Transcontinental railroad was com-
pleted in June, 1869, he removed to Carson City,
Nev., and engaged as a lumber manufacturer
with a brother-in-law, the firm being known as
the Glenbrook Mill & Lumber Company. They
built a steam sawmill on the shore of Lake Ta-
hoe, with a large capacity, having made a run of
150,776 feet of lumber in a day of eleven and a
half hours. Their finished product was sent to
Virginia City, at first by means of teams and
later by flume and rail. Their enterprise was de-
stroyed by fire in 1878, when Mr. Thaxter re-
turned to Carson City and established a drug
business, continuing in that location until the
spring of 1893, when he came to California and
in Palo Alto engaged in a mercantile enterprise.
Disposing of these interests in June, 1896, he
came to Southern California and in Redlands
purchased the drug store owned by Dr. D. W.
Stewart on Orange street, and conducted the
same for two years, when because of impaired
health he sold out and has not since engaged in
active business. In 1901, on the 7th of January,
the organization of the Redlands I3oard of Trade
was perfected, in which enterprise Mr. Thaxter
was one of the most prominent citizens, and of
which he became secretary, being re-elected each
year to the present time. He has had entire
charge of the work and has arranged a most ex-
cellent and complete display, having made up and
sent a magnificent exhibit to the expositions at
Buffalo, St. Louis and Portland. To no one is
more credit due than to JNIr. Thaxter for the suc-
cessful upbuilding and development of this organ-
ization.

In Newport, Me., Air. Thaxter was united in
marriage witli Miss Mabelle Davis, a native of
Dexter, Ale., and born of this union are the fol-
lo^ving■ children : Homer D., an electrical engi-
neer who is superintendent of the Edison electric
power house at the corner of Fourth and Los
Angeles streets : Harry C, a graduate of Stan-
ford L'niversity and an electrical engineer now
located in San Francisco ; Berta, wife of Paul T.
Carroll, of Oakland: and Curtis H., in charge of
the machinery in the establishment of J. R. New-
berry, of Los Angeles. Mr. Thaxter was made
a member of the Masonic organization in April,
1869. ''"I Jordan Lodge No. 158, at Moingona,
later becan.ie a member in Carson Lodge No. i,
F. & A. M., and now afilliates with Redlands
Lodge No. 300. He was raised to the degree of
Royal Arch in Carson, being a member of Lewis
Chapter No. i, R. A. M., and also belongs to the
Knights of Pythias and the Uniformed Rank of
the K. of P. Politics have had more than the
usual interest for Mr. Thaxter, as a Republican
taking an active interest in the advancement of
his party's interest. While a resident of Nc-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAi. RECORD.

2069

vada he was appointed b}- President Harrison
receiver for the United States Land Office, having
previously served as an alternate delegate to the
National Republican Convention in Chicago, in
1888, where Harrison was nominated for the
presidency. He is likewise prominent in the
Grand Army, having served as aide-de-camp on
the staff of the national commander, General
Palmer; he has been a member of Custer Post
No. 5, G. A. R., of Carson, and is now a mem-
ber of Bear \'alley Post No. 162, of Redlands.

WILLIAM J. TENCH. Prominent among
the old settlers of Mentone, San Bernardino
county, is William J. Tench, who has been a res-
ident of Southern California since 1888 and one
of its practical upbuilders. He was born in Buf-
falo, N. Y., the eldest in a family of nine chil-
dren, of whom six are now living. His father,
William E. Tench, was born in Dinard, Erance,
the grandfather, Capt. Humphrey John Tench,
being an Englishman and an officer in the Fifty-
seventh Regiment of the Horse Marines. In
1834 he located in Ontario and in Oueenstown
passed away in 1852. His wife was formerly
Maria Caruthers, a daughter of Major Caruth-
ers, of the Fifty-fifth Regiment of the Horse
Marines. William E. Tench was reared in Can-
ada and in manhood engaged as a conductor on
the Great Western Railway between the suspen-
sion bridge and Detroit. He continued in the
railway service for about twenty-five years, when
he engaged in the real estate business in Niagara
Falls, where he died in 1893. Fraternally he was
a Mason and in religion belonged to the Episco-
pal Church. His wife was formerly Ellen Mur-
ray, who was born in Clifton, England, a daugh-
ter of John Murray, a general in the English
army, until his retirement, when he came to
Ontario, Canada. The maternal grandfather was
a captain under Wolfe at Quebec and at one time
was governor of Demerara.

William J. Tench was born December 16,
1858, and reared at Niagara Falls, where he re-
ceived his education through the medium of the
public schools. He first followed farming and
then began railroading, in 1881 being employed
in the construction of the Detroit, Mackinac &
j\Iarquette R. R. ; later he worked on the North-
ern Pacific, and then returned to the first named
company, and engaged as purchasing agent with
headquarters at Marquette. He was next lo-
cated in St. Joseph as general purchasing agent
for the St. Joe & Grand Island Railway. Com-
ing to California in 1888 he located in San Ber-
nardino and acted as assistant purchasing agent
for the Santa Fe for one year, and in the mean-
time bought a ranch of waste land and moving
upon it began its improvement and cultivation.

Durhig the dry years he prospected for water,
sinking a shaft one hundred and ninety feet deep,
striking water at a depth of one hundred and
sixty-three feet. He now has an abundant sup-
ply of water, it being within one hundred and
thirty-nine feet of the surface. He has a twelve
horsepower gasoline engine with an Osborn
pump with a capacity of fourteen inches. This
furnishes water for his ranch and also for the
tanks of the railroad company, and for five years
supplied Mentone with water for domestic pur-
poses. He has eight acres in navel oranges and
the balance of the land under cultivation to vari-
ous products. He is also serving as agent for
the Santa Fe Railroad at Mentone.

In Chippawa, Ontario, Mr. Tench was united
in marriage with Miss Florence Ellen Allen, born
in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and daughter of a
Welsh squire who came to Niagara Falls in
childhood, where she attained maturity. Thev
are the parents of two sons and two daughters.
Air. Tench is identified fraternally with the iMod-
ern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of
L'nited Workmen, of Ontario, and belongs to
Redlands Lodge No. 34:, I. O. O. F. He is a
member of the Episcopal Church of Redlands
and in his political convictions votes the Repub-
lican ticket.

NEWTON WELLS BEST. The success
achieved by Newton Wells Best has been the re-
sult entirely of his own efforts, for he brought
nothing to bear in his work but energy and abil-
ity, and a determination to win for himself a
position of financial independence as well as
prominence in the citizenship of whatever section
he made his home. That he has succeeded none
can deny and he now owns valuable residence and
business property in Redlands, in which city he
makes his home and is rounding out a well spent
and prosperous career. He was born in Corn-
wallis, Kings county. Nova Scotia, October 12,
1838, the second in a family of six children, of
whom all attained maturity and three are now
living. His father, Elisha Best, was born in
Horton, Kings county ; the paternal grandfather
was a purser in the English army and came from
the Isle of \\'ight during the Revolutionary war
and after the close of that historic struggle lo-
cated in Nova Scotia to spend the balance of his
days in retirement. He died there as an ad-
vanced age. Elisha Best became a farmer in
Nova Scotia, where he made his home until his
death, which occurred at the age of seventy-two
years. His wife, formerly Mercy Ann Bishop,
was a native of that province and a daughter of
Silas Bishop, of English descent, and who en-
gaged as a farmer until his death at the ad-
vanced age of ninety-two years. The Bishop

2070

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

family came from the North of England orig-
inally and were United Empire Loyalists. Mrs.
Best survived her husband and in her old age
came to California and died in Santa Ana in
September, 1905, at the age of ninety-five years.
Reared on the paternal farm and educated in
the district schools, Newton ^^■ells Best remained
at home until attaining his majority, when he en-
gaged in farming on his own resources. In 1868
he decided to come to California and accordingly
took passage on a vessel bound for Panama,
thence to San Francisco, where he arrived on the
19th of April. His first summer was spent at
San Jose, after which he came to Southern Cal-
ifornia with the intention of establishing a home,
and in San Benito county he entered one hundred
and sixty acres of government land and improved
and cultivated it until 1873, when he sold out
and removed to Guadaloupe, Santa Barbara coun-
tv, and purchased a farm. A year later he dis-
posed of this purchase and bought a squatter's
title to one hundred and sixty acres, proved upon
it, and farmed for five years in that section. After
disposing of this farm he located in the vicinity
of Santa Ana, Orange county, here purchased a
farm three miles from the town, and farmed this
for a period of seven years. In the fall of 1883
he returned to Nova Scotia on a visit and on
his return west brought his mother with him. In
the fall of 1884 he traded his farm for a ranch
near Beaumont, and there later purchased another
farm, and continued to purchase adjoining land
until he owned three hundred acres in one body
and one hundred and sixty acres in the vicinity.
He improved the property, set out orchards, etc.,
and engaged in grain and stock-raising. He con-
tinued there for fourteen years, and in 1898
rented the ranch to a son and located in Red-
lands, purchasing property at No. 217 East Citrus
avenue, where he now makes his home. Later he
purchased a half interest in the feed and fuel de-
partment of the Redlands Commercial Company
on Orange street, and helped to improve and
build up a large business. He took an active in-
terest in the work and served as manager of that
department of the enterprise. In 1901 he sold his
interest, when he became identified with the real
estate operations of the place, and then purchased
a grocery store of the Dunn Brothers and con-
ducted the same for one year, and then sold out
to F. A. Morgan. He owns with his son an
eight hundred acre ranch eight miles north of
Beaumont, of which seventy acres are devoted
to the raising of apples, and there is a small
cherry orchard on the place ; of this fruit acreage
his son, W. H., owns one-half interest in
forty acres. He is also interested in the
dry goods business in Corona, the firm being
Austin & Best, and likewise owns property in
two residences in Newport Beach, besides a

twelve-room flat building and the building known
as the Armory block in Redlands.

Mr. Best has been twice married, his first wife
being Emma Smith, a native of Nova Scotia,
where she died. In the same place he married
Aliss Annie Holmes, a native of Hansport, Nova
Scotia, and a daughter of Capt. Kendall Holmes,
whose ancestn,' can be traced back to the May-
flower. Born of this union are the following
children : William H., a farmer in Imperial val-
ley ; Frank S., a dairyman near Holtville ; Fred
N., in Newport Beach; Charles E., conducting
a feed corrall in Redlands ; Arthur L., died at
the age of fourteen years ; Maude, Mrs. Austin,
whose husband is a merchant of Corona ; Pearla
M., Mrs. Hively, of Los Angeles ; Lluella, wife
of H. H. Moore, of Redlands ; and Joseph, who
died at the age of two and a half years. Mr.
Best is a member of the Reorganized Church of
Jesus Qirist of Latter Day Saints, and is a mem-
ber of the priesthood. Politically he is a stanch
advocate of Prohibition principles.

R. C. ANDREWS. The Bixby dairy ranch
at Clearwater consists of eleven hundred acres,
devoted to the raising of alfalfa, beets and corn,
and the pasturage of hogs and cattle, and is un-
der the personal supervision of R. C. Andrews
as manager, assisted by a force of fifteen em-
ployes. A specialty is made of the dairy in-
dustry and for this purpose a herd of one hundred
and fifty milch cows are kept, the revenue from
the same forming the principal source of income
from the estate. He also owns a ranch improved
with substantial buildings and said to be one of
the best farms in this section, this property being
under the management of a brother.

The Andrews family is of eastern ancestry.
W. H. and Martha (Curtis) Andrews, natives
of Ohio, came to California via the ocean route
as early as 1865 and settled in Northern Cal-
ifornia, where he followed the trade of machinist
and also became interested in ranching. During
the year 1884 he came to the southern part of the
state, where he died in March of 1904. During
all of his active life he was a firm believer in
the principles for which the Republican party
stands, .^ince his death his widow has contin-
ued at the old home, affectionately cared for by
her children and esteemed by acquaintances. In
religious belief she is a sincere member of the
United Brethren denomination and in her life
has exemplified the doctrines which she sup-
ports. Of her eight children all are living ex-
cept one daughter and the entire seven are resi-
dents of California.

While the family were living at Sacramento,
Cal., R. C. Andrews was born September 27,
1870, and as a bo\- he spent a number of years

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2071

■ in Colusa county, but at the age of fourteen
accompanied his father, W. H., to Southern Cal-
ifornia, vyhere he has since made his home. About
1894 he first became connected with the Bixby
lands, being then made an employe on a ranch
where grain, hogs and cattle were raised. The
property comprised eight thousand acres and
about 1896 was sold to the sugar beet corporation.
At the same time JNIr. Andrews was transferred
to the ranch of eleven hundred acres near Clear-
water. A large portion of the land was covered
with willows and it was an enormous undertaking
to clear the ground and remove the timber, but,
with a large corps of workmen, Mr. Andrews at
once set about the task, and at this writing has
eight hundred acres cleared and in fine condition
for pasture or for cultivation. The successful
prosecution of so large an undertaking proves
the manager to possess exceptional business qual-
ifications and untiring energy. The transforma-
tion of the tract into a profitable ranch may be
attributed largely to his perseverance and ju-
dicious oversight.

The marriage of i^Ir. Andrews in 1895 united
him with Miss Viola \l. Aken, who was born in
Ohio, the birthplace also of her father, John
Aken. The family was large and now has num-
erous representatives along the Pacific coast. JMr.
and Mrs. Andrews have four daughters, Elta,
Dora, Josie and Nellie. The family attend the
Presbyterian Church and Mrs. Andrews is a mem-
ber of the same. In national politics Mr. Andrews
has always been a stanch advocate of Republican
principles, but in local matters he considers ques-
tions affecting the national prosperity are not
vitally aflfected, hence he supports the candidates
whom he considers best qualified to represent the
people. Always interested in educational mat-
ters, he has proved helpful to the local work
through a long service as school trustee. In
fraternal relations he is connected with the In-
dependent Order of Foresters.

RICHARD J. FAROUHAR. Located at the
corner of Fifth avenue and F street, in Red-
lands is the home of Richard J. Farquhar, one
of the enterprising and substantial horticultur-
ists of this section of Southern California. He
is a native of Ohio, his birth liaving occurred
in Coshocton county June 12, 1865, next to the
youngest in a family of three sons and two
daughters born to his parents, William R. and
Marion (Renfrew) Farquhar, whose personal
history appears at length on another page of
this volume. He received his education in the
public schools of Ohio and after the close of his
schooldays engaged in general farming in his
native state. He came to California in i8()r and
in Redlands began the improvement and culti-

vation of a ranch, with his brother engaging in
horticultural pursuits. They first improved for-
ty acres of raw land, setting out an orchard of
oranges, and after four years thus occupied, Mr.
Farquhar returned to Cihio, and there managed
the home farm for his father. Three years later
he disposed of tlie property in Ohio and in 1899
located permanently in Redlands, where he now
owns twenty-six acres devoted to navel and
Valencia oranges, and has improved the place
with a good residence, barns and necessary out-
buildings. He is interested in the Crafton
Orange Growers' As.sociation, and the packing-
house at Mentone, of which he is acting as di-
rector and vice-president.

In Toledo, Ohio, Mr. Farquhar was united
in marriage with ]\Iiss Catherine Glann. a na-
tive of Toledo county, Ohio, and born of this
union are three children, namely : David Glann,
IMildred Ethel and Eleanor Lewis. Fraternally
]\Ir. Farquhar is a member of Redlands Lodge
No. 341, I. O. O. E., and is also identified with
the ^lodern Woodmen of America. He is a
member of the First Presbyterian Qiurch, of
Redlands, and politically is a stanch advocate of
Republican principles. He takes a keen interest
in the progress and development of his adopted
city and as a member of the Board of Trade is
foremost in all measures looking toward the gen-
eral welfare of the communitv.

WILBUR W. AYERS. The leading mer-
chant of Highgrove, Wilbur W. Ayers belongs to
the younger generation of business men, and be-
ing energetic and progressive in his methods is
meeting with splendid success. His store carries
a full stock of groceries, kitchen goods, hardware,
ladies' and gents' furnishings, gloves, feed and
grain, and in addition to the management of this
business I\Ir. Ayers also fills the office of post-
master of Highgrove. Previous to assuming con-
trol of his present business he was a resident of
Riverside, where he was engaged as manager of
the Great American Tea Company for a period
of five years. The birth of Mr. Ayers occurred
September 25. 1874. in Linn county, Kan. His
parents, William Henry and Minnie (Newell)
Ayers, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and
the latter of Iowa, are both now living at High-
grove, Cal. The father was engaged in farming
and later in general merchandising in Kansas
and sold out his business in Moran, Kan., in
1905, when he came to Highgrove. He served
two years in Company M, Fifteenth Regiment of
Kansas \'olunteer Cavalry during the Civil war
and has always taken a great interest in political
matters, lieing a stanch advocate of the prin-
ciples embraced in the platform of the Repub-
lican partw The faniil\- are active members of

1072

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPITICAL RECORD.

the Methodist Episcopal Church, one son being
a minister of that denomination at the present
time in Colorado Springs, Colo. There were five
children in the family. The early studies of
Wilbur W.. Ayers were prosecuted in the public
schools of Linn county, Kan., and his profes-
sional education received in the Normal School.
He followed teaching for two years in Kansas,
then went to Albany, Ore., where he secured em-
ployment in the woolen mill located at that point.
From there he removed to San Francisco, where
he was engaged with the Great American Tea
Company, and after spending nine months at that
point, he came to Riverside, in 1897. In 1899 he
was united in marriage with Miss Stella Stephen-
son, of Riverside, CaL, who was born in Kansas,
her father, Homer Stephenson, and mother now
residing in Riverside. Mr. and Mrs. Ayers are
the parents of three children, namely: Roland
Warren, Arthur Merrill, and Wilbur Walter, Jr.
I'olitically Mr. Ayers is a Republican and fra-
ternally he affiliates with Camp No. 8713, Modern
Woodmen of America, in Riverside, Cal. He is
a supporter of all enterprises of a social or civic
nature that tend to elevate and upbuild the com-
munity in which he lives and is held in the high-
est esteem by his fellow citizens.

SYDNEY Y. WYNNE, M. D., a prominent
physician of Redlands, was born in Rockland
county, N. Y. ; his father, Henry Wynne, was
a descendant of Welsh ancestry, born in Massa-
chusetts, where also he was educated and became
an attorne3'-at-law. He practiced in Boston be-
fore the iDreaking out of the Civil war, when he
enlisted for service and became major of a Massa-
chusetts regiment. On his return to civic duties
he was elected to the state legislature. He now
resides in Maiden, Mass., where he has served
the city as mayor. His father was also a lawyer
in Massachusetts and one of the prominent men
in public affairs. Father and grandfather were
the first to depart from the original manner of
spelling the family name, the present generation
returning to the quaint Welsh style. Dr. W3-nne's
mother was before marriage Madeline Yale, a
native of Massachusetts, a writer of note and
now a leader of Arts and Crafts, of Boston and
Chicago, many of her articles appearing in The
Outlook. Her father, Linus Yale, a descendant
of a brother of Elihu-Yale, the founder of the
Yale University, was the inventor of the Yale
lock. Dr. Wynne's brother, Philip, is now as-
sistant professor of Physics in the University of
Texas.

Sydney Y. Wynne was reared in Deerfield,
Mass., receiving his preliminary education in the
Deerfield Academy and at St. Mark's School,
Southboro, and after Qraduation from this latter

institution he entered Harvard and was graduated
from the Medical Department in the class of
1894. He had served for three years in various
hospitals in Boston, and after his graduation he
began tlie practice of medicine and surgery in
Redlands, where he has ever since resided. He
is connected with the Redlands Hospital in ad-
dition to his large general practice, which has
constantly increased, many of his patients being
numbered among the winter visitors in this beau-
tiful city of the south. He is identified with the
American jNIedical, the State Medical and County
Medical Societies, and takes a keep interest in
advancement along the lines of his profession.

In Philadelphia Dr. Wynne was united in mar-
riage with Miss Mary Burchard, a native of that
city, and they are the parents of four children :
Sydney, Madelene, Dudley and Philip. Dr.
Wynne is a Republican politically ; he occupies
a high place among the citizens of Redlands, is
a member of the Board of Trade, and is active in
movements tending toward the development and
upbuilding of the city.

EUGENE WILKERSON. Located near
Colton in the center of one of the finest orange
growing districts in Southern California is the
ten-acre ranch of Eugene Wilkerson, who is one
of the most successful men engaged in that in-
dustry. He does not confine himself to the rais-
ing of one variety of the fruit, but on his ranch
will be found navels, valencias and sweets, each
kind having its admirers. Mr. Wilkerson is a
native of Scott county, la., his birth having oc-
curred December 31, 1848, near Buffalo. His
father, James, was born in Kentucky, and his
mother, who was before her marriage .Margaret
Baker, was a native of Indiana, where her mar-
riage occurred. The parents later removed to
Iowa and when the son Eugene was six months
old they settled in Illinois, where Mr. Wilkerson
engaged in agricultural pursuits and where both
remained until they died. Of their family of
fourteen children Eugene Wilkerson is the only
one living in California, two sons reside in Idaho,
one in JNIissouri, and a daughter lives in Iowa.
The early days of A-Ir. Wilkerson were spent
in Jo Daviess county. 111., the same county in
which General Grant spent his boyhood, and
there he received his education in the public
schools. For his higher education he was sent
to the W'esleyan University at Bloomington, 111.,
and studied law. After his admission to the
bar in Iowa, where he went after the completion
of his studies, he located in Missouri and began
the practice of his profession continuing for two
>ears. He then became clerk in the office of
Secretary McGrath in Jefferson City, Mo., re-
taining that position for fourteen vears. The

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2073

following eight years he lived at Cheyenne,
Wyo., where he went in 1894, being interested
during that time in the raising of cattle and
horses on a fine ranch of which he was part
owner. His wife's brother, Hon. A. B. Con-
way, who lived in Cheyenne was chief justice of
the state at the time of his death in 1907. In
1902 Mr. Wilkerson came to Colton and pur-
chased the ranch property which he now owns.
and a fine home on an acre tract in the citv, and
has since identified himself with the interests of
this section. He has always been an active par-
ticipant in political affairs and is a stanch adher-
ent of the principles advocated in the platform
of the Republican party. He served as justice
of the peace in Iowa and Wyoming and is at
present a member of the board of trustees of the
city of Colton. His marriage to Elizabeth Con-
way occurred in Iowa in 1874. She was born
near Bloomington, 111., in which state occurred
the marriage of her parents, William and Emily
D. Porter Conway, both of whom were natives
of Kentucky. They became the parents of five
children, one daughter living in Los Angeles at
the present writing. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkerson
have one son, Eugene B., who was born De-
cember 31, 1879, and graduated from Wyom-
ing State University in 1901. He is now secre-
tary of the Colton Fruit Exchange. Mr. Wilker-
son is held in the highest esteem by all who know
him, being universally recognized as a broad-
minded and cultured gentleman, who has the best
interests of his citv at heart.

H. S. WALKER. It is quite safe to state
that no one in Pomona is better informed in re-
gard to the Cascade and Sierra regions than H.
S. Walker, who prior to coming to California to
make his home had been interested in that
country both as freighter and miner. For the
past fifteen years he has been a continuous resi-
dent of Pomona, and as a dealer in oils of all
kinds he has built up a large business, besides
which he handles real-estate to .some extent.

Ten generations of the Walker family claim
Liverpool, England, as their birthplace. There
were nine children in the parental family, and
of the number H. S. Walker was next to the
oldest, his birth having occurred in Liverpool
July 20, 1852. Inheriting from his father a
fascination for nautical life, at the age of ten years
he started out on his first sea voyage, shipping
on the Garonne as cabin boy and going to ports
in the RTediterranean sea. Subsequently he was
made steward, and on the Wliite Star line,
Atlantic ocean steamers, he sailed between Liver-
pool and New York, making liis first trip across
the -Atlantic in 1864. "LTpon landing in the latter
metropolis four years later he determined to

101

give up the sea and enter upon the life of a
landsman, having also determined to begin his
new career in the west. In order to reach that
part of the country in which he wished to settle
he left New York in t868 on the Pacific mail
boat Henry Chancey, as a messenger, and in due
time was landed at Aspinwall. Crossing the
isthmus, he embarked as messenger on the Mont-
ana, which finally dropped anchor in the port
of San Francisco. Thereafter he was prevailed
upon to make a number of voyages between San
Francisco and Panama, but in 1869 he discon-
tinued seafaring entirely. During that year he
went to the mines of Virginia City, Nev., and
still later was similarly interested at Pioche,
Wallapai Mountain, Mineral Park. McCrackin
and Tombstone, all in Arizona, and during the
vears there spent he also engaged in freighting.
He was one of the earliest settlers in Tomb-
stone, which has become known as one of the
greatest mining centers of the country. The
attractions of the mines were bringing thousands
of newcomers into the country and he wisely
foresaw the need of accommodations, especially
in Charleston, where he erected a hotel, the first
in the settlement, and later built the second hotel
in Mule Mountain, now known as Bisbee. Ariz.
During all of the time he was in Arizona he was
interested more or less in mining, but probably
the most valuable claim which he owned was
in the Bonanza King mine, near Fenner, San
Bernardino county. Cal.

Locating in Los Angeles in 1884, Mr. Walker
had charge of the Gird butchering plant there
for a time and was later transferred to Pomona.
Since 1891, however, he has been interested in
business on his own account, and as has been
previously stated is dealing in oils of all kinds,
making a specialty of mineral products. By his
marriage with Jessie Hetherington Mr. Walker
has one daughter, Jessie. Politically he is a
Republican, and fraternally he belongs to the
Foresters and the IMasons, having joined the
latter order in his native city of Liverpool,
England.

WILLIAAI ELLIOTT. About a mile and
a half southeast of El ]\Ionte may be seen one
of the finest walnut groves of Southern Cali-
fornia, the pride of its owner, William Elliott.
When he purchased this property, consisting of
seventy acres of wild, barren land, it gave little
indication of its present beauty and productive-
ness. However, by a close application of the
knowledge of California ranching which several
previous years had given him, he has made his
farm one of the finest in this section. He now
owms two hundred and twenty-two acres all set
to walnuts, which he has won foot bv foot from

2074

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the desolation that claimed it a score of years
ago. Aluch credit is due him for the persever-
ance and energy with which lie has accumulated
his fortune, the development and beautifying of
his place, and the high grade work for which
his ranch is noted.

Mr. Elliott inherits his dominant characteris-
tics from Scotch ancestry, his birth having oc-
curred in Scotland, May 8, 1855, and in which
country he spent the first sixteen years of his
life. His father, Alexander Elliott, who was
born in the North of Ireland, was foreman in
a brick manufacturing plant in Paisley until his
removal to America, where in Ontario he fol-
lowed farming until his retirement from the ac-
tive cares of life. He still makes his home in
that place, hale and hearty at the age of eighty
years. His wife, formerly Jane Thompson, a na-
tive of Scotland and a representative of the
Thompson and Stirling clans, died in Ontario.
The Elliotts had for their chief the Earl of Minto.
Mr. and Airs. Elliott were the parents of six
children, four sons and two daughters, of whom
\\'illiam Elliott was next to the eldest. He was
educated in the common schools of his native
land, and after accompanying his parents to On-
tario he engaged in farming with his father. He
remained at home until April, 1883, in which
year he decided to come to the Pacific coast and
accordingly located in Westminster, British Co-
lumbia, where he remained until September of
the same year. Coming to Southern California
he spent one year in Los Angeles, and in 1884
came to the vicinity of El Monte, which was then
an open plain witli nothing to obstruct the view
for many miles. He entered the employ of E.
J. (Lucky) Baldwin and superintended his four
ranches in El Alonte and Puente. which were
utilized in the raising of stock and grain. He
continued in this employment for the period of
nine years, when he resigned to look after the
interests of his own property which he had pur-
chased in 1887. He had in the mean time set
it to walnuts, seventy acres in all, and to the cul-
tivation of this place he gave his entire time and
attention following his resignation from the
superintendency of the Baldwin ranches. His
trees thrived although every prediction had been
made for his failure by those who had lived in
the section for years and supposed the land he
\yas attempting to cultivate was thoroughly un-
tillable. In addition to this orchard which is
one of the finest in Southern California he has
one of seventy acres at Bassett, in walnuts, and
eighty-two acres just across the San Gabriel
river from his first ranch, also in walnuts, sev-
enty acres in full bearing, making a total grove of
two hundred and twenty-two acres, manv of the
trees measuring five feet and ten inclies in cir-
cumference.

Mr. Elliott makes his home on the place at El-
Alonte, where he has erected a comfortable resi-
dence, substantial barns and outbuildings, in-
stalled a pumping plant with a thirty-five horse
power gasoline engine, and all other equipment
for carrying on a modern ranch.

In Ontario Mr. Elliott was first married to
Miss Margaret E. Mitchell, a native of that
place, who died in California leaving two chil-
dren, namely : William and Robert. After the
death of his wife he married Miss Mary, a sis-
ter of his first wife, and they had one daughter,
Elizabeth. Mrs. Elliott died in 1902. He was
later united in marriage with Miss Carrie
Thienes, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of
William and Anna (Helfridge) Thienes. They
were both natives of Westphalia, Germany, who
emigrated to America and located in Evansville,
Ind., thence removing to Alt. Vernon, 111., in
1876, spending twenty years in that locality as
farmers, when they came to California and now
reside in the El Alonte district. They had six
children, of whom Airs. Elliott is the fourth in
order of birth. Air. and Airs. Elliott are the
parents of two children. Royal Edward and
Thompson Alexander. Air. Elliott in conjunc-
tion with the late Air. Alaxson organized the
Alt. View Walnut Growers" Association, and for
several years served as its vice-president. He is
still a member of the organization and active in
its affairs. Fraternally he is associated with
the Independent Order of Foresters and polit-
ically casts his ballot in the interests of the Re-
publican party.

FREDERICK VELLON, of Los Angeles,
was born in La Motte, Hautes-Alpes, France,
July 24, 1848, and is the third youngest of a fam-
ily of seven children born to Pierre and Josephine
Astier, -who were honorable and well-to-do farm-
ers in the south of France.

Mr. \'ellon"s early life was passed on the farm
in his native land and he received his education
in the common schools. In 1869 he came to Cali-
fornia via Panama, landing in San Francisco
from the steamer Nebraska, spending the first
year on the bay and in 1870 coming to Southern
California, where he followed farm work until
1875, when he began the stock business and from
that time until 1881 ranged his sheep in ditTerent
parts of California as the seasons permitted. He
then engaged in farming and horticulture in Los
Angeles, purchasing twenty acres on West Pico
between Albany and Valencia streets. This he
farmed until 1885 when he sold all but 200x250
feet where he makes his home, the rest being laid
out and sold out as the "City Center Tract."
Since then he has been engaged' in dealing in real
estate, of which he is an extensive holder. In

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2075

Los Angeles on May 15, 1879, Mr. Vellon was
married to Mrs. Martha (Beckstead) Grant, a
native of Illinois and a daughter of William and
Mary (Winn) Beckstead. The father was born
in Canada and the mother in Illinois and they were
married in the latter state in 1849, when they re-
moved to Council BlufTs, Iowa, and in 1852
crossed the plains to Salt Lake City, making the
long journey overland with ox-teams. In 1861
he brought the family by teams to San Bernardino
and was engaged in farming in what is now
Riverside county, until he retired. He now re-
sides in Colton at the advanced age of eighty
years. The mother died several years ago in
Riverside county. To Mr. and Mrs. Vellon have
been born three sons, namely: Alfred, aged twen-
ty-seven ; Arthur, aged twenty-four, and Lafay-
ette, aged twenty-one, all under the parental roof.
After an absence of thirty-two years, Mr. Vellon
in 1901 made a trip to France, accompanied by
his wife and son Lafayette, visiting his child-
hood's haunts, relatives and friends for a period
of six months and while there traveled on the con-
tinent and visited the Paris Exposition.

Mr. Vellon has been remarkably successful. He
worked his own way beginning at the bottom
without a dollar, having only his two hands, but
nothing daunted, he went to work and step by
step rose until in a few years he became a man of
affluence. His ambition having been attained he
now resides at his home, No. 1403 West Pico
street, where he spends his time looking after his
interests. He is well and favorably known and is
ever ready to help and gives liberally of his
means to the upbuilding of the city in which he
resides and has so much faith.

J A:\IES E. WARD came to Redlands in 1887
and he has since made this city his home, giv-
ing to the horticultural development of this sec-
tion of Southern California his best efforts and
also assisting in the public welfare by officiat-
ing at the present writing as a member of the
Board of City Trustees. He was born in Leslie,
Ingham county, Mich., July 14, 1854, the young-
est in a family of ten children, of whom three
are now living. His father, Peter Ward, was
born in Scranton, Pa., of German parentage;
in young manhood he became an early settler
of Michigan, where he engaged in farming
until his death, which occurred in 1868. His
wife, formerly Catherine Ash, was born in
Bethlehem, Pa., of old Moravian ancestry, her
death occurring in Michigan the year after her
husband died. Two of "their sons, C. E. and
S. L.. served in the First :Michigan Light Artil-
lerv in the Civil war.

Tames E. Ward is the only one of the family
in "California. He was reared on the home farm

in Michigan and educated in the district school
in the vicinity of his home. Orphaned at the
age of fifteen years he was thus thrown upon
his own responsibilities, and from that time on
received no assistance from anyone. He worked
out on fanns until he was seventeen years old,
when he went into the lumber woods in the vi-
cinity of Greenville. In 1875 he went to Texas
and in Dewitt county engaged in the cattle and
sheep buiness on what was known as the Weldon
ranch, meeting with a success which justified
his long continuance in the work. He was prom-
inent in his business during the twelve years of
his residence there, as a member of the South-
western Texas Cattle Growers' Association ad-
vancing the interests of the business. Dispos-
ing of "his interests in 1887 he came to Califor-
nia and locating at once in Redlands has ever
since made this city his home. He followed the
trade of carpenter and builder for four years,
and in the meantime, in 1889, purchased his
present property, consisting of thirty-one acres
of land, which in 1890 he set in navel oranges.
He has met with success in his efforts and has
risen to a position of prominence among the
orange growers of Southern California, now
serving as president of the Orange Producers
Association, which compan}- has built a line
packing house on the Southern Pacific Railroad
and carries on a large and constantly increasing
business.

In Texas October 8, 1882, Mr. Ward was
united in marriage with Miss Marietta Williams,
a native of Delaware. Mr. Ward is identified
fraternallv with the Knights of Pythias; politi-
cally he casts his ballot for the interests of the
Republican party. In 1902 he received the
nomination on both the citizens and good govern-
ment ticket and was elected without opposition
to the office of city trustee for a four-year term,
and was re-elected in 1906 on the citizens ticket.
He is now serving as chairman of several im-
portant committees, among them the auditing,
finance and park committees, and is also a mem-
ber of the ordinance and judiciary. He is a
member of the Board of Trade of Redlands and
no citizen is more prompt to respond to the needs
of the city in its efforts along the line of de-
velopment and progress than Mr. Ward. He
enjovs the esteem of a wide circle of friends,
appreciated for the high qualities of character
as displayed during his residence here.

CHARLES CLARK. One of the busiest and
most thriving industries in Pomona is Clark's
American bakery, which was established while
the town was still in its infancy and which has
grown and prospered in tlie same ratio as the
town has grown in stability and importance.

2076

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

A native of England, Charles Clark was born
in Chelmsford, Essex county, February 6, 1848,
and is a son of Benjamin and Emma (Auger)
Clark. When he was a lad of only ten years he
displayed a predilection for the trade which he
has followed as his life work, and at the same
time he began to master the tasks which fall to
the apprentice of the baker's and confectioner's
trade. Beginning the serious affairs of business
at this early age would seem to preclude all pos-
sible chance of getting an education, but never-
theless he found opportunity for improving his
mind and is toda}- a well-informed, intelligent
man whom it is a delight to meet. At the age of
eighteen years he came to the United States and
located at once in Chicago, 111., where until the
great fire of 1871 he followed his trade in the
employ of others. After this disaster he started
in business on his own account on Blue Island
avenue, running a restaurant and bakery in that
locality for the following five years. For the
next ten years, from 1876 until 1886, he carried
on a similar business in Des Moines, Iowa, dis-
posing of his interests in the latter year to re-
move to the Pacific coast. Locating in Los
Angeles, without loss of time he opened a restau-
rant and bakery in a central location and for three
years carried on a very successful business. His
identification with Pomona dates from the year
1889, at which time he started the nucleus of his
present business at 264-266 West Second
street, where for seventeen years he has furnished
substantial refreshment and toothsome delicacies
to the community. From a small, unpretentious
beginning the business has grown. to large pro-
portions, until today the goods supplied by
Clark's American bakery are as well known and
highly appreciated in the surrounding towns as
they are in Pomona. Two wagons are constantl>-
employed in supplying the trade in Lordsburg,
Ontario. Uplands, Claremont and Chino. At the
time Mr. Clark came to Pomona in 1889 he pur-
chased a ranch of five acres and set it out to
oranges, but later he sold it in order to concentrate
his efforts in the interests of his bakery.

In Beloit. Wis., Mr. Clark was married to ]\tiss
Alice P. Wells, a native of that state, and three
children have been born to them : Arthur, in San
Francisco; Frank, in Uplands; and Ralph, a resi-
dent of Pomona. The family are communicants
of the Episcopal Church and politically Mr. Qark
is a Republican. As one of the substantial busi-
ness men of his home city he is a member of the
Board of Trade of Pomona, in which body his
opinion is highly regarded and carries consider-
able weight. His fraternal affiliations are num-
erous and include membership in the Fraternal
Aid, Independent Order of Foresters, Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks, and the Masons. He
joined the latter order in Pomona, becoming a

member of I'omona Lodge No. 246, F. & A. M. ;
is also a member of Pomona Chapter, R. A. M. ;
Southern California Commandery, K. T. ; and to
Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Los
Angeles.

LOUIS NAPOLEON DUNLAP. Inherit-
ing the characteristics which have made of
Louis N. Dunlap an upbuilder among the primi-
tive conditions of Southern California in the early
days of the state, this gentleman is now occupy-
ing an honorable place among the pioneers of
Redlands, where he has been located since 1901.
He is a native Californian, his birth having oc-
curred in Visalia, March 4, 1858. His father,
John Dimlap, was born in Illinois ; he located in
^Missouri in young manhood and shortly after-
ward became a resident of Texas, where he was
one of the famous rangers for the independence
of that state, then a part of Mexican territory.
He came to California by means of ox-teams in
1854, was one of the first settlers of El Monte,
from which point he went on to Visalia, where
for many years he engaged as a stockman. Lo-
cating in San Bernardino county in 1869 he
purchased the Yucaipe ranch with William
Standeford as partner, and this large ranch of
thirty-eight hundred and forty acres they cul-
tivated for several years. He engaged in the
cattle business to a large extent, buying and sell-
ing horses, cattle and sheep. He was accidental-
ly killed at the San Bernardino race track. Fra-
ternally he was a prominent Mason and politically
voted the Democrat ticket. His wife survived
him, dying in Los Angeles in 1900. They were
the parents of the following children: Calvin,
of Bakersfield, Cal. ; A. H., a walnut grower of
Whittier, Cal. ; F. P., a merchant oi Rialto ;
Louis Napoleon, of this review ; A. J., a farmer
of Warm Creek; Mrs. Jennie Bowler, of Los
Angeles; Mrs. Eagan. of Pasadena; Ida, of Los
Angeles ; and Mrs. Ella Collins, who died in
Los ."Vngeles.

Louis N. Dunlap was reared in X'isalia to the
age of fifteen years, when he was taken by his
parents to San Bernardino county, his education
being received in the district schools of the two
localities, and an academy at Downey. From
boyhood he was trained in the stock business and
on the paternal ranch he engaged in that busi-
ness for some years, renting the land in con-
junction with his brothers. E. P. and .\. J. .\fter
the death of their mother they incorporated the
Yucaipe Land & Water Company, embracing the
entire property, their sister jMrs. Eagan acting
as president ; Mrs. Bowler as vice-president ; A.
H., as secretary and general manager, the rais-
ing of stock and the conduct of a dairy occupy-
ing their attention. Alfalfa is also an extensive

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

product. They are developing many large wells
on the place, having it brought in pipes to the
Chicago colony, Crafton and Redlands, for both
domestic and irrigation purposes.

In 1901 Mr. Dunlap located in Redlands, his
work on the ranch being the buying of the stock.
Many years ago he became connected with the
business interests of this city by the purchase of
a livery business which he conducted until 1903
in addition to his other interests, disposing of the
business in that year and leasing the stables. He
has built business and residence property in this
city and takes a keen interest in its development.
Mr. Dunlap is a member of Redlands Parlor,
Native Sons of the Golden West; politically he
is a stanch adherent of the principles embraced
in the platform of the Democratic part}-.

JESUS LORETO CRUZ. Yet another of the
old-time residents of the Golden State who have
been spared to share in its latter-day prosperity
is Jesus Loreto Cruz, who at the age of seventy-
six years resides on his ranch at the head of Weid
caiion, nestled at the foot of Cruz mountain, and
not far from the beautiful city of Hollywood.
He was born in Mexico September 8, 1830, a
son of Santiago and Juana (Galindo) Cruz, both
parents living to attain remarkable ages, the
father dying in his ninety-seventh year, and the
mother passing away in 1905 when one hundred
and seven years old. They removed to the
United States during the boyhood of their son,
so that to all intents and purposes he is an Amer-
ican, and more particularly a Californian, for
since settling here in 1849 he has known no other
home. It was during this year that the father
came to Los Angeles county to take charge of
the Chino rancho as overseer, a position to which
his son succeeded in later years. He held this
position for eighteen months and then relinquish-
ed it, having in the meantime purchased a lot in
Los Angeles. Still later he bought one Iiundred
and sixty acres which is now the site of the de-
pot in Los Angeles, the proceeds of the sale of
this property being invested in eighteen acres be-
tween Grand and Figueroa street and between
Pico and Twelfth streets, which he sold before
it was subdivided. Mr. Cruz became deputy su-
perintendent of city water works in Los Angeles
under Mr. Morsilber for two years and then be-
came superintendent and held it from 1865 until
1870, when he resigned of his own accord, having
served with credit to himself and his employers.

In 1893 Mr. Cruz bought one hundred and
sixty acres of land near Hollywood, half of which
he gave to his sister, Mrs. C. Coronel. At her
death this was divided between him and two
nieces, and he now owns about one hundred and
seven acres in all, about fifteen acres in vineyard

and carrying most valuable water rights. All of
the improvements on the property are the work
of his hands, for he has planted all of the fruit
trees which adorn the place and the residence and
other buildings have been erected since the prop-
erty came into his possession. During his early
years he was married to Belle E. Warner, but
their married life was destined to be brief, for
she died when only twenty-eight years of age,
leaving her husband and one daughter to mourn
her loss. The daughter, Jennie Artemiso, grew
to beautiful womanhood, but she too was taken
from him by death in 1898, at the age of twenty-
two years. At the time of her marriage ]\Irs.
Cruz brought with her from her old liome a
servant who had been in the family for many
years. Born, in San Diego, she was of Indian
birth, and when a very small child was given to
Mr. Warner and was known as Fannie Warner.
After the death of Mrs. Cruz she continued to
fill the position of caretaker in the family and
still has charge of the household affairs. With
the exception of the two nieces previously men-
tioned Mr. Cruz has no living relatives, but both
of these live within a short distance of his ranch.
Alesa has three children and is the wife of Robert
Woodward and they make their home in Los
Angeles. The other niece, Mary, was first mar-
ried to Julian Martinez, by whom she had two
children ; after his death she became the wife of
George Hinsdell, and they reside at Redondo.
Mr. Cruz is one of the oldest residents of the
state, and as such is honored and respected by a
large circle of friends and acquaintances, the as-
sociates of many years under conditions which
were often trying in the extreme.

RENE BLONDEAU. For many years iden-
tified with the growth and upbuilding of Holly-
wood, Rene Blondeau was a man of much worth
and integrity, who was much appreciated and be-
loved by his many friends for his many good
qualities. He was born in Normandy, May 3,
1838, and was the son of Rene Blondeau, who,
being an ardent Republican, was obliged to retire
from Paris to Normandy when Napoleon III is-
sued his decree in opposition to the party and
there remained until his death.

Mr. Blondeau's great-grandmother was a
daughter of the Marquis de Favrol. who with his
family was assassinated during the Reign of
Terror at the time of Louis XVI. The sixteen-
year-old daughter was the only one who escaped
and she was saved by their gardener, M. Mouton,
who dressed her in one of his suits of clothes. She
afterward married her rescuer and lived in Nor-
mandv. Mr. Blondeau being a grand-nephew of
the Rev. Evremont de Favrol, was educated un-
der his care at the Jesuit College. After com-

2078

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

pleting his education he learned the perfumer and
hairdresser trade in Paris. He traveled through
Europe, Asia and North America. Returning to
Paris, he engaged in business there until he came
to New Orleans, La., in 1868, and established
himself in business in that city, remaining there
six years and becoming an American citizen. In
1874 he came to San Francisco, remaining two
}ears in that city, when he went to South Amer-
ica, where he engaged in business and traveled
through all Central and South America. Mr. and
Mrs. Blondeau were very successful and in 1889
returned to California whereto they had always
looked with fond eyes as a place where they could
enjoy the fruits of their labors. They purchased
seven acres in Hollywood on what is now Cower
avenue and Sunset Boulevard, engaging in horti-
culture and farming. They also built the Ca-
huenga House, which was well patronized until
thev "retired. Mr. Blondeau died at his home
January 20, 1903. He had the confidence of the
ipeople in his vicinity and often his friends came
to him to take care of their money, to which he
always made an accurate accounting and never
proved false to his trust. Mr. Blondeau was mar-
ried in New Orleans May i, 1870, to Mdll. Marie
Lousteau, who came to New Orleans, La., from
France in 1870. Since her husband died she con-
tinues to reside in Hollywood, looking after her
interests, she still retaining her home here with its
beautiful floral and vegetable gardens. Her only
daughter, Louise E., was a graduate of the Holly-
wood high school, and is now attending Occi-
dental College. Mrs. Blondeau is a member of
the Ladies' French Charitable Association of Los
Angeles and takes a great interest helping those
who have been less fortunate than herself, and
many are the little kindnesses that she is always
rendering to others who little dream of the source
of the cliarity. She is a woman of much business
ability and has shown much sagacity in her busi-
ness ventures.

WILLIAM JORRES. Through the long
period of his identification with the development
of California, extending back to the memorable
davs of the gold excitement and coming down to
the era of twentieth century progress. Mr. Jorres
has been an upbuilder and an honored citizen.
Although now practically retired from business
cares, he has not lost his interest in measures
pertaining to the commercial development of the
state, buf keeps in touch with progressive move-
ments and gives his support to worthy enter-
prises. Especially to those of the present genera-
tion, who are strangers to the early history of
the state, it is interesting to hear him narrate
stories connected with his early residence in San
Francisco, which had attracted to it a turbulent

and lawless population from all sections of the
world, as well as thousands of honorable and
law-abiding men solicitous to give to the new
town a standing equal to the old-established
towns of the east.

Of German birth and parentage, Mr. Jorres
was born in Hanover, August 12, 1824, and at
the age of seventeen years was apprenticed in
Hamburg to the carpenter's trade, of which he
acquired a thorough knowledge under a skilled
master. In 1846 he went to South America and
for six months followed his trade at Monte-
video, Uruguay. While there the port was
blockaded for several months by the combined
French and English fleets. Leaving that city
he went to Buenos Ayres. Argentine, and fol-
lowed his trade until the fall of 1849, when he
took passage on a ship bound via the Horn for
San Francisco. The ship cast anchor ]\Iay 4,
1850, and immediately he hastened to the Span-
ish Dry Diggings on the Middle Fork of the
American river, from there going to Bear creek
on a prospecting tour. After the second fire of
185 1 he returned to San Francisco and readily
secured employment as a carpenter at high
wages. From taking jobs by the day he drifted
into the taking of contracts, which work he con-
tinued with success until 1868. Meanwhile he
superintended the erection of many large build-
ings. In 1852-53 he erected four brick houses
on Washington street near Montgomery. In
1855 he put up a brick building on the southwest
corner of California and Front streets, and
among other buildings which he erected in an
early "day is the orthodox Jewish Synagogue on
Mason street, between Post and Geary.

On coming to San Diego in 1868 Mr. Jorres
bought property and the following year built a
residence and established his family in this city.
Immediately after locating here he formed a
partnership with S. S. Culverwell and built a
wharf at the foot of F street, which was the: first
wharf started in the town. However, it was not
completed as soon as the Horton wharf, being
twenty feet wider and therefore requiring more
time to build. It was made wide enough for car-
riages to be driven out to meet passengers from
the" steamers who were landed at the wharf. The
cost of the wharf was $28.7c». and for the first
year the owners operated it personally, but after-
ward leased it, and then Mr. Jorres turned his
attention to contracting. In 1872 he bought his
partner's interest in the wharf and engaged in
ballasting vessels and in similar work. In 1890
he rebuilt the wharf, which is now one of the
largest in this harbor. In 1873 he had the con-
tract for the erection of the courthouse on.D
street, later erected the Commercial National
Bank building on Fifth and G streets, also
contracted for the Central market on Fifth

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2079

between F and G streets, a structure 200x60
feet fitted up with stalls for a market. During
1877 he had the contract for building the First
National Bank on Main street, Los Angeles, a
task of great responsibility, as indeed were all
of the contracts which he assumed.

From his new home in San Francisco in 1854
Mr. Jorres returned to Hanover to visit old
friends, and there he married Miss Sophie Klien-
gibel. The wedding trip was a voyage across
the Atlantic to Panama and up the Pacific to
San Francisco, where they remained until 1869.
At this writing they have their home on the
corner of Union and B streets, San Diego, where
in August, 1904, the fiftieth anniversary of their
marriage was celebrated with the hearty con-
gratulations of their large circle of friends, not
only among the members of the Lutheran
Church (to which they belong), but among peo-
ple of all denominations and nationalities. Ever
since becoming a citizen of the United States
Mr. Jorres has voted the Democratic ticket, and
his only son, Gustav W., is also a stanch be-
liever in the principles of that party, his faithful
services in its behalf winning for him the ap-
pointment as postmaster of San Diego for one
term, and later he has filled the office of county
assessor with credit to himself.

EDMUND L. BROWX. A man of strong
and intelligent convictions, capable, energetic and
progressive, Ednnmd L. Brown is a typical rep-
resentative of the successful business men of San
Fernando who, through their own strenuous ef-
forts, have gained wealth and distinction. A son
of Cyrus and Elizabeth E. (Barnes) Brown, he
was born. May 29, 1867, in Whitefield, Marshall
county. 111.

Leaving Illinois, Cyrus Brown came with his
family to California, locating at Downey, where
he bought a fruit ranch, which he managed suc-
cessfully until January, 1905. Disposing then of
his estate, he purchased his present place of resi-
dence in Hollywood, intending to make it his
permanent home. He is a man of great public
spirit, and during the Civil war rendered faithful
service to his country as a soldier in an Illinois
regiment of volunteer infantry. He is a Repub-
lican in politics, and an active supporter of its
principles.

Coming to Los Angeles in 1886, Edmund L.
Brown completed his education at Woodbury's
Business College, after which he was bookkeeper
for Porter Bros. & Co. for a while; in 1887 he
established himself in the mercantile business. He
returned to Illinois in September of that year and
was married there in October, coming back and
locating at Downey on a ranch, but removing to
San Fernando in December. 1888, there becoming

junior member of the firm of Smith & Brown in
August of 1889. Locating on the east side of
the railroad this firm built up a good trade in
hardware and groceries, of which they kept a
good supply. Selling his interest to his partner
in the fall of 1890, Mr. Brown was employed as
a clerk in the general store of W. H. Obear until
the following April, when for the sum of $3,500
he purchased the entire stock of Mr. Obear, and
conducted the business alone for over a year, and
later, forming a co-partnership with C. W. Judy
in 1902, under the name of E. L. Brown & Co.,
he enlarged the stock, and for two years carried
on a thriving trade. In 1903 Mr. Brown sold his
interest in the grocery and hardware departments
to his partner and a Mr. Jenifer, and for two
years carried on the other departments himself
successfully. In January. 1905, he disposed of
his entire stock to the firm of Rose & F'rankhouse,
and started an entirely new line of business in
Los Angeles, under the firm name of Fred L.
Boneff Co., Inc., real estate and mines, which is
proving a profitable venture.

In 1887. Mr. Brown married Jennie Carson,
who was born in Illinois, and of their union two
children have been born, namely : A child that
died in infancy, in 1888 ; and Julia Grant Brown,
September, 1904. While a resident of San
Fernando, Mr. Brown was very active and in-
fluential in political aft'airs. and for twelve years
served as president of the Republican club. In
April, 1897, he was appointed, by President JNIc-
Kinley, postmaster at San Fernando, was re-ap-
pointed in 1901, and again, by President Roose-
velt, in 1905, serving in that capacity until his
removal to Los Angeles. In November, 1906, he
was elected secretary of the Southern California
Retail Hardware and Implement Dealers' Asso-
ciation. Fraternally ]\Ir. Brown is a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was
formerly treasurer of his lodge, grand master
four terms and delegate to the grand lodge four
years. Both he and Mrs. Brown are valued mem-
bers of the First Presbyterian Church of San
Fernando.

FRANK EMERY KING. The agricultural
interests of Los Angeles county are well repre-
sented by Frank E. King, one of the successful
ranchers in the outskirts of Venice. A young
man of considerable public spirit and energy, no
movement calculated to advance the welfare of
the community in which he lives is allowed to
lag for want of support on his part. A native
of Iowa, he was born in Clear Lake May 23.
1871, and is a son of A. N. King, whose sketch
will be found on another page in this volume.

The common schools in the vicinity of the
parental home in Iowa furnished all of the book

2080

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

learning which Mr. King received, and the fact
that he is now a well-informed man is due to
continued stud\' and careful observation. As a
preparation for the life which he is now follow-
ing he assisted his father in carrying on the
home ranch in Iowa, and after the family settled
in California he was well prepared to assume the
responsibilities of a ranch of his own. The col-
ony with which the family came to California
was in charge of the father and Jacob Brown,
the newcomers making settlement in Los An-
geles county, near the PalmS;

Upon coming to the west Frank E. King lived
on rented land m Los Angeles county until he
had had an opportunity to look about and select
a suitable location for a permanent residence.
Before long he was enabled to secure his present
valuable ranch of ten and one-half acres in close
proximity to Venice, a choice of which he has
every reason to feel proud, for although the
ranch is small as compared with many others, it
ranks in point of productiveness with many twice
its size.

Mr. King's first marriage occurred in 1891
and united him with Laura Griffin, who was
born and reared in California. At her death in
1897 she left four children, as follows: Pearl,
Ramona, Leslie and Jack G. Six years later,_ in
1903, in Sawtelle, Cal., Mr. King was married
to Miss Mamie Lundy, who was born in Mis-
souri. One child, Harold, has been born of this
marriage. In his political affiliations Mr. King
is a strong ally of the Republican party.

ALBERT LEE KERNS, a resident farmer
located in the vicinity of El Monte, is one of
the prominent men of this section, having proven
his right to success by his own efforts, which
have brought him a competence. He is a native
of Paris, Ky., born September 6, 1869: his
father, Levi Kerns, was a native of Bourbon
county, Ky., while the grandfather, also Levi,
was born in Massachusetts, the descendant of
an old New England family located in Plymouth
by Scotch-Irish forefathers. Levi Kerns, Sr.,
settled in Kentucky at an early date in its his-
tory and there engaged as a farmer among the
primitive conditions of the then "dark and
bloody ground." Levi, Jr., became a miller in
manhood and plied his trade uninterruptedly
until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he
enlisted in the Fourth Regiment Kentucky In-
fantry, known as the Orphaned Brigade, and
served to the close of the struggle, receiving two
wounds, while two of his brothers participating
in the warfare were killed. His own death was
caused by drowning in March, 1870, while at-
tempting to cross a creek in a canoe. His wife
was Amanda Wardsworlh. who was born in

North Carolina of English ancestry, and also
(lied in Kentuck}-. The}- were the parents • of
four children, all of whom are now living.

The third child in his father's family and the
only one in California, Albert Lee Kerns was
reared on the paternal farm and educated in the
public schools. He remained at home until he
was nineteen years old, when, in 1889, he went
to Texas and in Honey Grove followed farming
for four years. Attracted to California he lo-
cated in Sacramento in 1893 and entered the em-
ploy of dredgers working in the Sacramento
valley, remaining in this occupation for eighteen
months, when, in 1895, he came to Los Angeles
county and located in Savannah. He worked on
the ranch owned by L. J. Rose for four years,
when, in 1899, he entered the employ of the
Farmers & Merchants Bank that had taken over
the property, and retained his position with them
until 1902. In the last-named year, with his
accumulated means, he purchased a fourteen-
acre tract of land located on Baldwin avenue.
This he improved with a residence, barn, etc.,
and began its cultivation, combining with his
farming interests teaming in the hay business,
and since that time he has made a success and
accumulated considerable means.

In El Monte !\Ir. Kerns married Miss Clo-
tildis Quinn, a native of this place and a daugh-
ter of Richard Quinn, a pioneer, and they are
the parents of two children, Mildred Lee and
Grace Zelma. Mr. Kerns is prominent in edu-
cational affairs, serving at the present time as
clerk of the board of trustees of the Savannah
school district. Fraternally he belongs to the
Knights of Pythias, while politically he is a
Democrat on national issues, but locally reserves
the right to cast his ballot for the man -whom he
considers best qualified to discharge official
duties.

LINCOLN A. LAUER. D. D. S. Prominent
among the leading dentists of Los Angeles
county is Lincoln A. Lauer, D. D. S., of Ocean
Park, who is rapidly building up a fine practice.
In the swift advance of science in this twentieth
century no professional calling, mayhap, has
made such rapid strides as that of dental surgery,
intelligent study, patient investigation and careful
experiment having done much towards amelio-
rating the inevitable sufferings of childhood,
youth and old age, every member of the human
family at some time demanding the services of
a good dentist. Prominent among those wel!
equipped for his profession is Dr. Lauer, who
has had much experience in his work, and has
met with excellent success. He was born in Bur-
lington, Iowa, a son of Anton Lauer.

A native of Odessa, Russia. Anton Lauer wa^

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2081

born in that city, in 1811, of German ancestry.
Reared and educated in Odessa, he married a
fair maiden of that place, and while yet young
in years she died, leaving him with four chil-
dren. Soon afterward, about 1840, he immi-
grated to the United States, locating in Burling-
ton, Iowa, as a merchant. A few years later he
sold his store and stock and invested his money
in a farm, on which he resided until his death,
at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. In
Burlington, Iowa, he married his second wife,
who bore him eight children, of whom Lincoln
A., with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned,
was the sixth child.

Brought up in Burlington, Lincoln A. Lauer
received superior educational advantages, com-
pleting the full course "of study established in
the public schools of that city, and being grad-
uated from a commercial college. Subsequently
going to Chicago, he was for two years secre-
tary to the superintendent of the Pullman Palace
Car Company, at Pullman. 111. Resigning his
position, he entered the dental department of the
Northwestern University, in Chicago, where he
was graduated in 1888. with the degree of D. D.
S. Locating in that city, at the corner of State
and Randolph streets, he at once began the prac-
tice of his profession, and met with most satis-
factory success during the many years that he
remained there. August 27, 1904, he came
to Ocean Park, Los Angeles county, and in the
comparatively brief time that he has been here
has won an extensive and lucrative practice, his
acknowledged skill, close attention to his pro-
fessional duties, and his unblemished personal
character winning for him a large patronage
among the best people of the community.

In Chicago, III, March 26, 1890, Dr. Lauer
married Mary F. Lamb, a niece of Mrs. H. P.
Schofield, of Ocean Park, and they are the
parents of four children, namely: Edith, Harold,
and Ruth and Russell, twins. Fraternally the
doctor is a member of the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks.

HON. GEORGE FILLJ^fORE KAPP. Leav-
ing behind him an unusually fine record as a
professional man and an efficient public official
Hon. George Fillmore Kapp became a resident of
Long Beach in February. TQ04, for the benefit
of his wife's health, and has within but little
more than two years established himself in a
successful real-estate business and gained the re-
spect and esteem of all with whom he has come
in contact. The Kapp family has been promi-
nently identified with the history and develop-
ment of this country for many years, the first
members having settled in York county. Pa.,
where the grandfather and father were horn.

The father, Henry Kapp, was a farmer by occu-
pation, and during the Civil war served' in the
One Hundred and Ninetieth Regiment of Penn-
sylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was a lead-
ing citizen of York county and at one time served
as a member of the county board of directors for
the poor. Religiously he was an adherent of the
Lutheran Church, and his death in 1901 removed
a man of sterling principles and strong char-
acter, who was universally mourned by all who
knew him. His wife, in maidenhood' Lucinda
Urich, was a native also of York county and
now resides near the old home.

A member of a family of six children, George
Fillmore Kapp was born November 11, 1865, in
"York county. Pa., and spent his boyhood days
on his father's farm. After receiving a prelim-
inary education in the common schools he en-
tered the first state normal school at Millers-
ville, from which he graduated in 1884 with the
degree of B. E. He then taught in York and
Lancaster counties for some time, and about the
year 1887 continued the occupation in Laporte
county, Ind. Subsequently he entered the law
department of the Northern Indiana State Nor-
mal, graduating therefrom in 1891, with the de-
gree of LL. B. The following year he located
in Butte, Neb., and began the practice of law,
meeting with flattering success in the profession.
In 1894 he was given the nomination as candi-
date for prosecuting attorney on the Democratic
ticket and came within forty votes of being
elected in a county strongly Republican. Two
years later the Democrats nominated him on
their ticket for member of the legislature, and
receiving the indorsement of the Independent
party, he was elected by a majority of six hun-
dred and sixty-five votes. He served during the
session of 1897, receiving the chairmanship of
the committee on county organization and county
seats, and was also made a member of several
other committees. Becoming a resident of Ex-
ira, Iowa, in 1898, where he continued his legal
practice, he served that city in the capacity of
mayor for one term, refusing a re-nomination
to the office. Upon his arrival in Long Beach
in 1904 he formed a partnership with Fred
Aufdenkamp and under the name of The Hub
Realty Company has since been transacting a
general real-estate business, the office being lo-
cated at No. 20014 East First street.

Air. Kapp's marriage occurred in Butte. Neb.,
uniting him with Mary E. Jonas, a native of
Holt county. Neb., and the union has been
blessed in the birth of two children, Harold and
Marjorie. "Mr. Kapp was made a Mason in
Butte and still retains his membership in the
lodge there, and also belongs to the Modern
\\'oodmen of America. He attends the Congre-
gational Church and take; an active interest in

2082

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

bettering the social and civic conditions of the
community in which he resides. As a man of
hberal education, broad culture and extensive
experience in business, professional and public
life he is recognized as one of the valued citizens
of Long Beach.

A. LEHMANN came to Lompoc in early boy-
hood twenty-two years ago and has grown up
with the city which was then only a mere vil-
lage and is now one of the leading towns in this
section of the state. He has always been close-
ly identified with those enterprises which were
projected for the improvement of Lompoc and is
today one of its most prominent and highly re-
spected citizens, noted for his honesty and in-
tegrity and genial manner toward all with whom
he comes in contact. He is now manager of
Lompoc Produce & Real Estate Company, one
of the largest and most influential firms of the
kind in the city, besides being heavily interested
in a number of important business enterprises, in-
cluding the Lompoc Planing Mill Company, and
the Bank of Lompoc, of which he is vice-presi-
dent.

Mr. Lehmann was born JNIay ii, 1867, in
Alsace, Germany, which was also the native
home of his father, Moise Lehmann, and his
mother, Estella (Weill) Lehmann, both of whom
were members of old and prominent families in
that province. The father was a merchant and
real-estate dealer in his native town until a short
time before his death, which occurred in Ger-
many, when he was seventy-six years old. There
was a family of seven children, all of whom are
now living at Oxnard with the exception of A.
Lehmann and one sister, the latter residing in
Los Angeles. The mother came to California
in 1893, and makes her home with a son living
at Oxnard. Mr. Lehmann received a fine edu-
cation in the high schools of Germany before
his immigration to this country and immediately
upon his arrival in Lompoc, Santa Barbara
county, which was his objective point upon
reaching the United States, he engaged as clerk
in a mercantile house, and continued at that work
for seven years. He then established a business
of his own on the same lines and conducted it
for twelve years, after which he sold out and
took active charge of the Lompoc Produce &
Real Estate Company, performing the duties of
manager since 1898, and giving his attention as
well to the running of the lumber yard which the
company conducts in connection with its other
lines of business.

Mr. Lehmann is a stanch believer in the prin-
ciples advocated by the Republican party and
takes an active part in all matters of interest to
tlie public civic life of the city. Fraternallv he is

identified with all of the important organizations
in Lompoc, being a leading member of the Ma-
sonic lodge in this city and of which he is a
past master; also is a member of the Lompoc
Knights of Pythias Lodge and of the Lompoc
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Leh-
mann is a self made man and is justly entitled
to all of the confidence, respect and honors which
his friends and fellow-citizens are glad to give
him.

MISS LOTTIE ISABELLE LEFFING-
WEIX. An accomplished and enterprising busi-
ness woman of Venice, Miss L. I. Lefifingwell
is energetic, progressive and keen-sighted, and
as an equal partner in the real-estate firm of A.
F. Webster & Co. has been actively connected
with some of the most important and extensive
sales and transfers of realty in Los Angeles
county. In her many transactions of this kind,
she has clearly demonstrated woman's ability to
compete with man in the world of finance, by her
industry, thrift and superior management accum-
ulating a fine property. She was born, reared
and educated in Ravenna, Ohio, a daughter of
James and Charlotte (Dewey) Lefifingwell. On
the paternal side she comes of thrifty Scotch
stock, her Grandfather Lefifingwell having been
a native of Scotland, and on the maternal side
is of substantial New England ancestry, her
mother having been born and reared in IBecket,
Mass.

The youngest of a family of five children, Lot-
tie I. Lefifingwell was left fatherless at the age
of ten years, and four years later she began earn-
ing her own living. She first worked as assist-
ant in a dental ofifice at Ravenna, during which
time she completed the course at the high school,
from which she was graduated. Subsequently
she obtained a position in a jewelry store, where
she became an expert as a repairer of jewelry,
and afterwards was engaged in the millinery
business, for twelve years having a store in Ra-
venna.

Her health failing, Miss LefifingAvell was
obliged to seek a change of climate in 1902, and
came to California, a step that she has never
regretted. Locating first in Los Angeles, she
had charge of the millinery department of a store
in that city for awhile, but preferring out-door
occupation she embarked in the real-estate busi-
ness, and from the very beginning met with most
encouraging success. In April, 1903, she located
in Ocean Park, and soon after became associated
with her present partner under the firm name
of A. F. Webster & Co. Beginning business
with a limited capital, in a small ofifice at Ocean
Park, this firm has built up a good business,
growing with great rapidity, and now maintains

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2083

three offices, one at Ocean Park, one in A'enice,
and one in Los Angeles.

Miss Leffingwell has become owner of con-
siderable real estate in this vicinity, and has ac-
quired title to a large share of beach property.
She is very public-spirited, being a promoter of
every worthy cause which will aid in the up-
building of \'enice and Crescent Bay. She comes
of Revolutionary stock, a fact of which she may
well be proud, and is a memlDcr of the Ravenna
Chapter, D. A. R.

HON. HENDRIK DIRK CANNE. Not
many California residents can claim the birth-
place of Erasmus the scholar and Van Tromp
the naval hero as his own, but this honor and
all the inherent qualities that distinguish their
race belong to Mr. H. D. Canne, of Hollywood.
1j\- the royal right of birth, in the direct line-
age of the distinguished Cannes family of Bris-
tol, England, barons and baronets under James
II, who emigrated to Holland during the Puri-
tan wars, where the descendants have since re-
sided, Hendrik Dirk Canne was born in Rotter-
dam, Holland, January 9, 1879, son of C. D. and
Johanna Elizabeth Teengs Telting, both natives
of Holland, the former a son of a college pro-
fessor, and the latter a daughter of a prominent
merchant in that countrv. After their marriage,
which occurred in April, 1873, and the birth of
their three children, Henriette Louise, J. C. D.
and Hendrik D., the parents set out from Rot-
terdam, hoping to find a broader outlook' for
their children in America. The father relin-
quished an excellent government position with
the Royal Postal Telegraph, and with a party of
colonizers landed in New York City in the win-
ter of 1889-90, having shipped from Rotterdam.
It was the intention of the colonization partv
with which they came to locate as pioneers in
the grape industry in Merced county, Cal., and
after traveling across the country they finally
reached their destination. The colonization
scheme proved, however, a gigantic swindle,
which resulted in large financial loss to Mr.
Canne. Determined to make the best of the sit-
uation, he remained in JNIerced county for a few
years, then located in Santa Clara county, where
iiis attempts at prune-raising being unsuccessful,
he later removed his family to Chino, where the
sons became connected with a sugar factory, re-
maining there until his removal to Los Angeles
to spend his declining years. J. C. D. Canne is
still interested in the beet-sugar business, and
is now chief chemist for the Spreckles Sugar
Company.

After the location of the family in Los An-
geles, Hendrik D. Canne became secretary to
the German consulate here, a position which he

filled with credit until the office was abandoned.
Before coming to the United States he had re-
ceived an excellent preliminary education in the
schools of Holland, supplementing this by at-
tendance of grammar schools in this state' and
taking a course in a private academy, and com-
pleting the whole by taking a course in a busi-
ness college. Becoming interested in the buy-
ing and selling of real-estate, he carried on a
flourishing business for a number of years. The
country in and around Hollywood became of spe-
cial interest to Air. Canne, and during his last
few years in Los Angeles he gave considerable
attention to developing that section, with the re-
sult that he finally removed here, and he now
makes his home here with his parents. In addi-
tion to carrying on his real-estate business while
in Los Angeles, Mr. Canne took up the .study
of law in the University of Southern California,
from which he graduated with the degree of
LL.B. in June, 1905, and during the same year
he was admitted to practice at the bar in the state
and United States courts. He was made a citi-
zen of the United States under Judge Allen.

Politically Mr. Cannes upholds the principles
of the Republican party. He is a member of
various improvement associations and civil and
political leagues. Recently he has been nomi-
nated a justice of the section in which he resides,
and he is one of the best known and most re-
spected citizens in the valley. Popular among
the young as well as the old, a good sportsman,
a jolly companion well met, and a stanch friend,
these are the qualities that have made him such
a universal favorite.

JAMES LABORDE. One of th(^ most suc-
cessful and popular men in the San Jacinto val-
ley is James Laborde, who was born in Basses-
Pyrenees. France, July 10, 1854, the son of John
and Jane Laborde, both natives of France, where
their deaths occurred. The son, James, spent his
boyhood days in his native country, receiving a
good education in the public and private schools,
and then engaged in sheep herding for a time
before coming to the United States in 1874. Ar-
riving at the port of San Francisco, he made his
way almost immediately to Southern California,
locating near Los Angeles, and for six years
worked in a fruit orchard. During that period
he had succeeded in saving enough to establish
himself in an independent business and bought
a herd of sheep and engaged in sheep raising
for a similar length of time. He then sold the
herd and came to the San Jacinto valley, where
he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits
from then until the present, renting the property
from Joe W'olfskill. It is fitted with the neces-
sary machinery for use in cultivating grains in

2084

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the most up-to-date manner, the outfit including
a thirty-two horse power combined harvester.
The ranch comprises seven hundred acres, five
hundred acres being devoted to grain raising and
the remaining two hundred acres to pasture. He
has about twelve head of horses and other farm
stock. He owns real-estate in San Jacinto, where
he resides with his family.

In 1883 Mr. Laborde was united in marriage
to Rosa Necochea, a native of California, the
ceremony being performed at San Jacinto, De-
cember IS of that year. There were ten chil-
dren born to this union, namely : Jennie, now
the wife of John Rubidoux; Frances, who be-
came the wife of John Rosa; Leonidas ; Guada-
lupe; Peter; James; Mary, who died in infancy;
Rosa ; Anna ; Elmer. Mr. I^borde is an earn-
est communicant of the Catholic Church, and
takes an active interest in all enterprises which
tend toward the upbuilding of the community
in which he resides.

ZEPHANLA.H JONES. To the residents of
San Diego county familiar with that section of
the county lying east of Escondido no name is
more familiar than that of Zephaniah Jones, tlie
present postmaster of the village of Vineyard
and for years the efficient foreman of one
of the largest ranches of the locality. Mr. Jones
is of eastern birth and Welsh ancestry. His
father, Henry P.. was born in New York in 1812
and after arriving at man's estate engaged in
agricultural pursuits in his native locality, but
in 1871 removed to Iowa, purchased a tract of
raw land and gave his attention to its develop-
ment. Many years before leaving the east he
married Elizabeth Jones, who was of Welsh de-
scent and a native of New York, born in 1814.
On the Iowa farm which he had improved and
made valuable he died in 1875 ^^ the age of sixty-
three and his wife passed awav three years later
at the age of sixty-four years. While they were
living in Oneida county, N. Y., their son, Zep-
haniah, was born on the home farm October 8,
1858, and his education was begun in the schools
of that county, but later prosecuted in the public
schools of Iowa and the state university at Iowa
City. For some years after discontinuing his uni-
versity studies he farmed in the summer months
and taught school in the winter, but in 188^ he
removed to Wisconsin and taught school at West
Bend for two terms, then embarked in the bee
business, building up an apiary of three hundred
colonies. During 1885 he sold his bee business
and returned to the old home place in Iowa,
where he spent the following year.

Late in the year 1886 Mr. Jones arrived in
California and marie his home in San Diego coun-
ty until iQoT). I'or a short time he was employed

in the city of San Diego, but soon he removed to
the mountains fourteen miles east of Escondido
and worked for Jacob Gruendike from July,
1887, until February of the following year.
March 24, 1888, he was united in marriage with
Miss Helen, daughter of Col. A. E. Maxcy one
of the leading stockmen and distinguished pio-
neers of San Diego county. When mention is
made of the development of the ranching indus-
try in this county the name of Colonel Maxcy
merits prominent consideration. A native of
Massachusetts and the son of a farmer, he re-
ceived every advantage within the financial abil-
ity of the family, and on completing his classical
studies became engaged in the study of medicine.
At the age of nineteen years he traveled through
Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, introducing physiol-
ogy into the public schools, and while in that
portion of the country he heard of the discovery
of gold in California, which immediately changed
all of his plans for the future. Returning to his
old home in Massachusetts, he quickly made
preparations for a voyage to the Pacific coast,
and soon afterward took passage on the ship
Pharsalia, which sailed around the horn and
then northward, arriving in the harbor of San
Francisco in July, 1849, after a vo3-age of six
months. For a year he worked in the mines, but
luck did not favor his efforts and he decided to
seek other avenues of employment.

In J850 he became a pioneer of San Diego
county, which at the time had few residents ex-
cept those of IMexican lineage. For a time he
eng%ed in business at Oldtown, which was then
the business center of the county. In the spring
of 1852 he moved to a ranch sixteen miles east
of the present site of Escondido and here he be-
gan to raise cattle and horses. From the first
he met with success. His herds increased until
he had from forty thousand to fifty thousand
head of cattle, and his brand was familiar through
all this part of the country. \Mien settlers be-
gan to come in and lands were taken up, dis-
posing of all of his cattle but one thousand head,
lie bought a ranch of five thousand acres. In
addition, in later years, he planted grapes and
engaged in the manufacture of wine. At the or-
ganization of the Consolidated National Bank of
San Diego he bought stock and the subsequent
failure of the institution entailed upon him a
heavy loss, but he still retained large landed hold-
ings. After a long illness Mr. Maxcy died
March g, 1901, at the Southern California hos-
pital in Los Angeles. For some years before his
death his son-in-law, i\[r. Jones, had acted as
foreman of the ranch, and since then the latter
and a son, Alonzo, has been in charge of the
estate. Disposing of the ranch. April, 1906, in
June, the same year, Mr. Jones removed to
Hollywood, Cal, where he engaged in the real-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2085

estate business under the firm name of The Cah-
fornia Developing Association, with office in the
Bradbury Building, Los Angeles.

In fraternal relations Mr. Jones holds mem-
bership with Escondido Lodge No. 345, I. O.
O. E., while politically he is a pronounced Re-
publican and in recognition of party services in
1904 he received tlje appointment as postmaster
of the village of Vine\ard, which office he filled,
in addition to superintending large ranch inter-
ests.

JOHN DAVIS CLARK. Practically the en-
tire life of Mr. Ciark has been passed within
the limits of San Bernardino county, for he was
only four years of age when the family left
Utah and crossed the plams to the then un-
known regions of Southern California. Hence
his early recollections are associated with this
vicinity, whose progress he has witnessed from
the condition of primeval wildness to one of re-
markable prosperity. In the bringing about of
this satisfactory transformation he has been a
factor, for his work as boy and man has tended
toward the improvement of the land and the
permanent development of its material re-
sources. The farm which he now owns is situ-
ated near Highland and ranks among the finest
in the locality. All of the improvements have
been made under his personal supervision and
prove him to be a man of thrift and energy.

A native of Springville City, Utah, born in
September of 1854, Mr. Clark was the only
child of Davis and Priscilla (Singleton) Clark,
natives respectively of Connecticut and England.
After coming to San Bernardino he attended the
local schools and availed himself of such advan-
tages as they offered for the acquiring of an
education. From an early age he has been
familiar with agriculture and horticulture, and
during 1883 he also began to be interested in the
raising, feeding and shipping of cattle, a branch
of agriculture in which he met with gratifying
success. . However, eventuall\- the rise in land
valuations rendered large stock-raising enter-
prises unprofitable, and in igoo he began to con-
fine his attention to raising fruit and farm
products.

The larger part of his present farm !\lr. Clark
acquired in July, 1880, wlien he purchased an
unim]-)roved tract of forty acres. Later he lx)ught
ten acres adjoining and also acquired an eight-
acre tract, all of which property he yet owns and
devotes to farming and fruit-raising. Five acres
are in a bearing grove of navel oranges and five
acres are planted to apricot trees. A substantial
residence has been erected by the present owner
and occupant and a barn also was built for the
storage of grain and the shelter of stock. For-

merly he used a wind pump, but on account of
pumps having been placed on the creek below
the water has been taken from the higher land.
The marriage of Mr. Clark took place Jan-
uary II, 1880, and united him with Mary I.
Haws, daughter of E. M. and Malettna Haws.
Mrs. Clark was born at Provo City, Utah, July,
25, 1855, and died in San Bernardino county,
August 13, 1905. Both of their children had
preceded her in death, the son, Francis, having
died in infancy, while the daughter, Eva, was
taken from the home in 1891 at the age of six-
teen years. These bereavements leave Mr. Clark
alone in the world. His life is a very busy one,
for the management of his land and the care of
the fruit trees demand constant attention. Like
all public-spirited citizens, he keeps posted con-
cerning problems affecting local and national
prosperity. In politics he gives his support to the
Republican party, and on that ticket in 1900 he
was elected a member of the board of super-
visors of the county, a position that he filled with
characteristic energy and faithfulness. In fra-
ternal relations he holds membership with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Masons at San Bernardino.

JUAN ORTEGA. Throughout the length
and breadth of this glorious state no more worthy
people can be found than those born on California
soil, of Spanish ancestors, men and women
noted for their industry, geniality and warm-
hearted hospitality. Their doors are ever open
to the stranger, who is given a cordial welcome
and freely invited to partake of the best aft'orded
by the house. Prominent among this number
is Juan Ortega, a prosperous rancher living near
Msta, a typical representative of the true Spanish
gentleman. A native of California, and the son
of a native son, he was born June 24, 1844. in
Santa Barbara county, being one of nine chil-
dren born to his parents, Amidio and Concepcion
(Dominguez) Orte.ga, the former of whom was
horn in Los Angeles county and the latter in
Santa Barbara county. The father was a farm-
er, and for many years was engaged in ranching
in Ventura county, where he died at the age of
eighty-two years. The widowed mother is still
living, and on December 8, 1906, celebrated the
ninety-eighth anniversary of her birth.

Brought up on the home ranch, Juan Ortega
received a practical education in the Spanish
schools of his native county, and has since ac-
quired an excellent knowledge of the English
language. After the removal of the family to
\'entura county he helped his father to clear
and improve a ranch, remaining at home several
years after attaining his majority. Taking up
one hundred and sixty acres of government land

2086

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in 1869 he improved a homestead on which he
resided for twenty-two years. SelHng that
estate, he located on his present ranch, near
Msta, and is extensively engaged in grain
raising, renting about six hundred acres of
land. Industrious and enterprising, he is meet-
ing with satisfactory results in his undertakings,
and as a man of unquestioned integrity is held
in high esteem throughout the community.

On March 26, 1866, Mr. Ortega married
Edubige Tico, a native of California, and they
have become the parents of six children, namely:
Charles; Otellia, the wife of Frank Carpenter;
Mary, the wife of Philip Roedfor; Petra C. Car-
rillo; John B. and Frank. Politically Mr.
Ortega is identified with the Democratic party
and takes a genuine interest in public affairs,
at the present time serving as school trustee. Re-
ligiously he is a member of the Catholic Church,
belonging to the San Luis Rey ^lission.

J. FRANK 0\'ER. Numbered among tlie
business men of San Diego,- where he has made
his home since 1891, is Mr. Over, an enterprising
and practical contractor, and a progressive citi-
zen. Attracted to California by reports concern-
ing the opportunities oft'ered by the coast regions,
Mr. Over arrived in Pasadena in 1889, and in
the spring of the following year he went to San
Francisco, where he worked in the employ of
the Pacific Paving Company. In their interests
he came to San Diego to take charge of asphalt
paving in this city, and for half a year he re-
mained here as their foreman, since which time
he has engaged in business for himself. Cement
walks and foundations and, indeed, cement work
of every kind and description, he has made his
specialty, and by reliable workmanship and
prompt filling of contracts he has proved that he
made no mistake in the selection of an occupa-
tion. Nor has his work been limited to San
Diego, for he has filled contracts in Escondido,
Oceanside, Imperial and Other towns of the
county. In his factory, on the corner of Ninth
and M streets, he maiuifactures hollow cement
blocks, v.-hich of recent years have come into
popular use and are proving especially prac-
ticable for certain kinds of work. From his ofiice
in the Chamber of Commerce he directs business
affairs, fills contracts, and during the busy season
oversees his corps of fifty to sixty workmen in
such a manner as to secure the most prompt and
satisfactory results.

!Many years gone by the Over family lived in
Pennsylvania, in the vicinity of Qiambersburg,
and from there John, with his family, including
his son Henry, removed to Illinois, where the
former died. The latter, after having engaged
in the teaming business at Sterling for a lengthy

period, eventually removed to San Diego, and
here passed away at the age of seventy-one years.
In early manhood he married Catherine Feigh-
ner, who was born in Pennsylvania, of German
descent, and who now makes her home with her
son, J. F., in San Diego. Of her four children
this son was next to the youngest and is the onlv
one residing on the Pacific c;oast. Born at Ster-
ling, 111., December 18, 1861, he received a com-
mon school education in his home town and at
an early age began to work as a machine hand
in the Northwestern barb wire factory at Ster-
ling. During 1882 he removed to Omaha, and
for a year worked in a barb wire factory in that
city, after which he began to learn the cement
manufacturing trade. In spite of various re-
verses, he has been prospered financially, and
now owns his residence at No. 630 Fir street, as
well as a grain and stock ranch five miles north
of Escondido. Tlie success which he has gained
in the piast is an indication of what the future
years will bring him, for he is now in the prime
of life, the master of a profitable trade, keen,
capable and reliable ; hence increasing prosperity
may be predicted for his future efforts. Since
coming to San Diego he has established domestic
ties through his marriage to Miss Gertrude Ells,
a native of Iowa, and by whom he has one son.
Franklin Alfred. In national politics he votes
with the Republican party, but locally he main-
tains an independence of thought and attitude,
voting for those whom he considers best quali-
fied to represent the people. In local commercial
and fraternal aftiliations he belongs to the Cham-
ber of Commerce, the Improved Order of Red
Men, the Woodmen of the World, the Foresters
of America, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being
past grand of Sunset Lodge No. 328, I. O. O. F.,
also a member of the Encampment, Canton and
Rebekahs.

FRANK RENFRE\\' FARQUHAR. In the
vicinity of Highland, San Bernardino county, the
passing traveler ma}- take note of many thriv-
ing ranches, but among them all it would be hard
to find one whose water facilities equal those en-
joyed by Mr. Farquhar. He is bound to no rules
and regulations of water companies, and is truly
the monarch of all he surveys, for his water sup-
ply is furnished from a flowing artesian well
which he himself bored at an expense of $1,800.
It has a flow of about one hundred inches of
water, which by a complete system of piping is
made to enrich the most remote portions of the
ranch. The system includes a windmill, which
with the piping was erected at a cost of $800.
From the foregoing it will be seen that Mr. Far-
quhar possesses the prime essential of a success-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2087

ful ranch, ample water facilities, and while at
present his land is devoted entirely to the raising
of alfalfa, it is his intention in the near future
to plant a walnut orchard, for which his land is
especially well adapted.

A son of William R. and [Marian Elizabeth
(Renfrew) Farquhar, Frank R. Farquhar is a
native of Indiana, born in Sullivan county, March
II, 1861. When he was two years old the family
removed to Ohio, and in the schools of Coshocton
county he received his first knowledge of books.
When not in school he assisted in performing his
share of farm duties, and when the time came
for him to select his calling in life he very
naturally chose the one with which he was most
familiar and for which he had inherited tastes
also. Push and enterprise are distinguishing
characteristics in his make-up, qualities which
he early in life made use of, but perhaps with
no more telling effect than in the fall of 1885,
when as a young man of twenty-four years he
came to the west, determined to carve out his for-
tune and grow up amid the opportunities of the
Golden State. For eighteen months he was lo-
cated in the vicinity of Riverside, from there
going to Redlands, and finally, in February, 1905,
locating two and one-half miles east of San Ber-
nardino. His first purchase of land consisted of
forty acres, to which he later added twenty acres
of the Waterman tract, owning in all sixty acres
of as fine land as the county boasts.

After locating in the west. Frank R. Farquhar
formed domestic ties by his marriage with Cora
Sylvia JNIerrill, their marriage occurring Feb-
ruary 9, 1899. Mrs. Farquhar is a daughter of
John H. and Mercy (Brewer) Merrill. She is
the proud mother of two interesting children,
Merrill Renfrew, born March 14. 1901, and Le-
land Brewer, Ixarn January 7, 1903. Mr. Far-
quhar is an excellent representative of the class
who form the best of our western citizenship, the
high quality of which has given California high
rank in the galaxy of commonwealths.

CAPT. HENRY AL^^ION CROCKER. The
fact that San Pedro is one of the most prosperous
cities in California in proportion to its popula-
tion cannot be attributed entirely to its favorable
location, nor entirely to the fertility of the sur-
rounding soil, although both of these circum-
stances have proved telling factors in the pro-
gress of the place: but a third factor must not
be lost sight of, viz. ; the progressive spirit of the
men who have composed the citizenship and
guided its affairs. Closely associated with the
town's hitory is the name of Capt. H. A.
Crocker, who located here before the organization
of the town, the locality then being known as
Fiall. To him is due the credit of erecting the

first house in the town, which at that time had
no special location, but when the town was laid
out it was found to lie partly on Beacon street.
By purchasing seventy-five feet on Beacon street
near Sixth he was enabled to move his house
there, and for many years made his home at that
location. This structure was finally destroyed
by fire and he replaced it by a two-story build-
ing, a part of which was used as a restaurant.
In educational affairs Captain Crocker also took
the initiative, and with the co-operation of Mr.
Linskow built the first schoolhouse in the locality.
For many years he was at the head of the school
board, and during this time had the satisfaction
of seeing the straggling efforts of early days
superseded by methods of instruction which
prevail in schools in the metropolis.

At the time of the Revolutionary war, his
grandfather, then a young man, went from
West Machias, -Me., to Nova Scotia, where he
was married. It was there that the father, James
W. Crocker followed his life calling as a farmer
for many years. His wife, formerly Jane Spin-
ney, was a native of Nova Scotia, of Scotch an-
cestrv. Both parents are now deceased. Of
the five sons and three daughters born to them
only four sons are living, and of these Henry A.
is next to the youngest. He was born in Napolis
A^allev, Nova 'Scotia, August 13. 1845, a"d was
reared on his father's farm there. By the time he
had attained his seventeenth year he had received
a good education in the common schools around
his Canadian home, had gained considerable ex-
perience as a farmer, and had also started to
learn the carpenter's trade. This latter ac-
complishment was interrupted by his response
to the call for men in the United States navy
during the Civil war. Going to Boston in 1862
he entered the service and for one year was on
the Wabash, later serving on the Powhattan, and
after his honorable discharge in 1863 he went to
^^^ashington. There he was employed in the
service of the government until January, 1864,
at which time lie enlisted in Company B, Third
United States Cavalry, under command of Gen-
eral Steele! Joining his regiment at St. Louis,
he went to Little kock, Ark., and while near
Princeton was taken prisoner and sent to Cam-
den, that state. It was while there that diffi-
culties arose from the fact that he was a Brit-
ish subject and had never taken out naturaliza-
tion papers. Through the instrumentality of the
English counsel he was able to take out English
papers and obtain a passport from General
Magruder to General Kirby Smith, the latter
giving him a passport via 'Mexico. He made the
trip to Mexico entirely on foot, a distance of
seventeen hundred miles, and after reaching
Matamoras he began work at the carpenter's
trade, which he had partiall\- learned before en-

2088

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tering- the navy in 1862. He was in Matamoras
at the time news was received of the assassina-
tion of Abraham Lincohi. By way of Cuba he
returned to New York City, from there drift-
ing- to New Haven, Conn., from which port he
followed the sea for a number of years. Go-
ing; to Lynn, A'lass., in 1869 he followed
the carpenter's trade there until 1875, since
which time his life has been associated with
California and with San Pedro in particular.
His pioneer efforts have not been in vain, for the
erection of his own dwelling gave encourage-
ment to other settlers to locate permanently
and in the passing of years the repetition of this
example has resulted in the present thriving
town of San Pedro. So enthusiastic was he
about its future that in the early da>s he pre-
dicted there would be a population of forty thou-
sand inhabitants in the town before long, and at
its present rapid rate of growth his prediction
will soon be a reality. As his means would allow
he added to his first purchase of real estate until
he owned ten buildings in all, but about 1896
five of them were destroyed by fire, and as there
was little or no insurance carried on the prop-
ertv it was a complete loss. In later years he
gave his attention to running a line of pleasure
boats, at one time owning quite a number, but
he has sold several and lost as many more, later
having only the Pt. Fermin, a gasoline launch
forty-two feet in length, which he ran himself.
He has perpetuated his name in the history of
the town liy tlie erection of the Crocker building,
which adjoins the San Pedro Bank of Sixth
street, and which is occupied as stores, above
which is the Waldo lodging house.

In i8fig, while a resident of Lvnn. Alass..
Captain Crocker was married to Miss Ellen L.
Davis, who was born on Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia, and two children were born to them :
William H., a musician of San Pedro, now coun-
ty assessor, and JNIercv J., the wife of Gnarles
Powers, also of San Pedro. Mrs. Crocker died
in 1903, and on December 31, 1905, Captain
Crocker was united in marriage with Mrs. H.
F. Hansen, of Los Angeles. In igo6 he re-
turned to his old honie in Nnva Scotia on a visit.
At one time Captain Crocker was identified with
a number of fraternal orders, among them the
Knights of Pvthias, Ancient Order of United
Workmen, Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and Chosen Friends, but he is not now activelv
interested in any of them. In the church of the
.Seventh Day Adventists, of which he is a mem-
ber, lie takes an active part, serving as superin-
tendent of the Sabbath-school. The erection of
the church was due in a large measure to his
personal efforts, for he gave not only of his time,
but of his means as well to provide a suitable
edifice for the home of wor.shippers of that de-

nomination. In summing up the life of Captain
Crocker who is still hale and hearty, it may be
safely said that no one in this section is held in
higher esteem than this enterprising citizen, nor
has any been more thoroughly interested in or
contributed in greater degree to its solid and
reliable upbuilding.

ALEXANDER KEIR. In a substantial home
at No. 744 Fifth street, San Bernardino, Alex-
ander Keir is living retired from ranching, his
varied and extensive property interests requiring
as much of his time as he cares to give to busi-
ness pursuits. jMr. Keir is a native of Scotland,
a country noted for its sons of sturdy character
and enterprising industry, having been born in
Glasgow, August 30, 1844, the son of Alexan-
der and Marion (King) Keir, both of whom
were born in the same countr}-. When their
son was only four years of age ]\Ir. Keir brought
the family to the United States, landing at New
Orleans, and from there making his way up the
Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Pittsburg, Pa.
He was a manufacturer of lumber in his native
land, but in casting about for a business opening
m this country he decided to establish himself
in the cattle industry, and accordingly in 1849
went to St. Louis, Mo., and started in that busi-
ness. In 1851 he removed to Salt Lake, and
continued farming and cattle-raising until 1853,
when he resolved to remove to California. Tak-
ing his family with him, he crossed the plains
with ox teams and came to San Bernardino. This
section was populated mostly with Mexicans and
Indians at that time and was almost entirely un-
improved so far as the land was concerned, and
Mr. Keir remained only a short time. However,
after making his home in Los Angeles for a
}'ear he returned to San Bernardino county, pur-
chased real estate and followed his chosen occu-
pation until 1882, in which year he removed to
Santa Monica. His death occurred in San Ber-
nardino in 1897. His widow survived him a
number of years, passing away at the home of
lier son, Alexander, in 1904. The parental fam-
ily originally com.prised eight children, of whom
three died in early childhood, and four daughters
and one son now reside on the Pacific coast.

After completing his work in the public schools
of San Bernardino, .\lexander Keir assisted his
father on the farm for a time and later accepted
a clerkship widi the firm of Wolff & Folks, hold-
ing the po^iitinn four years, after which he em-
barked in business under the firm name of Wolff,
Folks & Co. in Arizona, continuing business un-
der this name for one year. In 1872 he retired
from this connection and again helped his father
in the cattle business, later establishing^ himself
in an independenc cattle-raising enterprise in the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2089

eastern part of what is now the city Hmits, and
remaining there until 1902. He met with very
great success in this business, and, although he
still owns the one hundred acre ranch, it is now
being operated by tenants.

In August, 1869, Mr. Keir was married to
Maryette, daughter of Ezra and Susan Parrish,
old and prominent residents of San Bernardino
county, and of this union ten children were born,
two of whom died in infancy. Those now liv-
ing are: William E., of San Bernardino; Mary
E., the wife of E. E. Clark, of Oceanside ; Sher-
man, residing in San Francisco; John King, of
San Bernardino ; Frank, also a resident of this
place ; Robert Burns and James Watt, twins, the
latter of whom is deceased; and Ida Gertrude.
Fraternally Mr. Keir is a charter member of
Valley Lodge No. 27, K. of P.. and was formerly
affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows, but
is now demitted from both organizations. Polit-
ically, he is an advocate of Democratic principles.
He is a man of great intelligence, keen observa-
tion and thoroughly alive to the trend of present
day matters of social and civic interest, and as a
progressive and public-spirited citizen is accord-
ed the respect and esteem of a large circle of
friends and acquaintances.

JOHN R. HARGRAVE. Although Mr.
Hargrave is, comparatively speaking, a re-
cent addition to the citizenship of Sawtelle
the interest which he has shown in the welfare
of the town indicates that he is a man of such
mettle as to make him a credit to any commun-
ity, no matter where Fate might choose to
place him. Of Scotch descent on the pater-
nal side, John R. Hargrave was born in Illi-
nois December 18, 1864, a son of Andrew Har-
grave, who was born in Roxburghshire, Scot-
land, in 1809. Immigrating to America in
1818, he was a resident of Canada until 1855,
when he came to the United States, locating
with his famil}^ on a farm in Illinois. A lat-
er removal found the family in the adjoining
state of Indiana, where they remained for^
twelve years, in 1882 crossing the plains to
Oregon. The father lived to enjoy his new
home in the west for about two years, his
death occurring in Yamhill county, in March,
1884. His wife was before her marriage Miss
Margaret McEwen, born in Canada in 1829,
and of the eight children born of their mar-
riage all reached maturity with one exception
and all are still living.

At the time the family removed from Illi-
nois into the Hoosier state John R. Hargrave
was a lad of six vears, and although too young
to be of any assistance, he was old enough to
enjoy the novelty and excitement of the jour-
nev. His entire scliool life was associated

with the common schools of Indiana, and by
the time die father took the family to Oregon
m :882 he had completed his education and
was ready to start upon a business career. Al-
though he had been of considerable assist-
ance to his father in his grain and stock-rais-
mg enterprises, he did not feel himself suf-
ficiently adapted for that life when the time
came for him to make selection of a life call-
ing. At this juncture he became acquainted
with A. G. Churchly, of Portland, Ore., and
underhis instruction he learned the photo-
graphic trade. Seeing a good opening for
branching out in Kelso, Wash., he located
there in 1888, remaining there for sixteen
years, during which time he became well
known in the business and political circles of
the town. In recognition of his fitness as a
leader and as a man of superior judgment his
Republican constituents nominated him as
mavor of Kelso in 1900, his election duly fol-
lowing. During his term of two year's the
city was visited by a severe fire, in which he
lost all of the property accumulated during
his residence there. Smce locating in Saw-
telle he has been engaged in the photographic
business.

Mr. and Mrs. Hargrave, the latter formerly
Miss Berdan, have become the proud parents
of two children, Andrew C, born in Kelso,
Wash., September 17, i8g8, and Frances R.
born in the same place June 14, 1901. Frater-
nally Mr. Hargrave belongs to the Red Men,
and while in Kelso served as sachem of Tus-
carora Tribe No. 32. Mrs. Hargrave is a
member of the Relief Corps, and is also a mem-
ber of the Presbvterian Church of Kelso, Wash.

ALBERT E. HALL. When the third colonv
from England landed at Plymouth in 1630 among
the passengers was Daniel Foote, concerning
whose previous and subsequent history little is
known except that he was a man of 'dauntless
courage and pioneer spirit, since he braved the
dangers of an unknown sea in order to establish
a home in the wilds of a new world. When the
Revolutionary war began members of the family
were among the patriots who fought for in-
dependence with a valor that hunger and hard-
.ships could not quench. In the fifth generation
from the founder of the race in the new M-orld
was Samuel Foote, a native of New England and
an early settler of Qiautauqua countV, N. Y.
Among the children in his family a daughter.
Mary Dorothea, who was born in ^Tas^achusetts,
became the wife of Elisha, son of William Hall,
a Revolutionary soldier descended from English
progenitors. Battleboro. Vt., was the native
town of Elisha Hall, who earlv in life embarked

2090

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in the manufacture of lumber and erected the
first steam sawmill in Chautauqua county, N.
Y., his operations in timber extending through
western New York and into Pennsylvania. Dur-
ing the year 1840 he removed to St. Louis and
engaged in the manufacture and sale of lumber.
The first cargo of lumber ever sold on the Mis-
sissippi river was purchased by him in 1843 ^""^
came from Marine Mills, Minn.; prior to that
time lumber was freighted down the Ohio river
exclusively and taken up the Mississippi by
keel boats. Successful in business, Mr. Hall
also wielded large influence as a citizen and gave
stanch support to all movements for the ad-
vancement of his community. An experience
as a teacher in young manhood gave him a
broad outlook concerning educational work, and
for some years prior to 1852 in St. Louis he
served as a member of the board of education
and board of teachers' examiners. His death oc-
curred during a visit in Pennsylvania, and his
wife passed away in 1861 at their St. Louis
home.

Five children comprised the family of Elisha
Hall, four of whom are living, Albert E. being
the second in order of birth. Born at James-
town, N. Y., June 8, 1833, he was seven
years of age when the family settled in St.
Louis and there he became a pupil in a
private school. Early in life he acquired an
excellent knowledge of the lumber business
under his father's practical training. When the
Civil war began he at once ofifered his services
to the Union and enlisted for three months in
a detached rifle company known as the Lyon
Guards, in which he was commissioned first
lieutenant. At the expiration of his time he en-
listed for three years in the Tenth jMissouri
Cavalry and was commissioned by the president
as quartermaster with the rank of first lieuten-
ant. His service continued until the close of
the war and was principally in Tennessee, Ala-
bama and Mississippi. After having been
mustered out at Nashville in 1865 he remained
in the south and became a cotton-grower near
Huntsville, Ala., being the first grower in that
state (and. as far as known, in the entire south)
to employ the free labor system. The three years
of his life as a planter in the south were filled
with anxieties and even perils. The country
was in a condition of unrest. The noted Klu
Klux horrors were stirring up strife and sedi-
tion. However, he armed his four hundred
colored employes and so escaped without trouble,
besides which, after he had armed his men, the
county of Limestone where he lived was at
peace, being the only county in the state where
a turbulent disposition was not shown.

On account of these troubles Mr. Hall gladly
embraced an opportunity to sell his cotton lands.

Returning to St. Louis, he engaged in the whole-
sale confectionery business for four years, after
which he spent three years as a miner in Utah
and then became a wheat-grower in the Red
River valley near Glendon, Minn., where for ten
years he cultivated over one thousand acres of
wheat land. On selling out there he removed
to Washington in 1888 and embarked in the
manufacture of lumber at Tacoma, remaining
there until three years later, when rheumatism
afi^ected him to such an extent as to render a
change of climate necessary. Hoping to be
benefited by life in a southern latitude he came
to California and traveled by team through the
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, thence
across to San Luis Obispo and on to Los An-
geles. After brief sojourns in different parts
of Southern California, June 20, 1898, he ar-
rived in Long Beach, where he bought seven and
one-half acres on the Anaheim road in the sub-
urbs of the town. Later he platted the land and
in 1904 sold it in town lots. In 1904 he bought
the corner of Seventh and Pine street, which
now is improved with a two-story building, and
in addition he owns five cottages and other city
property.

The marriage of Mr. Hall was solemnized at
Terre Haute, Ind., and united him. with j\Iiss
Ella W. Whiting, who was born in Connecti-
cut, and is a descendant of the noted clockmaker
of the same name. Two children were born of
their union. The son, Albert E., Jr., died at
the age of eight years. The daughter, Mrs.
Mary E. Burr, resides in Long Beach. In
national politics Mr. Hall gives his support to
the Republican party ; locally he favors the men
whom he deems best qualified to protect the in-
terests of the people, irrespective of political
allegiance. Remembrance of the old war days
is borne in mind through active participation in
the work of Long Beach Post No. 181, G. A. R.,
with which he has been identified since coming
to this city. Movements for the benefit of the
city receive his co-operation and influence, and
its rapid growth is a realization of his anticipa-
tions. From the time of his arrival he has been
a believer in the city's future prosperity and
present events are proving the wisdom of his
judgment and the keenness of his foresight.

FRANK LIBBY. After fourteen years of
identification with the grain and stock interests
of California and after having established inter-
ests of large financial value, Frank Libby passed
from earth's activities, followed to the place of
interment in Santa Ana by tributes of the highest
esteem from all of his former associates. Prior
to his removal to the Pacific coast he had en-
gaged in the development of an unimproved ag-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHRWL RI-XORD.

2091

ricultural country in Nebraska, whither he had
gone from the Mississippi valley. Mention of
his ancestral history appears in the sketch of his
brother, C. S. Libby, of the San Luis Rey valley.
Suffice it here to say that he was a son of Jacob
and Julia (Guphill) Libby, and that his mater-
nal ancestors also belonged to the Libby family,
his mother's mother having been a daughter of
Daniel Libby, a soldier of the Revolutionary
war. The lineage is traced back to John Libby,
who came to America shortly after the Pilgrim
Fathers had established their homes on the bleak
shores of the Atlantic coast at Plymouth.

Born in Goodhue county, Minn., and educated
in the public schools of Emerson, Mills county,
Iowa, Frank Libby became a pioneer of Ne-
braska in his young manhood and on land in
Madison county he turned the first furrows in
the prairie sod. June 24, 1886, in Humphrey's
township, Platte county, Neb., he married Miss
Eunice M. Curtis, who was born at ]\Ietherill,
Devonshire, England, being a daughter of
Thomas and Mary T. (Salmon) Curtis, natives
respectively of Devonshire and Cornwall, Eng-
land. Both were descendants of ven^ old fami-
lies in their native shires. The maternal grand-
parents, William and Mary Ann Hicks
(Thomas) Salmon, were born in Cornwall, the
former a descendant of a family whose record in
that shire is traced back to 1650 and the latter a
daughter of Thomas Thomas, also of an ancient
family of the same shire. ]\Irs. Mary T. Curtis
is still living, as is also her husband, and both
are earnest members of the Methodist Church.
On coming to America in 1870 Thomas Curtis
settled near ^Mineral Point, Wis., and later spent
five years at Chebanse, Iroquois county, 111., af-
terward made his home at Emerson, Iowa, for
five years, but eventually moved to Nebraska,
where he now lives at Omaha retired from busi-
ness responsibilities. All of his four children
are now living, and Mrs. Libby is the only one
of the number in California. Among the four
she was next to the oldest, and her education was
received in the grammar schools of Illinois and
the high school of Creston, Iowa. For a few
years after her marriage she and her husband re-
mained in Nebraska, but in May, 1890, they re-
moved to California, settling on a farm near
Carlsbad, where they remained for three years.

From Carlsbad the family removed to Santa
Ana and devoted two and one-half years to hor-
ticultural pursuits in that vicinity, after which
they purchased and removed to a farm in the San
Luis Rey valley. On selling that place Mr.
Libby devoted his attention to his farm of about
five hundred acres situated two miles above the
Mission, where he had one mile of valley land
on the ditch and engaged in raising grain and
full-blooded Hereford cattle. For some time he

served as secretary of the San Luis Rey Irrigat-
mg Company and for nine years he officiated as
clerk of the San Luis Rey school board. After
a brief illness caused by' pneumonia he passed
away February 22, 1904, on the anniversary of
his father's death. Through all of his life he
had been stanch in his allegiance to the Repub-
hcan party. In religion he maintained a deep
interest in the work of the various denominations
and was especially in sympathy with the Epis-
copal Church and its teachings.

In September following her husband's death
]\Irs. Libby left the farm and removed into San-
ta Ana, where she makes her home at No. 515
Cypress avenue. In 1905 she sold the farm,
since which time she has made other investments.
Only one child remains to her, a daughter, Reta
G., the other daughter, JNIary Louise having
been taken by death June 19, 1905, when in the
morning of life with all of its rich promises
awaiting fulfillment. The mother and surviv-
ing daughter are communicants of the Episcopal
Church and contributors to its societies and
philanthropies. Socially ;\Irs. Libby is promi-
nent and popular and occupies a leading position
in Santa Ana, where she is a welcomed guest
in the most select circles, an earnest church
worker and an influential member of the Re-
bekahs and the Maccabees.

NELSON H. TWOGOOD. One of the most
successful orange growers in Riverside county
is Nelson H. Twogood, whose home is on a
ranch of twenty-five acres, eighteen acres de-
voted to the growing of oranges and one acre
is in grapes. About one acre of his orange
grove is of the tangerine variety, the rest being
navels, bloods, valencias and homosassas. He
also owns two other ranches, one of four and
one-half acres in oranges, and another compris-
ing thirty acres located near Perris, which is
given over to grain raising. Mr. Twogood was
born September 25, 1851, in Winnebago county,
111., and received his education in the Pecatonica
high school. He was the son of James D. and
Amanda M. (Cable) Twogood, "the father a
native of New York, and the mother of Ohio.
They were early pioneers of Illinois and the
homestead which Mr. Cable entered in 1837 is
still in possession of the family, and is occupied
by a sister of Mrs. Twogood. In 1886 the
parents came with the family to Riverside county,
Cal., where a ranch was purchased. Mr. Two-
good was a stanch Republican and active in local
politics during his life. Both father and mother
were members of the Baptist Qnirch in River-
side, and they lived to advanced ages, he being
seventy-five years old at the time of his death,
and she living to attain seventy-seven years. Of

2092

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the ten children born to them, five are now liv-
ing, all having homes in California except one
daughter, who is a resident of Colorado.

After leaving high school Nelson H. Twogood
became a school teacher and was for six years
engaged in that profession in Winnebago and
McLean counties, 111. He subsequently conducted
a farm in AIcLean county, and in 1883 removed
to Dakota, where he took up government land,
engaged in the grain and stock business and re-
mained for eighteen years. Before selling out
there he had acquired eight hundred acres of
land, having met with very good success in all
of his business undertakings. Coming to Cali-
fornia Mr. Twogood bought the ranch upon
which he now resides and has one of the most
attractive homes in this part of the county. His
marriage, which occurred in 1880, united him
with r^liss Mary H. Wight, a native of Ohio and
a daughter of Benjamin Wight, born in the
same state. The V\'ight ancestors were from the
Isle of Wight and landed in Massachusetts soon
after the original Plymouth colony came to
America in 1620, and played important roles in
the early history of the country. Mr. and Mrs.
Twogood became the parents of five children:
Blanche W., the wife of Elmer Haas, and who
resides with her parents; Ernest N. ; Ralph S.;
Archie J. ; and Ruth, who was killed in an acci-
dent when nine years of age. The parents are
active members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church at Highgrove, and fraternally Mr. Two-
good was made a member of the Fulton Lodge
No. 123, I. O. O. F., in South Dakota, and also
belongs to the Ancient Order of United Work-
men of Fulton. He is Republican in politics and
takes a special interest in educational matters,
having served as school trustee both in South
Dakota and in California. In the former state
he also filled the offices of town clerk and justice
of the peace, and in a business way assisted in
the organization of a farmer's warehouse com-
panv, for three years having had charge of the
warehouse which they owned. He is now one of
the trustees of the East Riverside Water Com-
pany.

ANDREW J. LOCKWOOD. Upon coming
to California iii 1897 Mr, Lock wood settled in
the vicinity of Chino, San Bernardino county.
and so well pleased and satisfied has he been
with the location that he has had no desire to
change to any other part of the state. When he
purchased his present ranch of twenty acres it
bore no improvements whatever, but the raw,
forbidding land is now transformed into one of
the most prosperous ranches in the county, all
of which J\Tr. Lockwood has accomplished alone.
Conditions are here very favorable for the suc-

cessful raising of alfalfa, and he has his entire
acreage in this commodity, harvesting annually
on an average of eight tons to the acre.

Mr. Lockwood is a native of Iowa, born in
W'apello county, July 28, 1865, one of five chil-
dren born to his parents, Jared and Ann (Davis)
Lockwood, they being natives of Indiana. The
parents removed from Indiana to southwestern
Iowa, settling first in Mills and later in Fremont
county, and there they are now both making
their home, having reached tlie venerable age of
eighty years. During his younger years Mr.
Lockwood was very active in the public life of
his community, and besides filling other public
offices served as justice of the peace for some
time. He still takes a keen interest in political
events, and especially in issues concerning the
Democratic party, for ever since his voting days
began he has supported its candidates. He is a
member of the Odd Fellows, and with his wife
is a member of the Christian Church.

Andrew J. Lockwood was educated in the
common schools in the vicinity of his home. No
event of special importance occurred in his early
life to distinguish his own from the majority of
farm-reared lads, and after completing his com-
mon-school education he returned to the home
farm, working side by side with his father, un-
til in his twenty-third year. It was about this
time, in 1887, that he established home ties of
his own, and at the same time settled upon a
farm in that vicinity. His marriage united him
with Miss Fannie Stateler, who was born in
Iowa, and of their marriage four children have
been born, as follows: Lee, Jared, Horace and
Mae. He lived on a farm which he cultivated
for a number of years, or until coming to Cali-
fornia in 1897. San Bernardino county was his
destination, and here he has since remained. In
1899 he purchased the ranch on which he now
resides and it has undergone such marvelous
changes in the meantime as to be scarcely recog-
nizable, for at the time it came into his posses-
sion not a furrow had been turned. In connec-
tion with his own ranch of twenty acres, which
is devoted exclusively to raising alfalfa, he also
rents land, this latter being given over entirely
to grain. Altogether he has between two and
three hundred acres under control and is demon-
strating in a substantial way that he thoroughly
understands the principles of agriculture, wheth-
er worked out in the Mississippi vallev or on the
irrigated lands of the west. During the thirtv-
two vears of his residence in Iowa, Mr. Lock-
wood was an important factor in the public life
of his community, and for some time served as
supervisor of Scott township No. 2, Fremont
county. In 1892 he was initiated into the
Knights of Pythias, being made a member of the
lodge at Bartlett, Iowa, and since cnniinfr to the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2093

west be has joined the Fraternal Aid and the
Fraternal Brotherhood. Politically he is a
Democrat, in this respect coinciding with the
views held by his father. Mr. Lockwood is held
in the highest esteem by his neighbors, who ap-
preciate his advent among them, for he has set
a high standard along agricultural lines that di-
rectly and otherwise has had its influence in im-
proving general conditions in the community.

MYRO'N R. McKINNEY. Progressive and
enterprising as a road superintendent, M. R. Mc-
Kinney occupies a prominent place in the devel-
oping life of the community. He is a native of
Plattsburg, N. Y., where he was born jNIarch 14,
1857, a son of John R. and Marietta (Martin)
McKinney, natives respectively of Plattsburg, N.
Y., and Vermont in the vicinity of Lake Cham-
plain. The father followed farming in Minne-
sota and was also a contractor of excavations.
They finally removed to California and settled
in the vicinity of Norwalk, where the father died
at the age of seventy-nine years and the mother
at seventy-seven. They were members of the
Methodist Episcopal Qiurch; in politics the
father was a stanch Republican. They were the
parents of six children, of whom but three are
living; the eldest son, John, served in the Civil
war from 1861 to 1864.

M. R. McKinney was the youngest child in
the family of his parents. In infancy he was
taken to the middle west, his home being for a
time in Wisconsin and later in Minnesota. In
the spring of i86g the family located in Minne-
apolis and there Mr. McKinney received his edu-
cation in the public schools ; he also attended a
commercial college and thoroughly fitted himself
for a successful career in life. In that city he
learned locomotive engineering and the trade of
carpenter, following railroading and the latter
occupation until 1889, as a carpenter working
for one firm in Minneapolis for four years. Com-
ing to California in 1889 he followed his trade
in Los Angeles for a y^ar and a half, when he
came to Artesia and purchased a ranch of forty
acres and established a dairy business. He con-
tinued this occupation for about fifteen years, and
also raised stock, improving his property from
wild, uncultivated land; four years ago he lo-
cated on the place he now makes his home, and
leases his ranch as he is now performing the
duties of road overseer, to which position he was
elected through the influence of the Republican
party, of which he is a stanch supporter. He has
built up a splendid reputation because of the
m.anner in which he has performed liis duties,
has fine roads in his district, and is held in high
esteem for the qualities of citizenship he has
dcnionstrated during his long residence in thi';

section. He has improved his property by the
erection of a good residence, two barns,' four ar-
tesian wells, and other necessary equipment.

In 1876 Mr. McKinney was united in marriage
with Miss Emma Maltby, a native of New York,
the two having been schoolmates in the Minne-
sota schools. They became the parents of the
following children ; Alfred E., who married Miss
C. Freeman; Dora M., who married H. H.
Hooper, a jeweler of Whittier, and has one child ;
Roy H., who married Blanche Freeman, and has
one son; and Ellen M., a clerk in a large dry
goods establishment of Los Angeles. ^Nlr. Mc-
Kinney is identified with the Masonic organiza-
tion, being a member of Artesia Lodge No. 377,
F. & A. M., and also belongs to the Fraternal
Aid, having served as president of the Artesia
Lodge for two terms, and is now holding a sim-
ilar position in the Artesia Lodge No. 545. In
Artesia he served for several years as school
trustee. He is a member of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, which he liberally supports.

FRANCIS J. GANAHL is a native of Aus-
tria, where he was born in 1840, and a member
of a family of seventeen children, in which he
is the fifth son. His parents, John J. and Ben-
edicta (Wuerbell) Ganahl, were both natives of
the province of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, in Aus-
tria, and the father when a young man was a
butcher, later engaging in the milling business
and in farming. In 1868 he came on a visit to
some of his children in America, and after a
consideration of the advantages and attractions
of many of our larger cities, he decided to locate
in St. Louis, Mo., and returning to Austria,
brought his family to that place and there re-
sided until his death. Mrs. Ganahl also died in
St. Louis.

Mr. Ganahl received his education in the com-
mon schools of his native country, and was
eighteen years of age when he arrived with one
of his sisters at St. Louis. He there engaged
himself as an apprentice to a printer to "learn
that trade, and after his four years of appren-
ticeship at the wage of one, two. three, and the
last year four dollars a week, he gave up the
trade and started a grocery business. He con-
tinued that business for four years, and the bal-
ance of his twenty-nine years of residence in St.
Louis carried on several different wholesale and
retail businesses. Deciding to make a change of
location, in 1887 ]\Ir. Ganahl came to Los .An-
geles, and immediately upon his arrival engaged
in the retail and wholesale lumber business. He
conducted the business in partnership with his
brother, C. Ganahl, for a number of years, and
then commenced for himself under the firm name
of F. J. Gnnalil Lumber Company. In 1^)05, on

2094

HISTORICAT., AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

account of sickness, F. J. Ganahl retired from
the business, his brother having bought his in-
terests. Since that time Mr. Ganahl has lived
retired at his beautiful residence, No. 316 North
Avenue 57, Highland Park, Lx3s Angeles.

In other ways than business Mr. Ganahl has
taken a great interest and prominent part in the
upbuilding of the city of Los Angeles and vicin-
ity, and is at present engaged in the real estate
business, and is now erecting the largest and
finest brick block in East Los Angeles. He was
one of those who fought continuously for the five-
cent fare on the Pasadena electric line from
Avenue 57 to any part of the city of Los An-
geles until the rate was conceded, and in the
agitation for the extension of the Garavanza line
to that point he campaigned the fight to a suc-
cessful end. He was one of the principal work-
ers who originated the proposition to build the
Pasadena boulevard from North Pasadena
through to Los Angeles, making it one hundred
and fifty feet wide and nine miles long, and had
the project been consummated it would have
added millions of dollars' worth of value to the
property in the vicinity.

Politically Mr. Ganahl affiliates with the Dem-
ocratic party, in the principles of which he is a
firm believer. His membership in fraternal or-
ders embraces the Western Commercial Trav-
elers' Association and the C. K. of A. He was
married to Miss Louise Le Brun, a native of
St. Louis, Mo., July 12, 1871, and they are the
parents of eleven children, all living, tlie young-
est being eleven years old. Mr. Ganahl is a man
who has lived a well-rounded life and has met
with unusual success in all of his undertakings.
His influence has been very largelv felt in this
section of the state, and he holds the highest
esteem and respect of the citizens of the com-
munity.

WALTER C. HARGRAVES. As an official
in the beautiful city of Redlands Mr. Hargraves
takes a keen interest in its development and up-
building, and can always be counted upon to
further anv movement toward this end, his
personal efforts for success lying parallel with
those in the interest of the general community.
He came to Redlands in 1889; his father, Will-
iam C. Hargraves, now deceased was a native
of Lancashire, England, and married Angeline
S. Oough, a native of the Town of Bow, N. H.,
and a daughter of Enoch Clough. She died in
California in which state are located her three
children.

Born in Manchester, N. H., Walter C. Har-
graves there spent the years of his youth, re-
ceiving such education as the schools of the citv
aflforded. He held responsible positions with

business houses in the eastern states until the
spring of 1881, when he came west, locating for
two years in Colorado, and later going to Van-
couver, British Columbia. There he entered the
contracting, building and real estate business.
He was eminently successful in this line and
was identified with the pioneer growth of Van-
couver, where he is well known and favorably
remembered. Coming to Redlands fourteen
years ago and being at once impressed with the
beauty of the situation and the possibilities for
orange growing, Mr. Hargraves purchased twen-
ty acres in the Lugonia side of, the city, which
he planted to oranges and where he lived until
the recent sale of his orchard. He then moved
into the city. He is the owner of considerable
business and subdivision property, most of the
latter being situated in the Lugonia district, and
takes an active interest in the welfare of the
community. He has been a director of the
Board of Trade and enters heartily into move-
ments tending toward the advancement of the
prosperity of Redlands. On April 11. 1904, he
was elected a member of the Board of Trustees
for the term of two years and was re-elected in
April, 1906. Fraternally he is identified with
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and
Knights of Pythias and is also a member of
the University Club. Enterprise and ability are
the secret of the success achieved bv Mr. Har-
graves, and in this distinction he is measured
among his fellow citizens.

FREDERICK ELISHA HOTCHKISS.
No citizen has proven himself more useful or
given more of his time and attention towards
advancing Redlands and the interests of the
orange growers of this section than Mr. Hotch-
kiss, whose efforts along this line have won for
him a permanent place among the representa-
tive citizens of Southern California. He came
of a New England family which was estab-
lished on American soil manv years prior to the
Revolution, in which historic struggle the pa-
ternal great-great-grandfather, Caleb, participat-
ed until his death July 5, 1779, at New Haven,
at the time of the British invasion. His father
was also called Caleb, while his grandfather.
John, was born in England, a son of Samuel, and
became the colonial emigrant from whence the
American branch of the family sprung. The
great-grandfather of our subject, Jonah Hotch-
kiss by name, was a West Indian merchant, and
reared his son, Ezra, to that occupation. The
family were residents of Connecticut and there
Leonard S. Hotchkiss was bom, reared and edu-
cated, in manhood becoming cashier for the
New Haven County Bank until his removal to
Redlands, where his death eventuallv occurred.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2095

He had made a trip to the state in 1849 via the
Isthmus of Panama, spent eighteen months, and
then returned home and followed the banking
business until his retirement. His wife, former-
ly Julia i\Ii.x, was born in New Haven, a daugh-
ter of Eli Mix, a merchant of that city and also
the descendant of an old New England family.
She died in Redlands, also.

Frederick Elisha Hotchkiss was the only son,
and was born in New Haven, Conn., November
26, 1843. and there reared to young manhood and
educated in the public and high schools. He was
but little more than seventeen years old when
he answered the call of his country by enlisting
July, 1861, in the First New York Lincoln Cav-
alry, which was supposed at that time to be the
only cavalry regiment for the Civil war. The
Secretary of War wrote the governors of the sev-
eral states, that the government would furnish
the arms but could not furnish the horses and
equipments and asked the governors of the state
to do this, and in another letter spoke of the
war being but a ninety-day affair and that the
one regiment of cavalry would probably be suf-
ficient. It is interesting to note at this point
that before the close of that mighty struggle
there were three hundred cavalry regiments in
service. He was mustered in as a private and
June 25, 1865, was commissioned first lieutenant.
He participated during his long service in many
of the most important engagements, was through
the Peninsular campaign in the Shenandoah valley
for two years and was on staff duty under Gen-
eral Caphart and associated with General Cus-
ter and was at General Lee's surrender. After
the close of the struggle he returned to New
Haven and accepted a position as bookkeeper in
the New Haven County Bank, hie finally re-
moved to Gloversville, N. Y., and there engaged
in glove manufacture for the period of eight
years, when he returned to his native city and be-
came head accountant for the L. Candee Rub-
ber Company. He occupied this position for
ten years wlien he came to California as secre-
tary of the Bear Valley & Allesandro Develop-
ment Company, an enterprise formed by princi-
pals in the east for the purpose of taking up arid
land in this section of Southern California, ir-
rigate and dispose of it at a, profit. He contin-
ued with this company after its consolidation with
the Bear Valley Land & Water Company, the
concern becoming known as the Bear Valley Ir-
rigation Company. Later when this company
passed into the hands of a receiver in 1893, Mr,
Hotchkiss became private secretary of E. H,
Spoor, the receiver in the interests of the Sav-
ings & Trust Company of Cleveland, and has
occupied this position ever since. In 1903 he
was active in the incorporation of the Bear \'a\-
lev Mutual Water Company, whose stockhold-

ers were all consumers under the system and sur-
rendered to the company their rights and claims
on the water they had been using and holding
stock in the new concern according to their usage
of water, and in the management of this enter-
prise Mr. Hotchkiss is secretary and to him is
largely due the credit for the manipulation of
details which promises a successful consumma-
tion of the previous legal troubles at an early
date.

In iddition to his interests already mentioned
Mr. Hotchkiss owns a ranch of one hundred and
fifty acres at Loma Linda, of which forty acres
are devoted to the cultivation of a fine orange
grove, while his home is on Walnut avenue, in
Redlands, where he is a member of the Board
of Trade, an ardent Republican and a helpful
and practical citizen. He was married in 1867
to Miss Heacock, a native of Gloversville, N,
Y,, and born of this union are two children,
Leonard F., secretary of the C. W. Scranton
Company, of New Haven, Conn. ; and Minerva,
wife of L. W. Hall, of New Haven, Conn. Mr.
Hotchkiss was made a Mason in Gloversville
Lodge No. 429, A. F. & A. M., and raised to the
degree of Knight Templar in the Holy Cross
commandery No. 51, K, T., of the same place.
He is a charter member of the Bear A'alley Post,
of the Grand Army of the Republic in Redlands,
and is a member of the California commandery
of the Loyal Legion, and of the Southern Cali-
fornia Association of ' Companions of the Loyal
Legion. He supports the charities of the First
Congregational Cliurch, of which he is a mem-
ber." He is justly named among the representa-
tive citizens of Southern California and held in
highest esteem for his splendid qualities of char-
acter, his integrity and manhood.

WALLACE HUNGERFORD, one of the
substantial and successful ranchers of Los An-
geles countv, is a native California, his birth
having occurred in Sutter county September 19,
1870." His parents, M. C. and Mary E. (Ramey)
Hungerford, were natives respectively of Scioto
countv, Ohio, and Shenandoah county, Va„ and
both were pioneers of California, their marriage
taking place in Sutter county, Cal. They had
both crossed the plains in 1854. They located in
Los Angeles countv in 1880 and purchased a
ranch of fortv acres, and there the mother is
still living at 'the age of sixty-seven years, the
fr.ther having died at the age of sixty-two years,
five months and fourteen days. He was identi-
fied with the Masonic organization, being a mem-
ber of Meridian Lodge, F. & A. M., of Sutter
county. In politics he was a stanch Democrat
and was often called upon bv his party to serve
in a public capacity, having acted as assessor

2096

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Svitter county for several terms. Mr. and
]Mrs. Hungerford became the parents of seven
children, of whom five are living and all are lo-
cated in California.

The first educational training of Wallace
Hungerford was received in the common schools
of Colusa county, Cal., the course being com-
pleted in the grammar schools of Norwalk.
This training was supplemented by a course in
the Whittier College and a private school, where
he perfected himself in a general course of study.
Returning to the ranch he remained with his
parents until he was twenty-three years old, when
he set out for himself, locating on the ranch
where he has made his home for the period of
■ fourteen years, engaging in general ranching
and the dairy business, the latter being supplied
by a herd of fifteen cows and the milk shipped
to Los Angeles. All of the thirty-eight acres
comprising the ranch are in excellent condition,
well cultivated and he has added improvements
■"/Inch make of the property one of the valuable
properties of this section. ]\lr. Hungerford is
a Good Templar,' is interested in the advance-
ment of educational affairs (now serving as trus-
tee of the Camienita district), and is a member
of the jNiethodist Episcopal Gnurch South. Po-
litically he is an advocate of Democratic princi-
ples. He is one of the substantial citizens of this
section, held in highest esteem for the splendid
qualities of citizenship he has already displayed,
for che business ability which is bringing him
success, and the character of his manhood.

HENRY TELESPHARE GIROUX. In the
pioneer days of the state H. T. Giroux, for many
years a well-known merchant of Santa Monica,
left Canada, his native land (having been born
in the vincinity of Montreal, February 28, 1828)
and sought to try his fortunes among the un-
developed conditions of the Pacific coast. His
father, Pierre Giroux, was a farmer of Canada,
where he was born, a son of Jean Giroux, an
emigrant from France, his native country, and
a blacksmith by occupation. H. T. Giroux
learned the trade of blacksmith under the in-
struction of his older brother, Eucher Giroux,
the head blacksmith of the Grand Trunk Rail-
road Company in Montreal. In 1852, fired by
the glowing reports of the wealth of California,
he left Canada, and from an eastern port took
passage on a vessel for the Isthmus of Panama,
which he crossed on foot ; from there he went by
boat to San Francisco, landing absolutely penni-
less, but fortunately not lacking in courage and
energA". Pie immediately found work as a dish
washer, perfectly willing to accept anything that
afiforded him an honest livelihood. After four
weeks he journeyed to the mines in Eldorado

county, where as a miner, grocer and liquor mer-
chant he made a small fortune. Later he car-
ried on mining almost exclusively, and like many
others during those historic times made and lost
several fortunes. He made two trips back to
his home in Canada, the first time in 1865 and
again in 1871, going and returning each time
by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He became
a well-known figure in Eldorado county, where
he was identified for many years with mining
interests.

In 1875 Mr. Giroux located permanently in
Southern California, taking up his residence in
Santa Monica, where he established the first
store, selling groceries and liquors ; with the
growth of the town his interests increased, suc-
cess accompanied his efforts, and he is today in
possession of a comfortable competence. He still
maintains his interest in the mercantile affairs
of the place, still conducting his store, while he
has also invested in property here, owning a busi-
ness lot 50x150 feet, located on Second street.
;Mr. Giroux is a member of the Knights of
Columbus, and in politics is a stanch Republican,
having cast his first vote for Lincoln and ever
since has maintained his loyalty for his party.

ASA HUNTER. Coming to Los Angeles
more th^n half a century ago, Asa Hunter, liv-
ing on a ranch located in the northerh suburbs
of the city, holds a leading position among the
pioneer settlers of this section of Southern Cali-
fornia. From his early manhood he has taken an
intelligent interest in the welfare of his adopted
city and county, materially aiding the progress
and development which has been caried on so
rapidly, and to such a remarkable degree. As a
representative agriculturist, he has achieved suc-
cess by unremitting toil, directed by sound busi-
ness principles, and as an honorable and upright
citizen he possesses the confidence and good will
of the entire community, being respected and es-
teemed by the young and the old. A native of
Kentucky, he was born in 1832, a son of the late
Jesse D. Hunter, of whom a brief biographical
sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume.

His parents moving to Illinois when he was a
child, Mr. Hunter was brought up in Hancock
county, living there until about fifteen years of
age. In 1847 his father started with the ]\Ior-
mon battalion for the Pacific coast, leaving his
wife and five of the children, of whom Asa was
the oldest child, to follow at a later period. In
1 848 therefore the family started across the plains
with an ox-team train, going first to Council
P)luffs, Iowa, where they spent the winter. The
following spring they continued the journey,
Asa driving the oxen, his team being the second
one to drive into Salt Lake Citw Continuing

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2097

the journey westward, he piloted the family
safely to Sacramento, arriving on July 4, 1849,
after a trip full of hardship and anxiety for the
brave youth on whom rested the entire respon-
sibility of caring for his mother, brothers and
sisters. His father and his brother William sub-
sequently joined them in Sacramento, and after
a brief stay in that place brought them to the
southern part of the state. On locating in Los
Angeles in 1851 Mr. Hunter became associated
with his father, first as a manufacturer of brick,
and afterward as a farmer, remaining with him
until 1867. Going then to Antelope*vaIley, j\Ir.
Hunter purchased a ranch, and for seventeen
years was there prosperously employed in stock
raising and dealing. Returning then, at the urg-
ent request of his father, to the old homestead, he
tenderly cared for his parents as long as they
lived, and has since resided here. By industry,
good management and persistency of purpose.
Mr. Hunter has accumulated a handsome com-
petency, and is now living practically retired from
active pursuits. He has recently been dispos-
ing of much of his landed holdings, at the pres-
ent time owning eighty acres of city property,
and but seventv-five acres of land outside of the
city limits. For many years he raised small
fruits and berries in large quantities, but at 'the
present time leases a large share of his land. He
is a most loyal and faithful citizen, and since
coming to this part of California more than fifty
years ago, has been outside of Los Angeles coun-
ty but three times.

Mr. Hunter married Petro Hortcse, who is
of Spanish descent, and they are the parents of
six children, namely : Emily, wife of Jacob
Snyder, of Los Angeles ; William, a dry goods
merchant in Los Angeles, having a well-stocked
store on Broadway, between Fifth and Sixth
streets : Richard, living on a ranch adjoining his
father's, married Mattie Polick and has two
children, Asa and Harben ; Aleck engaged in
farming near the home ranch : Josie, livin^ at
borne: "and Keziah, wife of Daniel Gage, a
guard in the state prison at San Ouentin. Polit-
ically Mr. Hunter is a decided Republican, but
he has never been an aspirant for official honors,
his private business requiring his entire time and
attention.

GUSTAV ADOLPH GEHRING. The an-
cestral home of the Gehring family is in Baden-
Baden, Germany, where both the father and
mother of Gustav Adolph were born. The elder
Gehring was a baker by trade, and left Ger-
many in 1848, coming on the ship Clipper around
Cape Horn to San Francisco, where he arrived
eight months later. As the gold excitement was
then at its height, he went to Trinity county to

work in the mines, and during the ten years he
remained there met with very good success in
his undertakings. By way of Panama and New
York City he returned to- his native land during
the early '50s, and upon his return brought his
wife. They came by way of the Isthmus and
went direct to Trinity county. Subsequently he
sold out the mines which he had there and went
to San Francisco for a year, after which he
settled at Santa Cruz, engaged in the bakery
business for a time, then retired from active work
and both he and his wife died at Soquel several
years later.

The birth of Gustav Adolph Gehring occurred
December 14, 1858, in Trinity county, Cal., he
being next to the oldest child in a family of six
children. He received his education first at a
prvate school in Trinity county and then in the
public schools of Santa Cruz county, and after
his school work was completed learned suc-
cessively the baker's trade, milling and stone
dressing. Later he was employed in the Alma-
den mines for a year, and subsequently prospected
and mined in Trinity and El Dorado counties.
Following this he was foreman in a lumber camp
in ]\Iendocino county for a time, and in 1896
went to Yuma county, Ariz., where he was em-
ployed in the King of Arizona mine, operated by
the Blaisdell Compan)-. He then went to the
desert country and engaged in sinking wells for
H. W. Blaisdell, sinking a three-hundred-foot
well, which he timbered, and also ran the pump-
ing plant. Later he was employed at the Venus
and Mars mine, also running the steam pumping
plant there, and following this went to the Sen-
olar and Fortuna mines.

In 1890 Mr. Gehring located in Temescal,
Cal, on a bee ranch, remaining there until 1892,
when he removed to Elsinore and has been con-
ducting an apiary at this place ever since. His
ranch comprises one hundred and twenty acres,
which is improved for honey production, and he
owns three hundred colonies of bees, placed in
patented hives. He divides bis time between
raising comb honey for the market and his min-
ing interests, among his holdings being an in-
terest in the Gold Standard mine, which has a
shaft two hundred and twenty-five feet deep.

^Tr. Gehring was married at Santa Cruz to
]Miss Charlotte F. Jenkins, who was a native of
that place, and she was residing there at the
time of her death. She became the mother of
three children: Gustav J., of Elsinore: Henry
E.. of Shasta county; and Irene, of Soquel. By
his second marriage Mr. Gehring was united
with ^Irs. Carrie F. (Robinson") Laws, widow of
Benjamin Laws, who died in Fullerton. She is
the daughter of J. W. Robinson, a native of New
York, a pioneer farmer of Ithaca, that state, and
now residing at the head of Elsinore lake on a

2098

TIISTORTCAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ranch. Her mother was Elizabeth, daughter of
Crumlin LaDue. who was a pioneer settler in
Cowlitz county, Wash., where Mrs. Gehring was
born. She was a member of a family of six
children, all of whom are now living. By her
first marriage she became the mother of three
children, Jesse, Benjamin S. and Qiarles C. all
living at home. Mr. Gehring is a member of
Elsinore L.odge. I. O. O. F., and politically
affiliates with the Democratic party. Although
his life is a busy one, largely taken up with busi-
ness duties, yet he finds time and opportunity to
aid in the upbuilding of his section of the coun-
try and occupies a prominent position among his
fellow-citizens.

JESSE D. HUNTER. There was no more
prominent figure among the pioneer settlers of
Los Angeles than the late Jesse D. Hunter,
whose name stands out in bold relief in its an-
nals. He was a fine representative of the men
whose shrewd foresight and determined energy
opened the way for the settlement of this part of
the state, and were ever active in developing its
varied resources. Coming to Los Angeles county
in 1847, it was his privilege and pleasure to
watch its growth from the very beginning, and
to play an important part in promoting its in-
dustrial prosperity. Moving from Kentucky with
his family, he lived for a number of years in
Hancock county. 111., being there engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits.

Enlisting as a private in the Mormon battalion,
under command of Gen. Cook, in 1847, ^^ was
a member of the same company to which Mr.
Charles E. Colton, now an honored resident of
Burbank. belonged, and with his comrades came
to California. While in the army he met with
various thrilling experiences, passing through
all the excitement, danger, sport, and occasional
hardships incident to camp life, these being oc-
casionally varied by a brief visit from the noble
red man and his squaw. In 1849 Mr. Hunter
went north to meet his family, as related in the
sketch of his son Asa, on another page of this
work-, and after his return to this part of the
state was for awhile employed by the Govern-
ment as Indian Agent at Temecula. Going from
there to San Bernardino, he was engaged in cat-
tle raising for a few months, after which he
located in Los Angeles. Establishing himself
as the pioneer brick manufacturer of the place,
Mr. Hunter burned tlie bricks for many of the
prominent buildings of earlier days, including
among others the brick jail which occupied the
present site of the People's Store, on Spring
street; a building at the corner of Main and
Third streets ; a house on the corner of Com-
mercial and Los .Xnc-eles streets ; several brick

buildings near the race track; and a small build-
ing on the spot now occupied by the shop be-
longing to John Myers. As a manufacturer he
was successfully assisted by his son Asa. and the
two carried on a substantial business, brick be-
ing then worth $25.00 a thousand.

Retiring from manufacturing pursuits, Mr.
Hunter bought about twenty-two hundred acres
of land lying just north of the city, on the east
side of the river, and subsequently purchased
three hundred acres on the opposite side of the
stream. Engaging in the care of his land, he
improved a large and valuable ranch, on which
he lived, honored and respected, until his death,
at the advanced age of seventy-five years. He
was a comparatively robust man until the last
year of liis life, when he met with a painful ac-
cident while driving, his horse and cart falling
upon him, and breaking his hip. From 1849
until his death, Mr. Hunter was a continuous
resident of this part of California, never going
out of Los Angeles county excepting on the one
or two occasions that he went to San Francisco
to have his hip treated. He was widely and fav-
orably known as a man of unblemished character,
and his death was regretted as a loss to the com-
munity in which he had passed so many years.
He belonged to the Masons when young, and for
a number of years drew a pension from the gov-
ernment for services rendered to his country.

Mr. Hunter married Keziah Brown, who bore
him ten children, two of whom died in Illinois,
and one in Sacramento, while seven are living,
namely : William, engaged in ranching near the
parental homestead ; Asa, of whom a brief sketch
appears on another page of this work: ^lary,
wife of Joseph Burke, of Los Angeles county ;
Jesse, of this county ; Samuel, residing on San
Fernando road, north of the city; JNIartha. wife
of Eli Ta\lor, of Los .'Angeles county ; and Eliza-
beth D., wife of John Erick, living near the old
race track. Mrs. Hunter survived her husband
a number of years, passing .away on the ranch
where she had lived for so manv vears.

GEORGE A. GOODRICH. Arroyo Grande
is fortunate to be able to count among its citi-
zens George A. Goodrich, a fine old gentleman,
well educated, fully posted on all matters of
general interest and e.xtensively traveled, and
one who is scrupulously honest in every word
and deed, all of these qualities having earned
for him the high esteem of all members of the
community. He is a member of the Masonic
order, and politically a firm believer in the prin-
ciples advocated by the Republican party. At
various times he has served his country in offi-
cial capacities, having been a postmaster during
his residence in Illinois, and also in the =ame state

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2099

he assisted in the census enumeration by the
United States government in 1880. Religiously
both he and his wife affiliate with the Baptist de-
nomination and take an active interest in all mat-
ters pertaining to church work.

Mr. Goodrich is of good old New England
parentage, both his parents, Lemuel J\L and Fan-
nie Hutchinson Goodrich, having been born in
the state of Vermont, which is also the place of
his own nativity. The parents died in Wiscon-
sin at advanced ages, and of the family of four
children, the two sons live in California, W. F.
Goodrich making his home in Los Angeles.
George A. Goodrich was born December 15,
1835. and received a part of his education in
Vermont, and when he removed with the family
to Wisconsin at the age of sixteen years entered
the academy at Milton, Wis. He began his
business career in Wisconsin, where he bought
a ranch and continued to conduct it until 1869.
In that year he went to New Hampshire and
engaged in the wholesale corn and flour busi-
ness at Lancaster, following this until he was
burned out in 1875, when he sold the business
and went to Fulton county, III, buying a farm
there. Six years later he again removed to
Wisconsin and farmed until 1893, when he came
to Ventura county, Cal, and after a short time
settled permanently in San ,Luis Obispo county
on his present ranch, which consists of twenty
acres, planted to vegetables, potatoes, straw-
berries. Logan berries and dew berries, the land
being especially adapted to these crops.

In 1866 Mr. Goodrich was married to Miss
Sarah Smith, a native of New Hampshire, and
to them have been born four children: J. W.,
who is marrted, has three children and lives in
Illinois: Belle. Mrs. Eastic, is the mother
of three children: Ella, who is the wife of
W. H. Bauman. of San Luis Obispo, has two
children: Carrie, who married C. E. Congdon,
also has two children, their home being in San
Mateo.

EDMUND B. GREENE. The wharfinger at
Serena, in the employ of Hayward & Hunt, has
a variety of duties to perform, for there are fif-
teen acres of ground planted to many varieties
of flowers and shrubbery, for which the place
is noted. Edmund B. Greene, the present in-
cumbent of the position, is making a record in
the manner in which he performs his duties and
meets the various visitors who delight to visit
the grounds. In the care of the gardens he has
efficient help in his estimable wife and both of
these pleasant old people are highly respected
bv all with whom they come in contact. The
father of Edmund Greene was born in White-
hall. N. Y.. and the mother. Giristina Ward, was

a native of Vermont. Six children were born to
them, Edmund being the only one living. Both
parents died in Michigan, where they went five
years after the birth of this son in New York,
February 15, 1829. Edmund received his edu-
cation in the state of Michigan, which was his
home until the year 1870. At that time he re-
moved to Kansas and worked at the painter's
trade, which he had learned in the former place,
there doing ornamental and landscape painting.
In 1874 he came to Santa Barbara, Cal, and con-
tinued to work at his trade for a time. At one
time he owned an apiary, from which he de-
rived a good income, and he now owns two acres
in his home place. His wife also has a seventy-
nine acre ranch composed mostly of hay land.
By his marriage, November, 1863, to Sarah
Hutchins, a native of Michigan, one child was
born, who died at the age of four years, and the
mother died in 1874.

In 1900 Mr. Greene married Elizabeth Halli-
day, a daughter of John and Janet (Miller)
Halliday, natives of Scotland. Both of her
parents are deceased, the mother dying in Scot-
land and the father in Canada.

The war record of Mr. Greene is an interest-
ing one, the first thirteen months of his enlist-
ment having been served with Company E, Fifth
Volunteer Cavalry of Kansas. After the expira-
tion of this term he again enlisted, this time in
1863 in Company H of the Sixth Regiment of
Michigan Heavy Artillery, in which he served
until he was wounded m the battle at Blakely,
Ala., when he was assigned to detail service and
accomplished valuable work in drawing maps
for the use of the First Division of Thirteenth
Army Corps.

W. F. HALL. The founders of the Hall fam-
ily in America became pioneers of New Eng-
land, whence their descendants scattered through-
out the entire country. From Connecticut, where
he was born and reared, Nathan Hall migrated
to New York and there married Miss Rachel
Goodwin, a native of that state. From that time
onward they continued to live in the Empire
state and at advanced years passed away at their
Havana homestead. During the existence of the
Whig party Mr. Hall had been one of its sup-
porters and subsequent to its disintegration he
identified himself with the newly organized Re-
publican party. Of his three children one son
died while employed in the St. Louis internal
revenue office, and the only daughter. Mrs. C. H.
Reno, who had been making her home with the
second son, W. P., in Los Angeles county, died
October 19. 1906.

Seneca Falls. N. Y.. is the native town of
W. F. Hall, and November 13. 1836. the date of

!100

HISTORTOM, AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his birth. L'pon completing the studies of the
pubHc schools he entered Wesleyan College at
Lima, Livingston county, N. Y., from which he
was graduated in 1859. Afterward he en-
gaged in teaching school in Missouri and Mich-
igan. At the opening of the Civil war his sympa-
thies were such that he promptly offered his
services to the L'nion, and August 16, 1861, was
accepted as a member of Company F, First Colo-
rado Cavalry. From Denver the First Colorado
made a forced march to Fort Union, N. Mex.,
as General Sibley of the Confederate army vi^as
on the march from the plains of Valverde,
where he had defeated his brother-in-law, Gen-
eral Canby. General Sibley was on his way to
Santa Fe, where he raised the Confederate flag
and declared New Mexico in the Confederacy.
The First Colorado reached Fort Union and
from there proceeded to Santa Fe, meeting Gen-
eral Sibley's advance guard in Apache Caiion,
about twenty-five miles from Santa Fe. It was
while with his command in Apache Canon, in
making a charge on a Texan battery, that Mr.
Hall was wounded, March 26, 1862, and re-
moved from the field to a hastily improvised hos-
pital at a ranch house. The next day he was
captured by Texans, but was released four days
later, and afterward was unable to leave the
hospital for about three months. On his re-
covery he rejoined his regiment and was with
them in the sanguinary battle of Sand creek
against the Indians. When peace was declared
he was ordered back to Denver and there dis-
charged, October 30, 1865, after a service of
four years, three months and fifteen days. Prior
to the war Generals Sibley and Canby were col-
onels in the regular army, their wives being sis-
ters. During the war Mrs. Canby came through
the lines and visited the sick and afflicted in the
hospitals, giving them refreshing delicacies
which were greatly appreciated, as for some time
their fare had consisted almost solely of parched
corn, owing to the destruction of a supply train.
As a memento of his hospital experience Mr.
Hall still cherishes a Bible which Mrs. Canby
bestowed upon him at that time.

Returning to Michigan, J\Ir. Hall resumed the
work of teaching school in St. Joseph, and dur-
ing the summer vacations was employed on the
lake as a shipping clerk. During 1868 he went
again to Denver and secured the principalship of
a school nine miles from the city. While acting
in that canacitv. in the fall of 1869, he married
Rebecca A. Chapman, whose mother is still liv-
ing in Downey. During 1870 he removed to
Washington and for four years was in the em-
plov of the government as teacher in the Quini-
ault Indian Reservation, one hundred and fiftv
miles from Olyn'ipia. In this work he had the
capable assistance of his wife. At the end of

this time, in 1874, he came to California and
purchased his present ranch of forty-live acres
near Downey. Since then he has made a spe-
cialty of stock-raising and now has sixteen head
of cattle on his farm. Mr. and Airs. Hall are
the parents of three children, namely : Alice,
who married William D. Mansfield; Catherine,
wife of Edward Mather, who is a jeweler by
occupation ; and Edwin R., who is connected
with a boat at San Pedro. In politics Mr. Hall
has always been an ardent Republican. For ten
years he has officiated as trustee and clerk of the
schools, and besides he has filled the positions of
"deputy assessor and secretary of the water com-
pany. Fraternally he has been a member of the
Independent Order of Foresters for a long
period. The possessor of a tenor voice of rare
strength and sustaining power, he has aided in
the choir work of the Presbyterian Church and
in concerts the value of his services as a singer
has often been of especial importance in secur-
ing success for the venture.

CHARLES F. GREENMAN. Noteworthy
among the active business men of Burbank is
Charles F. Greenman, one of the leading real-
estate dealers, and a citizen of influence and
worth. A native of New York state, he was
born, June 11, 1845, in Fulton county, where he
lived until sixteen years old. Removing to Wis-
consin in 1861, he was there engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits for a number of seasons. In
1864, before attaining his majority, he enlisted
in Company A, Twenty-third Wisconsin Volun-
teer Infantry, as a private, and subsequently par-
ticipated in several important engagements of
the war, being with Grant at the siege of Vicks-
burg, taking part in the Red River and Mobile
expeditions, and in other notable events of the
conflict. Augvist 18, 1865, he was honorably dis-
charged from the service, after which he re-
turned to his Wisconsin home. Going to Minne-
sota in 1867. he was there engaged in farming
for five years, when, in 1872, he migrated to
Iowa, where he resided for twenty-four years.
A part of this time he there followed general
farming, after which he worked at the carpen-
ter's trade for fifteen years, and then ran a res-
taurant for eight years, being quite successful in
all of his operations.

Coming to Southern California in 1895, Mr.
Greenman purchased a vineyard in Antelope val-
ley. Taking up a part of the vines, he set out
small fruits, and was there engaged in horticul-
tural pursuits for two years. Removing then to
Burbank, he purchased an unimproved ranch
lying three-fourths of a mile west of the village,
and immediately began its cultivation, during
the two years that he occupied it raising alfalfa.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2101

Later purchasing a restaurant in Burbank, he
operated it for three years, when he sold out at
an advantage. He then bought his present com-
modious and attractive residence in Burbank, and
has since devoted his entire time and attention
to the buying and selhng of real estate. A man
of excellent business tact and judgment, he has
acquired much valuable property in this vicin-
ity, owning two ranches adjoining the village,
and several desirable lots in both the business and
residence parts of Burbank.

Mr. Greenman has been twice married, his
first marriage occurring in Wisconsin and unit-
ing him with Araminta Dolliver, by whom he
had three children, all of whom reside in the
east. His second marriage was with Susan
Crowell, and they have one child, Fern Green-
man. Politically Mr. Greenman is a Republican,
and while a resident of Iowa belonged to the
Grand Army of the Republic. He is identified
with but one benevolent organization, that being
the Burbank Lodge of the Fraternal Brother-
hood.

SQUIRE ED HICKS. To possess the love
and respect of fellow-citizens and neighbors
bodes well to the recipient of whatever age he
may be, but if he be a young man with life still
before him the honor is all the greater. Prob-
ably no one in the San Jose valley is better known
or stands higher in the esteem of his neighbors
than Mr. Hicks, a progressive, up-to-date ranch-
er in the vicinity of Spadra. On both sides of
the family he comes of antecedents who were
reared in the south for many generations, and
he himself is of southern birth, having been born
in Fulton county, Ky., July i, 1861, a son of
William and Mary J. (Irven) Hicks, they too
being natives of that southern state. ' This was a
momentous period in the history of our country
and with thousands of other loyal citizens Will-
iam Hicks offered his services in support of the
Confederacy, having been born and reared in an
atmosphere which fostered sentiments of seces-
sion. His zeal, however, was destined to cost him
his life, for he was killed on the field of battle
in 1864. In Kentucky Mrs. Hicks had formerly
married Mr. McClannahan, by whom she be-
came the mother of one child, Nancy, now the
widow of F. M. Glidewell. The mother and
daughter now make their home together in Okla-
homa.

Bereft of a father's care and training when he
was a child of three years, Ed Hicks received
from his mother the love and guidance of both
parents, and in return she has had the satisfac-
tion of seeing him grow to a noble manhood and
take his place on the battlefield of life. As he
was little more than a babe when he left Ken-

tucky his education was received entirely in
Texas, where he made his home until grown to
manhood. Then as now, cattle-raising was the
chief industry in that state, and in starting out
to find employment Mr. Hicks had no difficulty
in securing work as a ranch hand, and for many
years rounded cattle on the Texas plains. He
also drove cattle from that state to the pasture
lands of the neighboring states of New Mexico
and Colorado. Subsequently he relinquished
work along this line to some extent, following
it only during the summer seasons, while dur-
ing the winters he was employed by the street
car company of Fort Worth, that state. He
claims the honor of running the first car over
the tracks of the Fort Worth electric car line, and
he remained in the employ of the company as
motorman for six years. It was about this time
that he came to the west, with San Francisco as
his destination. He did not remain long in the
metropolis, however, coming soon afterward to
Pomona, where he secured a position with J.
E. Packard, and later entered the employ of A.
T. Currier, with whom he remained about five
years. Scon after his marriage, which occurred
in 1892, he bought the ranch of thirty-seven and
a half acres upon which he still resides, and
which in the intervening years has been trans-
formed into one of the most productive ranches
in the county. The land is in two pieces, the
one which is called the home ranch being em-
bellished with a comfortable residence and all
that goes to make a well-equipped ranch.

Mr. Hicks settled down to domestic life in
1892, at which time he married Miss Susie Ar-
nett, who was born in Alendocino county, this
state, and is a daughter of Robert S. Arnett, a
descendant of southern ancestors. Henry coun-
ty, Tenn., was his birthplace, and there also his
parents, Samuel and RIalinda E. (Norman)
Hicks, were born. The grandfather was a vet-
eran of the war of 1812, and served with brav-
ery under the command of General Jackson. The
early boyhood years of Robert S. Arnett were
passed upon his father's farm in Tennessee, and
as the educational advantages in the south at
that time were poor at the best, his training
along that line was sadly deficient. However,
he was determined to secure an education and
forged ahead with that object in mind. From
Tennessee he went to Mississippi, there as in
the former state working on farms and saving
his earnings, in so doing adding to the fund
which he was setting aside to pay his tuition
through college. By private study in addition
to his college training he fitted himself to teach,
and thereafter followed farming and teaching as
long as he remained in the south, or until 1853,
when he crossed the plains with his family, mak-
ing the trip behind the slow but sure oxen. From

no-

HISTORICAL AND EIOGPAPHICAL RECORD.

Colusa county, where he first located, and where
he engaged in ranching for four years, he re-
moved to Mendocino county, there as in his
prior location taking a vital interest in all mat-
ters that affected the welfare of the community.
While in Princeton, Colusa county, he was made
postmaster of that town, filling the position ef-
ficiently in addition to managing his ranching in-
terests. In Mendocino county he resumed agri-
culture, clearing and improving raw land, upon
which lije carried on stock-raising principally.
He also added school teaching to his other duties,
and was given charge of the first school held in
Little Lake valley. After a residence of ten
years in Mendocino county, in 1867 he disposed
of his holdings there and came to the San Jose
valley, locating on the Palomares tract in Los
Angeles county, just north of what is now the
city of Pomona. The Palomares homestead was
one of the landmarks of the county, located on
the San Bernardino road, and there for two
years Mr. Arnett furnished substantial refresh-
ment and lodging to travelers, his hostelry being
regarded by wayfarers of that time as one of
the bright spots on an otherwise -long and tire-
some journey between the scattering towns. It
was in 1874 that he came to Spadra. and it \vas
in this vicinity that lie spent the remainder of
his long and interesting life. For two years he
lived on land which he rented from A. T. Cur-
rier, but later he purchased fifty acres in the
vicinit)' and erected a very fine residence. He
was one of the earliest pioneers of the San Jose
valley, where his name was a household word,
for he was loved and respected by old and young
alike, and is still rememberd for his many kindr
ly deeds. For many years prior to his death he
was a deacon in the i3aptist Church, and in his
political belief he was a Democrat. During his
later years Mr. Arnett made his home with his
daughter, Mrs. Hicks, his wife having passed
away in 1866. He survived her nearly forty
years, his death occurring in August, 1905, when
the community mourned the loss of one of its
most substantial and best-beloved citizens. ]\Irs.
Hicks was one of seven children born to her
parents.

In his political sympathies Mr. Hicks is a
Democrat, and takes a keen interest in party af-
fairs, but is not interested in the sense of office-
seeking, for he has no ambition in that direction.
Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of
Pythias lodge at Pomona.

JOHN S. HARBISON. The genealogical
records of the Harbison family trace their line-
age back to the year 1435 in Ireland. Early in
the settlement of America three of the name
immigrated to the new world, and years later

John, a descendant of one of the immigrants,
became a pioneer of Freeport, Pa., where he mar-
ried Massy, daughter of Edward White, a soldier
of the Revolutionary war. Himself a stanch
patriot and brave soldier, John Harbison en-
dured many perils in his service against the hos-
tile Indians and fought under Wayne and St.
Qair in various desperate engagements. On
one occasion, when seriously wounded, a retreat
was ordered, and with his wound hastily dressed
he made his way to the spot occupied by the
remnant of St. Clair's army, where he was as-
sisted into the fort and cared for until his re-
covery. The opportune arrival of other soldiers
saved them from the Indians. During his ab-
sence from his home the savages murdered two
of his children, May 22, 1792, and took his wife
and infant prisoners to a camp near the present
site of Butler, Pa. At night she watched for
and seized a chance to escape and stole away in
the darkness, fleeing through the woods and
over streams of water, and at one time was
saved from capture by a new-fallen tree, under
which she crawled with her babe until the In-
dians had passed out of sight. Traveling by
night and hiding by day, she finally reached the
Allegheny river near Pittsburgh in safety, after
having endured hardships and exposure which
would have killed a woman of less robust con-
stitution. She lived to rear a large family, and
died in 1846, at the age of seventy-s'x years.

Among the children of this brave pioneer
couple was a son, William, who settled in Beaver
county. Pa., and later moved to a farm near New-
castle, where he died. His wife, Margaret, who
was born in Washington county. Pa., December
28, 1799, was of English descent, a daughter of
William and Margaret (Gray) Curry. Under
General Washington as chief armorer in the
field, William Curry (or, as the government re-
ports give his name, William Currie) participated
in eight battles of the Revolutionary war, being
present at the memorable crossing of the Dela-
ware, and was also a "minute man." When
Major Andre was captured, William Curry was
one of the men in charge of the armory at Car-
lisle, Pa., which was used as a prison for the
noted traitor and many other noted British pris-
oners.

In the family of William and Margaret Harbi-
son there were three sons and one daughter, but
John S. is the sole survivor. Born in Beaver
county, Pa., near Freedom, September 29, 1826,
he was reared on a farm five miles from New-
castle in what is now Lawrence county. Pa., and
there received such advantages as the public
schools aflforded. \\nine engaged with his
brothers in the nursery business he gained a prac-
tical knowledge of the occupation that proved
helpful to him in later years. In 1854 he took

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2103

passage on the Northern Light to Greytown,
thence crossed via the Nicaragua route and from
there proceeded on the Sierra Nevada to San
Francisco, where he landed on the 20th of No-
vember, 1854. For some weeks he prospected
in Amador count}', but he found that the life
was one of great hardship and constant exposure,
with little gold to be obtained by the inexperi-
enced miner, so he went to Sacramento and in-
vestigated the possibilities of fruit culture, the
result being that he wrote east for seeds and
small trees. These arrived in February, 1855,
and were immediately planted. In the fall of
1855 he imported a general assortment of decid-
uous trees, from which he sold nursery stock
to all of the pioneer horticulturists in the Sacra-
mento valley, and also sold some of the first fruit
trees planted at Vacaville. It had been his orig-
inal plan to build up a large nursery and then
sell at a profit and return east, but during the
years of 1855 ^^^ 1856 he studied the flora of
the country and decided to engage in the bee
business.

Returning east in the spring of 1857, Mr. Har-
bison made arrangements for the shipment of
sixty-seven colonies of bees. November 5, 1857,
he took passage on the Northern Light for Aspin-
wall, thence took the Golden Age, Capt. R. C.
Whiting, for San Francisco, where he landed
with sixty-two of the hives in excellent condition.
The freight on the bees had cost him $1 per
pound, but even at that high price the invest-
ment proved profitable. Establishing an apiary
near Sacramento, he increased his original colo-
nies during the same year to one hundred and
seventy hives. Some time before nine hives of
bees had been brought to California, but they
were in inexperienced hands, so that it may be
said that Mr. Harbison practically started the
industry in the state. In the fall of 1858 he re-
turned to the east and made another importation
of over one hundred hives, and during these
years he sold bees readily for $100 per hive and
honey at $1.00 per pound. About the same year
he established a large nursery for shade trees
and introduced the yellow locust and Lombardy
poplar, which, together with other ornamental
trees, he sold in San Jose, Marysville, etc.

Through his representations of a favorable
outlook for the industry INIr. Harbison induced
R. G. Clark to come west and embark in the
business. November 28, 1869, they brought to
San Diego one hundred and ten hives and estab-
lished an apian- near Lakeside. During the four
years of their 'partnership they established four
apiaries and when dividing their interests each
retained two. In April, 1874, Mr. Harbison
moved to San Diego county, and the following
year he erected the residence which he still occu-
pies. At different times he transferred many of

his hives to this county, and at one time owned
twelve apiaries with thirty-seven hundred and
fifty hives of bees. Among his purchases of
land was the tract of seven hundred and twenty-
six acres known as the Sweetwater apiary, in
the Dehesa district of San Diego county, which
he has developed into one of the finest country
places in Southern California. The idea of bee
culture was ridiculed by many when "he came
here, but he proved the wisdom of his judgment
by the financial success of his plans. In those
days the country was dominated b_\- the stock-
men, whose policy it was to discourage people
from settling up the ranges. However, as bees
did not eat grass, they saw nothing to fear from
apiarists, for it did not occur to them that a class
of men would be brought in whose vote would
overbalance their own. So it proved, and a
new district attorney, judge and sheriff were
finally elected, and a no-fence law was passed by
the legislature. Thus the introduction of bees
caused San Diego county to be settled up many
years sooner than would otherwise have hap-
pened.

The first car of honey shipped by Mr. Harbi-
son to the east was in 1869. Its successful pass-
age caused him to repeat shipments to the Chi-
cago and New York markets. In 1873 he
shipped his first carload from San Diego county
to Cliicago, accompanying the shipment person-
ally. Years afterward agencies were established
in different cities and a systematic business was
maintained. In one year he shipped twenty-three
cars of comb-honey east, besides two cars to San
Francisco and Sacramento, but this was not all
of his own raising. At expositions he was a fre-
quent exhibitor. In 1876 he was awarded a
medal at the Philadelphia Centennial, and at
New Orleans and St. Louis he also received the
highest awards for the quality of honey ex-
hibited. While he expended thousands of dol-
lars in that way, he was personally benefited by
the exhibitions and at the same time San Diego
county was widely advertised. Through his en-
ergetic management of the business he became
the largest apiarist in the world, and his name
was well known to all interested in the industry.
In 1861 he published the Beekeepers' Directory
of the Theory and Practice of Bee Culture, of
which he is the author. In 1857 he made an im-
provement to the hive and invented and patented
the first section box for honey, which was first
exhibited in 1878 at the California State Fair at
Marysville.

In addition to his extensive bee interests Mr.
Harbison set out large fruit orchards in Upper
Mission valley and engaged in raising oranges
and olives, but these lands he later sold. For
manv years he was a stockholder in the Harbi-
son Wholesale Grocery Company, Incorporated,

2104

HTSTORTCAL AND IJIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and in uarly days he officiated as a director in
the Bank of Commerce, of which he is yet a
stockholder. Strictly temperate in his habits,
upright in all business transactions, energetic in
dispositon and sincere in his friendships, he is a
man who would be a valuable acquisition to the
citizenship of any town. Since the organization
of the party he has voted the Republican ticket,
but he Jias never been a politician. Fraternally
he is connected with the blue lodge, chapter, com-
mandery and consistory of the Masonic order in
San Diego, while in religious connections he i.s
an attendant upon the services of the Presby-
terian Church and a contributor to its mainte-
nance. At Newcastle, Pa., June 15. 1865, he
married Miss Mary J. White, who was born and
reared there and was educated in the high school.
Her oaternal grandfather. Judge David White,
was the son of an English lord, and her maternal
grandfather, Robert Reynolds, was an early set-
tler in Pennsvlvania, whither he removed from
Maryland. Her parents, Samuel H. and IN'Iary
(Reynolds) White, were born in Newcastle,
where they lived after marriage. Three children
were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Harbi-
son and two of these attained maturity, but
Florence, after having graduated from the high
school, died at twentv years, mourned by a large
circle of friends. The onh- surviving child of
the family is Edith, who married Edward Henkle
and resides in San Diego.

GEORGE B. ROWELL, M. D. Not long
after the Pilgrim Fathers had crossed the un-
known ocean to the bleak shores of New Eng-
land and had planted the ensign of freedom on
the Atlantic coast, the Rowell family became
identified with the little colony of self-sacrificing
emigrants who endured tlie hardships of a dreary
and stern environment. It was during the year
16.^2 that the first representatives of the name
in the new world left their old home in England,
where thev long had been prominent in the city
of Exeter, and established their race amid the
rugged surroundings of Massachusetts. With
the material development of the locality they
were intimatelv associated, and many genera-
tions lived and labored in New England. In
the family of Joshua and Svbil (Spaulding)
Rowel], natives of New Hampshire, there was a
son. Spaulding, born in that state in November,
t8?i, and reared in the locality familiar to his
earliest recollections. While still quite young
he gained a wide experience in the lumber in-
dustrv. and in order to enlarge his interests in
that business he removed to Canada, where he
became the owner of a number of sawmills and'
engaged extcnsivclv in the manufacture of lum-
ber. While ^till largely interested in business

pursuits his death occurred in 1877, his wife
having passed from earth two weeks prior to
his death.

Among the children of Spaulding and ]\Iartha
(Ball) Rowell there was a son, George B., who
was born in the vicinity of Montreal, Canada,
July 19, 1859, and received his early education
in local schools. From an early age he deter-
mined to become a physician and his studies
were directed with that ambition in view. On
completing classical studies he took up the study
of medicine, matriculating in McGill University,
one of the leading medical schools in Canada,
from which he was graduated in 1884. Imme-
diately after graduating he crossed the ocean to
England and engaged in post-graduate work in
London for one year, meanwhile gaining much
important practical knowdedge of the science to
which he had dedicated his life. The degree of
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of
England was conferred upon him on the com-
pletion of his special studies.

Returning to Canada at the expiration of his
European studies and travel, Dr. Rowell entered
upon active professional practice, and soon after-
ward received an appointment as professor of
anatomy in Bishop's Medical College, which
position he filled for two years, or until his de-
parture from Canada. In search of a climate
less rigorous than that of his native land he
came to California in December, 1887, and
opened an office in San Bernardino, where he
has since built up an important general prac-
tice and has gained a reputation for skill in
diagnosis and in the treatment of difficult cases.
The establishment and management of efficient
institutions for the instruction of medical stu-
dents have always been matters of interest to
him, and he took an active part in the founding
and incorporation of the College of Physicians
and Surgeons at Los Angeles, of which institu-
tion he has since been a member of the board
of trustees and professor of the practice of
medicine. The duties connected with his work
as a member of the faculty oblige him to make
frequent trips to Los Angeles and a goodly por-
tion of his time is spent in that city, yet he still
retains a large practice in San Bernardino, and
in both cities has a circle of warm friends to
whom he is known and by whom he is admired
as a skilled physician and a polished gentle-
man.

ERNEST EASTWOOD. There are few
citizens within the limits of ^'entura county who
have been more deeply interested in its agricult-
ural development or more closely informed as
to its material resources than is Ernest Eastwood,
who, though not a native of the United States, is

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2105

a loyal American citizen and has spent the great-
er part of his life in the state of California. His
first experience with agriculture was not en-
couraging, for during his initial season (the
year 1893, there occurred a drought) with de-
vastating effects, but he did not allow himself
to become discouraged by the losses resulting
therefrom ; instead, he put added determination
into the work and had the gratification of win-
ning success from his venture on a ranch. Now
he ranks among the most prosperous farmers in
his vicinity and owns and manages large tracts
of valuable land.

The ancestry of the Eastwood family is traced
back to a member of the famous West India
Company. The third generation in descent from
that illustrious ancestor was represented by
George John Eastwood, a native of London, Eng-
land, and a manufacturer in that city. There he
married Felicita Whitling, who was born and
reared in London. They became the parents of
twelve children, of whom five sons came to the
United States. Their third child, Ernest, was
born in London, July 2, 1865, and was four years
of age when the parents came to America, set-
tling in Colorado. Coming to California in
1875, he and his wife now reside at Elrio, Ven-
tura county.

While still a mere boy Ernest Eastwood be-
gan to aid his father in ranching pursuits and
he also worked at the builder's trade. On leav-
ing home he began to work at the carpenter's
trade and continued at the occupation for sev-
eral years, but in 1893 he abandoned the build-
ing business to enter upon agricultural pursuits.
For a time he engaged in raising beans and
barley on the Colonia. Later he bought a ranch
of nearly nine hundred acres in the Conejo dis-
trict, where he has since engaged in raising grain,
cattle and hogs.

The marriage of Ernest Eastwood and Miss
Mary McGlinchey was solemnized August 25,
i8gi. Mrs. Eastwood was born in county Done-
gal, Ireland, and in 1884 came to America with
her parents. In religion both Mr. and Mrs.
Eastwood are earnest members of the Santa
Clara Catholic Church. Measures for the bene-
fit of his neighborhood receive his stanch sup-
port and he has been especially interested in edu-
cational work, which he has promoted in his dis-
trict by serving as school trustee. Throughout
the entire community he is known and honored
as an influential man, progressive citizen and a
capable and energetic agriculturist.

J. HENRY MILLIGAN. As a self-made
man who has achieved considerable prominence
in San Bernardino county, J. H. Milligan. the
general superintendent of the San Bernardino

County Hospital, is recognized as one of the
ablest citizens of this section of the state. His
grandfather, James Milligan, was born in Ire-
land and immigrated to America with his father,
they becoming pioneers respectively of Illinois
and Des Moines, Iowa. Harvey Newton, the
son of James and the father of J. H. Milligan,
was said to be the first white male child born
in the present limits of the city of Des Moines.
Harvey Newton Milligan was in Texas when
the Civil war broke out and was forced to join
the Confederate army, but his health failing just
before activities commenced in that section he
was released and picked up as a straggler by an
Iowa regiment stationed there at the time and
returned" to his native state. His brother, Will-
iam Henry, belonged to the Seventh Regiment
of Iowa infantry and after the war the two
brothers went to Memphis and established a
newspaper. Removing from there to Nashville
they engaged in a similar enterprise and after
disposing of their interests at that point went
to Jackson, Tenn., and engaged in the lumber
business for a time.

While located here Mr. Milligan married Miss
Addie C. Hutchinson, who was born in Jackson,
her father being a large planter at that place.
After his marriage Mr. Milligan traveled con-
siderably, made trips to northern California and
Montana, engaged in mining for a period, and
then located in Dallas, Tex., where he conduct-
ed the largest job printing office in that city at
the time. In 1890 he came to San Bernardino
county, purchased a ranch of one hundred and
five acres, improved it and engaged in horti-
cultural pursuits for five years, then made his
home in the city of San Bernardino for one year,
after which he engaged in farming at Highland
and remained there until his death in 1901. He
was prominent in Masonic circles, having at-
tained the Royal Arch degree. Mrs. Milligan is
living and resides in San Bernardino.

The birth of J. H. Milligan occurred March
22, 1876, at Jackson, Tenn., he being the young-
est of three children. His childhood was spent
in different places until his fourteenth year,
when he came with his parents to San Ber-
nardino. While his father owned the printing
office in Dallas. Tex., he worked there and
learned typesetting, and after coming to San
Bernardino assisted him to improve the ranch
which was purchased. In 1897, knowing that
he had his own way to make in the world, and
recognizing the need of an education, he re-
solved to "attend high school. At that time his
parents resided at Highland and as there was no
electric car connection with San Bernardino, he
began casting about for a way to get back and
forth from home. Accordingly he decided to
purchase a bus and contracted to convey the

2106

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

high-school students from Highland to San Ber-
nardino and attend school at the same time. In
this way he made his way through, attaining
great popularity among his classmates and
achieving an enviable record in his studies. He
displayed especial talent as a speaker and was
called the boy orator of the school. He was
selected as first president of his class and was
active in all of the high school organizations.
After three years of this work his health became
impaired and he was obliged to give up further
study.

Deciding to tr\- a change of location Mr. Mil-
iigan went to San Francisco, secured passage
on the steamer San Pedro for Nome, Alaska,
and engaged in prospecting for a time, later be-
ing employed by the Nome Nugget Dredging
Company. In the fall of igoo, his health having
been fully restored, he returned to his home at
Highland, and as the death of his father oc-
curred shortly afterward he remained on the
farm for a time to care for his mother. Later
he went to Arizona and secured employment in
the mines as hoisting engineer at the headquar-
ters of the Rio Del Monte mine. May 28, 1903,
he came to San Bernardino on a vacation and
June 15, 1903, was appointed by the board of
supervisors to the position of general superin-
tendent of the County Hospital and Farm, which
position he still occupies. The farm comprises
twenty acres of ground located in the city limits
and has been improved from its original condi-
tion as an area of sand dunes to a veritable
garden with the help of the electric pumping
plant which has been installed. The ground is
devoted to the raising of hay for fifteen head of
dairy stock, and vegetables and fruits. The
place is improved with all necessary outbuildings
and one large main building, which now has a
capacity of over one hundred and fifty inmates,
the usual number, however, ranging from sev-
enty-five to one hundred and twenty.

The marriage of Mr. Milligan to Miss Mary
E. Rennahan, who is a native of Las Vegas, N.
Mex., occurred February 8, 1906. They own
a residence in San Bernardino. Fraternally Mr.
Milligan affiliates with several lodges, being a
member of the Knights of Pythias; Court No.
447, I. O. F., and is past grand deputy of the
High Chief Rangers of California; also a mem-
ber of Knights and Ladies of Security. His in-
fluence is always exerted on the side of good
government in public matters and at one time
he was sent by the Highland district to repre-
sent them as an independent delegate to the
county convention. The agitation in this conven-
tion resulted in the nomination of a group of in-
dependent candidates chosen from the different
parties, who were eventually elected by the peo-
ple, the politics of the county being changed and

at the same time a revolution being accomplished
whereby the liquor element was eliminated. ]\Ir.
Milligan's interests are in the upbuilding of the
community in which he lives, he lends his influ-
ence toward the furthering of all elevating and
progressive enterprises, and he is accounted one
of the most valuable citizens of San Bernardino
countv.

STEPHEN A. ]\IARLETTE. Long identi-
fication with the interests of a certain" locality
brings to a man a feeling of oneness with that
section of country, and thus we find that Mr.
Marlette, after a continuous residence of more
than thirty years in San Diego county; feels him-
self to be intimately associated with his home
district, which has been the scene of his activities
during almost the entire period of his residence
in California. Descended from eastern ancestry,
he is a son of Joseph H. and Catherine (Brady)
Alarlette, natives respectively of New York and
Vermont. His father engaged in railroading
throughout much of his active life, and while
filling the position of brakeman he ran on the
first train over the newly-built road that forms
a part of the present Rock Island system. On
resigning as roadmaster in the east he came to
California in 1875, and since then has made his
home in San Diego county. Though quite ad-
vanced in years, he still retains his physical activ-
ity and is engaged in carrying the mails from all
the trains running into the city of San Diego.
His wife died in 1896, at the age of sixty-six
years.

Among the six children comprising the family
of Joseph H. Marlette was Stephen A., who was
born in Peoria, III, November 9, i860, and re-
ceived his education in the schools of Laporte,
Ind., the family having removed thither in his
boyhood. After his arrival in California he for
a time worked for wages on ranches, and mean-
while saved his earnings until finally he was in
a position to buy property. At this writing he
owns a ranch near Julian consisting of two hun-
dred and fifty-five acres, on which he raises hay,
corn and grain, also fruit of the principal varie-
ties. In his work he has shown himself to be
energetic, determined and industrious, and his
standing among neighbors is excellent. By dint
of wise management he has made substantial im-
provements on his land and has converted it into
one of the valuable homesteads of the district.

The marriage of Mr. IMarlette united him with
Miss Nellie ]\IcKurnan, who was born in Rhode
Island. Her parents for a time were neighbors
of the ^iJarlette family in Illinois, but they moved
east to Rhode Island and the others to Indiana,
so that they became separated for a time. Later
the children became acquainted, and in 1883 Mr.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

■2107

Marlette married the young; lad}-, who hke him-
self was reared in the Roman Catholic faith and
always lias been a sincere member of that church.
Their children are named as follows : Patrick
H., Rose, Robert, Leo, Mabel (who died in in-
fancy), Nellie. Francis and Blanche. Fraternally
Mr. Marlette holds membership with the Order
of Foresters, while in politics he votes the Demo-
cratic ticket in national elections and locally
supports the men he deem.s best fitted to repre-
sent the people, irrespective of their party plat-
forms and personal opinions concerning the tariff
and other national problems.

WILLIAM J. PHILLIPS. The records of
the Phillips disclose the fact that they descend
from English ancestry and have been represent-
ed in America ever since the year 1703, their
original location being in New England, where
successive generations held positions of honor
and trust and wielded extensive influence among
their fellowmen. From the Atlantic coast they
drifted across the Hudson river into the then
frontier of New York, and from there, Jo H.,
a native of the Empire state, removed to the
wilderness of Michigan in 1836. Taking up
a tract of land he devoted himself to transform-
ing the raw prairie soil into fertile fields.
Eventually he acquired two hundred acres com-
prising as fine a farm as could be found with-
in the limits of Macomb county. The sub-
stantial residence and large farm buildings were
erected under his supervision, and all of the
other improvements represented his energy and
laborious application. The farm was stocked
with cattle and horses of the best breeds and
stock-raising was one of his specialties. Be-
sides beingactive in all questions pertaining to
agriculture, he took a leading part in local poli-
tics, was stanchlv devoted to the Republican
party, and contributed not a little to its local
success. For his integrity and sterling quali-
ties he was esteemed by a large circle of ac-
quaintances throughout his section of the state.
His death in 1878 occurred twelve years after
the demise of his wife, who was Qarinda Briggs,
a native of New York and a descendant of an
English family identified with the colonial his-
tory of our Atlantic coast country.

At the home place near Armada, Mich., Will-
iam J. Phillips was born March 29, 1859, being
a son of Jo H. and Clarinda Phillips. His early
life differed little from the lives of other farmer
boys of his day and locality. During winters he
attended the district school and in the summer
he tilled the soil of the home farm. After com-
pleting the studies of the country schools he was
sent to Romeo Academy, where he took a thor-
ough course of study. Upon leaving school he

secured employment with an agricultural imple-
ment firm. As their special agent for thresh-
ing machines and traction engines he exhibited
engines at county and state fairs in Michigan,
Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, con-
tinuing in this business for a period of twenty
years. The year 1895 found him a resident of
San Bernardino, where now he makes his home.
Though not one of the early settlers of the
county, he is well known throughout this sec-
tion and has many warm friends among people
of a'l classes. Soon after his arrival here he
entered the Santa Fe railway shops, where he had
charge of the tool department. During the
seven years of his identification with that work
he rendered efficient service and proved himself
to be eminently trustworthy.

While not displaying any offensive partisan-
ship in his preferences, Mr. Phillips has always
been known as a decided Republican in his po-
litical opinions, and he has been active in local
councils of the party. Though firm in his own
convictions, he is nevertheless liberal and es-
teems men none the less though their ideas may
be the opposite of his own. From his party in
1903 he received the nomination for city treas-
urer and later was duly elected to the ofiice for
a term of four years. At this writing he de-
votes his attention to the work of the office, in
which he is making a record for efficiency and
trustworthiness. His home at No. 969 Fifth
street is presided over by his wife, who was
Estella Day, of Oxford, Mich., daughter of R.
A. Day, an honored citizen of that place. They
are the parents of one child, Fileda May. In
fraternal connections Mr. Phillips still retains
membership with Anchor Lodge No. 278, I. O.
O. F., at Oxford, Mich., and with Oxford
Lodge No. 108, K. of P., also of that town.

WILLIAM KINKEAD. Occupying a firm
position among the honored citizens and the
substantial and well-to-do farmers of San Diego
county is William Kinkead, of Moosa. Settling
here nearly four decades ago, he has from the
uncultivated soil built up a valuable homestead
w^hich will remain as a monument to his indus-
try and enterprise for generations to come. He;
has been wise in his investments, making the
best of his opportunities, and while laboring for
his own welfare has in nowise been unmindful
of the interests of his community. Coming here
at an early period of the settlement of the place,
he knows all about the hardships and privations
of life in a new territory, his varied experiences
forming a rich storehouse, wherein he has gath-
ered much from his observations of human life
and of the ways of the world. A son of David
Kinkead, he was born, October 27, 1834, in

2108

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Guernsey county, r)hio. where he was brought
up and educated.

David Kinkead was a native of Ohio, and un-
til 1855 he made that state his home. Text-
books and school training were practically' un-
known to him, for he attended school only two
days in his whole life. During his boyhood he
learned the shoemaker's trade, and at the same
time studied law. At the age of twenty-one he
formed domestic ties by his marriage with Miss
Lydia Haines, of Hendrysburg, Ohio. Five
miles east of Cambridge, on the Steubenville
road, he bought land, and also laid out the town
of Centerville, where he opened a hotel and a
store. Besides managing these enterprises he
continued his farming and stock-raising inter-
ests, and for a number of years practiced his
profession and also served as justice of the
peace. Leaving Ohio in 1855 he moved with
his family to Knoxville, jMarion county, Iowa,
where he purchased a residence, one hundred
and sixty acres in close proximity to that city,
and also fourteen hundred acres in Galloway
county. He was admitted to the bar of Iowa.
He died in 1866, and according to the terms of
his will his fourteen hundred acre farm was
equally divided among his children. He was a
man of marked ability, an active member of
the Democratic party, and was quite prominent
in Masonic circles. His wife survived him
many ^ears, passing away in Knoxville. The
parental family comprised seven children, as
follows : Eliza Jane. Calvin, Sarah Anne, Maria,
William, Alexander and Lemuel.

Leaving home in 1854, William Kinkead came
to California, and the following fourteen years
was engaged in mining pursuits, locating first
at Spanish bar, on the middle fork of the Ameri-
can river. Subsequently, in company with his
brother, he located claims at Eolsom, posting no-
tices on the best lots in the place on Christmas
day, 1856, and immediately afterwards erected
the first dwelling in the town, a house which he
had no difficulty in renting for $75 a month. In
1858 he went to the great Eraser river mines
in l^.ritish Columbia ; not meeting with sufficient
success in the mines of the north, in i860 he
went to Nevada and carried on mining at Vir-
ginia City and Gold Hill until 1863. He also
participated in the Reese River excitement. Near
Newpass, Nev., he located hay lands, having
found water in the vicinity, and also established
a station known as Gopher Hole. In May, 1865,
he joined a party of thirty-two who went through
the Death Valley country to Arizona. Return-
ing to California in May of 1866 Mr. Kinkead
stopped in San Bernardino until May of the fol-
lowing year, and in the same month of 1868
came to San Diego and took up government
land a short distance from where he now re-

sides. After making a few improvements he
sold the land and homesteaded one hundred and
sixty acres now included in the home ranch,
taking it up from the government, besides which
he bought one hundred and sixty acres of state
land. Improving his property, Mr. Kinkead be-
came extensively engaged in stock raising, for
many years making this his principal business,
but more recently he has devoted his time and
energies to bee keeping, meeting with satisfac-
tory results.

In 1882 Mr. Kinkead married Nancy Welty,
who was born in Iowa, a daughter of Jonathan
Welty, who came to California in 185 1. Of the
union of Mr. and Mrs. Kinkead six children
have been born, namely : Alice, Katie. Myrtle,
Ellen, Josie and Ruskin. In politics Mr. Kin-
kead has not been very active, but he is a firm
believer in the principles of the Socialist party,
which he uniformly supports by voice and vote.

PHILIP H. REED. One of the most tho-
roughly competent architects and mechanical en-
gineers in this section of the state is Philip H.
Reed, who has been located in Colton for the
past five years. He received a comprehensive
education in technical schools and has also edu-
cated himself by practical work in the different
lines in which he is interested professionally.
Besides architectural and mechanical drafting
he carries on a planing mill and pattern works,
and designs both interior and exterior house fur-
nishings. He is a native Englishman and was
born in London, June 13, 1864, the son of Henry
S. and Eliza (Brown) Reed, who came to live
in London, Canada, in 1869 and stayed there until
they died, the father at the age of sixty-eight
years, and the mother at fifty-four. By trade
the father was a manufacturing confectioner, and
fraternally he belonged to the I. W. O. F. of Lon-
don, Canada. Both parents were members of the
Baptist Church. There were eight children in
their family, of whom one daughter and Philip
H. live in California ; Arthur is engaged in the
leather business at Richmond Hill, N. Y. ; Henry
is a farmer in New York ; and Fred is an of-
ficial of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada.

When brought by his parents to Canada Philip
H. Reed was about five years old. and it was
there that he spent his boyhood days and re-
ceived his education. He attended the public
and high schools, and the school of technology,
in the latter taking a complete mechanical course.
Going to Chicago he took up architectural stu-
dies at the Athenaeum and then returned to Can-
ada and followed the trade at the bench in
order to gain practical knowledge of the work.
When twenty-four j'ears of age he again went
to Qiicago, this time becoming superintendent

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

>109

of the Chicago Gas Stove Company, and during
the three years thus occupied still continued
his architectural studies. From there he went to
Denver and engaged in architectural practice
with offices in the McPhee Building, where he
made plans and superintended buildings until
1894. He then turned his attention to the me-
chanical departments of work and began pattern
making, continuing at this in Denver and Pueblo,
Colo., until 1901. He then went to San Fran-
cisco and was employed in the Risdon Iron works
as patternmaker for three months, after which
he located in Colton, which has been his home
ever since. He has been very successful in all
of his work here and has had a hand in the
planning-, erection and furnishing of many of
the business blocks, apartment houses and pri-
vate residences in this city. He received and
carried out the contract for the building of the
Home Telephone building and the Gilbert flats,
and has been engaged as architect by the Colton
school board to draw plans for any buildings
thev may erect for educational purposes.

In 1887 occurred the marriage which united
Mr. Reed to Miss Gertrude AI. Mabie, who was
born near Rockford, 111., and this union has
been blessed by the birth of three children, one
daughter. Mabel, and two sons, Howard and
Philip. The parents are active members of the
Baptist Church and Mr. Reed is politically an
adherent of the Republican party. As a leading
citizen of Colton he takes a prominent part in
the furthering of all plans for the upbuilding and
developmen*' of his home town, and exerts an
elevating influence upon the social life of the
communitv.

OLIVER ATWELL ALLEN. The thriving
blacksmith shop and carriage manufactory con-
ducted by Mr. Allen in San Bernardino is with-
out question the largest enterprise of the kind
in Southern California outside of Los Angeles.
It is plainly evident from this statement that Mr.
Allen must be a thorough workman in all de-
partm.ents of the business in order to success-
fully manage so large an undertaking. This is
true and justly so, for throughout his life he
has been employed along this line, besides which
he inherits a predilection for the business from
his father, who followed the blacksmith's trade
during his entire life. The structure occupied
by Mr. Allen is one which he purchased some
years ago and remodeled to suit his special busi-
ness. The building is 44x80 feet, located on a
lot which extends back three Inmdred feet, thus
furnishing ample room for storage of material.
In the blacksmith department three fires are
necessary. In the woodworking department the
material is prepared for manufacturing the fine

line of carriages and wagons which bear the
name of Allen & Son, for he has the assistance
and co-operation of his eldest son, Byron W.

Oliver A. Allen is a native of Ohio, born in
Geauga county October 5, 1850, the youngest
but one in a family of ten children born to his
parents. Six of the number were daughters,
but only one of them is now living. Both par-
ents, Ira and Rebecca (Calkins) Allen, were na-
tives of Vermont, where their marriage oc-
curred, and some time later they removed to
Ohio. In 185 1 Mr. Allen removed to Michigan
with his family, settling in Homer, where as in
Vermont and Ohio he continued to work at the
blacksmith's trade. After his death his shop
was continued by his elder sons, and it was
under the training of his brothers that Oliver
A. became proficient at his trade. He continued
with them until securing a position in Albion
with the Woolcott Windmill Company, remain-
ing with them for three years, or until coming
to San Bernardino in 1884. After working at
his trade here for three years a desire to see
the old home and his relatives induced him to
return to Michigan, where he fully intended to
remain, having in the meantime secured the
position of foreman with his old employers, the
Woolcott Windmill Company. Six months later,
however, he was seized with an equally strong
desire to return to the west a longing which he
satisfied immediately by returning to San Ber-
nardino. As he was a first-class workman he
had no difficult}' in securing employment, and
for about four years w^s in the employ of C. E.
Lehman, at the end of that time, in 1891, buy-
ing out his employer and continuing the busi-
ness at that location until the growth of his
trade made largei quarters a necessity. It was
at this juncture that he bought and remodeled
his present structure on Third street, where he
has built up one of the largest enterprises of the
kind in this part of the state outside of Los
Angeles.

In Homer, Mich., Mr. Allen was first mar-
ried to Miss Rose Knapp, who was born in New
York state and died in San Bernardino, leaving
two children, Byron W.. who is his father's
partner in business, and Edna, the wife of Sid-
ney H. Rockwood and a resident of Fresno.
Byron W. Allen is also married, his wife prior
to her marriage having been Faith Garner, and
they are the proud parents of one son. Jack.
Some time after the death of his first wife
Oliver A. Allen was married in Michigan to
Miss Sarah Hiller, she also being a native of
that state. The famil}' occupy a pleasant resi-
dence at No. 538 Eighth street, besides which
Mr. Allen owns other valuable property in San
Bernardino. While residing in Homer, Mich.,
lie was made a Mason in the local lodge, and

2110

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

since coming to California has joined San Ber-
nardino Lodge No. 348, F. & A. M. Politically
he is a Republican, and is a member of the
Board of Trade of San Bernardino. Mrs. Allen
is a member of the Presbyterian Qiurch, toward
the support of which Mr. Allen contributes, as
he does to all measures which have for their ob-
ject the uplifting of humanity.

At the time of the Rebellion Mr. Allen was a
boy of about eleven years, and although he was
too young to participate he well remembers the
enlistment of his older brother, King P. Allen,
in whose daring and bravery he took a com-
mendable pride. He enlisted as a member of the
Second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and after
serving the term of his enlistment was honorably
discharged. He is now a resident of Pullman,
Wash. The patriotic spirit of the Allen family
became evident in the next generation when, at
the age of sixteen, Byron W. Allen enlisted in
the National Guard of California. The opening
of the Spanish-American war gave him an op-
portunity for active service and he went to the
front as corporal of Company K, Seventh Cali-
fornia Regiment, later was promoted to ser-
geant, and as such was honorably discharged
from the service. Thereafter he continued his
membership in the National Guard for a number
of years, or until the expiration of his term,
when he was discharged with honors, in Novem-
ber, 1905, having served as first lieutenant of
his company for four years prior to this date.

CHARLES B. ADAR1S. The life which this
narrative chronicles began in Burlington, Vt.,
December 29, 1830, and closed at Long Beach,
Cal., March 8, 1899. The Adams family be-
came established in America during a very early
period of colonial settlement and one of its
branches settled in Vermont, where succeeding
generations lived and labored as tillers of the
soil and pioneer business men. Among those
who bore the family name was John Adams, who
married Amanda Barbour, also a member of a
colonial family of Vermont. Some years after
their marriage they migrated to New York
state and there labored for a long period, but
eventually removed to Illinois, where at Aurora
Mr. Adams died. Later the widow joined mem-
bers of the family in Minnesota, and in that
state in the city of Minneapolis she passed away.
Among their children was a son, Giarles B.,
who was a small child at the time of the removal
to New York state and received his primary ed-
ucation in the country schools common to that
day. Following the westward tide of emigra-
tion he became an early settler of Aurora, III,
and from there removed to Newburg, Mitchell
county, Iowa, later going to Minnesota and set-

tling at Austin, where he became interested in
business enterprises.

From the beginning of the Civil war Mr.
Adams was stanch sympathizer with the cause
of the Union, and in August of 1862 he offered
his services as a volunteer in the army, his as-
signment being with Company C, Ninth Minne-
sota Infantry, with which he went to the front
to aid in quelling the rebellion. During a very
long march he received injuries which disabled
him and made it necessary for him to remain in
a hospital for a time. On his recovery he was
honorably discharged in March of 1863, and at
once returned to Austin, where he resumed his
association with civic aflfairs. For many years
he made his home in Minnesota, but finally de-
siring to settle in a more genial climate, he came
to California in 1889. For eight years he lived
on a ranch near Anaheim, and upon disposing
of that property came to Long Beach, where he
purchased and improved real estate.

The marriage of Mr. Adams was solemnized
August 22, 1857, and united him with Miss
?ilar}-, daughter of Michael Shaney, a native of
Lowell, Mass. When she was quite small she
was orphaned by the death of her mother and
afterward remained with her father until she
became the wife of Mr. Adams. Born of their
union were five children, namely : Hattie A. ;
Loraine, who married Edward Wolverton and
resides in Kansas ; Edna I., Mrs. William
Cooper, of Long Beach; Sherman R., a resident
of Long Beach ; and Clarence C, whose sketch
appears elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Mary
S. Adams died at Long Beach, November 11,
1906, and is buried beside her husband in Signal
Hill Cemeterv near Lone Beach.

MARTIN STUCKER FREER. No name is
better known or held in higher esteem than that
of Freer, established in Los Angeles county by
a pioneer whose name will ever be honored in
the citizenship which has given to California hef
supremacy among sister states. Martin Stucker
Freer is a native Californian, and was born in
Berryessa, Santa Clara county, October i, 1854,
his father being William H. Freer, tlie pioneer,
whose history is given at length elsewhere in
this volume. Reared on the home farm for the
first twenty-one years of his life, Martin S. was
educated in the public schools of his native coun-
ty. He came to El Monte, Los Angeles county,
in October, 1875, driving stock to the farm
which his father had bought in 1869 and left in
charge of his brother Thomas till that time. He
remained at home with his father until he was
twenty-eight years old, when he became depend-
ent upon his own resources, in partnership with
a Mr. Dobbins renting a part of the Baldwin

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2111

ranch for one year, then the Rowland ranch of
Puente for three years, when Mr. Freer went to
Tehachapi, Kern county. He engaged in the
raising of grain, horses and mules on a ranch
of four hundred and eighty acres of land which
he purchased in Tehachapi, was very successful
in his work, and added improvements which
made it one of the fine and valuable ranches of
this section. He finally purchased a ranch of
three hundred and twenty acres fourteen miles
from the home place which he rented, and con-
tinued these interests for sLx years, when he sold
his farming implements, all machinery, stock,
etc., and went to Oakland, Cal, and made that
place his home for about eight years. At the
expiration of that time he returned to his ranch
and began raising alfalfa and hogs and contin-
ued thus occupied until 1905, when he rented
his property (the following year selling the home
place and continuing to rent the other for the
raising of grain) and returning to Los Angeles
county located on his farm of thirty-five acres
a mile and a half from El Monte, where he is
now installing a pumping plant and expects to
set the entire ranch in walnuts.

In Oakland, December 19, 1892, Mr. Freer
was united in marriage with Mrs. Elvira Louisa
(Moody) Wilkinson, a native of Moore countv,
N. C, and a daughter of W. H. Moody. He
was also a native of North Carolina and served
in a regiment of that state in the Civil war as
major. He removed to Tennessee and thence to
Arkansas, and about 1869 brought his family
overland to California. He settled at El Monte
and engaged as a builder, finally removing to
Anaheim and following the dairy business until
his death at the age of forty-five years. He was
a prominent JNlason and a Democrat politically.
His wife was formerly Mary Mills of New York
City, who married there at the age of eighteen
years. After the death of Mr. Moody she mar-
ried Rev. John Freeman, a Baptist minister who
resides at Norwalk. By her first marriage she
became the mother of four children, namely :
Lucy J., wife of John H. Freer, of Arcadia; An-
derson H., of Redondo ; and Elvira Louisa. Mrs.
Freer had three children by her first marriage,
Lester, Geneva and Lewis. In his political af-
filiations Mr. Freer is a stanch advocate of Dem-
ocratic principles and seeks to advance these in-
terests.

HENRY JACOB PRATT. The experiences
of Henry Jacob Pratt throughout a varied ca-
reer in the western states have served to make of
him one of the most entertaining of companions,
whose recollections take him back to the begin-
ning of civilization on the Pacific coast. De-
scended from an old New England family, he

was born in Taunton, Mass., July 23, 1847, next
to the youngest in a family of eight children, of
whom but three are now surviving. Two broth-
ers, Charles Allen and Dean Jones, were killed
in the battle of Pea Ridge in the Civil war, the
former a member and corporal in the Third Regi-
ment Illinois Cavalry, and the latter of the One
Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment Illinois In-
fantry ; two brothers survived the perils of war-
fare, William L., first of the One Hundred and
Twenty-ninth Infantry and later of the Third
Cavalr\-, now a resident of Idaho, and Morton A.,
of the Third Regiment Illinois Cavalry, raised to
the rank of captain and later brevet-major, a resi-
dent of Wichita, Kans. The last named is known
as the "father of Populism" and was a popular
candidate for the vice-presidency on the Populist
ticket when Weaver ran for president in 1896.
Their father, Capt. D. L. Pratt, was engaged in
the merchant marine service for many years, after
which he located in Livingston county. 111., and
was there employed as a farmer until' his death.
Their mother was Elizabeth Douglas in maiden-
hood, a native of Massachusetts: her death oc-
curred in Livingston county, 111.

Henry Jacob Pratt was reared in Illinois,
vyhere his father located in 1852, receiving a prac-
tical training on the paternal farm while he at-
tended the public school in pursuit of an educa-
tion, later completing the course in the Joliet high
school. Upon attaining his majority he set out
for the west, going first to the Black Hills by
mule teams, and after one year spent in that lo-
cation, continuing the journey to Virginia City,
Nev. He was first employed on a ranch, where
he remained for some time, in 1871 coming to
Humboldt county, Cal., and with one hundred
head oi cattle engagiiig in stock-raising. At the
same time he superintended a large ranch in the
vicinity, known as the Clover Vallev ranch, in
which he later purchased an interest. ' Tliev con-
tinued to add to the acreage of their ranch until
they owned one of the large ranches of that sec-
tion. In 1884 they sold out and Mr. Pratt or-
ganized a company known as the Jordan \'allev
Livestock & Land Association, of "which he be-
came secretary and manager, the company pur-
chasing thirty thousand acres in Humboldt coun-
ty on the Little Humboldt river, and there en-
gaged in an extensive raising of stock, their
brand being the bullshead. In 1898 INIr. Pratt
sold out his interest in this association and made
the trip to Alaska, making his wav by boat to
Skagwav, over the White Pass, down the Yukon
to Dawson City, where he engaged in mining and
prospecting. He remained in that citv for three
years, engaging in mining and prospecting, and
in a general merchandise business. In 1901 he
^\■ent to Nome and mined for two vears, and in
1903 he returned to Nevada, where lie was one of

2112

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the organizers of the Washo Power & Develop-
ment Compan}', after which he engaged as super-
intendent in the construction of the electric pow-
er plant in Reno. He has continued his associa-
tion with this company, although he came to Red-
lands in 1905, and here purchased the Frink
ranch and organized the firm known as Cheney &
Pratt, this property consisting of five hundred
and twenty acres in the San Timoteo canon,
about eight miles from Redlands. In December
of that year he located on the ranch and became
the general manager of the concern, instituting
a dairy of seventy cows, and operating a cream-
ery, using a gasoline engine, patent churn and
separator, and now supply the Star Grocery of
Redlands, the products being considered the best
the country affords. Mr. Pratt has been very
successful in his work and is considered one of
the most enterprising and progressive men of
this section, esteemed both for his business abil-
ity and personal qualities of character.

In Sacramento, Cal., Mr. Pratt was united in
marriage with Mrs. Minnie (Long) Jones, a na-
tive of Wisconsin, who crossed the plains by ox-
teams in an early day. They are the parents of
three children: Morton E., a miner in Mexico;
Mabel A., wife of John Lindsay, of Tonopah;
and Frank H., a miner of Goldfield, Nev. Mr.
Pratt was made a Mason in Winnemucca, Nev.,
and now belongs to the lodge of Reno, Nev. ; and
was raised to the degree of Royal Arch in Win-
nemucca. Politically he is a Republican.

CHRISTIAN MICHELSEN, a prominent
citizen of Hollywood, was born in Denmark,
Mark 30, 1844, a sturdy Danish ancestry giving
to him qualities of character which have formed
the foundation for his success in mature years.
His parents, John and Stine (Hjordrup) Michel-
sen, were both natives of the Jutland Peninsula,
where the name has been prominent for genera-
tions in public affairs. Mr. Michelson received
an excellent education in his native land, after
which he learned the cabinet maker's trade and
also took up the work of printer, engaging in this
dual occupation until attaining the age of twenty-
two years. Attracted by the multifold oppor-
unities held out by the western world, he decided
to emigrate, and accordingly in the year 1866 he
came to America. His principal employment
during the four years which he spent here was as
a printer, his training on Danish papers having
given him a valuable experience. Returning to
Denmark at the close of the four years he was
drafted into the Danish army and after serving
six months was let out on parole. In the mean-
time he had written a book on "Life in Western
America" and published it in Denmark, and this
proved to be the initial step of many years of

successful writing in both his own and the Eng-
lish language.

Again locating in America after an eighteen
months' stay in his native land, Mr. Michelsen
settled in the niiddle west, following his trade
in Missouri and Nebraska for the period of five
years and establishing a varied acquaintance with
the conditions of the country in which he was
making his home. He then returned to Den-
mark, and being on parole, served the full time
of his required enlistment in the Danish army.
Upon his honorable discharge from the service he
returned to America, and in 1878 located in Fre-
mont, Neb., and following this was engaged for
many years in writing for various Danish news-
papers throughout the United States. At the
present time (1906) he has seven quarto vol-
umes filled with clippings of his own writings and
published in different papers throughout the
country. Since 1886 he has given lectures
throughout the country, having made his first
tour of the United States in that year, and every
two years since he has toured this country and
the Orient. He is now contemplating a tour to
Russia which is to occupy a period of ten months,
taking in Holland, Belgium, France and Austria,
thence to Denmark, where he intends to deliver
a course of lectures on his observations in the
latter countries. He has traveled on every con-
tinent, having made an extended tour of Egj'pt
and the Holy Land, his strong powers of obser-
vation and assimilation enabling him to quickly
become familiar with conditions, manners and
customs of the different places he has visited,
and giving him a fund of varied information,
which makes of him an entertaining and instruc-
tive speaker.

Mr. Michelsen located in California in October,
1881, becoming a resident of the city of Los
Angeles, where he followed his two avocations
in conjunction with his writings. He purchased
propert)' in the beautiful little city of Hollywood,
where in 1906 he erected a handsome home on
Plummer street, which is presided over by his
wife, formerly Miss Eveline Rasmussen, whom
he married before his first trip to America. They
are the parents of the following children : Olga,
who lives near San Francisco : Manu H., en-
gaged as a blacksmith in Los Angeles ; Thor, a
musician and vaudeville star touring the United
States at the present writing; Philaletha, who
was born in Denmark and reared in California,
receiving her education in the schools of Los
Angeles, after which she entered the law depart-
ment of the University of Southern California
and was graduated June 16, 1905. and admitted
to the bar July 15, 1906. Her federal examina-
tion was taken September 3, 1906, and in the
near future she expects to locate in Los Angeles
and engage in the practice of her profession r

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2113

liamilton, foreman for the Lacy Manufacturing
Compan_y in the erection of oil tanks ; Rufus.
also a tank builder ; Twain, at home ; and Eve-
line, a student in the grammar schools of Holly-
wood.

The broad training which has been the largest
educational feature in the life of Mr. ]\lichelsen
has given him a mental scope of unusual breadth
and understanding. All of the issues of life —
business, social, political or religious — are viewed
by him in a broad-minded, liberal spirit, are
weiglied accLirding to his wide, mental grasp
made possibly by his ready assimilation and
thorough understanding of human nature, and it
is in this spirit that he brushes shoulder to
shoulder with men and measures that make up
the warp and woof of every-day living. Inde-
pendent by nature and made more so by his
training, Mr. ^Nlichelsen is eminently capable of
deciding important questions under his own rigid
questioning and never decides hastily or without
due consideration. His judgment can be de-
pended upon and his decision be regarded be-
cause of its fairness to all concerned. Mr. Michel-
sen is a Theosophist in his religious views and
lives up to the principles of that doctrine in the
thorough way in which he endorses all principles
which are a part of his views. Thoroughly
whole-souled and genuinely interested in the ad-
vancement of those about him, interesting and
entertaining in his mental development, Mr.
Michelsen has won a host of friends in his jour-
neys about the world, being appreciated both for
his moral and mental stature. He is a citizen of
prominence and one upon whom public honor
may safely rest.

ELIAS THOWSON. One of the leading
citizens of Norwalk and noted for his zeal in
any movement pertaining to the upbuilding and
development of the place is Elias Thowson, who
has conducted a meat market here for the past
ten years. He is a native of Norway, his birth
having occurred there February 27, 1868; his
father, Thor, and mother, Elizabeth (Hansen)
Thowson, were both natives of the same coun-
try, and emigrated to America in 1887 and in
California established their home. They are
now living near Anaheim, Orange county, where
the father is engaged in the management of a
ranch which he owns. They are the parents of
nine children all of whom are now living in
this state.

Elias Thowson was sixteen years old when he
decided to come to the LTnited States and try
his fortunes among the broader opportunities of
the western world. He located in Oregon first
and there engaged in ranching for the period of
a year, when he went to North Dakota and

worked on a farm belonging to his uncle. Two
years later, in the year 1887, he came to Cali-
fornia, and from Los Angeles went to Anaheim,
where he eventually purchased a ranch of forty
acres and proceeded to its cultivation and im-
provement. He was located about four years
in that section when he sold out and went to
Washington and took up land, but not caring for
the climatic condition or prospects there, he re-
turned to California and in Buena Park fol-
lowed ranching for two years. He then estab-
lished a butcher business in that place and con-
ducted it successfully for one year, when he
came to Norwalk and became the proprietor
of his present fine business. This he has built
up from a small beginning, enlarging his ca-
pacity until he now runs two wagons through
the country. He is a successful business man
and has made a host of friends through his
square and upright methods and manner of
dealing with the public.

In 1889 Mr. Thowson was united in marriage
with Miss Edith Mason, a native of Wisconsin,
and they have one son, Irving. Fraternally he
is identified with the Odd Fellows organization
of Artesia, and is conductor of the lodge ; the
Independent Order of Foresters; Woodmen of
the World ; Modern Woodmen of America ; and
Daughters of Rebekah. In his political convic-
tions Mr. Thowson reserves the right to cast
his ballot for the candidate he considers best
qualified to discharge official duty.

GEORGE S. PHILLIPS. As one of the ris-
ing young men of Pomona mention belongs to
George S. Phillips, who aside from any reflected
honor from his well-known father is respected for
his own personal worth and ability. Since the
death of Louis Phillips, which occurred in March,
1900, his son has been secretary of his estate,
which has been incorporated and is known as the
Louis Phillips Estate Company.

A native son of the state, George S. Phillips
was born in Spadra, Los Angeles county, Oct-
ober 21, 1874, being the youngest child in the
family of his parents. He received his educa-
tion in the public schools. Since 1901 he has
been a director in the First National Bank of
Pomona and of the Mutual Building & Loan
Association also of this place, and many other
institutions in the town name him among their
stockholders. The incorporation of his father's
vast holdings made his services necessary in its
management, and since then he has been secretary
of the Louis Phillips Estate Company. Included
among the holdings are a number of valuable
business structures of Pomona, also similar prop-
erty in Los Angeles, and among the latter may
be mentioned the Hamburger and also the New-

2114

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mark stores. For nine years Mr. Phillips was
a member of Company D of the old Ninth Na-
tional Guard, and later was second lieutenant of
Company D of the Seventh Regiment, holding
this office at the time of his resignation in 1898.
Since locating in Pomona he has become a mem-
ber of the Chapter and Commandery, and Al
Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Los
Angeles. He is also a member of the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks. Politically he gives
his support to the candidates of the Republican
party.

In 1897 Mr. Phillips was married to Miss
Irene Richmond Dudley, who is a native of Wis-
consin, and was born in La Crosse. She came
west during her girlhood years, and here re-
. ceived the greater part of her education, her
school da3's closing with her graduation from
the state normal school at Los Angeles. The
home life of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips has been
brightened by the birth of three interesting chil-
dren, Adelaide Louise, Louis Dudley and George
S., Jr. Mrs. Phillips shares in the esteem in
which her husband is held, and in both religious
and social life of Pomona she is an active worker.
She holds membership in the Episcopal Church
of this place, is a member of the Eastern Star,
and also belongs to the Ebell and Shakespeare
Clubs. The family home at No. 305 East Holt
street is the center of hospitality, where their
manv friends delight to gather.

RICHARD WAINWRIGHT REEVES. The
pioneer element was the strongest characteristic
in the life of Richard Wainwright Reeves, one
of the early settlers of Redlands and a citizen
who gave no little toward the upbuilding and de-
velopment of this section of Southern California.
He was of southern lineage, his birth having oc-
curred in North Carolina in February, 1810: his
father, James Reeves was also bom in that state,
whence in 1812 he removed to Tennessee and in
Rutherford engaged as a farmer for eighteen
years. Locating in Pekin, Tazewell county. 111.,
in 1830, he followed the life of a pioneer farmer
until his death, which occurred when over ninety
years old.

Richard W. Reeves learned the carpenter's
trade in Springfield, III, and later engaged in
raising thoroughbred horses, having a circuit
throughout Illinois and Indiana for ten years.
Removing to Missouri he located in Livingston
county and there with his father-in-law. Mr.
Ramsey, built the first house on the prairie, the
wood brought direct from the Missouri forest
and their own hands completing the work. He
followed farming after his marriage about this
time and also prosecuted his trade. In 1850 he
followed the westward trend of civilization and

crossed the plains to the gold fields of California,
returning after two years to his wife, who had
remained behind in Pekin, 111. In the year of
his return (1852), they located at Spring Hill,
Mo., and made that place their home until 1864,
when, with his wife and three children, Mr.
Reeves outfitted with ox-teams and crossed the
plains to Montana. They were four months en
route, during which time they suffered much
from the depredations of the Indians, but suc-
ceeded in arriving in safety in August. There
]Mr. Reeves took up a homestead ranch in Wil-
low creek valley, their resources having been de-
pleted by the inroads made upon them by the
journey, etc., and they were thus compelled to
begin at the bottom again. They built a little
cabin and necessary outbuildings, and there Mr.
Reeves sold hay at $60 per ton, and his wife but-
ter at $1.50 per pound. They gradually brought
their farm to a high state of cultivation and there
remained for twelve years. Because of the health
of Mrs. Reeves (who had been an invalid for
eight years) they came to California in 1876,
making the journey in wagons. The second day
of the trip she began to improve and by the time
they had reached Southern California she was in
very much better health and gave promise of re-
covering her health entirely.

In San Bernardino county Mr. Reeyes pur-
chased twenty acres of land from J. B. Glover at
$20 per acre, eight miles from the city of San
Bernardino. Here they built a home and began
farming; for many years it required their united
efforts to again build up their fortunes, but per-
severance and energy conquered, and in 1906
they sold a valuable twenty-acre grove of
oranges which brought them large returns. Mr.
Reeves helped get out the first ditches in the
count)' and in many ways was a factor in the de-
velopment of the section. His death occurred in
1882, at the age of seventy-two years. He was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Giurch, as
is his wife, both having united with it in 1841
and proved faithful to their vows in the long
years that followed. Politically Mr. Reeves was
a stanch adherent of the principles advocated in
the platform of the Democratic party.

Mrs. Reeves was in maidenhood Ruth Ann
Ramsey, a native of Qiautauqua county, N. Y.,
and a daughter of Samuel Ramsey, who was
bom in Ohio, where the paternal grandfather
was a large farmer and orchardist in the vicinity
of Columbus. Samuel Ramsey was married in
Ohio to Mary Porter, a native of Pennsylvania,
and they then located in New York, where the
wife died in early life. He then married Rachel
Porter and returning to Ohio located in Ashta-
bula county, and three years later to a new post
of Ohio, where his daughter saw her first In-
dian. Locating in Fremont, 111., three years !at-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2115

er, they lived there for three years and then went
to Livingston county, Mo., where he improved
a farm. He eventually made a trip to Texas, but
did not remain there, returning to Missouri and
locating in Spring Hill, where he spent his last
days. By his first marriage he had three chil-
dren, Mrs. Reeves being the only one now sur-
viving. She was born April ii, 1826, and up to
the age of thirteen years attended the public
schools in pursuit of an education. She was
married October 5, 1840, and with her husband
began the pioneer life which she has led all these
years. After the death of her husband she sold
the orange grove and located in Redlands, where
she is now residing at No. 102 Washington
street. She became the mother of eight children,
of whom four are now living: Joseph J., the hor-
ticultural inspector of Redlands ; William B., lo-
cated in San Bernardino ; J. Chapman, engaged
in the hay and grain business in Redlands ; and
Edward, of Redlands.

JAMES B. MURPHY. The Murphy family
is of Scotch-Irish descent, and was represented
on the American continent long before the
French and Indian war added another epoch of
disquiet to the lives of the colonists. Tlirough
marriage a strain of French blood was added
to the family in a remote generation. The great-
grandfather Murphy participated in the French
and Indian war. He was the son of Edwin and
Jane (Tibbetts) Murphy and to them twin sons
were born April 5, 1857, in Oskaloosa, Iowa.,
While they were still young the family removed
to Fairfield, Jeflferson' county, that state, where
the children were reared and trained, attending
the public schools and Parsons College. When
they were twenty years old the father died, and
shortly afterward John B. Murphy, our subject's
twin brother, was taken ill and removed to Col-
orado Springs for his health. In order to be
near his brother and tend him in his illness
James B. accompanied him in 1878 and from that
time until 1884 was employed as a contractor in
plaster and mason work. For the next six years
he was engaged with Edwin Florence in the shoe
business on Tejon street, Colorado Springs, their
place of business being known as the City Boot
and Shoe Store. In 1891 he removed to Los
Angeles and started in the grocery business, in
Pico Heights. In the meantime, in 1892, he was
appointed" postmaster at Pico Heights, serving
under both Harrison and Qeveland. Subse-
quentlv he was appointed to fill the same office
in Prospect Park under McKinley, but a number
of years later he resigned on account of ill-health
and at the same time sold his mercantile business
in Prospect Park. Since regaining his health
Mr. Murphv has resumed work at his old trade.

contracting for cement, brick-work and plaster-
ing of all kinds in Prospect Park, Hollywood
and Los Angeles.

While in Colorado Springs Mr. Murphy was
united in marriage with Miss Alice Louise
Parker, the ceremony being performed July 16,
1879. Mrs. Murphy was born in Saratoga coun-
ty, N. Y., and is a daughter of George anB
Louise Malinda (Laughlin) Parker. Five chil-
dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, of
whom four are living, the eldest, Alice Marie,
dying when three weeks old ; Grace Jane is the
wife of B. F. Sanford, and lives in Berkeley,
Cal. ; Florence Louise, the wife of Warren J.
Lander, makes her home in Prospect Park ; while
the two youngest children, Ruth and Earl James,
are still at home with the parents. The subject
of education is one which has always been of keen
•interest to ]\Ir. Murphy, and as a result he has
been called upon to fill many positions in this
line. Since 1898 he has been trustee of the Los
Feliz school district and is also trustee of the
Hollywood L^nion high school and is clerk of
both boards.

In the Methodist Episcopal Qnirch, of which
Air. Murphy is a member, he has held the office
of steward for a number of vears. has been a
teacher in its Sunday-school for twenty-five
vears, and for the past three years has been the
instructor of the young ladies' normal class. He
is identified with but one fraternal organization,
the Knights of Honor.

LOUIS WILHELM. Many successive gen-
erations of the Wilhelm familv were prominent
in the business development of their native Ger-
man village. Schleid. The history of the family
shows that John Adam Wilhelm. who was bom
and reared in Sachse-Weimar, and served for
several years as tax collector and treasurer of
his district, owned a flour mill in town and a
farm near by, the management of the two bring-
ing to him an excellent degree of profit each
year. At the outbreak of the Schleswig-Hol-
stein war he went to the front and while in ac-
tive service was wounded so seriously that event-
ually his death resulted therefrom. The estate
theii fell to his only child, Louis, who was born
at Schleid, Sachse-Weimar, June 22, 1863, and
was but two and one-half years of age at the
time of his father's death. The money was
utilized largely in the acquiring of a superior
education in the best German institutions of
learning. When six years of age he was sent
to school, and until he was eighteen his studies
were carried on without any interval except the
regular vacation seasons. Before he was eigh-
teen he received a teacher's certificate from a
normal university. In November of 18S1 he

2116

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

landed in New York City with several hundred
dollars still left of the estate. For a time he
worked at Pittsburg, Pa., at various occupations,
his main object being the acquisition of a fair
knowledge of the English language. Later for
eighteen months he took a business course, and
then studied music and ancient and modern lan-
guages at St. Vincent's College, Westmoreland
county, Pa., where he proved to be an intelligent
student of exceptional mental endowments.

The introduction of Mr. Wilhelm into Ameri-
can commercial methods took place at Little
Rock, Ark., where for seven months he con-
ducted a mercantile establishment. At the ex-
piration of that time he formed a partnership
with Rudolph Schwartz and built a flatboat,
which he stocked with general merchandise and
took down the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers
to New Orleans. For four years he engaged in
trading, meanwhile becoming the owner of nine
different boats. On selling out at Vicksburg,
Miss., in 1886 he came to California and settled
at Los Angeles, where he bought a half inter-
est in a grocery on the corner of Ninth and
Main streets. After six months he purchased
his partner's interest in the store, which he con-
ducted for three and one-half years and then
sold. The next enterprise in which he became
interested was the purchase of a half interest in
the I. X. L. livery at No. 824 South JNIain street,
Los Angeles. Six months later he purchased
the other half interest from his partner, Albert
Cross, and for six years conducted a large busi-
ness. During the second year he was given the
contract to carry the Los Angeles mails from
the depot to the postoffice, and this contract he
filled for four years, during the administration
of General Mathews as postmaster. In addition
owned a blacksmith's shop and operated seven
hundred and sixty acres of the Mesmer tract.
Eventually he traded the livery business for
three hundred and twenty acres in Kern county
and $4,000 in cash, but six months later he
bought back the livery, and conducted the same
some time longer.

The property holdings in which Mr. Wilhelm
has been interested represent a considerable
value. One of his first purchases comprised one
hundred and sixty acres at Hemet, ninety miles
from Los Angeles. On coming to Inglewood,
he rented the Mesmer tract of seven hundred
and sixty acres, the Cook tract of three hundred
and twenty acres, and the Freeman tract of four
hundred and eighty acres, making more than
fifteen hundred acres devoted to the raising of
grain and the pasturage of stock. Another real-
estate acquisition consists of one-fourth of a
block between Fifteen and Sixteenth and Main
and Los Angeles streets, with a residence that
he rents to tenants, and about the same time

he bought a tract of twelve acres at Hyde Park,
where he now resides, the same forming a val-
uable and well-improved ranch. On the north-
east corner of Figueroa street and Vernon av-
enue he bought for $4,500 three lots 151x150
feet in dimensions, and recently he purchased an
improved ranch of six hundred and thirty-eight
acres four miles west of Hemet, which is valued
at $30,000. Twenty miles east of Palm Springs,
Riverside county, he owns an eighty-acre tract
where the thousand palms grow. In all, he
owns over 1,000 acres of farming land. He is
a stockholder of the Lomita Land & Water
Company. Also a stockholder and vice-presi-
dent of the Hyde Park ^^'ater Company. All of
his holdings represent a value of $100,000 and
represent his wise investments since coming to
the coast country. In additon to these holdings
he loans money on ranch mortgages and makes
investments as time and opportunity afford.

The marriage of IMr. Wilhelm occurred May
10, 1892, and united him with Miss Katie M.
Maxey, a native of Denver, Colo., and daughter
of John J. Maxey, one of the prosperous busi-
ness men of Los Angeles and Denver, Colo.
Their family comprises the following-named chil-
dren ; Theresa, Louis L., Anna Laura, Karl Jo-
seph, Angelina M., Leo F., Alma K., Walter J.,
Gladys M. and Grace R. The children have
been reared in the faith of the Roman Catholic
Church, of which the parents are earnest sup-
porters. Since coming to America Mr. Wilhelm
has been stanch and active in his allegiance to
the Republican party, but he has held no offices
except such as were of an educational nature,
included in the latter being the positions of presi-
dent of the Inglewood Union high school board
and clerk of the Hvde Park school board.

PIRL T. WARD. The trade of carpenter
and ranching pursuits have occupied the atten-
tion of P. T. Ward since his location in Cali-
fornia about twenty years ago. He is now lo-
cated in the vicinity of Artesia and engaged in
the management of a thirty-acre ranch, given
over to grain, table-grapes, potatoes and general
products, and in the conduct of his work has
proven his ability, his perseverance and energy.
Mr. Ward is a native of jNIadison county, Ohio,
where he was bom November 6, 1854, a son of
John E. and Eleanor (Harris) Ward, natives
respectively of ]\Iaryland and Ohio. The family
eventually located in Colorado Springs, Colo.,
where the father passed away at the age of eighty
vears, his wife having died in Kansas when about
fifty. They became the parents of eight chil-
dren, of whom but three are now living. A
daughter. Mrs. Mathews, lives in the vicinity of
her brother. P. T. ; Tohn. the eldest son. served

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2117

valiantly in the Civil war. Up to the age of
seventeen years P. T. Ward was reared in Ohio
and received his education through the medium
of the public schools. At that time the family
located in Kansas, where he engaged in farm-
ing and learned the trade of carpenter in Pea-
body, ]\Iarion county, that state, being located in
Peabody from 1871 till 1887, where he carried
on his trade. In the mean time he bought one
hundred and sixty acres of railroad land and
devoted this farm to the raising of grain and
stock. In 1887 he came to California and in
Los Angeles found employment at his trade, re-
maining in that city until 1903, when he pur-
chased his present property, the cultivation of
which is turned over to his sons while he con-
tinues to ply his trade in the city of Los An-
geles. He was married in 1876 to Miss Emma
L. Thomas, a native of Wisconsin, who with
her parents, William H. and Sarah Thomas,
came to Kansas in 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Ward
became the parents of the following children :
P. A., who married Lilian Williams of Wins-
low, Ariz. ; John E., assistant clerk of the
Phoenix (Ariz.) legislature; S. G. ; Paul R. ;
L. S. ; and Edith. Mr. Ward is a stanch advo-
cate of Republican principles and while in Kan-
sas served for some vears as constable.

HON. CHARLES J. WALKER. The posi-
tion accorded the Hon. Charles J. Walker in the
municipal, financial and social life of Long
Beach, Cal., is one to which he is justly en-
titled, the success of his career since locating
in this city being the result of applied ability and
an unswerving integrity of citizenship. Born,
reared and educated in New York state, he prof-
ited both by inheritance from early ancestors who
settled on the Atlantic coast and also by the hab-
its of perseverance and energy which were in-
culcated by constant training, and to eastern con-
servatism he has added western progress and
brought about a personal success, financially and
socially, while at the same time he has proven
himself an important factor in the development
of his adopted city.

Mr. Walker, born in Allegany county, N. Y.,
November 8, 1869, is the youngest in a family
of five children, of whom three are living. His
father, William D. Walker, was also a native of
New York state, where he engaged in the man-
ufacture of furniture until 1879. In that year he
came to California and located in Tulare county,
shortly after which his death occurred, his wife,
a Miss Esterbrook, having died in New York
state, the place of her birth, a number of years
previous. Charles J. Walker remained in the
state of his birth uiitil 1889, attending the put-
lie schools in pursuit of a primary education,

and later becoming a student in Alfred Uni-
versity, and finally completing a commercial
course in the Almond high school. LTpon his
location in Tulare countyj Cal., he accepted a
position with a large real estate firm, and was
later employed in the abstract office and as dep-
uty auditor under Mr. Jeffords. Foreseeing the
possibilities of Southern California, he resigned
from his position in Tulare county and came to
the coast, in i8qs locating in Long Beach. Here
he engaged independently in the real-estate busi-
ness, buying and selling lots, building residences
and disposing of them profitably as the town
grew from a population of twelve hundred peo-
ple to its present number. In all its progress
Mr. Walker has kept thoroughly abreast, actively
participating in all movements calculated to ad-
vance the general welfare, and at the same time
constantly adding to his own prosperity. With
his real-estate business he has combined that of
insurance, representing several of the leading
companies throughout the country, and besides
maintains with credit responsibilities in many of
the most substantial enterprises of the city. He
is president of the People's Bank of Long Beach ;
a director in the First National and Citizens'
Savings Banks, of Long Beach ; a director in the
company now making preparation to erect the
new hotel ; and president of the Mercantile Com-
pany (of which he was one of the organizers.)
He is also identified as secretary with the Land
& Navigation Company, being associated with
StephenTownsend in its organization, this com-
pany turning over eight hundred acres to the
Los Angeles Dock & Terminal Company, one
of the largest real-estate deals in the vicinity of
Long Beach.

Besides his multifold duties and responsibili-
ties in the business activity of Long Beach, Mr.
Walker has taken a strong interest in municipal
life, giving his best eflforts in the promotion of
proper government. As a Republican he has
sought to advance the principles he endorses, and
through the influence of this party was sentas
an elector in 1904 to the national convention
from the ninth district of Southern California.
In April of 1 900 he was elected to the city
board of trustees for four years, and upon the
organization of the citizens' ticket was made
president of the board and served as mayor un-
til 1903, when on account of ill health he re-
signed.

He was elected chairman of the board as a
no-license man and following his election was
largelv instrumental in putting out the saloons
and cleaning up the city. In all things he has
proven himself a man of public spirit and a citi-
zen upon whom the honor of the city and com-
munity niav safelv rest.

In Long Beach, in 1893. Mr. Walker was

2118

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

united in marriage with Miss Carrie D. Ziegler,
a native of Kansas and of German parentage.
The}' are the parents of four children, all born
in Long Beach : Alice, Charles, Gussie and
Marion. Fraternally Mr. Walker is associated
with the Knights of Pythias and Knights of
the Maccabees, and in his religious views ad-
heres to the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, in which he ofificiates as chairman of
the board of trustees.

HENRY HOWARD WILSHIRE. Repre-
senting one of the old and prominent families of
Southern California, Henry Howard Wilshire
spent the days of his young manhood and ma-
turer years as a resident of San Bernardino coun-
ty, wdiere he assisted in its development as a
progressive and enterprising agriculturist. He
was born in Utah November lo, 1856, a son of
George T. Wilshire, an honored pioneer of Cali-
fornia and one whose personal biography will
be found in the sketch of another son, Joseph
E., which appears elsewhere in this volume.
Henry H. Wilshire came to California with his
parents and in San Bernardino was reared on the
home farm and educated in the public schools
of the county. Upon becoming dependent upon'
his own resources he located on a government
claim in Oak Glenn, clearing a farm from brush
and undergrowth and beginning the raising of
stock, in which he was engaged for many years
following. He set out an apple orchard and took
out ditches for irrigation from the Little San
Gorgonia, and also gave considerable time and
attention to the raising of potatoes, which is a
profitable product of this section. At his death,
which occurred August 18, 1895, he owned one
hundred and sixty acres located sixteen miles
from Redlands, twenty-five acres being in apple
orchard and the remainder devoted to grain and
hay. He was a Democrat in his political affilia-
tions and one of the upbuilders of the section.

He was married in Colton January i, 1880, to
Miss Harriet Ann Vaughan, a native of San
Bernardino, and a daughter of James Henry
Vaughan. Her father was a native of Wales,
and being left an orphan by the death of his
father he came to the United States with his
mother and in Utah located at Salt Lake City.
He teamed in the mountains until 1858 when he
came to San Bernardino and engaged in farm-
ing, finally locating in Colton, where he fol-
lowed general farming pursuits. He is now living
on his ranch at the age of seventy-three years.
His wife formerly Harriet Sauze, was a native of
England ; she came to Utah across the plains and
was one of the early settlers of Salt Lake City.
She is also living, being seventy-one years old.
They were the parents of eleven children, all

of whom are living, Mrs. Wilshire being the
fourth in order of birth. Since her husband's
death Mrs. Wilshire has continued to reside on
the home farm. She is a woman of rare
worth of character and held in the high-
est appreciation by all who have ever
known her. In religion she is a member of the
]\Iethodist Episcopal Church ; politically she leans
toward the principles of the Democratic party,
and believing in her right and duty to exercise
the powers of citizenship has served for about
five years as a member of the board of trustees
of the Yucaipe district. She is the mother of
five children, namely : William Henry, of Los
Angeles ; Elmer Clarence, in charge of the home
farm ; Bert Loarn ; George Frederick ; and Hen-
rietta Elsie.

CLARENCE A. WATSON. Although Mr.
Watson has been a resident of Redlands but
a brief time, he has still firmly established his
position among the enterprising and helpful
citizens of the place, and is intent on the up-
building and development of its resources. He
has recently built a magnificent home in Red-
lands on the heights overlooking the San Bernar-
dino valley, the grounds being superbly laid out
and terraced, and complete with every beauty pos-
sible to the sunny clime of Southern California.
Mr. Watson was born in Newark, N. J., in 1866,
the elder of two children born to his parents,
George and Sarah F. (Kilpatrick) Watson, na-
tives respectively of Auburn, N. Y., and New Jer-
sej', and both representatives of old and honored
families. The paternal grandfather, Thomas,
was born in England and came to America and
in New York established his home, where
George Watson attained manhood. He then
came to New Jersey and in Newark began a
business career as a manufacturer of clothing,
establishing in 1850 the George Watson Com-
pany and managing its interests up to the time
of his death, which occurred in i8g8. His wife
is still surviving and makes her home in New
York City, where their son, George Jr., resides.

Clarence A. Watson was reared in his native
city and educated in its public and private schools,
graduating from the Newark Academy in 1844.
He then entered his father's manufactory, begin-
ning at the first rung of the ladder, learning the
details of the enterprise in the humblest capacity
and thoroughly mastering the management, so
that he was able upon the death of his father to
assume entire charge of the concern. Not only
was he able to carry on his father's methods,
but with an originality and daring business
sagacity enlarged the enterprise and added to
its possibilities, in time building the magnificent
brick block in Newark at the corner of Broad

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2119

and Market streets, where the}- occupy four im-
mense stores in the conduct of the business. He
remained a resident of Newark until ujoi, when,
having made several trips to Southern Califor-
nia, he concluded to locate permanently in Red-
lands, and accordingly began work on the mag-
nificent home which is now a pride of the city.
He is interested in horticulture and looks after
an orange grove which he owns. In New York
City Mr. Watson was united in marriage with
Miss M. J. Hill, of New York, and they have
two children, George and Harold. Fraternally
Mr. Watson was made a Mason in East Orange,
in Hope Lodge, F. & A. M., where he still holds
membership. Personally Mr. Watson is a man
of pleasing characteristics, affable, genial and
liberal with his means in the advancement of
public interests. In his residence in Redlands
he has won a wide circle of friends who ap-
preciate him for his fine qualities of character
and manhood.

HENRY BROWN WILSON. The official
life of San Bernardino county has in Mr. Wil-
son, its present county assessor, an able and ef-
ficient representative whose duties have been
faithfully discharged since taking up this work.
He came to Southern California in 1887. He
was born in Gardner, Me., June 15, 1856, a son
of John S. Wilson, whose personal history is
given at length in the biography of John W.
Wilson which appears on another page of this
volume. The family came to California in 1870
but returned to Maine and located in Portland,
where Mr. Wilson completed his preparatory
work in the Portland high school and then en-
tered Bowdoin College, graduating therefrom in
1880, with the degree of A. B., and three years
later was honored with the degree of A, M,,
bv his alma mater. In 1881 he came to Denver,
Colo., and remained there for eight months in the
employ of a business firm as bookkeeper. He
then returned to Portland and accepted the posi-
tion of head accountant for the firm of C. M.
Rice & Co., a wholesale paper concern of that
city, and remained in this connection for tha
period of four years. He then went to Boston
and was in business for a year.

Coming to Southern California in 1887 he
located in Redlands and became receiver for the
mill and lumber firm of Pratt & North, and after
completing their affairs in good shape he went
to Puget "Sound in January, i88g, and engaged
with Pope & Talbot "of the Puget Mill Company
as cashier for the period of three years, and
then returning to Redlands he soon entered the
First National Bank as bookkeeper, working up
to the position of teller and assistant cashier.
This position he resigned in May, 1906, to accept

the position of manager for the Home Gas &
Electric Company, which had just been or-
ganized, he assuming charge of the time of the
business, construction of the plant, the laying of
pipes, installation of the plant, which has a ca-
pacity of two thousand horse power. This busi-
ness 'he ably conducted until the fall of 1906,
when, having come prominently before the public
in various official capacities, he was nominated
on the Republican ticket for the office of county
assessor. His election followed November 6,
with a majority of thirteen hundred votes, and
on Tanuarv 7, '1907, he took the oath of office
and" entered upon his duties for a term of four
years. He has proven his ability in official posi-
tion, having held the position of city treasurer
for a vear, preceded by several years' experience
as deputy in that office.

In Los Angeles Mr. Wilson was united ^ in
marriage with Miss Mary K. Kenney, a native
of Pennsylvania, and they have one son, Kenneth
Field. ^Ir. Wilson is prominent in fraternal
circles, being identified with Redlands Lodge
No. 186, K. of P., of which he is past chancellor
commander, and also belongs to the Uniformed
Rank of the K. of P. : is a member of Redlands
Lodge No. 583. B. P. O. E., of which he is past
exalted ruler; Woodmen of the World; and the
Roval Court, of which he is past chancellor and
present grand auditor. He supports the Catholic
Church, of which his wife is a member. For
many vears he has served as a member of the
Republican county central committee as a mem-
ber of its executive committee, and in the ad-
vancement of the citv's interests is a member of
the Board of Trade. December 24. 1902, he re-
ceived the appointment from Governor Gage to
membership on the Board of Managers of the
Southern California state hospital at Patton, and
was re-appointed January 7, 1907, by Governor
Pardee to the same posi'tion. In every way he
has proven himself a capable and public spirited
citizen and has given his best efforts toward the
material upbuilding of his adopted city.

ERASTUS C. WHITE. A well known and
esteemed citizen of Los Angeles county is Eras-
tus C. White, who is engaged in the manage-
ment of a ranch in the vicinity of Norwdk,
where he has been a resident since 1898. He
was born in Mercer county. Pa., February 4,
1847, a son of William and Rachel (Temple)
White, both natives of the same state. He re-
ceived a common school education in his native
county and after completing the course he learned
the trade of wagon maker. He then enlisted
for service in the Civil war, becoming a soldier
in Companv E, Seventh United States Infantry
at Erie Pa"., and being ordered to the front saw

2120

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

service in many of the important engagements
of the struggle. He was at City Point in
Virginia, at Grant's headquarters, also served
along the Weldon railroad, was then stationed
at Fort Schuyler, and was next sent to Florida,
where he remained for about a year and a half.
He received his honorable discharge in Tampa,
Fla., in March, 1867, having re-enlisted Febru-
ary 29, 1864.

Returning to Pennsylvania he remained a few
years and then went to Iowa and bought a farm
of eighty acres and there carried on general
ranching' for three years, from there going to
Rice county, Kans.,' he took up a government
claim of one hundred and sixty acres. His
home remained in that section for the period of
ten years, when he removed to Kansas City and
there worked for the Kansas City, Fort Scott
& Memphis Railroad in the car department. He
was thus emploved for ten years when he located
in Salt Lake Citv and entered the car department
of the Rio Grande & Western Railroad at Salt
Lake, spending about a half of his time in Provo,
Utah. Resigning from this work in 1890
he came to Southern California and in Los An-
geles engaged in the car department of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, remaining
with them for eight years. In 1898 he came to
his present location and purchased thirty acres,
ten acres of which are devoted to the raising of
wine grapes, and the balance to grain and pasture
land. He is also engaged in the raising of poul-
trv, having several hundred pure bred Leghorns.

'In 1874 Mr. White was united in marriage
with Miss Hattie Shaw, who died in 1904, leav-
ing two daughters, Lucy, wife of H. E. Memory,
of Los Angeles; and Minnie, at home with her
father. Fraternally Mr. White is a member of
the Odd Fellows organization in the east, and
politicallv he is a stanch Republican. In memory
of his days of soldiering he belongs to the Grand
Army of the Republic.

CHARLES YOUNG. For nearly thirty
years Charles Young has been a resident of this
community and has taken his place as one of the
substantial, reliable citizens of the section. In-
heriting the sturdy traits characteristic of his
forefathers, he was born in Sweden August 15,
1849, a son of Peter and Anna M. (Anderson)
Young, both natives of that country, the father
engaging as a captain in the Swedish navy and
losing his life at sea. The mother passed away in
her native country, leaving a family of five chil-
dren, of whom all but Charles Young are still
residents of Sweden.

A good high school education was received by
Charles Young in his native country, and after
completing the course he went to sea and fol-

lowed this life for the period of six years. De-
ciding to locate in the United States as the land
of opportunities of which he had heard so much
during his work as steward on a Swedish mer-
chant vessel, he came to the United States and
in Chicago engaged in the house moving busi-
ness for the period of two years. Coming to
California in 1872 he located in San Francisco
and engaged in the conduct of a restaurant and
after two and a half years went to the mines in
Nevada where he spent some time. He was
quite successful in his efforts and saved money
with which to invest in real estate, which he
did immediately after coming to Los Angeles
county, purchasing twenty acres of' land and
erecting a fine home and commodious outbuild-
ings for the necessary equipment of the ranch.
He has added to his acreage until he now owns
sixty-five acres of valuable land. He has sixteen
acres devoted to wine grapes and is a director in
the Artesia Wine Association. The balance of the
property is given over to barley and alfalfa. The
ranch shows the care and attention which Mr.
Young has given it, everything being in ex-
cellent repair and the land brought to a high
state of cultivation.

In 1876 Mr. Young was united in marriage
with Miss Elizabeth Finley, Nevada City, Cal,
a daughter of John Finley, a pioneer of Cali-
fornia, and they have two children, Mamie and
Gertrude. Fraternally Mr. Young is associated
with the Knights of Pythias lodge here and the
Independent Order of Foresters, and politically
he is a stanch Republican. He supports the
Catholic Church, of which his wife is a mem-
ber. For a time after coming to this section
Mr. Young followed the butcher business, and in
this enterprise was very successful.

JOHN W. WILSON, the national bank ex-
aminer, is a man of wide experience in this line
and is well known throughout Southern Cali-
fornia where he has made his home for over
twenty years. He is a native of Maine, his birth
having occurred in Gardner August 25, 1858.
His father, John S. Wilson, was born in Rich-
mond, Me., of Scotch ancestry, and in young
manhood engaged as a merchant in Gardner; in
1870 he came to Alameda, Cal., thence two years
later went back to Portland, Me. In 1886 he came
to California and retired from the active cares
of life, making his home in Redlands until his
death, which occurred in 1904 ,at the age of
seventy-seven years. He had made a trip via
the Isthmus of Panama to California in 1850
and with his brother William, engaged as a
merchant in San Francisco. He returned to
Maine three years later, his brother continuing
the mercantile enterprise in San Francisco for

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2121

many years. He married Anna Field, a native
of Gardner, Me., and she is still surviving and
making her home in Redlands. They were the
parents of nine children, of whom five are surviv-
ing and making their homes in Redlands, a son,
H. B., being county assessor.

The third in order of birth, John W. Wilson
was reared in his native city and educated in its
public schools, accompanying his parents to Ala-
meda, Gal., and two years later returning to
Portland, Me., where he graduated from the high
school in 1877. He then entered Bowdoin College
and graduated therefrom four years later with
the degree of A. B. He then engaged in business
in Portland in a wholesale hardware enterprise
under the firm name of N. M. Perkins & Co.
In 1886 he disposed of these interests and com-
ing to Southern California located in Redlands,
here with his father purchasing ten acres on
West Cypress avenue, which they immediately
set out in oranges, and at the same time began
improving a fifteen-acre tract on San Bernar-
dino avenue. In 1887 when the Bank of East
San Bernardino Valley was opened he became
its cashier. This bank later became the First
National Bank of Redlands and he remained its
cashier until July, 1900, when he resigned to
accept the position of national bank examiner
for California and Nevada, which office he has
since filled with entire credit to himself and
satisfaction to all concerned. Previous to this
he was instrumental in the organization of the
Savings Bank of Redlands. In March, 1907,
he resigned as national bank examiner, having
been elected vice-president of the American
National Bank, of San Francisco.

In 1904 Mr. Wilson erected a fine residence
on West Palm avenue, which is presided over
by his wife, formerly Miss Jennie C. Haskell,
a native of Topsham. Me., where their marriage
occurred in 1886. They have one daughter.
Marguerite, and a son, Sanford. Mr. Wilson
is associated fraternallv with the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, and politically is a
true blue Republican. He is a member of the
Redlands Board of Trade and active in all
measures tending toward the advancement of
the citv's welfare.

ROBERT H. \1ARTIN. In 1884 when the
Carter excursion from Los Angeles and surround-
ing country was given, Mr. Martin was one of
the men hired to drive the prospective buyers
from Watson Junction, using ordinary farm
wagons for the purpose, hence the latter may
claim with justice to have witnessed the growth
of Long Beach from a very early date. In-
deed, before it was supposed that a town would
be located on this site, he often cut grain in the

fields here and engaged in general farm work
on land where beautiful homes now stand. Af-
ter some years of successful work as a rancher
and fruit-grower, in January of 1905 he sold his
country property and moved into Long Beach,
where he erected his first residence on the lot
on the corner of Fourth and Daisy streets ; in
addition to this property he owns business prop-
erty on Pine street also occasional dealing in
real estate. In 1906 he erected a modern resi-
dence at No. 1021 Locust avenue, where he is
now living.

The Martin family is of English extraction.
William and Mary (Harper) Martin were na-
tives of England, but emigrated from there to
Canada in youth and met and married in a Cana-
dian community. From there they removed to
the States and settled in Indianapolis, Ind.,
where their son, Robert H., was born November
3, i860, and where the wife and mother died in
young womanhood. From Indiana the family
went to Iowa and remained in Marshalltown
for eight years. Early in the year 1875 the
father with two sons, Robert H. and Walter H.,
and a daughter, Laura (who is now the wife of
Alfred Owens) left Iowa for the far west, mak-
ing the journey overland. For four months they
stopped in Round valley, Utah, and celebrated
the 4th of July with appropriate ceremonies in
Salt Lake City. Eventually, in March of 1876,
they landed at Los Angeles, where the father, who
was a carpenter, found ready employment at his
trade. After a year he settled upon a ranch and
for some time devoted his attention principally
to the duties incident to agricultural and horti-
cultural pursuits. On retiring from active cares
he came to Long Beach, where at the age of over
eighty years he still maintains a deep interest
in the well-being of the community and retains
his physical and mental activity to a large
degree.

When less than fifteen years of age Robert
H. Martin started on the long journey across
the plains and mountains, in company with other
members of the family. Previous to this he had
attended the common schools of Marshalltown
and later he studied in the Los Angeles county
schools at Alhambra for a short time, but at the
age of seventeen years he left school and be-
came self-supporting. For some time he worked
as a farm hand at Alhambra. On attaining his
majority he bought ten acres at the Willows,
two miles north of Long Beach, and afterward
bought adjoining property, so that he cultivated,
of his own and rented land, a considerable acre-
age, the larger part of which was in fruit. As
previously stated, he disposed of the ranch at
the beginning of the year 1905 and came to
Long Beach, where already he had a large cir-
cle of friends and acquaintances. \\''liile living

2122

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

at the Willows, in 1893, he was united in mar-
riage with Olive, daughter of Russell Kingcade,
a well-known citizen who is represented else-
where in this volume. Two children blessed
their union, namel)' : \'iolet A'elma, who died in
infancy ; and George K., who was born in March,
1900. Airs. Martin is a member of the Eastern
Star Chapter and the Ebell Club of Long Beach.
Though not active in politics and never car-
ing for the excitement of official life. ]\Ir.
Martin yet has stanch convictions upon national
issues and loyally advocates Republican princi-
ples.

ALONZO W. LEE. Besides looking after
the interests of the government as postmaster at
Lemon, Los Angeles county, for eight years, Mr.
Lee is the owner of a fine ranch of thirty-five
acres in this vicinity, which he purchased upon
coming to the state in 1887. At that time he
set out seven acres to Valencia oranges and the
remainder of the land to walnuts, and now has
one of the finest bearing orchards in the county.
The residence and other buildings upon the
ranch are in keeping, and all in all he has one
of the valuable estates for which this part of
the state is noted.

Alonzo W. Lee is a native of Indiana and was
born in Washington county October 31, 1857,
one of the seven children born to his parents,
William and Elizabeth (Thomas) Lee, born in
Kentucky and Indiana respectively. After their
marriage, which occurred in Indiana, they set-
tled down in- Washington county, where the
father followed his trade of blacksmith through
the remainder of his active years. The call to
arms in defense of his country's honor came to
him while on his farm there, and he left all be-
hind him to enlist in an Indiana regiment. Up-
on the expiration of his first term of enlistment
he again entered the ranks, serving in all three
years, after which he returned to the home farm,
and from then until his death, at the age of
fifty-eight, continued blacksmithing in connection
with his farm management. Politically he was
a Republican, and was a member of the Grand
Army. The mother died at the comparatively
early age of forty-two years, having become the
mother of seven children, of whom Alonzo W.
is the only one in California, the others still resi-
dents of Indiana.

The common schools of Washington county,
Ind., furnished all of the educational training
which was to come into the life of Alonzo W.
Lee, and until reaching his majority he remained
with his parents on the home farm in that county.
The western fever, however, had in the mean
time fastened itself upon him, and in ^SjS. when
he reached his twentv-first vear, he left home

with Nebraska as his destination. As he had
had no experience aside from his training on
the home farm it was natural that he should take
up farming wherever he located, and he was
thus occupied in Nebraska for two years, after
which he went to southwestern Missouri and
made a specialty of grain-raising for four years.
Thence he went to the neighboring state of Kan-
sas and carried on general farming for about
three years, at the end of this time, in 1887, com-
pleting his western journey by coming to Cali-
fornia. He came direct to the San Jose valley,
and was so well pleased with his choice of lo-
cation in the vicinity of what is now Lemon that
he has had no desire to remove elsewhere. The
fine ranch of thirty-five acres which he pur-
chased at that time he set out to oranges and
walnuts, erected a residence for his family and
suitable outbuildings necessary for the proper
care and handling of his products, and it is a
very conservative statement to say that without
exception he has one of the finest ranches in
Southern California. He is also interested in
a pumping plant in the vicinity of his ranch,
which furnishes him with all water necessary
for irrigation.

In 1885 INIr. Lee was married in Neosho Falls,
Kans., to Miss Eva Engle, a native of Illinois.
but as her parents removed to Missouri when
she was a child of two years the greater part of
her early life was passed in the latter state.
Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Lee, as follows : Dewitt, Edna, IMaud, Ernest,
Kathleen, Arthur and Florence. Politically Mr.
Lee is a Republican, and it was the influence of
Republican friends that led to his appointment
as postmaster of Lemon in 1898. a position which
he filled with entire satisfaction for eight years.
He is also a member of the county central com-
mittee of his party. The only fraternal asso-
ciation which he finds time for is the Modern
Woodmen, of America, holding membership in
the camp at Lemon. He is a member of the
Southern California Fruit Exchange and is vice-
president of Walnut Fruit Growers' Associa-
tion at Walnut.

BENJAMIN F. LIBBY. Even under the
most favored circumstances the life of a pioneer
is fraught with hardship, toil and discourage-
ment, and only a brave spirit and a happy optim-
ism can surmount the manifold obstacles. To
the pioneers of the San Luis Rey valley in San
Diego county there came troubles more than
ordinarily discouraging, arising from the con-
flicts between the stockmen and the settlers :
and, although these trials are now long since
past and harmony came to the two warring fac-
tions, ^■et at the time the troubles were none the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2123

less real and vexatious. As one who endured
these hardships the name of Benjamin F. Libby
is well known not only to the pioneer element
of the county, but to the younger generation as
well. In recompense for the hardships of early
days, he now enjoys every comfort and is finan-
cially well-to-do, with dairy, stock and alfalfa
ranch of three hundred acres lying in the sunny
valley of San Luis Rev.

The Libby family comes from New England.
William E. and Catherine (Higgins) Libby were
natives of Maine, whence they removed to Wis-
consin and from there to Iowa. Eventually
they came to California and entered land in San
Diego county, where the mother died in 1878,
at the age of sixty-seven years, and the father
in 1880, at seventy years of age. Four children
comprised their family, of whom two sons and
one daughter still survive, one of the sons be-
ing Benjamin F., who was born near Bangor,
in Penobscot county, Ale., April 7, 1846. At the
age of twelve years he accompanied his parents
to Wisconsin and settled at Madison, where, on
the completion of his grammar-school studies,
he enjoyed the superior advantages offered by
the State University. After leaving the uni-
versity he aided his father in the hotel business.
In 1865 he accompanied the family to Iowa City,
Iowa, where he assisted his father in the man-
agement of an agricultural implement establish-
ment. From there he came via the Isthmus to
California in 1867, and after a short business ex-
perience in San Francisco he proceeded to San
Luis Rey, San Diego county, where ever since
he has made his home. In those days settlers
were few and were kept together mainly through
the arduous efforts of Major Utt, whose en-
couragement often took the form of financial
assistance at a time most needed. For several
years Mr. Libby acted as deputy assessor and
for seven years he engaged in teaching school,
after which he gave his attention wholly to the
management of his ranch.

The marriage of Mr. Libby took place in 1874
and united him with Margaret, daughter of
Charles Stone and a native of Texas, the family-
having traveled via the southern route to Cali-
fornia Jn an early day and settling in this val-
ley. Mrs. Libby is a woman of gentle and
amiable disposition, a devoted Episcopalian, and
loyal to every duty as wife and mother and
friend. Five daughters were born of their
union. Grace, who resides in Oceanside, is the
widow of Charles J. Porteous and has one son
now attending college. Emma. Mrs. A. E.
Stokes, has three sons and lives at Santa Maria,
Cal. Catherine is the wife of R. L. Johnson and
lives at Corona, this state. Anne married Henry
Mills and lives at Barbourtown, South Africa,
where Mr. Mills fills the office of inspector of

schools for the English government. The young-
est daughter, Cora, is teaching school at New-
port, this state.

Reared in the faith of the Republican party,
Mr. Libby has been stanch to its principles all
through his life and has given his ballot to its
candidates at local and national elections. The
high esteem in which he is held comes not alone
from his position as one of the oldest surviving
settlers of the valley ; over and above that, he is
respected for his honorable life, for his manly
deeds, for his generosity to those in need, for his
kindly spirit of friendship toward all, and for
those qualities which bind man to man and which
weave hearts together in the closest bonds of
friendship.

JOHN WALDO LINCOLN. Prominent
among the most valued and highly esteemed resi-
dents of Ocean Park is John Waldo Lincoln, a
well-known real-estate dealer and a successful
business man. The descendant of a prominent
New England family, he was born, October 30,
1852, in Worcester, Mass., a son of the late Ed-
ward Winslow Lincoln. In his veins flows
some of the best blood of the old Bay state, he
being a descendant in the eighth generation, ac-
cording to a work published a number of years
ago in ]\Iassachusetts. of Samuel Lincoln, who
emigrated from England in 1637, and settled in
Hingham, Mass., his lineage being thus traced :
Samuel (i), Samuel (2), Jedediah (3), Enoch
(4). Levi (s), Levi (6), Edward Winslow (7),
and John Waldo (8).

Levi Lincoln (5), who was graduated from
Harvard College in 1772, was attorney-general
in President Jefferson's cabinet, later serving as
lieutenant governor, and afterwards as acting
governor of Massachusetts. His son, Levi Lin-
coln (6), was graduated from Harvard in 1802;
was subsequently speaker of the house of repre-
sentatives, lieutenant governor, and a judge of
the supreme court. From 1825 until 1834 he was
governor of the state, and in 1848 was made first
mavor of the city of Worcester. He married
Penelope Winslow Sever, who was descended
from two of the Mayflower passengers, Edward
Winslow and Richard Warren. One of his
sons, D. Waldo Lincoln, was for many years
president of the Boston & Albany Railroad,
while his son George was killed in the Mexican
war.

Edward Winslow Lincoln (7) was born in
Worcester, Mass., December 2, 1820, and died
in that city December 15, 1896. After his grad-
uation from Harvard College, in 1839. ^^ went
to Alton, 111., where he studied law. and being
admitted to the bar engaged in the practice of
his profession, having among his legal associates

2124

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincohi. Re-
turning from there to Worcester, he resided
there, honored and respected for his sterling in-
tegrity and worth, until his death. He married
Sarah Rhodes Arnold, who was born in Rhode
Island, and died in Massachusetts in early wom-
anhood, her death occurring July i, 1856. She
came of distinguished ancestry, being connected
with the families of both Governor Rhodes and
Governor Padelford. Of the four children born
of their union, John Waldo, the subject of this
sketch, is the only one living.

Educated in Worcester, jMass., John \\'aldo
Lincoln was a member of the first class that was
graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of that
city. After receiving his diploma he worked as
a civil engineer until his health failed, following
his profession in the east, in Kansas, Oregon and
California. For a number of years he was pay-
master on the Northern Pacific Railroad, on its
western division, and also had charge of the con-
struction, for the contractors, of the Siskiyou
tunnel, on the Oregon & Transcontinental Rail-
road, and superintended the construction of the
Croton aqueduct in 1885 for contractors Brown,
Howard & Co. Coming to Southern California
in 1894, Mr. Lincoln located in San Diego coun-
ty, and for a number of years thereafter was
president of the Fruit Exchange at Escondido,
and was also employed in orange growing to some
extent. Coming from there to Los Angeles
county, he was engaged in the oil business at
Los Angeles for awhile. Since 1901 he has been
a resident of Ocean Park, and has carried on a
good business in real estate, dealing principally
in hill property, although he owns valuable land
on the beach.

In San Francisco. Cal., Mr. Lincoln married
Sarah Eberline. who was educated in the west.
Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln are prominent in social
circles, and are devout members of the Episcopal
Church. Politically Mr. Lincoln is a stanch
Democrat.

FRANK HOANSLER. The founder of the
Hoansler family in America bore the name of
John and was a native of Holland, whence he
crossed the ocean to the L^nited States and set-
tled on a farm in Pennsylvania. There he and
his wife. Catherine, remained until death, rear-
ing meanwhile a family of five children, the sec-
ond of whom. Frank, was born near Harrisburg,
Pa., on Christmas day of 1832. As a boy he at-
tended school held in a log cabin containing fur-
nishings of the most primitive order and offering
educational facilities far inferior to those of the
present day. At the age of sixteen he left school
and started out to earn his own livelihood, en-
tering the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad

Company as water boy. In due course of time
he was promoted through various positions un-
til he became section foreman.

The discovery of gold in California caused
Mr. Hoansler to resign his position and in 1849
he and a friend, Alathew Diederer, came west
by way of Panama. Misfortune followed him
from the first. His comrade was killed in the
mines shortly after their arrival and he was tak-
en sick so that he could not work; after a 3ear
he returned east via Panama and secured em-
plo}TTient as section boss at Crestline, Ohio. Aft-
er perhaps five years in that capacity he resigned
and went to St. Louis, where he became section
foreman on the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad. As
an employe of that road he worked back as far
as Cincinnati, then west again to St. Louis, and
from there to Jasper county. Mo., where for
four years he worked in the lead mines. Dur-
ing the Civil war he was employed m Indiana-
as section foreman on the Ohio & ^lississippi
Railroad. Later he was section foreman at Carmi,
White county. 111., with the road now popularly
known as the "Big Four."

Wlien Mr. Hoansler came to California in
May, 1891, he found conditions far different from
those that prevailed during the memorable year
of 1849, and he was so gratified with prospects
that he decided to become a permanent resident.
After one year in Los Angeles he became a farm-
er on the Bolsa ranch at Santa Ana and from
there in 1894 came to Redondo, where for three
years he raised grain and stock on the Weston
ranch. Since then he has operated almost six
hundred acres of grain land and also has one
hundred and forty acres in beans, renting his
ranch land from the Redondo Beach Company,
and raising beans, barley and corn. A small
ranch which he owns at Gardena is rented to
other parties, and besides that place he owns a
residence and several lots in Redondo. While
living in the east he married Miss Mary Ever-
ett, who was born in Illinois and died in Indiana.
Xine children were born of that union, but only
one survives, Mrs. Mollie Brooks, of Gallatin
county. 111. The second marriage of Mr. Hoans-
ler was solemnized at Carmi, 111., in 1874, and
united him with Miss Mary Pryor, a native of
that city, and a daughter of Philip and .\gnes
(Boulder) Pryor. Her paternal grandfather,
William Pryor, was born in Michigan and at an
early age removed to Illinois, settling on a farm
near Carmi, where he remained until death.
When sixty-five years of age his devotion to the
L^nion cause led him to enlist in the army for
service in putting down the rebellion. Philip
Pryor was born at Carmi and died on a farm
there when his daughter. r^Iary. was only two
years of age. There were two other children in
the family and all are still living. Their mother

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2125

was born in Pennsylvania and now, at sevent)--
six years of age, still owns and occupies the old
homestead comprising three hundred and sixty
acres. Her father, John Boulder, was born in
Ireland and came to the United States at eigh-
teen years of age, settling at Pittsburg, Pa., and
later removing to Carmi. Ill, where lie bought
government land at $12.50 an acre, a portion" of
the original tract being now owned bv his daugh-
ter.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Hoansler con-
sists of five children, namely: Mrs. Maggie
Klump, of Toluca, Los Angeles county, Cal. ;
Lafayette, who is engaged in the tobacco busi-
ness at Redondo ; Lawrence F., who died in 1900,
at eighteen years of age; Qeveland, who is en-
gaged in the real-estate business at Redondo;
and Marietta, who married Frank Nichelson, a
farmer near Redondo. In religion Mrs. Hoans-
ler is of the Congregational faith, while Mr.
Hoansler is a member of the Roman Catholic
Church.

JAMES CLARENCE ALCORN. Fully alive
to San Pedro's superior advantages of climate,
soil, improvements and citizenship, James Clar-
ence Alcorn has unlimited faith in its future,
and ably champions its claims for recognition as
one of the most beautiful, home-like, health-
giving and desirable residence cities of Southern
California. The subdivision of the large tracts
of land in this vicinit}" into small ranches or city
lots makes it possible for the agriculturist, horti-
culturist or other business man to here find a
favorable location, and in the many transfers of
real estate Mr. Alcorn is especially interested,
and as a dealer in realty is carrying on an ex-
tensive and lucrative business. A son of James
Alcorn, Jr., he was born November 2, 1854, in
Venango county. Pa. On the paternal side he
comes of Irish ancestry, his grandfather, James
Alcorn, Sr., having, with two of his brothers,
emigrated from the north of Ireland to the
United States, settling as a farmer in Venango
county. Pa. He was a man of strong character,
and an active member of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1818. James Alcorn,
Jr., succeeded to the occupation in which he was
reared, and for a number of years carried on
general farming in his native state. He was
very active and influential in public alifairs, for
twenty years serving as tax collector and sheriff
of Venango county. He was a cool, clear-headed
man, brave in the performance of his dut\-, on
one occasion arresting in their cabin two Molly
Maguires, who had their six-.shootcrs drawn,
and handcuffing both of them himself. He was
;i Republican from the organization of that

party, and one of its most loyal supporters in
Ijoth peace and war. ' In 1866 he purchased a
farm in Indiana, near Elkhart, and there resided
until his death, in 1896. He married Mehitable
Jones, who was born in Venango county. Pa., a
daughter of Isaac Jones, wlio emigrated from
Wales to Pennsylvania, settling on an island in
the Allegheny river, buying it from the govern-
ment, and it is still known as Jones Island. She
died in Indiana, on the home farm. Of the thir-
teen children, six sons and seven daughters, born
of their union, three sons and six daughters sur-
vive. One son, George W., served in a Penn-
sylvania regiment during the Civil war, was cap-
tured in battle, and died in Libby prison.

The seventh child in order of birth of the
parental household, James C. Alcorn completed
his early education in the public schools of In-
diana, and at the age of sixteen years began
work for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern
Railroad Company, being located at Elkhart.
Subsequently, with headquarters at Garrett,
Ind., he was in the employ of the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad Company, first as fireman and
later as engineer. Going to Colorado in 1885,
he traveled extensively in that state, and in 1889
went to Boise Citv, Idaho, becoming interested
in mining in the Deadwood country. In 1900 he
established himself as a real estate agent in Salt
Lake City, and soon became identified with the
best interests of that locality. When the estab-
lishment of a road between that city and San
Pedro was conceded he was made one of the
engineering corps and assisted in the location of
the entire highway. Being greatly impressed
with the wonderful scenery and climate of
Southern California, and more especially with
the many advantages of San Pedro, he resolved
to locate here. Returning to Salt Lake City he
disposed of his properties in that section, includ-
ing his mining interests, and in the summer of
1905 came here to live. Buying his present
residence, at No. 437 Fifth street, he has greatly
improved the property, and since that time has
established himself as one of the leading real
estate dealers of the citv.

In Carson City, Nev.. Mr. Alcorn married
Anna D. Nash, who was born in Lynn, Mass.,
and was educated in Boston and in Michigan.
She is an accomplished, cultured woman, and
prior to her marriage was a noted school teacher,
beginning her professional career in the east,
and subsequently teaching for nine years at Salt
Lake City. Mr. Alcorn is a man of literary
ability, his History of the Spanish War, which
he illustrated in eleven different colors, being an
interesting volume, and a valued acquisition to
the historical works of our country. Mr. Al-
corn, having been healed by a Christian Scient-
ist, has since made a thorough investigation of

1126

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the subject, anrl is now one of its stanchest sup-
porters and a leading spirit in establishing a
Christian Science Church in this locality. Polit-
ically he is a strong Republican, having ever
been true to the principles in which he was
reared.

-AIISS C. ROGERS. The last quarter of a
century has furnished the industrial, profes-
sional, financial and social world with not a few
women of brilliant attainments who have en-
tered upon an active career and have thoroughly
vindicated the right of each individual to do or
be that for which he or she is best fitted by
nature. Prominent among this number is Miss
C. Rogers, who has established herself as a real
estate dealer, with offices in San Pedro and Los
Angeles, and is carrying on an extensive and
remunerative business in her line, handling San
Pedro and Harbor properties only. Of honored
ancestry, she was born in Cork. Ireland, a daugh-
ter of Reuben C. Rogers, who is actively identi-
fied with the commercial interests of that city,
being one of the best informed railway and ship-
ping men of Cork. Ireland.

Aliss Rogers, on the paternal side, is a de-
scendant of John Rogers, the martyr, who, dur-
ing the reign of Queen Mary, was burned at the
stake, in Smithficld, in 1554. Subsequently,
James I gave a grant of land in the southern
part of Ireland to one of John Rogers's descend-
ants, and it was occupied by some branch of the
family until sold under the Confiscated Estate
Act. The family afterwards became scattered
through different parts of the world, one of the
immediate ancestors of IMiss Rogers settling in
the West Indies. Her great-grandfather Rog-
ers lived there many years, but died on the re-
turn voyage, leaving a wife and son. who after-
wards settled in Cork. Ireland. The grandfather
remained there permanently, and there both Miss
Rogers and her father were born. Her mother,
whose maiden name was Lizzie Martin, was
born in Kinsale, Ireland, a descendant of the
Daunt family, and died at the family residence
in Cork.

Having laid a substantial foundation for her
future education in private schools, Miss Rogers
was graduated from Trinity College, Dublin,
after which she continued her studies in France
and Germany. She subsequently traveled ex-
tensively on the continent, and in April. 1898,
crossed the Atlantic, and for a while resided in
Canada. Wishing to become acquainted with
the L'nited States, she visited various points of
interest, and in IQ02 arrived in San Francisco.
It was her intention to return east to New York
City, going by way of Los Angeles, where she
had planned to stay twenty-four hours in order

to call upon some friends of her uncle, Sir
James Qifton Robinson, of London, who rebuilt
the Los Angeles street railways, changing them
from horse power to cable system. This rela-
tive was associated with the late Charles T.
Yerkes in the building of the Underground rail-
way in London. These friends of Sir James
said to Miss Rogers, "You must see Pasadena
and the coast towns, and mieet some people
whom you used to know in your native land."

Concluding, therefore, to remain for a while,
I\Iiss Rogers subsequently accepted a position as
stenographer with George H. Peck, of San
Pedro, and while thus employed became inter-
ested in real estate dealings. Resigning her po-
sition at the end of a few months, she returned
to Los Angeles, rented desk room in an office
in the Copp building, and in her undertakings
was so successful that she afterwards opened an
oilice in San Pedro also. She deals exclusively
in San Pedro and Harbor realty, in her trans-
actions bringing buyer and seller together prior
to making a sale, and m carrying out this plan
is building up a very prosperous business. She
makes a specialty of water front property, of the
value of which she has an accurate knowledge,
and is verv enthusiastic over the future possi-
bilities of San Pedro as a residence and business
city. Miss Rogers is well known and highly
esteemed in social circles, and is a member of
Esperanza Chapter No. 167, O. E. S., of Los
Angeles.

W. P. LOGAN. The family represented by
this well-known oil-driller came to California
during the earl}- period of American occupancy.
About the year 1852 A. S. Logan removed from
Missouri across the plains to the far west, set-
tling in San Jose and taking up agricultural pur-
suits near that town. Removing to the vicinity
of Lexington in 1856 he took up a quarter-sec-
tion of government land near the Santa Cruz
mountains and afterward gave his attention to
the improvement of the land and the building
up of a finely developed ranch. On that place his
death occurred in 1898. when he was eighty-
two years of age. His wife, Sarah, died in 1887,
at the age of seventy-two years. .Among their
children was W. P., born in Lafayette county.
Mo., November 9, 1850. and an infant at the
time of the removal to the Pacific coast, so that
his earliest recollections cluster around the San-
ta Clara valley. As a boy he attended the com-
mon schools of San Jose, and after leaving
school he engaged in driving a stage for six
years. Since tlien he has been interested in the
oil business, 1879 being the year of his first as-
sociation w-ith that industry.

In the pursuit of his calling of oil-driller and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2127

contractor JMr. Logan has traveled over much of
the west and has gained a thorough knowledge
of localities where oil has heen found. Upon
first associating himself with the industry he
was employed by the Pacific Coast Oil Company
in Santa Clara county. Later he was identified
with the Hardison & Stewart Company in Ven-
tura and Los Angeles counties, and for six
years worked with the Union Oil Company. ]\Iay
6, 1900, he arrived at San Luis Obispo and here
he worked for four years in the capacity of oil
superintendent. North of Santa Barbara he
drilled the first well for the Western Union Oil
Company. After a brief period with the Los
Alamos Developing Company he took an active
part in the starting of the Logan Oil Company, a
stock corporation, organized in September of
1905, and with this he has since been associated.
The marriage of W. P. Logan took place in
1893 and united him with Miss A. E. Waring,
who was born and educated in this state, and is
a member of the Presbyterian Church. Of this
union there is a daughter, Edith. In fraternal
relations Mr. Logan belongs to the Santa Maria
Lodge of Odd F'ellows, the Knights of Pythias
at Santa Maria. Hesperian Lodge. F. & A. M.,
at Santa Maria, and the Order of Foresters in
Los Angeles. In national politics he votes with
the Democratic party.

ically Mr. Logan votes with the Democratic party,
while in fraternal relations he is connected with
Hesperian Lodge of Masons at Santa Maria and
Garden City Lodge No. 142, I. O. O. F., at
San Jose, this state.

J. S. LOGAN. Throughout all of his life a
resident of California and loyally devoted to his
native commonwealth, J. S. Logan is a member
of a pioneer family of the west and is a brother
of W. P. Logan, with whom he has been engaged
extensively in the drilling of oil wells as a mem-
ber of the Logan Oil Company. During the resi-
dence of his parents in San Jose he was born in
that city June 6, 1856, and as a boy he attended
the public schools there, later having the ad-
vantage of a course of study in the T^Iethodist
College at Gilroy. On leaving college he took
up the oil business and since has acquired a thor-
ough knowledge of the industry, in which he
and his brother have reputations second to none
in the same line. By traveling throughout the
entire state they have become thoroughly ac-
quainted with the oil wells and prospects, and
their judgment is depended upon in many in-
stances where the advice of oil experts is sought.
The Logan Oil Company has the confidence of
the people and has established a reputation {hat
is not limited to Santa Maria or to Santa Bar-
bara county, the Company's headquarters.

During April of 1904 J. S. Logan was united
in marriage with Miss Leona C. Holt, who was
born and reared in Santa Maria and has spent
her life thus far in Santa Barbara county. One
child. \'irgo Helen, blesses their union. Polit-

CAPT. EDWARD EVERETT YOUNG.
Noteworthy among the well known and highly
esteemed residents of San Pedro is Capt. Ed-
ward Everett Young, who is prominent in social
and fraternal circles, and as master of a vessel
is actively identified with the shipping interests
of Southern California. A son of the late James
W. Young, he was born January 30. 1874, in
Kansas City, Mo., coming from excellent Irish-
English stock.

A native of Owen county, Ind., James W.
Young grew to manhood in that state, and dur-
ing the Civil war served his country, enlisting
in an Indiana regiment. Subsequently remov-
ing to Missouri, he settled as a merchant at
Kansas City, where for a number of years he
carried on a prosperous business. Coming to
California in 1881. he became one of the leading
grocers of Los Angeles, being thus employed the
greater part of the time until his death, which
occurred in Los Angeles county. His wife,
whose maiden name was Lydia Hollingsworth,
was born in Page county, Iowa, a daughter of
Xoah Hollingsworth. and a granddaughter of
Joel Hollingsworth, an English Quaker, who
settled in Indiana in pioneer times. Noah Hol-
lingsworth was born near Terre Haute, Ind.,
and was there reared to agricultural pursuits.
He afterwards learned the trade of carpenter,
which he followed for a number of years in
Muscatine, Iowa. In 1855 l''^ settled in Page
county, Iowa, and at the breaking out of the
Civil war he enlisted in the Eighth Iowa Cav-
alry, in which he served until his death. He
married Elizabeth Byrum, w^ho was born in
Ohio eighty years ago, and is now residing in
Kansas. Of the seven children born of their
union, six survive, Lydia, widow of James W.
Young, being the fifth child in order of birth.

Coming with his parents to California when
but seven years old, E. E. Young received a
common school education here, and at the age
of eighteen years embarked in seafaring pur-
suits. Locating in San Pedro in 1894, he se-
cured a position with the California Fish Com-
pany, and in June, 1901. entered the employ of
the Pacific Packing and Navigation Company as
master of a vessel, for three years engaging in
transporting merchandise between Puget Sound
ports and the Alaskan ports of the Behring Sea.
fn 1904 he returned to San Pedro and has since
had command of the Alpha, owned by the Cali-
tornia Fish Company.

2128

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

On Januarj' 6, 1906, Mr. Young was united
in marriage with Nellie Hollingsworth, a native
of Iowa, and they reside at No. 218 Thirteenth
street, San Pedro. In fraternal organizations
the captain is very active and influential. He
was made a ^lason in Wilmington, and is one
of the charter members of San Pedro Lodge No.
332, F. & A. M., of which he was the first senior
warden, and the second to serve as master; he
is also a charter member of San Pedro Chapter,
O. E. S., and its first worthy patron; he is a
Scottish Rite, 32-degree Mason of Los Angeles
Consistory No. 3, and belongs to Al Malaikah
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He likewise belongs
to Embarcadero Lodge No. 348, I. O. O. F., of
which he is past grand ; and to the Rebekahs, of
which he is a prominent member. He is a mem-
ber also of the American Association of Masters
and Pilots of California Harbor No. 15, of San
Francisco. In national politics he is a stanch
Republican, but in local affairs votes for the best
men and measures, independent of party preju-
dices.

M. M. FLORY. The Flory family dates its
ancestry back to the early settlement of Virginia,
the great-grandfather of M. M. Flory having
been the first member of the family to make
Rockingham county in that state his home, com-
ing from Pennsylvania. The early progenitors
were of German origin and brought up in that
stern German Baptist religious faith which al-
lowed no swerving from duty, however dis-
agreeable it might be, and the later members
of the family have retained the sturdy princi-
ples of their fathers and are men of strong char-
acter and scrupulous honesty. The grandfa-
ther, John Flory, was a farmer in Rockingham
county and lived to be eighty years of age, his
death occurring in 1844. His son, Abraham,
born also in Rockingham county, was a man-
ufacturer of shoes and later a farmer near
Staunton for many years. It was in 1849 that
he came to California via Panama, and after
working in the mines for a season, returned to
his home. Later he made a second trip to the
coast and mined again in northern California,
and on his way to Iowa in 1855 followed that
pursuit in Idaho and Montana for short periods.
His death occurred in Keokuk county. Iowa.
His wife was Susanna Stoner. a daughter of a
Mrginia farmer, and she died in the state of
Washington.

There were six children in the family of which
y[. M. Flory was a member, five of them still
surviving at this time. Mr. Flory was next to
the oldest, his birth having occurred April 9,
1834. in Rockinjjham count}", \'a., in which state
he lived until seventeen years of age. His edu-

cation was received in a pay school in that state
and after his school days were over he learned
the carpenter's trade in Shenandoah valley. In
1855 he went to Keokuk, Iowa, and worked at
his trade until the Civil war broke out, when he
volunteered for military service and was mus-
tered in as a member Of Company F, Fifth Reg-
iment of Iowa Volunteer Infanlrv. With his
regiment he took part in the battles of luka and
Corinth, and near the latter place he was taken
sick and removed to the general hospital at
Holly Springs. In the raid at that place he was
taken captive and sent to Lagrange and from
there to Meinphis.' At the latter place the Con-
federates were forced to abandon their prison-
ers on account of the proximity of the Union
army, and he was accordingly left in Memphis,
and having contracted rheumatism was assigned
to duty as chief clerk of the general hospitals
there, where he remained until Alay, 1864, when,
his rheutuatism having become acute, he was
sent to Iowa and mustered out at the end of
his term of enlistment.

After the close of the war ]\Ir. Flory was oc-
cupied as a contractor and builder in Washing-
ton, la., and Kansas City and Independence, Mo.,
until 1875, when, having had a hard attack of
pneumonia, from which he did not readily re-
cover, he resolved to try California's climate.
After one year in Southern California he went
to the desert regions, during which time his
health was restored, and he decided to locate
permanently in San Bernardino. This place
was then a small town and many of the cities
which are now places of importance in the coun-
ty were not even laid out. Mr. Flory continued
his business as a contractor, upon his arrival
taking contracts at Oceanside, Ontario, Colton,
Highland, and Redlands, in which latter place
he erected the first house after the platting of
the city. He conducted business in a compar-
atively successful manner until April, 1906,
when a stroke of paralysis forced him to give
up active work and he is now living a retired
life in San Bernardino.

The marriage of ]\Ir. Flory occurred in In-
dependence, Mo., and united him with Mrs.
Alary (Armstrong) Whitney, who was born in
Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio. To Mr. and
Mrs. Flory have been born five children, name-
ly : Frank, a carpenter and sawver at San Ber-
nardino : Maud, now the wife of Clavton ]\Ius-
cott. of Lopez, \A'ash. : Guy, a contractor in San
Bernardino : Edgar, with the Riverside Trust
Company, residing in San Bernardino: and
Kate, at home. Mr. Flory was made a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in
Independence, Mo., and is now connected with
Token Lodge No. 290, I. O. O. F.. of which he
is a charter member and past grand, and has

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

■21 -29

been a representative to the Grand Lodge three
different times; he is also a member of "the En-
campment, in which he was at one time chief
patriarch, and belongs to the Canton. His Civil
war service entitles him to membership in the
Grand Army of the Republic, and he belongs
to the William H. Cornman Post at San Ber-
nardino. Politically his affiliations are with the
Republican party. His influence has always
been a beneficial one to the community in which
he makes his home and Mr. Flory is one of the
most highly respected citizens of San Bernar-
dino.

TYLER PRATT TOWNE. Whh the death
of Tyler Pratt Towne of Pomona in 1891 was
broken a link in the ancestral chain which binds
the past with the present. The lineage of the
family can be traced back to one William Towne,
who left England in the seventeenth century
and founded the family in jNlassachusetts, his de-
scendants flourishing in that commonwealth for
many generations. Among these descendants
was Isaac Towne, born in ;\Iillbury. Mass., who
in young manhood settled in Bethel, Me., where
at the age of twenty-one years he taught the
first school ever held in that town. Later he
settled down as an agriculturist in that local-
ity and throughout the remainder of his long
life followed this peaceful pursuit. As a man
of ability and clear understanding he was rec-
ognized as a leader among the citizens of that
town and for many years served his constitu-
ents as selectman.

It was in the little town of Bethel, Me., that
Tyler Pratt Towne was born August i. 1810,
the son of Isaac and Dolly (Gould) Towne.
He was educated in the common school of his
state, learned the cabinet-maker's trade, but aft-
er his marriage took up farming in Bethel and
continued that pursuit until he came to Califor-
nia. W'hh about eight decades of honored life
in the cast he came to this state to spend his
declining years in a climate less rigorous than
prevails on the Atlantic coast, and thus it was
that he located in the sheltered Pomona valley
in 1888. During the same year he settled in a
home at the corner of Caswell street and San
Francisco avenue, the only improvement which
it boasted being ten orange trees. Besides set-
ting out additional trees on this tract he also
purchased one and one-half acres at the head of
Caswell street, and still later purchased seven
acres of the Kingsley tract, on the corner of
San Bernardino and Washington streets, which
has since been transformed into a fine orange
grove. Mr. Towne was a man who was not
afraid to venture upon large undertakings, and
although he lived only three years after set-

tling in Pomona he had accomplished largely
and left a valuable estate to his heirs. During
his young manhood, in Bethel, Me., he had mar-
ried Miss Miranda Hanscom Watson, who was
born in Norway, Me., the daughter of Daniel
Watson, a farmer in that vicinity. The mar-
ried life of Mr. and Mrs. Towne had been a long
and unusually happy one and the death of Mr.
Towne in 1891 was a sad blow to his family.
As they had been closely united in all their hopes
and aims in life, they were not long separated
in death, and in June of the following year, at
at the age of eighty-three years, Mrs. Towne
passed to the Great Beyond. Throughout her
life she had been a devout member of the Con-
gregational Church. Politically Mr. Towne was
a Democrat and an Abolitionist.

Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Towne, the eldest of whom, Sarah M., resides
upon the old homestead in Pomona : Emma is
the widow of Livingston Gain Robinson, who
was born in Maine and for many years was a
merchant in Waterford : he died in Bethel, Me.,
in 1873 ; the next child in the parental family,
Ellen, passed away in Bethel, as did also the only
son. Daniel Webster, who died in 1888. He was
well educated in Bethel Academy, and after
his school days were over he settled down to
farm pursuits in his home town. His marriage
united him with Mary A. Kelley, of North Yar-
mouth, Me., and of the three children born to
them onlv one is now living. Allan Webster,
who is engaged in orange growing on San Ber-
nadino avenue, Pomona. He also owns and has
developed an eighty-acre tract near Claremont,
all in oranges.

OLIVER S. HOWARD. When the domain
of civilization began to be extended beyond the
narrow confines of the east and the fertile soil
of the Mississippi valley began to attract pioneer
farmers, S. B. Howard, a native of New York,
became a frontiersman in the then wilds of Wis-
consin, passing through Milwaukee in 1844,
when a few log cabins marked the site of the
future metropolis of that state. While he learned
the carpenter's trade and followed the occupa-
tion more or less through all of his active years,
yet he had the desire for land that characterized
every pioneer, and one of his first steps toward
independence was to secure from the govern-
ment a claim to a quarter-section in Winnebago
county. Wis. Later he removed to Jackson coun-
ty, that state, but eventually returned to Win-
nebago county and resumed farming in that lo-
cality. During 1862 he offered his services to
the Union and was accepted as a private in the
ranks of a regiment of Wisconsin Infantry,
where he remained until the close of the war and

2130

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the honorable discharge of the army. His last
days were passed in Winnebago count}-, where
he died in the fall of 1880, at the age of seventy-
three years. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Salome Skinner, was born in Vermont
and died in Wisconsin at the age of fifty-seven
\ears.

Four sons were born of the marriage of S. B.
and Salome Howard, namely : Oliver S. and
Henry L., both born in Jackson county. Wis.,
August 24, 1859, and August 11, 1862, respect-
ively ; and Ira A. and Grant, who were born in
Winnebago county, tliat state, November 14,
1866, and August 24, 1869, in the order named.
Henry L. died May 26, 1880; Ira A. makes his
home at Wausau, \\'is. ; and Grant is a resident
of Temecula, Cal. Oliver S. Howard obtained
a fair education in the public schools of his na-
tive state, and at the age of seventeen secured
employment with a lumber company, going in-
to the logging camp of the pineries of Wiscon-
sin. He followed this for three successive win-
ters, remaining at home during the summers.

March 23, 1886, Mr. Howard was united in
marriage with Miss Ecie Cook, a daughter of
Edward and Adalaide Cook, who were then res-
idents of Winnebago county. Wis. The spring
following their marriage Mr. Howard and his
wife removed to South Dakota, debarking from
the train at Desmet, Kingsbury county, whence
they made their way overland to Hamlin county.
There Mr. Howard succeeded in buying relin-
cjuishments to three hundred and twenty acres
of choice land, a homestead and a tree claim.
Amid these pioneer conditions they battled with
storms and privations and in spite of discour-
agements soon built up a home that was a cred-
it to that section. Two years after locating there
the ]\Iilwaukee Railroad Company ran a spur
line across the state and located the new town
of Bryant in Garfield township. With fifty-nine
other citizens Mr. Howard formed the Bryant
Elevator Company and also a creamery plant,
co-operative concerns established in the inter-
ests of the farmers of that region. In addition
to his other interests Mr. Howard loaned money
on real estate and chattels. Eor six years he
served in the capacity of justice of the peace, as
well as township clerk and township treasurer,
and also belonged to Company M of the state
militia.

Although Mr. Howard's enterprises in South
Dakota were thoroughly successful, the dread of
the long and tedious winters in that part of the
country induced him to seek a milder climate
and it was with this idea in mind that he came
to California in 1898 upon a tour of inspection.
The result of his investigations was so satisfac-
tory that he returned to South Dakota, disposed
of liis interests there and in the fall of 1899

came to California as a permanent settler, buy-
ing one hundred and sixty acres in Riverside
county and embarking in the bee business. After
two years he sold the place and removed to San
Diego county, where he bought two hundred
and forty acres, forming his present homestead
in Gopher cafion. At this writing his landed
possessions aggregate seventeen hundred acres,
on which his herds of stock range. The crops
are utilized mostly for feed, instead of being
sold in the markets. Of recent years he has
made a specialty of Durham cattle and on his
ranch may be seen some choice and fancy spec-
imens of that breed. A neat house adds to the
attractions of the ranch and there are also sub-
stantial buildings for the shelter of stock and
storage of grain. The owner's attention is giv-
en to his ranch and stock with such earnestness
that he has no leisure nor desire to participate
in public affairs and takes no part in politics
aside from voting a straight Republican ticket
at all elections.

Upon their removal to California in 1899 Mr,
and ]\Irs. Howard were accompanied by ]Mrs.
Howard's father, Edward Cook. He died at his
home in Twin Oaks June 23, 1905. at the age
of eighty-seven years, and is survived by his
wife, Mrs. Howard and one son, George.

HARRY :MELANCT0N LAXDIS. During
an early period in the colonization of Pennsyl-
vania the Landis family came from Germany
and identified themselves with the pioneer de-
velopment of the Keystone state. Peter Landis,
a native of Lancaster county and for some time
a member of its county board of supervisors,
platted the town of Landisville, which was named
in his honor. Though a farmer by occupa-
tion, for some years he devoted his attention to
business pursuits and manufactured the Landis
plow first at Landisville and later in the Le-
banon valley near Harrisburg. Eventually he
purchased a large tract of land in Snyder county.
Pa., devoted his attention to raising grain and
stock, and remained on the farm until his death.
Meanwhile he had disposed of a portion of the
property, all of which was underlaid with coal
mines. Back to the time of the Reformation his
ancestors had been followers of Martin Luther
and he himself was stanch in his devotion to
Lutheran doctrines. In politics he voted with
the Republican party.

In the family of Peter Landis was a son,
Samuel S., who was born at Landisville, Pa.,
and became a dairyman on a farm now adjacent
to the citv limits of Harrisburg. At the open-
ing of the Civil war he enlisted in the Union
army as a member of a Pennsylvania regiment
and for four rears he remained at the front.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

IVM

meanwhile being twice wounded in battle. At
the expiration of the war he was honorably dis-
charged from the service and retvirned to his
farm. Later he became active in the local work
of the Grand Army of the Republic. Like his
father, he was a devoted believer in the Lutheran
faith and contributed regularly to the work of
that denomination. Fraternally he was a Mason
and also connected with the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Susan St. Clair, was bom in Liverpool,
England, and crossed the ocean at an early age,
settling with two sisters in Lancaster county. Pa.,
and dying in i860 in Pennsylvania. There were
only three children in the family and two are
now living.

The youngest of the children was Harry M.,
born near Harrisburg Pa., September 4, 1856,
and reared on the home farm until fifteen years
of age, meanwhile attending public school during
three winter months each year. Hearing much
concerning the west and ambitious to see some-
thing of this part of the world, in 1872 he came
to San Francisco and from there worked his
passage to San Diego on the steamer William
Tabor. When he landed here he found a town
radically dififerent from the present city. In-
stead of comfortable homes and substanial bus-
iness blocks, little except sage brush was to be
seen. The few business houses were straggling
structures of primitive construction, and the
residences were little more than shanties. Yet
about all was the subtle charm of climate. There
was much to interest the close observer, and
he had no desire to seek a larger field of activ-
ity. With a willing disposition and capable
hands he undertook such work as he could find
to do. At the age of seventeen years he became
an apprentice to the carpenter's trade under H.
A. Perry, with whom he remained for three
years. Later he worked as a journeyman for
two vcars. Since 1880 he has engaged in con-
tracting and, in point of years of business activ-
ity, ranks as the oldest contractor in San Diego.
Ehiring his long career he has built many resi-
dences and business houses, has drawn the
plans for his buildings when desired, and at
one time went to Salinas under a contract for
some brick business blocks.

The residence which Mr. Landis erected at
No. 841 Ninth street forms a pleasant home for
his family. In San Diego, February 1 1, 1894. he
married Miss Peru A. Perkins, who was born at
Ukiah, Cal.. graduated from the San Francisco
Business College in 1889, and later taught sten-
ography and typewriting in the San Diego Bus-
iness College. Her father, A. T., and grand-
father, Jesse Perkins, were natives of Virginia,
and the" latter died upon a plantation in that
state. The former in 1850 crossed the plains

with oxen and engaged in mining in the moun-
tains. After a brief sojourn at Marysville he
became one of the earliest settlers of Ukiah,
Alendocino county, where he established the
Ckiah News, the first paper published in the
town. In addition he was interested in a mer-
cantile store, a lumber business and in stock-
raising, and various of these interests he was
still holding in 1879, the year of his death. His
wife, who was Elizabeth Harper, was born,
reared and married in Georgia, and died in
Ukiah. They were the parents of seven chil-
dren. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Landis
there are a daughter, C. Floyd, and a son, Har-
old P.

Prominent in the local activities of the Re-
publican party, Mr. Landis at one time was a
member of the county convention. From 1895
to 1897 he was a member of the board of dele-
gates, serving one year as president. In 1897
he became a member of the board of aldermen,
representing the second precinct of the second
ward, and by re-election every other year he
served until the spring of 1905, when he retired
with an excellent record for faithful service to
the city. As chairman of the water committee,
the building committee, and the electric light and
telephone committee, he rendered service that
was especially valuable and of permanent assist-
ance to the well-being of the city and the tax-
payers. In addition he aided measures for the
instituting of improvements which have trans-
formed San Diego from an old-fashioned town
to a modern city of the twentieth century type.
On the organization of the Union League Club
he became one of its charter members. When
the Master Builders' Association was organized
he became active in the new societv and was hon-
ored with the office of president, besides officiat-
ing as a member of the board of directors. In
1894 he was made a Mason in San Diego Lodge
No. 35, F. & A. M., later took the Royal Arch
degree and became connected with San Diego
Commandery No. 25, K. T., with all of which
he yet affiliates. During 1878 he was initiated
into San Diego Lodge No. 153, I. O. O. P.. in
which he is past noble grand. Among the other
bodies with which lie has affiliated mav be men-
tioned the Woodmen of the ^^^orld, the Forest-
ers of America and the Order of the Eastern
Star, with which last-named organization his
wife also has been associated.

T. LEE CATHCART. As vice-president and
general manager of the San Bernardino and
Riverside Laundrv Companies J. Lee Cathcart
has proven his title as one of the most successful
and enterprising business men of this section.
The Cathcart fann'h- has been identified with

2132

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the development of California since 1852, when
the grandfather of J. Lee, Capt. John Cathcart,
who had been a steamboat owner and captain
on the Mississippi river between New Orleans
and St. Louis, came here with his family and
located at Santa Cruz, where he became a large
land owner and lived the remainder of his life.
His son Robert was a small boy when brought to
the state and spent his youthful days at Santa
Cruz. As a yoimg man he engaged in mining
operations for a time, later became a merchant at
Santa Cruz, and in 1876 located at Pomona and
engaged in horticultural pursuits, setting out one
of the first orange groves in that section, his one
hundred acre traci being devoted almost ex-
clusively to that fruit. There were but four
American families in that neighborhood when
he first went there and tlie well-settled garden
spot that now is Pomona was bare and waste
land. The death of the elder Cathcart occurred
in Pomona in 1904. His wife was Augusta Durr,
a native of Ohio, whose grandfather came from
Germany to Ohio, and in 1854 to California via
the Panama route, settling with his family in
Monterey, and there died. Mrs. Cathcart is now
residing on the home ranch at Pomona, and
three of the four children in the family are yet
living.

Next to the oldest in the family, J. Lee Cath-
cart was born June 17. 1871. at Santa Cruz, Cal.,
and when live years of age was taken by his
parents to Pomona, where he was educated in
the public schools, and after the completion of
his studies worked with his father until he had
reached the age of his majority. He then began
to master the laundry business, starting in the
workroom and gradually rising until he has
reached his present position.- He was first em-
ployed in the Lorbeer Brothers' Pomona laun-
dry, and when be resigned his position with them
in 1901 he had attained the foremanship of that
establishment. Leaving Pomona he came to San
Bernardino and purchased, with others, the San
Bernardino Steam Laundry, of which he became
the manager. This laundry had been established
in 1 89 1 and was incorporated as the San Ber-
nardino Steam Laundry Company, which rented
quarters at Fourth and D streets, this building
continuing as its home until 1903, when a new
site was purchased at Nos. 559-561 Court street
and a building 80x127 feet was erected. The
plant has been given the most thoroughly mod-
ern equipment, which includes two forty-horse-
power boilers and one thirty-five-horsepower en-
gine, a pumping plant, and artesian well and
machinery for generating their own electricity to
be used in heating the irons and running the ma-
chinery. The laundry is pronounced the largest
and best equipped in Southern California out-
side of Los Angeles, and their business extends

from Riverside through California and into
Nevada. In 1905 Mr. Cathcart and his brother
purchased a controlling interest in the Riverside
Laundry Company, of which j. Lee is president,
and they have remodeled and improved the
plant, installing pumping and electricity-gen-
erating machinery, the steadily increasing busi-
ness at that point making it necessary to enlarge
the building also. Mr. Cathcart is a member of
the Southern California Laundrymen's Associa-
tion, and in December, 1906, was elected first
vice-president. He is assistant chief of the San
Bernadino fire department, belongs to the San
Bernardino Board of Trade, and fraternally
affiliates with the Woodmen of the World lodge.
In 1892 Mr. Cathcart was married in Berkeley
to Miss Amy Green, a native of Michigan, and
this union has been blessed in the birth of two
children, Howard .and Kate.

SAMUEL M. BISE. Prominent among the
leading business men of Compton, Los Angeles
county is Samuel M. Bise, the well-known fur-
nishing undertaker, funeral director and livery-
man. Possessing a thorough knowledge of the
duties of an undertaker, his services are sought
throughout the community in which he resides.
He is enterprising and public spirited, taking an
intelligent interest in local affairs, ever ready to
lend a helping hand towards promoting the best
interests of town and county. A son of John
Bise, he was born June 26, 1846, in Sullivan
county, Tennessee.

A native of Germany, John Bise was but a
child when his parents emigrated to this country,
settling as farmers in North Carolina. Brought
up in that state, he was engaged in agricultural
pursuits during his entire life, first in Virginia,
then in Tennessee, and subsequently in Missouri,
where he spent the closing years of his life, dying
there in 1866. He married Mathilda, daughter
of John Bohman, of Tennessee, and they became
the parents of eleven children, namely : William,
John, Lucinda, George, Thomas, Lewis, Cath-
erine, Sarah, Mary, Robert and Samuel M. The
family were patriotic, five of the sons serving
as soldiers in the Civil war, four of them belong-
ing to Company C, Second Missouri Volunteer
Infantry. The parents were both members of
the Baptist Qiurch.

The youngest child of the parental household,
Samuel M. Bise received a good education in the
common schools, and at an early age began to be
self-supporting. During the Civil war, follow-
ing the example of his four brave brothers, he
enlisted for three years in Company C, Third
Iowa Cavalry, and at the expiration of his term
of enlistment re-enlisted, becoming a member of
Company H, Thirty-ninth Missouri Volunteer

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RI'XORD.

2133

Infantry, in whicli he served ten months, at the
close of the war being mustered out of service.
He participated in numerous engagements, and
being seriously wounded at the battle in Cen-
tralia, Mo., was in the hospital for three months.
Coming to California in i860, he located first in
Woodland, Yolo county, as a rancher, going
from there to Salinas, Monterey county, where
he was similarly employed a number of seasons.
In 1874 he came to Compton, and witli the ex-
ception of nine }ears when he was engaged in
agricultural pursuits in San Luis Obispo county,
he has since been a resident of this place. He is
now carrying on a substantial livery business,
and as an undertaker and funeral director is
painstaking, efficient and popular.

In Compton, October 21. 1874, Mr. Bise was
united in marriage with Sarah A. Rogers, born
in California, a daughter of Sylvester Rogers,
who was born in Ohio, while his wife was a
native of Missouri. Mr. Rogers came to Comp-
ton with the colony in the year 1867. Five chil-
dren have been born of the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Bise, namely : Ida, Mattie, Marion, Adenie
and Sylvester. They have also an adopted son,
Frank, whose father was killed in the battle of
Manila. Politically Mr. Bise is active in Repub-
lican ranks, and for eight years ser^'ed as deputy
constable. He belongs to Shiloh Post No. 60,
G. A. R., of Compton ; to the Fraternal Brother-
hood, and to the Fraternal Aid, of which Mrs.
Bise is also a member. Both he and Mrs. Bise
are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and are everywhere respected and es-
teemed.

JACOB FRANK LOBINGIER. As a hor-
ticulturist and manufacturer Jacob F. Lobin-
gier holds a high place among the represen-
tative citizens of Los Angeles county, where
he has been located since 1888 and engaged
since that time in the upbuilding of his per-
sonal fortune, while at the same time he has
given his best efiforts towards the material up-
building and development of the section. The
family of which he is the California repre-
sentative is of French Huguenot and Swiss
origin, although the name was established in
America by his great-great-grandfather, Chris-
topher Lobingier, who settled in Dauphin
county, Pa., and served his adopted country in
the Revolutionary war. The son of his ances-
tor, John, a scholarly gentleman who became
a county judge and otherwise participated in
the public affairs of his community, estab-
lished the Lobingier Mills on Jacob's creek,
on a turnpike road between Pittsburg and
Baltimore. The interest in the mills passed
from father to son. each combining farming

with their milling operations. The father of
our subject, also named Jacob, was a member
of the first class in Bethany College and later
became a farmer and merchant tanner at his
birthplace in Westmoreland county. Pa. He
took a prominent part in public affairs and
served as Justice of the peace, and as post-
master for many years in the town of Laurel-
ville. His death occurred in June, 1887, re-
moving from the communiiy a citizen of worth
and works and one whose place could never
be filled. He v/as an educated and scholarly
gentleman, had taken a strong interest on all
educational topics, and numbered among his
friends many of the most notable men of his
commonwealth. He left a wife, a daughter,
and three sons, his wife's maiden name being
Lillias Stewart. She was a native of Somer-
set county, Pa., and a daughter of Andrew
Stewart, of Scotch descent, who became a
resident of Somerset, where he served for
many years as justice of the peace. Mr. and
Mrs. Lobingier had six children, of whom
three are now living, one son, Henry Schell,
who graduated from Bethany College in 1873,
became a clergyman of distinction in the Chris-
tian Church. His death occurred in 1887 at
Pomona. The oldest son, Ouincy A., lives at
San Gabriel, the subject of this sketch at Po-
mona, and Dr. Andrew Stewart is a practic-
ing surgeon of Los Angeles.

Jacob Frank Lobingier was born in West-
moreland county. Pa., J'uly 13, 1859, and reared
in the town of his birthplace, Laurelville, and
educated in its schools. He assisted his fa-
ther when old enough in the tannery and mill,
learning the trade of the former. After the
death of his father he was appointed admin-
istrator and after settling up the estate he sold
out and with his mother and sister and two
brothers came to California. They located in
Pomona, where Mr. Lobingier engaged in hor-
ticulture, locating on a twenty-acre ranch near
Claremont, which he improved and cultivated
to oranges and lemons. He continued in that
location for sixteen years. In 1903 he disposed
of these interests and is now engaged in the
canning business at Ontario with the Golden
State Fruit Company of which he is president.
The cannery at Ontario has been gradually
enlarged and increased in capacity. In 1906
they put up nearly two million cans, consum-
ing four hundred tons of peaches. One hun-
dred and ten cars of the season's output
were shipped east. The favorite brands are
the Regal, Euclid. Ruby Fiesta, Ontario and
Riverside.

Mr. Lobingier is one of the prominent cit-
izens of Pomona, taking an active and help-
ful interest in all public affairs. He is a di-

2134

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

rector of the American National Bank, a mem-
ber of the board of Library Trustees, a di-
rector in the Board of Trade and director in
the Pomona Valle}' Hospital Association. He
is a Republican in his political convictions
and is a member of the Christian Church, in
which he officiates as deacon. From 1904 to
1906 he served as a city trustee. He is a pro-
gressive and fair-minded citizen, and no man
is more counted upon to uphold public enter-
prises.

NILS xAIALMBERG. Although apprenticed
in youth to the machinist's trade, a preference
for the occupation of painter led Mr. Malmberg
to transfer his energies to the work more con-
genial to his tastes, and he has since proved to
be an efficient and successful workman in the line
of his chosen pursuit. While he devotes him-
self assiduously to the filling of contracts for
painting, yet he finds leisure for other lines of
activity. In his home are to be seen tables,
clock, stands, etc., which are his handiwork and
prove him to be a natural mechanic.

In the southern part of Sweden, across the
sound from Denmark, lies the city of Helsing-
borg, one of the oldest in Sweden, where Nils
]\Ialmberg was born August 14, 1868. His
father, Johnnes, a native of the same locality, is
a machinist by trade, and still carries on a shop
in that city. The mother, who bore the maiden
name of Maria Pearson and who was born at
Helsingborg. is now deceased. Tlie family are
of the Lutheran faith, as were their ancestors
almost back to the time of the Reformation. Four
daughters and one son comprised the original
family, and all are now living except one daugh-
ter, but Nils, next to the oldest of the number,
is the only one in America. Such advantages as
common schools afforded were given him, but he
has acquired his education by self-culture rather
than by school training.

When sixteen years of age Mr. Malmberg
began to learn the trade of machinist, but after a
year he took up painting as an apprentice and
thoroughly learned the trade in all of its
branches. Coming to the United States in 1889,
he made a sojourn of several months at Marcus,
Cherokee county, lovi'a, and in December of the
same year arrived at San Diego, where without
delay he was successful in securing employment
as a painter. In 1894 he began to take contracts
for painting and has continued in the same line
to the present time, meanwhile having charge of
such work as the Sefton block, Isis theatre, Fut-
ton and Humphrey block, the Marston, and Dr.
Burnham's, Major !\Ioylan"s. Sehon's and Mrs.
Garrettson's residences, and since 1900 has had
under his supervision all of the painting for the

Theosophists at Point Loma Homestead. Dur-
ing the busy season he furnishes employment to
from eight to twelve men, with whose aid he
promptly and efficiently fills all of the contracts
undertaken by him.

The Malmberg residence at No. 3435 C street,
San Diego, is presided over by Mrs. Malmberg,
formerly Miss Edith Holmquist, who was born
in Salina, Kans., came to San Diego, in girlhood,
was here married, and now has one son, John
Waldo. Ever since becoming a citizen of the
United States ]\Ir. Malmberg "has voted the Re-
publican ticket, but at no time has he sought
official honors or public emoluments, preferring
to devote himself to his business affairs. Identi-
fied with the Master Painters' Association and
the San Diego Builders' Exchange, he holds a
position as trustee in the former. In fraternal re-
lations he is a Mason (as was his father before
him), an Odd Fellow and a member of the
Rebekahs, belonging to Silver Gate Lodge No.
296, F. & A. M., in which he was made a Mason,
and also holding membership with San Diego
Lodge No. 153, I. O. O. F., in the work of
which he has been an interested participant.

FREDERICK W. OTTE. Not far from
the village of Oxnard, Ventura county, is lo-
cated the ranch of F. W. Otte, a steady, en-
terprising farmer, and one who in many ways
has added to the agricultural prestige of the
community. He is a native of Germany, born
June ij, 1869, the son of a farmer, the father
following an agricultural life in the Father-
land until transferring his residence to the Unit-
ed States in 1886. Father and son .were very
closely associated in their interests, for as
.soon as the latter had completed his common
school studies he entered vigorously into the
duties connected with the management of the
homestead, an interest which has never less-
ened in connection with the homestead es-
tablished in the New World. For nine years
they were associated in maintaining the ranch
which the father purchased in Ventura county,
but in 1895 the son began farming independ-
ently, in 1905 purchasing a tract of one hun-
dred and sixt}- acres six miles from Oxnard,
upon which he has since resided. At the time
he purchased it there were few of the im-
provements seen on the place today. Beets
and barley are made a specialty, although he
also carries on general farming to some ex-
tent. Since leaving home he rented land for
ten years in the county until he bought his
present ranch.

While still working on the home farm with
iiis father Wr. Otte formed domestic ties by
his marriage with Miss Gusta Volkert, the cer-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2135

emony being performed in 1892, and for three
years tlie young people made their home near
the father's ranch. Mrs. Otte was born in
Ohio and is a daughter of Charles and Louisa
Volkert. One son, Henry, has been born in-
to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Otte.

In his native land Mr. Otte was trained in
the faith of the Lutheran Church, and he still
adheres to its teachings, as does also his wife,
and they hold membership in the church of
that denomination at Oxnard. Mr. Otte has
not allied himself with either of the great pol-
itical parties, but this does not indicate that
he is not interested in the welfare of his adopt-
ed country; on the other hand he is keenly
alive to its best interests, and after careful
investigation as to the candidate's qualifica-
tioiis votes for the man best fitted for the po-
sition in question. He belongs to but one
fraternal order, holding membership in the
Ancient Order of United Workmen.

JOHN HANSEN. The Skyland summer
resort is located high up in the San Bernar-
dino range, on the Arrowhead road, where a
delightful view is aftorded the guest at all
times, which in itself is refreshing were no
other advantages to be gained from the high
altitude and unpolluted air. Besides the hotel,
there are ten cottages scattered about the
grounds for the accommodation of guests who
prefer to take their outing in this way, and for
those who wish the less conventional camp
life, tents and all the accompanying necessi-
ties can readily be supplied. The Skyland re-
sort is under the capable management of Mr.
Hansen, who is proving himself to be the
right man in the right place.

A son of Johannas Christian and Hannah
Magdalena (Skroder) Elansen, John Hansen
was born in Hadersleben, a seaport town of
Prussia, September 11, 1863. In the public and
high schools of his native town he received a
good education, graduating in 1879. Follow-
ing the German custom of learning a trade, he
was apprenticed to a machinist for four years,
at the end of the appointed time coming forth
a full-fledged machinist. During his school
■years he had exhibited a fondness for mechan-
ics and had given the subject considerable
thought and study, so that the years of his ap-
prenticeship were spent in an agreeable pur-
suit. After following his trade for about a
year failing eyesight made a change in his
plans and finally resulted in his immigration
to America. Landing in New York City Sep-
tember 7, 1880, he went to Phoenixville, Ches-
ter countv, Pa., where for about nine months
he was employed at his trade. Going to Cleve-

land, Ohio, at the end of this time he worked
as a machinist there for about fifteen months,
when he went still further west and in Cedar
Falls, Iowa, became interested in farming. Be-
sides carrying on agricultural pursuits there
for four years he also did teaming. Leaving
the middle west in the latter part' of 1887, he
arrived in San Bernardino December 17, and
for one year was employed in the material
yards of the Santa Fe Railroad. From there
he went north to Sauvie Island, Multnomah
county, Ore., where for eleven months he was
employed in lumbering. Returning to San
Bernardino at the end of this time he again
entered the employ of the Santa Fe, acting as
foreman of the yard until September 27, 1901,
when he severed his connection with the com-
pany and accepted the position of gate keeper
and road superintendent of a power company.
F"our years later, in May, 1905, he accepted a
position Avith the county as road superintend-
ent, giving this up. however, five months lat-
er to take charge of the Skyland resort, having
been in charge here since October 15, 1905.

The marriage of John Hansen occurred Oc-
tober 30, 1890, and united him with Charlotte
Christine Rnsmussen, the daughter of Nels
Severin and Charlotte C. (Vanding) Rasmus-
sen. Mrs. Hansen was born in Kolding, Den-
mark. October 26, 1863, and in 1890 came to
the United States, locating in San Bernardino.
Cal., where her marriage occurred soon aft-
erward. Three children blessed the marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Hansen, the eldest of whom,
Johannas Christian, died at the age of three
years and ten months ; Eda Frederica was born
February 15, 1892; and the youngest child,
Olga Helen, was born May 29, 1900. Political-
ly Mr. Hansen is a believer in Democratic
principles, although he is not what is termed
a politician, and has never aspired to public
office holding. Fraternally he belongs to Ar-
rowhead Tent No. 12, K. O. T. M., in which
he has held a number of offices.

WILLIAM LAMONT OL.MSTEAD. Iden-
tified with the manufacturing interests of Red-
lands, William Lament Olmstead is now act-
ing as secretary and manager for the San Ber-
nardino Lumber & Box Company, with his
business office located in San IBernardino and
his home in this city, at the corner of Clark
and Alvarado streets. Mr. Olmstead came to
California in 1889. He is a native of Penn-
sylvania, where his birth occurred in Wyom-
ing county, near Tunkhannock, November 10,
1858. His father, Edward, was a teacher in
tlie public schools and later in life a manu-
facturer, his death being caused from in-

2136

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

juries received ^vl^ile in this work. His moth-
er was Alartha Lockwood, in maidenhood, a
native of Connecticut and a daughter of Will-
iam Lockwood, the latter a farmer in what is
now Scranton, Fa. iNTrs. Olmstead was also
a teacher in her young womanhood ; she be-
came the mother of two children and died
when this son was but five years old. He was
brought up on a farm in ^Vyoming county and
attended the district schools in pursuit of an
education, which course was supplemented by
a few months spent at the Keystone Academy.
At the age of eighteen years he began teach-
ing in his native county, and in that location
remained so occupied for about thirteen years.
During this time he studied pharmacy. In
1889 he came to the Pacilic coast and located
in Uniontown, Eastern Washington, and en-
gaged in the drug business in that town for
about three years, when he sold out and pur-
chasing a drug establishment in Farmington,
same state, he conducted the same for the pe-
riod of six months. He then moved his inter-
ests to Northport, Wash., and after one year
moved it again to Ritzville, same state, and
shortly afterward became interested in the
banking business there, disposing of his drug
store to assume the position of discount clerk
in the First National Bank of Ritzville, in
which he was a director. He held this posi-
tion two years, when in 1902 he resigned, and
having previously, in 1901, made a trip to
California and purchased an orange grove at
Redlands, he came south and became per-
manently located here. He now owns seven-
teen acres on Redlands street and Fifth av-
enue, all devoted to navel oranges. In the
meantime he has become variously interested
in commercial affairs in this section, at pres-
ent serving as president of the Security In-
vestment Company, of Redlands, which owns
the Commercial Company ; is a member of
East Redlands ^^'^ater Company, and is a di-
rector and the vice-president of same; was
one of the organi.-:ers of the Redlands Golden
Orange Association and a director from its
inception; and in the reorganization of the
San Bernardino Lumber & Box Company he
was a potent factor. This latter business now
occupies a large part of his time and atten-
tion. This enterprise is located in San Ber-
nardino, where tiiey have a planing. mill and
box factory, with a capacity of fifty thou-
sand feet per day. They have mills in the
mountains near Skyland, where they manu-
facture lumber for their own use. Since Jan-
uary I, 1907, Mr. Olmstead has assumed active
management in this work, and is now serv-
ing as its manager and secretary, and is
destined to bring the enterprise to rank with

the foremost of its character in Southern Cal-
ifornia.

In Wyoming county, Pa., Mr. Olmstead was
united in marriage with Miss Alice M. Hodg-
son, a native of Daleville, Pa., and a graduate
of the Indiana .State Normal at Valparaiso.
They have four children, namely: Edward L.,
engaged in the real estate business in Ana-
heim; Nellie I.. Edith :\I. and Paul H., at
home. Fraternally Mr. Olmstead was made a
Mason in Ritzville Lodge No. loi, F. & A. M.,
and an Odd Fellow in Pennsylvania, joining
the lodge of the latter organization in Ritz-
ville, of which he is past grand, and now be-
longs to Redlands Lodge No. 341, I. O. O. F.
He is a member of the First Congregational
Church, of Redlands, and politically is a Re-
publican.

FRANK \\ ALTER JOHNSON. There is
no enterprise of its kind better known through-
out the Pomona valley than the Pomona Val-
ley Ice Company, of which Mr. Johnson is the
able manager. His identification with the ice
business dates from the year 1902, when he
became an employe of the Pasadena Ice Com-
pany and as their representative established
a branch office in Pomona. The following year
he was transferred to Los Angeles and placed
in charge as manager of that branch, a posi-
tion which he filled with credit to himself and
with the greatest satisfaction to his superiors
until February, 1906. It was on the latter
date that his identification with the Pomona
Valley Ice Company began, he being a stock-
holder in the concern. In the fall of 1905 the
companj' erected its present modern ice plant
at the corner of East Second and Reservoir
streets, which has a capacity for turning out
thirty-five tons of ice per day. In close prox-
imity to the manufacturing building proper is
a large brick storage Avarehouse, 60x120x30
feet high, with a capacity for storing three
thousand tons of ice. To such an extent has
the business increased in scope that more
storage space has become a necessity, and it
is the intention of the stockholders to erect
a suitable building for this purpose in the
spring of T90V.

The Johnson family was one of the oldest
in Virginia, and during the Revolutionary war
some of its members were represented among
the defenders of the colonists' cause. From
such information as can be gathered from the
records of the grandfather, Martin Johnson,
v^ras the first to remove from the Old Domin-
ion and establish the family in Indiana, where
he taught school. The next in line of descent
was \y. A., who was born in Madison coun-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2137

ty, Ind., and during his earlier years he fol-
lowed farming in that county. The call to
arms in 1861 found him among the number
who laid aside their farm implements to shoul-
der the musket in defense of their country's
honor, and after his term of service had ex-
pired he once more took up his farming du-
ties in Indiana. About 1880 he removed to
Kansas City, Mo., and engaged in the real-
estate business, following this for about four
years, when, in 1884, he came to California,
and since that time has followed the same bus-
iness in Los Angeles, his office being at No.
109 South Broadway. His service in the Un-
ion army entitles him to membership in the
Grand Army of the Republic. His wife, for-
merly Sarali Cook, was also born in Indiana,
and is now living in Los Angeles. All of the
six children born to these worthy parents are
still living, and of the number Frank W. is
next to the oldest.

At Huntsville, Madison county, Ind., not
far from Anderson, Frank W. Johnson was
born IMarch 12, 1870, and the first ten years
of his life were associated with that locality.
The removal of the family at that time to
Kansas City brought a complete change into
his life, for' though he was little more than a
child in years he began to prepare himself for
future business, and from then until fourteen
vears of age was an apprentice to the uphol-
sterer's trade with the Abernethy Furniture
Company. Coming to California in 1884, he
worked as upholsterer in the employ of John
Bloser of Los Angeles for two years, and for
the same length of time worked in the same
capacity for the Los Angeles Furniture Com-
pany. With an ambition which has ever been
one of his marked characteristics he set about
to improve his neglected education (his only
training of this character being received pri-
or to his tenth year) and during the four years
of his residence in Los Angeles he attended
night school and commercial college. Going
to' Bonner Springs, Kans., in 1888, he was as-
sociated with his father in the butcher bus-
iness for two years, and thereafter returned
to Los Angeles, where for several years he
worked as a butcher in the employ of Charles
Kesner. From Los Angeles he went to San
Bernardino countv, where for a time he was
in the emplov of' the Bear Valley Irrigation
Company, sti'll later going to Chino and en-
gaging in beet-raising. From Chino he carne
to Pomona in 1894. becoming interested in
the butcher business once more as an employe
in the market of Richard Gird. Some years
later he became proprietor of an establishment
of his ov/n, purchasing the trade of C. W. Fos-
dick. and continuing the business at the cor-

ner of Second and Alain streets for four years.
Prior to this, however, he had worked at the
upholsterer's trade for three years with Wright
Brothers and Rice. Upon disposing of his
meat market in 1902 he entered the employ
of the Pasadena Ice Company in May of that
year, and his rise from that position to the
present managership of the Pomona Valley
Ice Company has already been enlarged upon.
Besides being a stockholder in the latter com-
oany he also holds stock in the Pasadena Ice
Company.

In Pomona Mr. Johnson was united in mar-
riage with Miss Emma Nora Mosher, who was
born in Hartford, Kans., and two children
have been born to them, Frank Kenneth and
Lois Merle. The family have a pleasant home
in Pomona, besides which Mr. Johnson owns
a residence in Los Angeles. Mr. Johnson and
his wife are members of the Christian Church
and are in deep sympathy with the Prohibi-
tion movement, Air. Johnson voting for the
candidates of that party whenever the oppor-
tunity is offered. His m.embership in the
Board of Trade is indicative of his interest in
the welfare of his home city, where he is known
as an enterprising and capable business man.
Fraternally he belongs to several organiza-
tions, having been made a Alason in Pomona
Lodge No. 246, and his name is also on the
membership roll of the Fraternal Aid, Frat-
ernal Brotherhood and the Knights of the
Alaccabees.

BEARRY ROBERTS. One of the finest
ranches in Southern California is owned by
Bearry Roberts, who is among the oldest set-
tlers in the state, having arrived here in 1852.
He was born September 18, 1836, in Conway
county. Ark., the son of Jesse and Mary (Ap-
plin) Roberts. The father was a farmer in
Arkansas and died in that state when Bearry,
who was the youngest son, was a mere baby.
The mother, who was a native of Tennessee,
brought the family to California in 1852, but
later returned to Texas, where her death oc-
curred. Of the six children in the family
Bearry Roberts is the only one now living.
He lived on the farm in Arkansas until fifteen
years old, when he crossed the plains, driving
a team of four yoke oxen, guiding the animals
from the back' of the wheel ox. The party
started April 10 and after a comparatively
uneventful trip arrived in Mariposa on the first
day of October. Mr. Roberts worked at min-
ing for five years, then removed to San Ber-
nardino county, and in December, 1857, locat-
ed on a ranch ind began stock raising. He
has been living in his present home for thir-

2138

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ly years, the ranch l)cing situated in San
Timoteo caiion, Riverside county, and com-
prising two hundred acres of highly improved
land, the greater part of which is under irri-
gation, the water being sectired from San Tim-
oteo creek. He owns some of the finest cat-
tle in the county of the Shorthorn and Durham
breeds and has twent3--five dairy cows of high
grade. He also possesses some blooded horses,
among them being one. Clyde, a large bay Eng-
lish shire horse bred from an imported sire,
which is acknowledged to be one of the best
breeding horses in the valley. The crop to
which the largest acreage is devoted is alfal-
fa, six cuttings of hay being secured in one
year. The ranch is located six miles from
Redlands and is one of the most valuable
properties in that section.

In Mariposa countv 'Sir. Roberts was mar-
ried to I\Iiss Frances Thomas, a native of Mis-
souri, her death occurring on the ranch many
years ago. They became the parents of twelve
children, nine of whom are lining: \\'illiam, a
ranchman of iNIill Creek canon. San Bernar-
dino county : C^zrow, a farmer of San Timo-
teo cafion ; Edward, a farmer at Crafton ; Lee,
residing in San Bernardino : Early, at home ;
Archie, of San Bernardino ; Emma, the wife of
Alfred Beach, living in Alexico : Xettie and
Ida, both of whom are married and live in Or-
egon. 'Mr. Robert's second marriage was to
]\Iiss Maggie Leonard of North Carolina, and
her death took place some years ago. Frater-
nally he holds membership in Token Lodge
No. 290, I. O. O. F. at San Bernardino, of
which he is past noble grand, and also belongs
to the Encampment. He is also a member of
the San Bernardino Pioneers societ}'. He has
always taken an active interest in educational
matters, and was one of the organizers of the
El Casco school district and for seven years
ser\'ed as a director.

JA:^1ES B. RAYNER. As an upbuilder of
Redlands Mr. Rayner has been an interested
witness and participant in the development of
its resources and has assisted materially in en-
hancing its commercial importance. He came
to California in 1886 and a month later locat-
ed in Redlands, where he has ever since resid-
ed. He was born in Piqua. Ohio, December 5,
1846, a son of ^^'illiam, who v>'as a native of
Sheffield, England, a son of John, a builder by
occupation, who emigrated to America and set-
tled in Piqua, Ohio. William Rayner en-
gaged as a carpenter and builder, and also in
farming near Piqua, where his death eventual-
ly occurred. His wife, formerly Rachel A'al-
entine, was born in Piqua, a daughter of Will-

iam \"alentine, of English descent, her death
also occurring in Ohio. Of their two children
James B. is the only one living.

Reared in Piqua, James B. Rayner received
his education in the public schools, and aft-
er graduating from the high school of his na-
tive town he went to Lebanon and became a
student in the Normal School there. Upon re-
turning home he entered a drug store and re-
mained so occupied for the period of three
j^ears, when he returned to his early training
and became a farmer. In October, 1871, he
came west and in Colorado Springs followed
carpentering and building, removing in 1874
to South Park, on the South Platte river, where
he purchased and improved a cattle ranch, his
brand being a double circle. He remained in
this business for about twelve years. January
I, 1886, he came to Southern California, re-
i-nained for about a month in Los Angeles and
then cam.e to Redlands. where he purchased a
tract of two and a half acres on the corner ot
Center and Clifton and three and a half acres
on the corner of Center and Walnut, set them
to oranges and improved with a residence and
necessarv barns and outbuildings. In time he
sold them both. He was one of the organizers
of the Domestic Water Company and served
as its secretary for one year during the time
the system was constructed. Later he dis-
posed'of his interest in this concern, and gave
his attention to other pursuits. He was vari-
ously interested in upbuilding enterprises of
Redlands. He assisted in organizing the Un-
ion Bank of Redlands and acted as director for
five years; also was interested in the Wind-
sor hotel company, and ^vith others, was
instrumental in bringing the Southern Pa-
cific Railroad to the town ; in building the first
horse-car line here, and in the erection of the
Young ]\Ien's Christian Association. He is
also interested in property in Huntington
Beach. Because of impaired health he re-
tired from active business cares and is now re-
siding at No. 152 Fourth street. Redlands.

In Colorado Springs. May 10. 1877, Mr. Ray-
ner was united in marriage with Miss Jennie
Shideler, a native of Plampton. Iowa, and a
daughter of Thomas Shideler, who was born in
Ohio and married in Indiana Anna Fullhart.
a native of Ohio, and together they located in
Iowa and established their home. He fol-
lowed the trade of blacksmith and later was a
merchant in Plampton. He next located in
I\Iichigan, and thence in 1869 came to Colorado
Springs, Colo., where he now resides, his wife
having passed away in June, 1903. Mr. atid
Mrs. Rayner had one child. Laura Mrytle. who
died in 1887, at the age of nine years. Both
himself and wife are members of the First

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RPXORD.

2139

Methodist Episcopal Church, of Redlands.
When they first came to tiiis city there was
no church of this denomination, so they at-
tended the Congregational Church until 1887,
when sixteen Methodists organized a congre-
gation and in T890 built the first church, Mr.
Rayner officiating as tieasurer on the build-
ing committee. He is a Republican and a
practical and public-spirited citizen, eager to
assist in every movement which has for its
end the general welfare of the community and
the public.

WILLIAM H. SINGLETON, manager of
the W. S. dairy and the Singleton ranch, in
the San Timoteo cafion, is an up-to-date and
progressive rancher, has proven an upbuilder
in various lines in .Southern California, and
has achieved a success which places him among
the representative citizens of this section. A
native Californian. AA'illiam Henry Singleton
was born in San Bernardino, July 11. 1861, a
son of Ann (Singleton) Wilshire and Henry
Wilshire, a pioneer of this section, who was
accidentally killed. His widow married Hi-
ram Haskell, also an early settler of Califor-
nia, and who died in this valley. She had a
son and daughter by her first marriage, Will-
iam H., previously mentioned, and Martha,
who became the wife of E. M. Van Deventer,
who died at her home in 1906; by her second
marriage she had three children : James, as-
sisting in the management of the W. S. dairy ;
Robert, who died at the age of thirty years ;
and Ella, who became Mrs. Steedman, and died
in Berkeley at the age of twenty-five years.
l\Irs. Haskell still survives and lives in the
old home. The children by her first marriage
were both adopted by their maternal grand-
mother, Mrs. Ann Singleton, who was born in
Lancashire, England, as was her husband,
James Singleton, their marriage taking place
in the Mother country, after which in 1853 they
came to America and located in Utah. Four
years later they came to Southern California
and in San Bernardino established their home
for a time, in 1868 locating on the Rubideaux
grant of forty-four hundred and forty acres,
where the death of James Singleton occurred
in 1881. His wife died in 1894. They had
two children, William, who resides on this
ranch and is represented elsewhere in this vol-
ume ; and Ann, previously mentioned.

Reared on the old Singleton place William
Henry Singleton received his education in the
public school, his attendance, however, being
limited, the fund of information and knowledge
possessed in his manhood being the result
of observation and personal research rather

than scholastic training. From boyhood he
learned the stock business and general farm-
ing, and upon the death of his grandfather he
assumed charge of the ranch, being then
twenty years old. He has continued the work
since, enlarging the enterprise until he is now
cultivating fifteen hundred acres more than
the original farm, which was about four thou-
sand acres, of which twenty-five hundred acres
are tillable. He has one hundred acres given
over to alfalfa and irrigated by natural springs.
He has established a magnificient dairy known
as the W. S. Dairy, supplied by one hundred
and twenty-five cows of Holstein and Durham
stock, and he also has installed a creamery,
operated by a gasoline engine, a modern churn
and separator of large capacity, and every
possible equipment both for dispatch and ex-
cellence. He gives some time to the breeding
of draft horses, having about sixty head at the
present writing.

Mr. Singleton is prominent in fraternal cir-
cles, being a member of Token Lodge No. 146,
I. O. O. F., of San Bernardino; the Elks of
Redlands, and Redlands Parlor, Native Sons
of the Golden West. Politically he is a stanch
Democrat, and has been a member of the Riv-
erside county central committee for the past
eight years. He takes a strong interest in ed-
ucational afifairs, and for several years served
as school trustee and clerk of the board in the
El Casco district.

THOMAS H. BUNFORD. Prominent
among the men of our times who have accu-
mulated wealth through their own unaided ef-
forts, and are well worthy of the honored title
of self-made men, is Thomas H. Bunford, of
Long Beach, Los Angeles county. Inheriting
in no small measure habits of thrift and indus-
try, he was also endowed with that peculiar
vein of grit and determination that is essen-
tially American, and by means of these he
has steadily pursued the even tenor of his way,
steadily mounting the ladder of financial suc-
cess, and is now liviiig retired from the ac-
tivities of life. A son of the late Richard
Bunford, he was born, January 24, 1842, in
Pittsburg, Pa.

A native of Pennsylvania, Richard Bunford
spent his early life in that state following the
trade of a shoemaker. In 1842 he removed
with his family to Ohio, becoming a pioneer
settler. Taking up land, he improved a good
farm from the wild tract, and was subsequent-
ly engaged in general farming until his death,
in 1900, at the venerable age of eighty-seven
vears. He married Caroline Herbert, who
died on the Ohio homestead in 1S45.

2140

HISTORICAL AND B[OGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Being taken by his parents to Ohio when
an infant, Thomas H. Bunford received his
early knowledgfe of books in the typical log
schoolhouse, a rude structure, with a punch-
eon floor and slab seats. Leaving home when
seventeen years old, he learned the black-
smith's trade, at which he worked about four
years. In the spring of 1863 he enlisted in
Company A, One Hundred and Fortv-fifth
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for a
year and a half, the larger part of the time
being connected with the Heavy Artillery.
Losing his health, he was honorably discharged
at Camp Chase, Ohio, in the fall of 1864. Re-
turning home, he worked at his trade two
}-ears or more, and in 1867 went to Glenrock,
Neb., where he bought land, and was em-
ployed in farming and blacksmithing for a
quarter of a century, meeting with excellent
success in his operations. Coming to Califor-
nia in 1892, he located first in Pomona, Los
Angeles county, where he purchased ten acres
of land, and for nine years was prosperously
engaged in general ranching. He made many
improvements on the property, among others
Inn'lding a pumping plant, with a well four
hundred feet in depth. Selling his ranch in
March, 1902, he came to Long Beach, and hav-
ing bought a building lot erected a modern
five-room cottage, in which he has since re-
sided, enjoying in a quiet manner the fruits
of his previous years of toil.

In Nebraska, November 26, 1879, ^'^^- Bun-
ford married IMary V. Jones, a daughter of
John M. Jones, who was born in Wales, and
"died in Ohio. Politically Mr. Bunford has
always been a stanch adherent of the Repub-
lican party, and socially he belongs to Vicks-
burg Post No. 61, G. A. R., of Pomona.

AIRS. HELEN C. CARPENTER. Though
not one of the pioneers of Long Beach, where
she now resides, Mrs. Carpenter has made her
home in California for more than a quarter of
a century and has witnessed its material de-
velopment during the most important era of
its history. The family of which she is an
honored member became established in Amer-
ica during the eighteenth century, when her
paternal grandfather crossed the ocean from
Germany and settled in the commonwealth of
JMaryland. Her father, Daniel Hauptman,
was born in TMaryland and v/hile still quite
}-oung enlisted for service in the war of 1812,
where he participated in the battle of Bladens-
burg and other engagements of that historic
struggle. The war ended, he was honorably
discharged from his country's service and re-
turned home to resume the pursuits of civic

life. While the city of Washington was still
in its infancy he became one of its pioneers
and established a small tin shop which grew
with the development of the city, until event-
ually he controlled a business as extensive as
it was important. Among the business men
of the city he was honored for his strict in-
tegrity, high principles of honor and accom-
modating disposition. For more than fifty
years he was an active member of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church in Washington, whose
early growth he fostered and whose doctrines
he made it his aim to exemplify in all business
transactions and social intercourse. As sol-
dier, business man and Christian, he lived a
life above reproach, and in his family relations
he was especially thoughtful and affectionate.
The memory of his sterling manhood and af-
fectionate care will always linger in the heart
of his daughter, the only survivor of his eleven
children. March 27. 1817, he married Mar-
garet Michael, a native of Germany, and their
union was one of mutual helpfulness until
death came to separate them. The wife was
the first to pass away, her death occurring
April 2, 1865, and he departed this life Octo-
ber 9, 1873, at the advanced age of eighty-two
years.

In the city of Washington, where she was
born and reared. Miss Hauptman received the
advantages of fair educational facilities, and
there she was united in marriage, November
T2, 1868, with George W. Carpenter, a native
of New York, born in 1840, but from early life
a resident of Washington. Eor a considerable
period Mr. Carpenter engaged in the grocery
business in his home citj', but about 1872 he
and his wife removed to Kansas and became
property-owners in that then new and unde-
veloped region. Ill health led them to dispose
of their interests in Kansas in 1879 and there-
upon they sought the genial climate of the
Pacific coast, where, after a brief sojourn in
Los Angeles, they settled at Artesia. For
twelve 3'ears ]\Ir. Carpenter engaged in the
meat business in that town and there he died
in 1893, leaving his wife with a daughter,
Maude, and a son, Morris H., the latter now
a resident of Los Angeles. During the year
1900 Mrs. Carpenter and her daughter made a
tour of the east and spent some time at her
old home in the capital city. While there
Miss IMaude was taken ill and passed away on
the 2ist of November. Just at the threshold
of young womanhood, twenty-one years of
age, and of gentle and companionable disposi-
tion, her death was a heavy blow to her moth-
er and shock to her circle of friends in Cali-
fornia, where the remains were brought for
burial. The vear after this bereavement Mrs.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2141

Carpenter removed to Long Beach and here
for a time she owned considerable real estate,
but this she has sold with the exception of a
house on Pine avenue and her beautiful resi-
dence at No. 407 Last Seventh street, where
she is passing the afternoon of her life in quiet
contentment. From early childhood she has
been a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and a contributor to its benevolences.
One of her most treasured possessions is the
old family Bible, a book of extraordinary size,
bearing the year 1816 as the date of publica-
tion.

JOSHUA ANDREWS. One and one-half
miles north of Long Beach, at the postoffice of
Burnett, lies the valuable country homestead of
Mr. Andrews, who purchased the property about
1890 and has since resided at this place. At the
time of coming here. Long Beach was an in-
significant hamlet, whose future popularity only
the most sanguine predicted. The ten acres which
he then purchased are now valued at more than
$1,000 per acre, the increase in value being
largely due to the rapid growth of the town.
The residence which he erected is of brick and
stands on the corner of Hill street and California
avenue ; in location it offers many advantages
to its occupants, to whom it gives the charm
of country life with the facilities connected with
close proximity to a growing city.

Of Canadian birth, Mr. Andrews was born in
Toronto August 29, 1838, being a son of Robert
and Susan (Long) Andrews, natives of Eng-
land. After coming to Canada the father fol-
lowed the occupation of a farmer until his death,
which occurred about 1843 ; for many years he
was survived by his wife, who attained an ad-
vanced age and died in 1890. Their son, Joshua,
received rather meagre advantages as a boy, for
the early death of his father forced him to earn
his own livelihood from an early age. When he
was fifteen vears old he became an apprentice to
the trade of blacksmith and carriage-maker, and
upon attaining his majority he started in busi-
ness for himself, opening a shop at Toronto
which he carried on for five years. Afterward
he was employed in a large machine shop and
later engaged in business for himself, operating
a shop until he sold out in order to remove to
the Pacific coast.

At the close of a voyage made via Panama, Mr.
Andrews landed in California May i, 1878, and
for a time he worked at his trade in Oakland
and San Francisco, but eventually moved to
Southern California, arriving in Los Angeles
county July i, 1884. For a time he engaged in
business" at Downey and later made his home at
Norwalk, but on selling out there he removed

to the place where he still resides, retired froni
the active cares of life and looking after the
subdividing of his property in town lots. On
establishing domestic ties in Canada, he was
married December i, 1861, to Miss Dinah E.
Moat, a native of England. Four children came
to bless their union, but one of these died in in-
fancy. Those now living are as follows : Robert
J., who makes his home at Santa Ana; Amelia
Mary ; Elizabeth, wife of George H. Bixby, who
is represented elsewhere in this volume; and
Richard Long, who is engaged in farming and
the dairy business at East Clearwater, Los An-
geles county. During his residence in Canada
Mr. Andrews formed social affiliations with the
Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, but when he came to Southern
California, he found no organizations of either
order in the towns where he settled, so he allowed
his membership to lapse. Since taking upon him-
self the pledge of citizenship to our govern-
ment he has affiliated with the Democratic party,
but in local elections he considers the candidate's
opinions upon the tariff question of less im-
portance than his character as a man and his
intelligence as a citizen.

SAMUEL L. LENT. Although he has been
a resident of Long Beach but a few years,
Samuel L. Lent has in that time thoroughly
demonstrated his ability as a business man
and worth as a public-spirited citizen and of-
ficial, being now a member of the board of
trustees of the city. The family is of Dutch
extraction, seven brothers having come from
Holland in an early day and settled in New
York state. The grandfather of Samuel L.
Lent, Abram, was one of the early pioneers
of Ohio. The father, Lewis Lent, was born
in Ohio, September 16, 1836, and at the break-
ing out of the Civil war enlisted in the Twen-
ty-fourth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infan-
ti-y, from which he was honorably discharged
eighteen months later on account of physical
disability. In 1867 he removed to Erie county,
Pa., engaged in agricultural pursuits and still
resides there. His wife was before her mar-
riage Mary Murry. a native of Dublin, Ire-
land, who with her parents came to Buffalo,
N. Y., about 1842. Her father, James Murry,
subsequently removed with his family to Ohio;
he died while serving in the Mexican war.
The death of Mrs. Lent occurred in Pennsyl-
vania in 1869.

The birth of Samuel L. Lent occurred Jan-
uarv 21, 1861, on a farm near Coshocton. Ohio,
and when six years of age was taken by his
parent.= to Erie county. Pa., where his boy-
hood days were spent on his father's farm.

2142

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

He received a preliminary education in the
public schools, then attended the state Xor-
nial school at Edinboro, and later was a stu-
dent in Hillsdale College at Hillsdale, Mich.,
for one year. In 1883 he removed to St. Paul,
Minn., and was occupied as an accountant in
a mercantile estabUshment until 1887.

In 1885, while living in St. Paul, he was
united in marriage with Fannie E. Armstrong,
a native of Utica, Licking county, Ohio, who
was educated in a private school in Pana,
111., and later in St. Paul, Minn. She is the
daughter of John H. Armstrong, who was
born in Pennsylvania and settled in Ohio when
it was still out on the . frontier. Mr. Arm-
strong served for three years in McKinley's
regiment, the Twenty-third Ohio, and after
the war engaged in contracting and building
in St. Paul, in 1896 coming to Long Beach,
where he is now engaged in the same busi-
ness. He is a member of the grand Army of
the Republic and fraternally affiliates with the
^lasonic lodge. His wife, who is still living,
was before her marriage ]\lary M. Selby, a
native of Ohio and daughter of Rev. Enoch
George Selby, a minister of the Methodist
Episcopal denomination. His father, Caleb'
Selbv, of Baltimore, married Nancy Long-
worth. The family on the maternal side is
traced to the Cona'rd family of Quaker stock.
Nathan Conrad was one of the first Ohio set-
tlers, coming from \'irginia in 1805, and later
laid out the city of Ctica, Ohio. The family
were members of the Friends Society.

In 1887 Mr. Lent went to Rat Portage,
Lake of the AVoods. Canada, and the succeed-
ing three years was engaged in the lumber
business there. He then came to the coast,
and settling in A^ictoria, British Columbia, was
occupied with construction contracting on the
Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1893 he came
to California and engaged in construction
work for the Southern Pacific between Santa
IMargarita and Santa Barbara, doing some of
the heaviest work there for eighteen months,
after which he went to San Francisco and
took contracts for street construction in that
city. Later he became a gold miner in Siski-
you countv at the mouth of the Salmon river,
employing' the hvdrauHc method. Returning
to San Francisco in 1902 he remained there
until 1904, when he came to Long Beach and
engaged in the real-estate business.

in' the spring of 1906 Mr. Lent was norn-
inated on the Independent ticket as a candi-
date for city councilman and was subsequent-
ly elected. He has proven himself an earnest
and efficient official, is chairman of the public
works committee and member of other im-
portant committees. In national politics he

is an advocate of Republican principles. Fra-
ternally he helds membership in the Masonic
bodies and the Benevolent Protective Order
of Elks. He was made a Mason in Keewatin,
Ontario, and is still a member of Keewatin
Lodge No. 417, A. F. & F. M. ; belongs to Cal-
ifornia Chapter No. 5, R. A. M., in San Fran-
cisco ; to Golden Gate Commander}' No. 16,
K. T., in San Francisco ; and is a Thirty-sec-
ond Degree Scottish Rite Mason, holding mem-
bership in San Francisco Consistory No. i, and
is a member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S..
in San Francisco. He was secretary of the
Twenty-ninth Triennial Conclave of the Grand
Encampment, Knights Templar, which held
its session in the city of San Francisco in Sep-
tember, 1904. Socially he is a member of the
Cosmopolitan Club, and also is an active mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce of Long
Beach. His membership in the First Congre-
gational Church signifies an interest in re-
ligious matters. As an all-around well devel-
oped citizen, who lets no part of the life of
the community go without his studious atten-
tion, he is universjilly recognized as a man
of unusually broad intelligence and good judg-
ment and is justly entitled to the high respect
and esteem he is accorded by the community
in which he resides.

DANIEL W. ANDERSON. In the rapid
advancement and growth of Long Beach,
Daniel W. Anderson has proved himself a
prominent factor. As a real-estate dealer and
speculator he has made many important deals,
and while building up a lucrative business for
himself has also been an encourager and pro-
moter of all proposed beneficial projects. A
native of Kentucky, he was born in Clark
county, in February. 1847. His parents,
Preston and Eliza Anderson, moved from
Virginia, their native state, to Kentucky as
pioneers, and were engaged in farming
throughout their lives, both dying young.

I,eft an orphan when six years old. D. W.
Anderson had but limited educational ad-
vantages, attending for a few terms, only, a
subscription school. In 1865 he went to Mon-
roe county, Iowa, where he worked by the
month for two years. On attaining his ma-
jority he leased land and for two years man-
aged it successfully. Purchasing then one
hundred and twenty acres in IMonroe county
he operated it for two years, and then sold
out, and the following four years farmed on
rented land. Buying then a ranch of two
luindred and forty acres, in the same county,
he improved it, and carried on general farm-
ing for seven years. Disposing of that prop-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2U3

erty, he subsecjiiently purchased one hundred
and sixty acres in the southern part of Mon-
roe county, and eighty acres of adjoining land
in Appanoose county. The first-named tract
he afterwards sold, but the other eighty acres
he still owns. After farming there for ten
years he came to Los Angeles county, locating
at Long Beach in igno, and has since acquired
title to much valuable city property. He first
bought five acres on Junipero street, between
Fourth and Seventh streets; his next pur-
chase was five acres south of this, on Sev-
enth street ; then, south of the home lot, he
bought two and one-half acres ; subsequent!}'
he became owner of three acres at the corner
of Fourth and Junipero streets, and of two
acres across from this. On the home lot where
he resided for five years, he added many im-
provements. At the corner of Second and Bo-
nito streets he owns a lot 100x150 feet, on
which is a building which has been remodeled
for apartments. He has sold all of his acre
property, having held it for a time for the pur-
pose of making improvements.

March 4, 1869, in Iowa, Mr. Anderson mar-
ried Harriet Phinnej', who was born in that
state. Of the eleven children that have been
born to them, two died in infancy, and nine
survive, namely: Charles, of Duarte; Dora,
wife of Dr. Albert Winn, of San Pedro ; Mel-
vin, of Pasadena; Esley, of Los Angeles; Will-
iam, of Compton ; Elmer, of Sonora, Mexico ;
Arthur, an engineer on the Santa Fe Railway,
residing at The Needles ; Vern, at home, and
Bertha, attending the Long Beach high school.
Politically IMr. Anderson is identified with the
Democratic party, and fraternally he has been
a Mason since 1876, being a member of the
lodge at Unionville, Iowa. Mrs. Anderson is
a most estimable woman, and a vakied mem-
ber of the Christian Church.

OZROW ROBERTS. One of the oldest
settlers of San Timoteo canon is Ozrow Rob-
erts who has been located here since his first
independent venture in young manhood, for
he boasts a nativity of the state in which he
is now making his home. He is a son of Bear-
.ry Roberts, an honored pioneer of this sec-
tion whose biography is given at length on an-
other page of this volume. Ozrow Roberts
was born in San Bernardino county, January
19, i860, and here reared to young manhood,
receiving his education in the public schools.
He remained at home helping his father until
he was twenty-seven years old, when he de-
cided to become dependent upon his own re-
sources, and accordingly leased land and en-
gaged in farming for the period of one year.

when he located on a small farm given him by
his father, and v,ith this rents three hundred
and sixty acres adjoining, all devoted to grain
and pasture land, while he also raises cattle.
In Redlands, May 12, 1887, he married Miss
Julia Bowles, who was born in Montgomery
county, Mo., and born of this union are five
children, namely: Ruby, a student of the
Redlands high school in the class of 1908; Ha-
zel, a student of the Redlands high school in
the class of 1909; Arthur, Jane and Margaret.
Mrs. Roberts is a daughter of James Ander-
son Bowles, the descendant of Gideon Bowles,
who came to Virginia from Ireland in 1620,
and was one of the first citizens of James-
town. Her grandfather, David Bowles, was
born in Georgeland county, Va., December 31,
1804, and was brought to St. Louis county, Mo.,
in 181 1, where he grew to manhood and mar-
ried Julia Mackay, who was descended from
James Mackay, who was born in Scotland in
1762 and came to America in 1782, and en-
gaged as a civil engineer until his death, which
occurred in 1822. In 1836 congress conferred
to the Mackay heirs one hundred thousand
acres of land m Lincoln, St. Charles, Boone,
Franklin, Washington, Iron and St. Louis
counties in Missouri. James Anderson Bowles,
father of Mrs. Roberts, was born in St. Louis
county, Mo., March 28, 1826, and there en-
gaged as a farmer, serving in a Missouri reg-
iment in the Confederate army during the Civ-
il war, in which two of his brothers were
killed. In 1886 he located in Redlands, Cal.,
and engaged in horticulture, setting out an
orange grove on West Cypress avenue, where
he made his home until his death, which oc-
curred in 1904. His wife was formerly Eliza-
beth Williams, a native of White county. Mo.,
a daughter of Elijah Williams, a native of
Virginia, from which state he removed to Mis-
souri and engaged as an extensive farmer.
Mrs. Bowles died in Redlands in 1896, at the
age of sixty-two years. They were the par-
ents of eleven children, of ^ whom seven are
no wliving. ^frs. Roberts being the sixth in
order of birth.

Mr. Roberts is now engaged in the devel-
opment of the Bryn Mawr Water Compan}', of
Redlands Junction, and also on his own ranch,
having had seven wells drilled in the past
eight years. He has worked for the count}' in
superintending the installation of a pumping
plant, and has developed a fifty inch flow. For
the past eight vears he has served as road
overseer of his district, being elected to the
office by the Democratic party, of whose prin-
ciples he is a stanch adherent. He has served
as a member of the Democratic County Cen-
tral Connnittee. and is now serving as a mem-

2144

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ber of the school board of the El Casco dis-
trict and officiates as clerk of the board. The
faniih' support the charities of the AJethodist
Episcopal Church South, of vvhich Mrs. Rob-
erts is a devoted member.

HENRY H. RANDALL. Born in New-
bury, Vt., April I, 1870, Henry H. Randall
passed his boyhood with his parents on the
farm near Jeffersonville, in that state, and in
California, where his father brought him when
about five years of ag-e. He was educated in
the public schools of his native town and lat-
er in the Peachcm Academy, completing his
education at the Newbury Seminary. After
leaving school l\ir. Randall took a position as
bookkeeper with A. M. McAllister in his meat
market at Wells River, Vt.

In December, 1890, he made his second trip
to California, arriving in Los Angeles, where
he remained several months. In 1891 he went
to Folsom, Sacramento county, to visit an un-
cle, whose death occurred during his stay of
one year. Returning east to South Ryegate,
Vt., he married Agnes G. Hotchkiss on her
birthday, August 17, 1S92, and after a wedding
trip to Boston, Mr. Randall accompanied by
his wife returned to Los Angeles. After a
brief stay in that city he then proceeded to
Folsom to look after valuable property inter-
ests there, consisting of five hundred and twen-
ty acres of land under cultivation and the ex-
tensive irrigation ditch known as the John
Hancock Irrigating & Mining Ditch. He did
not remain in California at that time, but
made several removals to the old home in the
Green {Mountain state and back again, until
in 1899, when he sold out his interests there
and removed to Sherman, Cal., to become a
permanent resident. After coming to the lit-
tle tov/n in the beautiful Cahuenga valley, Mr.
Randall built a comfortable home and pros-
pered as a dealer in hay and grain until his
death, which occurred June 12, 1903.

George N. Randall, father of Henry, was
also a native of Vermont, a substantial farm-
er of South Ryegate, where he died January
I, 1903, aged sixty-eight years. The mother
of iMr. Randall was Martha W. Hancock, born
in the old Hancock house, Woodsville, N. H.
She was the mother of three children, Mary,
Henry H. and Lizzie. Martha Hancock Ran-
dall died at Jefifersonville, Vt., February 26,
1887, aged forty-nine years and six months.

Mrs. Randall's father, Henry Ira Hotchkiss,
born in Stratford, N. H., in 1847, was a sol-
dier in the Civil war. At the age of sixteen
years he enlisted in the Thirtieth ^Maine In-
fantrv, but toward the close of the war, his

health failing, he was sent to a hospital, and
the \\ar ending before he was able to return
to duty in his regiment, he was given an hon-
orable discharge and pensioned by the gov-
ernment in 1869. Mr. Hotchkiss was pos-
sessed of considerable inventive genius and
sold a number of patents ; two of the best and
most profitable were an automatic cradle and
a mop wringer. He was also engaged in the
grocery and hotel business during his life. His
death occurred December 5, 1890, at South
Ryegate, Vt. The mother, Martha Buchanan
Hotchkiss, was a native of South Ryegate,
borr: in March, 1847. She was the mother of
two children, namely, Mrs. Randall, and a
son, William E. Hotchkiss, who is a sheet
metal worker and plumber by trade living in
Hollywood. In politics Mr. Hotchkiss was a
Republican and both himself and wife were
members of the Congregational Church.

]\lrs. Agnes Georgiana (Hotchkiss) Randall
was born in Berlin Falls, N. H., August 17,
1870. Mr. and ?,Irs. Randall were the parents
of tfiree children : John Hancock, born in
Bradford, Vt., December 2, 1893; Reginald H.,
born in Monroe, N. H., October 6, 1898; Are-
tha, born in Sherman, Cal., January 7, 1902.
In politics Mr. Randall was a Republican.

CLARK DURANT HUBBARD. A horti-
culturist of broad experience, with a natural
taste for his chosen occupation, Clark Durant
Hubbard, of San Fernando, has done much to
promote and advance the interests of the fruit
growers of this section of Los Angeles coun-
ty, and is accredited with the ownership of
one of its best and most productive lemon
groves in the state. A native of Iowa, he was
born July 10, 1871, in Ottumwa, Wapello coun-
ty, where he lived until nine years of age.

Coming with an uncle to Los Angeles, Cal.,
in 1880, Clark D. Hubbard received his early
education in the public schools of that city.
He subsequently clerked for a time in a hard-
ware store, and then studied for a year at the
Occidental College, in Los Angeles. Turning
his attention then to horticulture, in which he
had always been especially interested, he lo-
cated in San i:'ernando. where he has since
been successfully engaged in the growing of
fruit of all kinds, including oranges, lemons,
olives, apricots, etc. As superintendent and
manager for other people, he has had full
control of more than one hundred and fifty
acres of citrus fruit trees, in the cultivation
and care of which he has met with very satis-
factory results. He also owns twenty acres of
land, which he has highly improved, setting
out four acres of oranges and sixteen acres of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2145

lemons, his grove being one of the best in the
neighborhood, if not in the state, and a cred-
it to his industry, enterprise and intelligence.
The products of his grove are well known in
the leading markets of the United States, all
of his fruit being packed on his ranch and
each box being plainly stamped "San Fernan-
do Oranges and Lemons grown and packed by
C. D. Hubbard, San Fernando, Gal., Los An-
geles county."

On ;\Jay 12, 189S, in San Fernando, Mr. Hub-
bard married Felicie Sylvie Carton de Grig-
nart, who was born February 9, 1877, '" Ques-
noy, Canton du Ouesnoy, Arrondissement
d' Avesnes, Department du Nord France,
came with her patents to the United States in
1880, and has been a resident of California
since 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard have, one
child, Lester Francois Hubbard. In Ma}', 1904,
Mrs. Hubbard purchased the ranch on which
the family now reside. It contains ten acres
of rich land, one half of which is set out to
fruit trees, principally oranges while the
remainder is used for a poultry farm. Mrs.
Hubbard has made a study of poultry rais-
ing, and is considered an authority on
all questions connected with the subject.
She makes a specialty of fancy poultry', be-
ing one of the largest breeders and raisers
of thoroughbreds in the state of California,
and her farm, known as the Mission View
Poultry Ranch, is justly famed for its pro-
ductions in that line. She gives her personal
attention to the management of her ranch,
and is meeting with unquestioned success.

The Mission View Poultry Ranch is so
named on account of the excellent view of
the buildings of the Old Mission, lying about
a half mile toward the east. All of the build-
ings on the ranch are of adobe, even the mam-
moth incubator, which is made in the Egyptian
style, being the only one so constructed in
this country, a part of the bricks used having
been taken from the old residence of Gov-
ernor Pico. The incubator is a double build-
ing, the inner one being circular, eleven feet
indiameter and six feet high, the outer build-
ing being square, allowing from one to two
feet dead air space between the two walls
and six inches between the two roofs; both
walls arc twelve inches in thickness ; over the
rafters is one-inch rough lumber and four
inches of adobe covered with tarred roofing
paper, insuring an even temperature in all
kinds of weather. This incubator is heated
with hot air and its capacity is three thousand
eggs; the eggs are hatched on a shelf which is
covered with a layer of adobe one inch in
thickness and the same thickness of bran ;
under this shelf are two shelves for nurseries.

The hot and cold brooders are one continu-
ous building of three hundred and sixty feet
m length, built of adobe, with the floors
throughout cemented; there are twenty-eight
sections in the hot brooder and forty in the
cold brooder, and two feed and store rooms,
the boiler and furnace being in the hot brood-
er, feed and store room ; the yards for the hot
brooder are 3x20 feet long and the cold brood-
er yard are 6x81 feet long.

There are forty-two breeding yards, one
yard of Cockerels, all of which are White \Vy-
andottes ; besides the yards of all the follow-
ing dififerent breeds: Golden Laced Wyan-
dottes, BufT Cochin Bantams, Lakenvelders
and English Salmon Faverolles (the two lat-
er breeds which Mrs. Hubbard introduced in-
to her ranch about two years ago were the
first brought into this state). One-fourth Wild
Mammoth Bronze Turkey and Ring Neck
China Pheasants.

In the selling of eggs Mrs. Hubbard has
built up a remunerative business, all the eggs
produced on her ranch being stamped with
the name in full of the ranch, and a neat lit-
tle cut of the San Fernando Mission. In

1905 Mrs. Hubbard made her first exhibit of
poultry at the Los Angeles Poultry Show and
won premiums on each of her exhibits. In

1906 she won thirty-two prizes on her birds,
including the National White Wyandotte
Club Silver Cup and three ribbons out of four
given by the same club ; also four first out of
five given by the show, she having the largest
exhibit of anv one exhibitor.

Mrs. Hubbard is prominent in business cir-
cles, and is a member of the Poultry Breed-
ers' Society of Southern California, and of
the National White Wyandotte Club. Mr.
Hubbard is a member of the Semi-Tropic Fruit
Exchange, and fraternall}' belongs to the San
Fernando Lodge, I. O. O. F. Politically he
is a Socialist.

ELMER ELLSWORTH ELLIOTT. Of
the highest importance in the permanent
progress of a community is the organization
and sagacious management of financial insti-
tutions established upon a sound basis and
conducted upon conservative lines. Such an
institution is the First National Bank of
Compton, which since opened for business
July 15, 1903, as the Bank of Compton. has
gained a liberal patronage from the business
men of the city and has established a reputa-
tion for a keen discriminating policy of man-
agement. At the time of the organization ^\t.
Elliott became a stockholder in the new con-
cern and since has officiated in the office of

2146

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

snier, also as a member of the board of di-
rectors. Under his careful supervision, act-
ing in unison with the president, J. J. Harsh-
man, and the vice-president, J. M. Shepard,
and allied with the various capable citizens
forming the directorate, the bank has built up
a patronage representing over $125,000 in de-
posits, which with the capital stock of $25,000
has been invested with painstaking discretion
in real estate, bonds and loans. Since 1906 a
savings department has been maintained.

Like many of the men who are contributing
to the development of the California of the
twentieth century, JMr. Elliott is a native of
Illinois. Warren county was the place of his
birth, and September 13, 1871, the date, his
parents being John J. and Jennie (Findley)
Elliott, natives respectively of Ohio and Illi-
nois, and now residents of Lenox, Iowa. As
a boy Elmer E. Elliott lived upon an Iowa
farm and attended a country school until he
had acquired a fair education. After starting
out to earn hi? own livelihood he secured
work as a clerk in a general store at Corning,
Iowa, but the inducements ofifered by Cali-
fornia soon brought him to the Pacific coast,
where for two years he was employed as a
clerk in a general store at Hueneme. Later
he became a student in the University of
Southern California, from which he was grad-
uated in 1807 at the completion of the regular
classical course.

Immediately after leaving the university
'SW. Elliott came to Compton and secured a
clerkship in the store of Ambrose Shepard &
Co., with whom he remained until forming his
connection with the bank, and in whose busi-
ness he now owns an interest. In addition to
managing the affairs of the bank he acts as
secretary and treasurer of the Compton Wa-
ter and Lighting Company and has contrib-
uted in other ways to the growth of the town
along material and financial lines of activity.
His pleasant home is presided over by Mrs.
Elliott, formerly Margaret Cook, whom he
married in Los Angeles May 18, 1898, and
who is a daughter of H. C. Cook, of that city.
They are the parents of two sons, Elmer Ells-
worth, Jr., and Kenneth. Not possessing the
tastes that incline him toward public life or
political affairs, Mr. Elliott has not taken any
part in the same aside from voting the Repub-
lican ticket, yet he has proved himself to be
public-spirited to an unusual extent, and no
movement for the permanent welfare of
Compton fails to secure his allegiance and co-
operation. With his wife he holds member-
ship in the Methodist Episcopal Church of
Compton, to whose charities he is a generous
contributor, as lie also is to progressive and

philanthropic enterprises of an- undenomina-
Uonal character. In fraternal relations he has
allied himself with IMasonry, being active in
the work of Anchor Lodge No. 273, F. & A.
Af., also a member of Long Beach Chapter
No. 83, R. A. M., Los Angeles Council No. 11,
S. ?il., and the Scottish Rite, Lodge of Perfec-
tion, of Los Angeles.

BYRON J. LYSTER. On coming to his pres-
ent location at the station of Burnett Mr. Lyster
purchased an unimproved tract of twenty acres,
for which he paid $30 per acre, and since that
year (1884) he has resided on the same home-
stead, the value of which has increased to $1500
per acre or more. The first house which he
erected on the property was the third to be built
in the locality and of recent years has been re-
placed by an elegant structure of thirteen rooms,
with bath, gas and other modern improvements.
The town of Long Beach had not been founded
when he came to this neighborhood and for a
time he operated twelve hundred acres, a portion
of which is covered by the present site of the
city. Spaniards formed the bulk of the popula-
tion in those days. Having to transact business
with them constantly he learned to speak, read
and write the Spanish language and gained a
fluency in its use as valuable as it was uncom-
mon.

Both through his paternal and maternal an-
cestors Mr. Lyster is of genuine pioneer stock.
His father, Henry Lyster, was born in Shelby
county, Ky., March 21, 1806, and remained south
of the Ohio river until in the prime of manhood.
Meanwhile he had devoted himself to the build-
ing of fiatboats and loading the same with sup-
plies, then he would ship down the river and sell
both the supplies and the boat in one of the larger
cities, after which he would walk the entire dis-
tance back to his home. On leaving Kentucky
he settled in Indiana, but as early as 1847 be-
came a pioneer of Iowa, where he built the sec-
ond linseed oil mill in the state and also erected
a sawmill. During the Civil war he served as a
member of the Iowa Home Guard. Coming to
California in 1869, '^^ sojourned first in Sonoma
count}-, then in Santa Cruz, later in San Fran-
cisco,'and during 1873 settled in Los Angeles
county, where January 30, 1889, his useful life
came to an end.

The marriage of Mr. Lyster was solemnized
at Oskaloosa, Iowa, and united him with Airs.
A^ianna M. (Cameron) Prosise, who was born
December 30, 181 5, and in girlhood became the
wife of William Prosise. At the death of Mr.
Prosise she was left with six children, two of
whom are still living, namely: John and Mrs.
Sarah T- Mundell. Two sons, of her second mar-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

nv,

riage, William and Ejron J., are also living. She
lived to be over ninety years of age, passing
away April i, 1906. She retained her physical
and mental faculties to an unusual degree and
displayed a deep interest in present-day affairs.
Her father, Rev. John M. Cameron, who was a
devout, sincere and courageous minister of the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, was born in
Kentucky in 1791, descended from colonial an-
cestry, and himself the possessor of the fine phy-
sique of the typical frontiersman. With his wife,
who bore the maiden name of Mary Orendorff
and who was born in 1793, he removed to Illi-
nois as early as 1815, prior to the admission of
the territory into the Union. For a considerable
period he made his home in Sangamon county,
where in 1818 he and his wife took up their
abode in a log cabin standing on a hill that over-
looked the Sangamon river. With James Rut-
ledge he founded the town of New Salem, and
tradition has it that in 1835 he officiated at the
funeral services of Ann Rutledge. It is a fact
fully authenticated that for six years Abraham
Lincoln dwelt beneath the humble roof of this
earnest preacher.

Early in the "30s the Cameron family removed
to Fulton county. 111., and in 1841 settled in
Iowa. However, the pioneer instinct impelled
them to move still farther westward, and when
news came of the discovery of gold in California
they started across the plains in the spring of
1849 and made the perilous journey with ox-
teams and wagons. With the early history of the
Pacific coast they were afterward associated, and
their influence was felt in the upbuilding of re-
ligion and education. Kindly and affectionate in
life, they were not long divided by death, and
both passed away in the fullness of years, his
death occurring in 1875, at eighty-three years,
and her demise occurring in 1878, at eighty-
seven years. They were the parents of twelve
children, eleven of whom were daughters, and of
these five are now living. In 1886 there were
living nine children, seventy-five grandchildren
and about two hundred great-grandchildren.

During the residence of the family in Mahaska
county, iowa, Byron J. Lyster was born Septem-
ber 27, 1852. When the war broke out he was
too young for service, but at ten years of age
was accepted as a drummer boy and so saw
something of the horrors of a national strife.
Three of his brothers were also at the front,
while his father, as previously stated, served in
the Home Guard. After three years as a drum-
mer, during the most of which time he was along
the Mississippi river, he was honorably dis-
charged at the expiration of the war, and there-
upon returned to his school work in Iowa. In
1868 he came to California and settled in So-
noma countv, but two years later went to Wat-

sonville, Santa Cruz count\-, where he conducted
a meat market. After a year in San Francisco,
in December of 1873, '^^ removed to Los An-
geles county and settled on a farm near San Fer-
nando. During the four years he lived there he
served as justice of the peace and deputy sheriff.
In those days the country was unsettled and un-
improved, and the rough element predominating,
his work as an officer proved laborious and even
perilous. On leaving that locality he moved
south of Los Angeles and after eight years there,
in 1884 he came to his present homestead. He
has an only son, Henry B., who is a young man
of twenty-four years (1905). In his beautiful
home his aged mother passed her last days, sur-
rounded by every comfort which he and other
members of the family could bestow. In religion
he is of the Methodist Episcopal faith, in politics
affiliates with the Republican party, and frater-
nally is connected as a charter member with
Long Beach Lodge No. 35, I. O. F. Of a
genial, hospitable and companionable disposition,
generous to those in need, progressive in spirit
and public spirited in act, he is of the type of
citizen so necessary to the permanent progress of
any community.

FRANK G. BUTLER. While the charm of
the climate has been the principal inducement
leading to the rapid growth of Long Beach, ob-
servation and experience show that other in-
ducements might be offered of no less impor-
tance than the one mentioned. To the man whose
active temperament forbids leisure and protract-
ed periods of recreation there are occupations of-
fering an interesting field for his talents, and
among these the manufacturing business, though
the least utilized, is not the least attractive. In the
list of manufacturing enterprises of Southern
California one of the most recent and one of the
most flourishing is the F. G. Butler Manufactur-
ing Company, manufacturers of the Symonds
Perfection Automatic Carbide Feeder Acetylene
Generator, and owners of eight patents covering
the machine. The original owner of the busi-
ness, H. Symonds, is still associated with its
management, but since the organization of the
new company in 1905 the stock has been held
principally by Mr. Butler and the headquarters
are in his building at No. 109 Ocean avenue.
When affairs have been adjusted so that the
plant is running at its full capacity four or five
machines can be turned out each day, and these
will be shipped to any portion of this country or
abroad. According to size the machines range
in price from $65 to $400 for suburban resi-
dences, and from $1,500 to $10,000 for lighting
a town or city.

The manager of the company is a pioneer of

2148

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Long- Beach and assisted in surveying the town
site, as well as almost the entire acreage of the
American Colony's tract. A native of Ohio, he
was born at Doylestown, Alarch 19, 1854, and is
a son of Almond and Elizabeth (Frank) Butler,
natives respectively of Burlington, Vt., and
Pennsylvania, but after 1843 residents of Ohio.
After having followed the mercantile business
for many years the father died in Ohio in 1861
and the mother passed away in that state in 1878.
After having completed the studies of the com-
mon schools of his native town, Frank G. Butler
went to Easton, Ohio, and engaged in the mer-
cantile business for seven years, also serving as
postmaster during his stay there, after which he
disposed of his interests in the east. For a short
time he then conducted a store in Charleston,
Ariz., and from there came to California in De-
cember, 1 88 1, at once buying forty acres in the
American Colony tract. Since then he has
bought and sold various tracts and now owns fif-
teen acres on Willow street, all the improve-
ments on the land having been made under his
personal supervision. For fifteen years after his
location in California he conducted the Signal
Hill nursery, but eventually sold out in order to
engage in other enterprises. In 1886 he bought
real estate on Ocean avenue and erected a three-
story building known as the Butler block, to
which recently he made an addition comprising a
four-story brick structure with modern con-
veniences. The block is leased to business and
professional men and in the rear he has estab-
lished his manufacturing plant.

Always interested in educational affairs, Mr.
Butler accepted the position of school trustee in
the early days of the history of Long Beach.
While acting in that capacity he was one of the
three who voted $8,000 school bonds and erected
the Pine avenue school (recently moved from
its original site). More than one citizen predict-
ed that bonding would prove the financial ruin
of the district, but instead it gave an impetus to
educational work and was instrumental in secur-
ing for the town one of the best schools in the
southern part of the state, outside of Los An-
geles. During his residence in Ohio Mr. Butler
married Miss Rosa J., daughter of David Mc-
Clure, of Ohio.

The Symonds generator applies well-known
scientific principles in the securing of an illum-
inant at once brilliant and inexpensive. When
burned at the rate of five cubic feet per hour
acetylene produces light equal to two hundred
and fifty candles. One thousand cubic feet of
acetylene gas will give the equivalent in lighting
power of twelve thousand five hundred cubic feet
of city gas. As is well known, acetylene can be
utilized in business houses, churches, hotels,
factories and residences, without any increase in

the insurance rates. At one time the erroneous
impression prevailed that acetylene was explos-
ive, but the experience of years has disproved
that idea, and exhaustive examinations on the
part of skilled chemists show that the gas is not
only economical, simple and convenient, but also
unsurpassed for safety. In the construction of
the Symonds generator safety has been the first
consideration, quality the second and cost the
third. The principle is that of feeding the carbide
automatically into the water as fast as the gas is
consumed. There is no overproduction, conse-
quently no surplus gas to be stored. The opera-
tion is simple, consisting of the drawing otf of
the residue, refilling the water tank with water,
and filling the carbide holder with carbide
through the funnel furnished with the apparat-
us. The apparatus has been perfected and ev-
ery generator is tested before shipment, so that
satisfactory results can be guaranteed. Those
using the machine are unanimous in testifying
as to its safety and economy as well as the
strength and durability of its parts.

MICHAEL CLARENBOLD WHITE. The
life of Michael Clarenbold White was an inter-
esting and adventurous one from the time he ran
away from his home in England at the age of
fourteen with a companion by the name of Steph-
ens, both of whom went to sea. After two years
in cruising, the vessel in which the boys were
sailing headed for California, and his companion
having been killed by falling from the masthead
two days before reaching port, Mr. White re-
solved to remain in this state. He was the second
white man to come to this state, the first having
been an English gentleman named Richardson,
who married a sister of ]\Ir. White's wife, and
after her death suddenly disappeared and was
never heard from again. The first three years
after coming to the Pacific coast Mr. White spent
in coasting for the Mexican governor, the state
then being under Spanish rule. He then settled
in San Pedro and was engaged for a time in the
construction of a schooner for the mission of San
Gabriel, but the craft broke from its moorings in
a storm before even a trial trip had been made in
it.

The next move of Mr. AMiite was to northern
California and there he entered into a -contract
with the governor to carry mail into the interior
for a year, in payment for which services he was
to receive a land site where the city of San Fran-
cisco is now built. After eleven months of serv-
ice he became party to a quarrel with an official
and resigned the contract, thereby failing to re-
ceive the promised land. Removing to lower
California he took up stock raising, and after ac-
quiring a herd of three hundred head of cattle was

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2149

unfortunate enough to lose the whole number
through theft by the Indians. The following two
years he conducted a store in New Mexico in
partnership with Mr. Workman, which business
interest he disposed of to come to San Gabriel,
where his wife had bought one hundred acres of
land a short distance from the Mission. Here
they established a home, but on account of the In-
dian raids it was a discouraging effort at the be-
beginning, but finally succeeded. A few years
later Mr. White established a camp in San Ber-
nardino county at the mouth of Lytle creek and
again started in the cattle business. Here he was
joined by two other white men, who after agree-
ing to a plan to take up all of the valley land de-
serted him before the consummation of the
scheme. The Indians learning that he was alone
decided that it would be a good time to make a
raid and drive away the herds, and under the lead-
ership of Chief Coyote, who was one of the craft-
iest and most vicious in that section, they accom-
plished their purpose. The next morning in com-
pany with an. Indian boy of seventeen years, who
was friendly to him, Mr. White started out to find
the stock and overtook the thieves at the head of
Cajon Pass. Here the Indians had camped and
killed a horse, upon which they were feasting
when Mr. White discovered them. Cleverly cir-
cling the camp he managed to get ahead of them
and was endeavoring to stampede the stock when
Chief Coyote saw him and started toward him.
Waiting until the Indian was within forty or fifty
yards of him Mr. White took steady aim and shot
him dead, the report of the gun stampeding the
cattle. They returned home, Mr. White and the
Indian boy following and reaching the valley in
safety after having killed a number of other red-
skins. The boy had been of great assistance to
him by loading his extra gun.

When the governor heard of this affair he sent
for Mr. White and ascertaining that he had no
land but desired to receive a grant, application
was made and surveys taken, and in a few years
he received papers conveying to him thirty-two
thousand acres of land. When the war between
the United States and Mexico was declared he
in company with about a hundred trappers banded
themselves together under the leadership of Capt.
B. D. Wilson against the Spaniards, and that
company was the first to be attacked before the
troops arrived. Mr. White was wounded and
finally the company was forced to surrender, but
the Spanish officer', J. M. Silvas, being a relative
of his wife their lives were spared. She was the
first woman in California to lend assistance to
the American soldiers. Years later when the
United States government officials came to look
up the validity of the grants Mr. White went
before them personally with his papers and hired
Attornevs Crittenden 'and Granger to look after

his interests. In payment for their services he
deeded one-half of the grant to Mrs. Granger,
but Mrs. White's signature being lacking this
did not prove to be a legal transfer. Later the
U. S. government sent Mr. Hancock to survey
the land, but Hancock before making the survey
closed a deal to purchase the holding for one
thousand dollars, a proper deed to be given as
soon as the money was paid. Only eight hun-
dred feet of lumber was ever paid in the trans-
action, however, and after surveying thirty-two
thousand acres in the valley from Arrowhead
south, he left and afterwards appeared with a
forged deed to half of the grant. After the
death of Mr. White in 1885 his son, James B.,
brought suit to recover but was defeated and the
whole property was lost to the family. The
marriage of Mr. White united him with Marie
del Rosario Guyllen, and they became the par-
ents of the following named children: Jennie,
now ]\Irs. Andrew J. Courtney ; Michael ; Sarah,
now Mrs. Ygnacio Alvarado ; Frances, now Mrs.
Joseph Heslop, of Pasadena; Alvira, now Mrs.
Louis IMarshall; Jane, now Mrs. Luis Capde-
vielle ; Esther, now Mrs. Castillon ; and James B.
:\Irs. White died in 1892.

On June 24, 1855, James B. White was born
at San Gabriel Mission and has always lived in
Southern California. His marriage which oc-
curred June 27, 1882, united him with Dolores
Zasueta, a daughter of Francisco and Gregoria
(Romero"), and four children have been born to
them: Michael Louis; Rosa; Esther; and
Olympia.

EDWARD J. HATCH. Classed among
the most enterprising, progressive and wide-
awake business men of Escondido is Judge Ed
J. Hatch, who is widely and favorably known
"as the local agent of the Wells-Fargo Express
Company, manager of the Sunset Telephone
and Telegraph Company, and as justice of the
peace. Public-spirited and liberal, he takes
pride in advancing the welfare of his adopted
town and county, and is ever ready to assist
any movement which tends to promote the in-
terests of the community in which he resides,
and by his fellow-citizens is held in high re-
spect and esteem. Coming from a long line of
substantial ancestry on both sides of the house,
he was born, October 6. 1851, in Dixon, 111.,
a son of James Hatch.

The descendant of a colonial family of New
England, James Hatch was born and reared
in Nashua", N. H., on the farm of his father,
James Hatch. Sr.. a life-long resident of the
Granite state. When a young man he re-
moved to Dixon, TIL. where he followed his
trade of baker for a number of years, being

2150

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a pioneer in tiic business in tliat localit}-. Giv-
ing that up after a lew years, he was subse-
quently employed as a real-estate dealer and
insurance agent in Dixon until his death. His
wife, whose maiden name was Maria Louisa
Jackson, was born near Boston, Mass., a
daughter of William Jackson, who settled as
a pioneer in Ogle county, 111., near the town
of Oregon. She died in Illinois in 1853.

The youngest of a famih" of ten children by
his father's first marriage, three of whom are
living, Ed J. Hatch is the only one of the fam-
ily residing on the Pacific coast. After grad-
uating from the Dixon high school he served
an apprenticeship at the painter's trade, and
going to Chicago, for two years worked in the
shops of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail-
road Company. Going then to Rock Falls,
111., he was a contracting painter for two
years, being subsequently similarly employed
in Chicago for seven years. From that city
he went to Pennsylvania, where he worked at
his trade for some time, first in Pittsburg and
then in Westmoreland county. Again chang-
ing his place of residence he went to Manson,
Iowa, where he was engaged in painting for
four years. Subsequently, with headquarters
at Sioux City, he was in the employ of the
Illinois Central and Sioux City & Pacific Rail-
road Companies for awhile.

Coming to California in February, 1887, Mr.
Hatch purchased property in Escondido, aft-
er which he returned to Sioux City to settle
up his affairs, and in September, 1887, he
brought his famih' to this place and resumed
his business as a painter, filling heavy con-
tracts in Escondido and throughout the north-
ern part of San Diego cf)unty, being very suc-
cessful in tliat industry. For two years he
served as collector for the Escondido Irrigat-
ing Ditch Company, and for the same length
of time was collector and assessor for the
same company. In 1898 he was elected jus-
tice of the peace for Escondido township, and
served with ability and fidelity in this posi-
tion for eight years. In iqoo he was made
agent of the Wells-Fargo Express Company
at this place, and also assumed his present re-
sponsible position as manager of the Sunset
Telephone and Tele.gi^aph Company, his office
being located in the First National Bank build-
ing. By the exercise of good business tact
and judgment he has accumulated a fair share
of this world's goods. He owns a valuable
ranch of fifteen and one-half acres, lying one
and tliree-fourths miles from the city, on which
he has erected a fine residence and a substan-
tial set of farm buildings. This ranch he de-
votes to the raising of oranges and lemons, in
which he is quite successful. He is also a

stockholder in the Escondido Rochdale Com-
pany.

December 25, 1877, in Westmoreland coun-
ty. Pa., the native place of the bride. Judge
Hatch married Matilda Null, a sister of the
wife of Dr. David Crise, of Escondido, and of
the children born of their union six are living:
Elfreda N., a graduate of the State Normal
School at San Diego and a teacher for some
years, is the wife of F. A. Brov/n of Highland,
San Bernardino county; J. Paul, of Escondido,
is a graduate of the Los Angeles Bible Insti-
tute and engaged in Spanish mission work
in Los Angeles; he married Gladys .McClin-
tock, a native of Kansas, and has two daugh-
ters; the other children. Flora Faith, Neal,
Vivian and Dorothy, are at home. Fraternal-
ly the Judge was made a Mason at Sioux City,
Iowa, and was a charter member of Consuelo
Lodge No. 325, F. & A. M., of Escondido, of
which he was at one time master, and from
which he has since taken a demit ; in Pennsyl-
vania he joined the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Knights of P3'thias. Polit-
ically he votes with the courage of his convic-
tions, regardless of party restrictions. He be-
longs to the Escondido Chamber of Commerce,
and for many years has been an active and
faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, of which he was a trustee, and for-
merly superintendent of the Sunday-school,

THOMAS BECK, Occupying a good posi-
tion among the esteemed and respected citizens
of Long Beach is Thomas Beck, a man of up-
right character and sterling worth, now living re-
tired from active labor, enjoying a well-earned
leisure, A native of Ireland, he was born, in
1 85 1, in County Antrim, where his parents, Hen-
derson and Jane (McClelland) Beck, spent their
entire lives, both dying in 1853,

Left an orphan when about three years of age,
Thomas Beck was brought up by relatives, and
was educated in the public schools. \Mien twelve
years old he began working for his uncle in a
bakery, and three years later entered upon an
apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, which he
subsequently followed successfully for a number
of years, being located in Belfast, Ireland, Im-
migrating to the United States in 1874, he was
engaged in carpentering at Paterson, N, J,, for a
year, and was subsequently similarly employed in
Philadelphia for five years. A superior work-
man, skilled in the use of tools, he made money
while following his chosen occupation, and in
1880 returned to the old country. He worked at
his trade in Ireland for one year, assisting in the
erection of many fine residences and public build-
ings, and then went to Glasgow, Scotland, where

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2151

lie spent two years as a ship joiner. Coming back
to this country, he located in Hancock. Iowa,
where he worked at his trade two years, then lo-
cated in Box Butte county, Keb., and took up a
claim, but shortly afterward went to Alliance,
that county, where he engaged in the hardware
business for. several years, having an extensive
and lucrative trade, and being numbered among
the leading merchants of the place. In 1900 he
and his wife took an extended trip through Great
Britain and attended also the Paris Exposition,
being absent from home about six months. Sell-
ing out his stock in 1902, ^Ir. Beck came to Los
Angeles county, locating at Long Beach, where
he purchased the estate which he now owns. This
included a vacant lot, on which he erected a fine,
modern cottage, in which he is living retired
from active pursuits, having by well-directed toil
and exceedingly good management acquired com-
petency.

In Alliance, Neb., in 1897, Mr. Beck married
Mrs. Elsie P. (Mead) Darling, a native of In-
diana. Politically Mr. Beck is a Republican, and
fraternally he is a member of .\lliance Lodge No.
183, A. F. & A. M., of Alliance. Neb., and with
Mrs. Beck is a member of Long Beach Chapter,
O. E. S. Religiously he belongs to the Presby-
terian Church, and Mrs. Beck attends the Epis-
copal Church.

HERBERT CROUCH. Many generations
of the Crouch family lived and labored as hus-
bandmen in England, but the family has be-
come extinct in the country where once they
flourished, and in America the sole representa-
tives are Herbert Crouch and his son and two
daughters. Joseph and Jane (Lloyd) Crouch,
natives of England, passed their entire active
lives upon a farm in Berkshire and were useful
citizens and devoted Episcopalians. Their
family consisted of three children, but Herbert,
the A^oungest of the three, is the sole survivor,
and the others left no descendants, so that he
and his children alone remain to perpetuate the
name. He was born in Berkshire Januar\' 15.
1840, and received a common-school education
in his native shire. Upon setting out to make
his own way in the world he sailed on the Black
Wall from London to ^NFelbourne, .\ustralia.
where the ship cast anchor after an uneventful
voyage of one hundred and twelve days. Alin-
ing engaged his attention and he met with fair
success. In 1862 he returned to England on
the Orwell, which cast anchor after a vo^•a,ge
of one hundred and twelve days. A year later
he returiipd to .^ustralia on the Star of Eng-
land, which landed at Bri.sbane after a vovage
of one hundred and twelve days. In addition
to tlic coincidence in tlic length of the three

voyages he also felt interested in the fact that
each time he sailed on Monday and landed on
Monday.

The next voyage which Air. Crouch entered
upon brought him to San Francisco, March
24, 1868, on the barque Camden, after sixty-
nine days on the ocean. For about one year
he remained on a ranch near Stockton. Feb-
ruary 25, 1869, he arrived at San Diego, and
on the 25th of March he came to San Luis Re}'.
San Diego county, where now, with the excep-
tion of B. F. Libby, he is the oldest surviving
settler of an age permitting the entering of
land at that time. With a partner he cm-
barked in the sheep business and herded his
flocks upon the ranges in this part of the coun-
ty. In 1873 he entered and proved up on i-ine
hundred and sixty acres on the San Luis Rey
river, where, in additon to enduring all the
Hardships of frontier existence, he had the
further trouble of a contest in the courts cover-
ing a period of more than four years, in which
the settlers were involved with the claimants
of the Peoiche grant of twenty-six leagues.
The settlers eventually won and he was then
free to take up the work of improvement. In
1874 he removed from the river to his present
location three miles from Oceanside in tlie San
Luis Rey valley, where at one time he had fif-
teen thousand head of sheep, divided into dif-
ferent flocks. To improve the qualitv of his
stock he imported a number of bucks and bred
to secure the highest type of Merinos. Not
only were he and his partner the largest sheep-
men of their day, but also, when they sold out
in 1887, their flock was said to embrace the
finest Alerinos in the whole country. After
discontinuing the raising of sheep he began to
raise grain and at one time had charge of more
than eighteen hundred acres, of which four-
teen hundred and eighty acres were in the
home place, extending to the corporate limits
of Oceanside. .\t one time he owned river
land and devoted it to the raising of a4falfa, but
this he sold, and also in 1905 he sold seven
hundred and sixt}^ acres of his ranch, so that
now he has five hundred and ten acres in liis
homestead. In additon he owns two ranches
at Julian, a ranch of four hundred acres at
Ballona and still another ranch, comprising
one thousand acres, ill the Lagona mountains.
The homestead is well improved with neat
buildings and modern conveniences, and there
is a fine orchard of citrus and deciduous fruits,
with olive trees more than twenty-five years
old and the largest in the entire count}-.

The marriage of Air. Crouch took place at
San Diego in 1876 and united him with Aliss
Martha Avenell, who was born in Wiltshire.
England, and bv whom he has three children.

2152

HISTORJCAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Lucy Jane, Emily Elizabeth and Joseph Llovfl.
Reared in the Episcopalian faith, he and his
wife have always adhered to that relig-ion and
have trained their children in its doctrines.
.Since becoming a citizen of the United States
he has been a pronounced believer in Repub-
lican principles and ahvavs gives his ballot to
the party and its candidates, but for himself
steadfastly has refused to become a candidate
for official honors. There are few men now
living in San Diego county whose arrival ante-
dated his own. The majority of those now in-
fluential in horticultural, agricultural and com-
mercial affairs have been drawn hither by the
development made by the earlier settlers, of
whom he was among the most prominent.
Comparatively few now living have had a per-
sonal experience of the hardships of life in the
early da^'S of San Diego's American occupancy
and comparatively few were called upon to
fight for their rights in the courts for a pro-
tracted period ; but notwithstanding all the
hardships he has endured and the obstacles
he has been obliged to overcome, he is loyal
to his count_v, for it is here that he has reaped
his greatest success and here that he has risen
to a position as a large land-owner and pros-
perous orchardist. Through his successful
work in fruit-raising he has stimulated others
to enter this occupation and thereby has been
helpful to others. Gone are the days when
large flocks could roam over the broad ranges
and gone the days when the sheep -industry
was perhaps the most profitable occupation
open to San Diego county settlers ; but in the
place of those balmy years there has come an
era of smaller farms with better improvements
and more diversified methods of farming. In
this transformation he has been a prominent
factor, and his efforts have been rewarded with
success under the new system as under the for-
mer regime.

FATHER ANTONY LeBELLEJAY. As
pastor of the Mission Church at San Fernan-
do, Father Antony LeBellejay leads a busy
and useful life, conscientiously and faithfully
performing whatever duties may fall upon him.
A native of France, he was born, in October,
1S55, in the province of "Burgundy, or Bour-
gogne. where he was reared and educated, be-
ing graduated from the public schools and
from the Bourgogne College.

Studying for the priesthood when young.
Father LeBellejay emigrated to this country,
and for a number of years prior to this was
engaged in religious work in the Dominican
congregation in France. Coming to California
in 1901, he spent six months in San Francisco.

and then came to San Fernando to assume
his present position as pastor of the Mission
Church, which is composed of about twenty-
three families, mostly Mexicans, his charge
covering a large territory. Father LeBelle-
jay is a man of upright principles, entirely de-
voted to the interests of his people, and has
a large circle of friends outside of his par-
ishioners, his sterling integrity and nobility
of character being recognized throughout the
communitv.

FERNANDO CORTEZ HERBERT. A
successful horticulturist is named in the per-
son of Fernando Cortez Herbert, who owns
a ranch of fifty-two acres in the vicinity of El
Monte, where he located in 1890. Mr. Herbert
is a native of Hempstead county. Ark., born
October 9, 1862. His father, Fernando Cor-
tez Herbert, Sr., was born in Hardin county,
Tenn., where he married Annie Deavenport,
also a native of that state, and in 1861 they
removed to Arkansas, where Mr. Herbert car-
ried on farming until his death in 1869. His
wife survived him and in 1872 removed with
her family to Texas, locating in Denton coun-
ty, where she passed away two years later.

Of the seven children born to his parents
Fernando C. Herbert was the fifth in order of
birth. Because of the father's early death each
was thrown upon his own resources and com-
pelled to begin the battle of life at a tender
age. This son passed his youth with an un-
cle, who was a miller in Denton county, and
during this time he attended the public schools.
Three years were passed thus when,, in the
fall of 1877, he returned to Hempstead coun-
ty. Ark., and there with his older brother,
Thomas, engaged in farming for nine years.
In November, /886, he sold out his interests
and came to California. In Monrovia he fol-
lowed the carpenter's trade and later worked
with a surveying corps and helped to survey
Glendora and the trail to the top of the mount-
ain as far as Whitcomb. For a short time he
was located in Redondo, where he teamed for
the Redondo Company. In 1890 he purchased
eleven and a half acres of land in the Mount-
ain View district, which had just been set to
walnuts, and from that time to the present
writing he has given his time and attention
to horticultural interests. He has improved
nis property by the erection of a comfortable
residence and outbuildings, and in 1901 add-
ed to his interests by the purchase of forty
acres of walnuts near his first property. He
has been very successful in his work and
holds a place of importance among the horti-
culturists of this section, being a charter mem-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2153

ber of the Mountain View Walnut Growers'
Association and a promoter of the best in-
terests of the community.

Mr. Herbert has been twice married, his first
wife being Miss ■NTabel Pullee, who was born
in Orange county, a daughter of a pioneer
family of Southern California. She was mar-
ried in Mountain View and died here. In San
Bernardino he married Miss Fannie Blanche
Ludwig, a native of Pennsylvania, and born
of this union are two sons, Ross Deavenport
and John Edgar. jMr. Herbert is a Democrat
politically and a stanch upholder of the inter-
ests of his party. Fraternally he is identified
with the Odd Fellows and Independent Order
of Foresters (having been a member of the lat-
ter organization for the past fourteen years),
and is now affiliated with iMonrovia lodges.

JAMES WILEY VEACH. Among the up-
builders of the interests of Redlands prominent
mention belongs to James Wiley Veach, a resi-
dent of the city since 1900. He was born in Illi-
nois, near Charlestown, Coles county, October 21,
1850; his father, James, was also a native of that
state. The family trace their ancestry back to
three brothers of Wales, who emigrated to
America in an early period of its history and lo-
cated the name in the southern states, whence
later members settled in Kentucky. There the
paternal grandfather of Mr. Veach was reared
and from that section he came to